Saturday, May 22, 2010

What the Tea Partiers and Mr. Paul really want.

Rand Paul is actually doing the country a great service by exposing the extreme beliefs at the core of the Tea Party movement.  Mr. Paul doesn’t like civil rights laws that outlaw discrimination by individuals or private businesses or associations.  He is perfectly content to allow restaurants to refuse to serve blacks, Hispanics or anyone because of race or presumably gender, sexual orientation, or whatever defining characteristic.  Mr. Paul doesn’t think government agencies should tell oil companies where or how they can drill for oil or what safety measures they must take to protect the environment.  Mr. Paul doesn’t believe owners of mining operations should be held accountable for the safety of their workers.  Mr. Paul doesn’t much like the government setting a minimum wage.  Mr. Paul doesn’t seem to want the government to do anything that doesn’t involve war or national defense.  Education, get out of it.  Environmental protection, get out of it.  Child labor laws, do away with them.  Occupational health and safety, don’t do it.  Health care, none of the government’s business.  Meat and produce inspection, don’t need it.  Financial regulation, don’t do it.  Regulating banks or stock brokers, not needed.  Lending, let’m charge whatever interest they want.  Housing, no role for the government there.  Food processing plants, let them operate the way the want.  Telecommunications, no role for the government there.  Weather service, who needs it.  Americans with Disabilities Act, don’t need it.  CDC, FDA, NIH, shut’um down.  Equal Rights for Women, good God no.  Gay rights, God forbid the government should get involved in that.  National parks, privatize them.  Protecting fish and wildlife, Hell no.  Mining safety, let mine owners do what they want.  Drilling for oil, drill baby drill government oversight not needed.  IRS, replace it with a Fair Tax where poor people pay the same as rich people.  Highways, make them all private toll roads.  Hazardous materials, leave it up to the private sector to protect the public.  FAA, not needed, let the airlines take care of it. 

Here are some changes to our government Mr. Paul and the Tea Party folks are sure to like.  Suppose we changed the Constitution this way.

We declare unequivocally that each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and right, which is not by the Constitution expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled is retained by the states. (i.e, the feds won't be allowed to do anything unless the states say it is okay.)

We abolish the House and Senate and replace them with one chamber in which each state has 1 vote and a majority vote of the states is required to pass any legislation.  Delegates will be appointed by the state legislatures for terms of one year.

We will eliminate the power of the federal government to tax.  Instead, Congress will request the states each year to send it whatever money the federal government needs to operate.  Contributions will be voluntary.

We will eliminate the Executive Branch.  No President, i.e, no Obama.

We will eliminate the Judicial Branch—No Supreme Court.

The federal government would have no power to regulate interstate commerce so no need to worry about business people being told what they can and cannot do.

Finally, we will change the name of the document.  Let us call it….well, how about the Articles of Confederation?  That sounds good.  Wait…just a minute…haven’t we done this before?  Huh, wonder how that turned out.  Let me check the Texas textbook on American history.  Yea, there it is and the Texas textbook writers say it was working out just great.  Then, some radicals like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison came along and messed everything up.  And, according to the  Texas textbook writers the country has been in a long decline since then.  Bring back the good old days of NO/Nothing government.  Vote for Paul's Tea Party.  Return the good old days of the Confederation.  That's what the TeaPartiers say.   

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