Just My Opinion: "Repeal the 17th Amendment"

We all know this country is going through a tough time. There are many issues that must be dealt with. I will be giving my opinion on various issues in the weeks to come, but this is one that has been in my head a long time. With the way the Governors of this country are being treated lately I feel the time to bring it up is now.

What is the 17th Amendment?, you ask:

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

How were the Senators elected before the 17th?:

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, (chosen by the Legislature thereof,) (The preceding words in parentheses superseded by 17th Amendment, section 1.) for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year...

This is one of the underlying issues that is bringing this country down.

The way I see it; most of our problems come from the federal government's lust for more control of the American people. At the forefront of this is the weakening of the state governments. The way I understand it is; the original Constitution was written to ensure a balance of powers. The executive branch is to represent the Government. The House is to represent the people. The Senate is to represent the states.

Since the passage of the 17th the states are no longer being represented in Washington. The federal government pretends to care about what the state governments are saying, but there is nothing in place to ensure the states are being taken seriously.

No I am not crazy. I know this will never pass this congress. If it did, it would surely be vetoed. I am not concerned with this or any of my Just My Opinion posts getting passed. After all they are just my opinion, and you know about those. I think it does need to be brought up front, and kept there. One of these days the democrats are not going to control Congress. One of these days they will not have the executive. As it takes years for an issue to ferment, I think we need to start this process now.

REPEAL THE 17th AMENDMENT

WND: "Federal obligations exceed world GDP"

Not good:

As the Obama administration pushes through Congress its $800 billion deficit-spending economic stimulus plan, the American public is largely unaware that the true deficit of the federal government already is measured in trillions of dollars, and in fact its $65.5 trillion in total obligations exceeds the gross domestic product of the world.

The total U.S. obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits to be paid in the future, effectively have placed the U.S. government in bankruptcy, even before new continuing social welfare obligation embedded in the massive spending plan are taken into account.

The real 2008 federal budget deficit was $5.1 trillion, not the $455 billion previously reported by the Congressional Budget Office, according to the "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government" as released by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

I am no economic expert. I'll be the first to admit it. But this has got to be a bad thing.

Is The End Of Freedom In Sight?

Kevin O'Brien suggests it may be:

If all goes as scheduled -- and barring an exquisitely timed meteor strike on Washington, D.C., it will -- on a holiday formerly dedicated exclusively to the president who saved the union in hopes of "a new birth of freedom," the president we have today will sign freedom's death warrant.

Two quotes from Benjamin Franklin leap to mind: "You have a republic, madam, if you can keep it"; and, "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."

We have kept the republic poorly. And in a stampede toward a false promise of economic security, we have given up our essential liberty.

I am not ready to give up on her yet. Even though America is taking a big hit with this sorry ass pork fest of a bill.

Add this story in and it seems to be coming a little closer to the point of no return:

The measure calls for all handgun owners to submit to the federal government an application that shall include, among many other things: a photo; an address; a thumbprint; a completed, written firearm safety test; private mental health records; and a fee. And those are only some of the requirements to be licensed!

The bill would further require the attorney general to establish a database of every handgun sale, transfer, and owner's address in America. Moreover, the bill would make it illegal to own or possess a "qualifying firearm" -- defined as "any handgun; or any semiautomatic firearm that can accept any detachable ammunition feeding device…" [emphasis added] without one of the proposed licenses.

Read the rest at the link. There's more to the bill.

America is suffering from a terrible form of cancer, it is called SOCIALISM and it must be stopped.

The pork fest anti-stimulus bill has passed in the house (roll call here), and will surely be passed in the Senate. They are voting around 5:00 today. It will be signed into law by Obama. We will suffer from it as well as other bailout bills in the weeks to come.

It is going to be a long hard 4 or 8 years. I pray this country will survive the onslaught from the left. I have my doubts.

Rep Tom Price On The "Non-Stimulus" Bill

It is 1073 pages long. It was presented to members of Congress at 11:00 last night:



Unbelievable!!!

H/T: Hot Air

I Just Don't Feel Like Blogging Today

But that is not unusual these days. I am still around, paying attention as much as ever. Probably more than usual. I just don't feel like writing about what is starting to look like the complete destruction of capitalism, as well as this country.

I have to agree with one of my favorite bloggers on this one:

If you've ever been curious about why I don't blog nearly as much as I used to just read the story (link to story here) excerpted above.

It takes a psychic toll to comment upon news which is so relentlessly grim. Imagine that someone you love dearly were dying a slow and painful death from cancer. Would you be eager to describe their symptoms and catalog their suffering in a daily blog?

The nation has already come so far down the road to socialism that it would be difficult to avoid completing the journey under the best of circumstances. The fear and despair caused by another Great Depression would, I fear, be the catalyst the left needs to take America beyond the "soft socialism" of Western Europe and into the kind of totalitarian socialism seen in the Cuba of the Castro brothers or that which is taking shape in the Venezuela under Chavez.

More at the link.

Rest assured, I am not giving up. I have been on the phone and worn out my keyboard with e-mails. I just really don't feel like talking about it.

Radical Muslims Promise World Wide Islamic Rule

From World Net Daily:

Radical Muslims in Somalia are promising Islamic rule from Alaska and Chile to South Africa and from Japan to Russia, issuing the warning "Beware, we are coming," according to a media monitor

...On Al-Jazeera, Muqtar Robow, identified as a spokesman for Shabab al-Mujahideen, said his group intends "to implement Shariah completely – every single element of it."

"Our objectives, by the grace of God, are to see the return of the Islamic Caliphate, the last of which was the Ottoman empire that collapsed in the 1920s. We want to bring that system back and govern the world with God's law," he said.

Read the rest at the link.

I was having a conversation with a colleague a few months ago. I stressed my concern about the way women were being treated under radical Islamic rule. My co-worker (a female) gave me a good talking to about being tolerant of other people's religion. I wonder how she would feel about having to live under Islamic Shariah law.

I do not have a problem with other people's religion. I could care less about how other people worship. But, my tolerance only goes so far. It ends when your religion teaches the destruction of mine.

Europe is now suffering from being too tolerant of the "Religion of Peace". I pray the the US does not allow itself to follow them down the same road.

2008, My Best Year, As Far As Deer Hunting Goes

2008 was a rough year for me. Had a lot of changes as far as my personal life goes. But deer season went better than ever. I finished the year with 6 deer. My previous best was 5, two years ago. Before you say anything, I hunt Tennessee and Virginia, so I stayed within my limits.

Today was my last day for this year. I am already looking forward to November.

But at least now I can finally get back to the keyboard. I will pick it up in a few days but for now I would just like to pose a question to Israel:

What the Hell took you so long?

A question to the UN:

Is it possible for you to get your heads out of your asses?

The last question goes to the American people:

How long would we be willing to allow Canada or Mexico to bomb our country before we acted just as Israel is?

I don't know how you would answer this question, but this American would be ready to go the very first time.

I hope Israel stays and gets the job done. The world needs to be rid of this vermin known as Hamas.