AMERICA'S MAJOR PROBLEMS NEED CITIZEN ATTENTION

“OF, BY & FOR THE PEOPLE”. BUT ARE THE CITIZENS REALLY IN ADEQUATE CONTROL OF GOV’T. TODAY? MANY THINK NOT. PERHAPS WE NEED TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION TO ENSURE BETTER ADHERENCE TO THE IDEAL? PIQUE YOUR INTEREST? PLEASE READ ON.

A MODEST PROPOSAL: A BETTER PATH FOR AMERICA

President Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg quote has been an inspiration to Americans for a century and a half. But in recent years, it’s clear that the Government these days too often feels that they already know what’s best for the People. But is that truly the case? And how do we Citizens regain the influence over government that the Founders and Abe Lincoln revered so highly. That’s the issue, and some solutions, that we treat in this chart-form analysis.


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OVERVIEW

RETURNING CONSTITUTIONALISM TO AMERICA

GENERALIZING OUR PROBLEMS

MATCHING SOME PROBLEMS WITH SOLUTIONS


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In this section, the purpose of this article is discussed. In brief, it is this: Many

National Leaders have discussed the specifics of various of America’s

problems. An example was the very recent address Senator Rand Paul gave , in

which he indicated grave disappointment with some of the waste that goes on

in our National spending. In particular, he contrasted it with President

Obama’s discussion of a few month’s ago, describing the impacts of the

“Budget Sequester”; e.g., to curtail TSA Agents and seriously degrade security

waits for those flying across our extensive airport system. Senator Paul

observed that this was largely a scare tactic as the Sequester budget still

contained enough waste and fraud to very comfortably adapt to the Sequester

impact. That’s a quite specific issue. But the broader vision is of our National

Executive and Legislative branches, so totally immersed in trivia that they

can’t and don’t prioritize their critical work, put energy behind the key priorities

and get the National Government out of the micromanagement of thousands of

aspects of Citizen’s lives. They seem totally unwilling to delegate this work

to the States, local governments and specifically, to the American Citizens as

stipulated in the 10th

Amendment of our Constitution.

Well, that generalized problem cries out for this generalized solution: Citizens

need to reassert their influence over our Government - - the Federal level most

specifically - - but lower levels as well. So this current article is an attempt, in

broad terms to try apply that approach to a series of 20 or so Problems. Then,

it is attempted to generalize the solutions to those problems and others in

(cont’d) next page)

OVERVIEW

8-10 or so legal provisions. This small set of solutions would then rationally

replace the vast government micromanagement of our lives and businesses by

(1) moving responsibility for these problems to lower levels of government and /

or (2) returning more responsibility back to the Citizens. The final result of this

article casts the solution set as a single Amendment to our U.S. Constitution.

The next few OVERVIEW charts embellish the above thoughts a bit before

getting into further specifics in the remaining sections:

• We start with a statement of principle by our 30th

President, Calvin Coolidge,

who tended to live that principle during his life of service to the Nation. Then a

piece of data from the Heritage Foundation, showing that the measure of

American freedom has been a victim of over-intrusive government. We also note

that a prime defect of government ineptness: bureaucracy - - which well-

intentioned as it may be, is simply not up to effective management of our

modern, complex Nation.

• Another reflection of Government failure is our ever-increasing federal

employment shown by the historical and projected debt load depicted across a

130 year spectrum.

• Then we hear a little about Citizens and governance from 6 American Leaders

of historical prominance.

• What’s an ideal output that we can strive for? Well, there’s one in our history

that we’re all familiar with. Of course the author of these actions sets a very

high goal to meet. But replication of this goal is not the objective. It’s simply to

remind us all that some actions, simply but profoundly stated, have a continuing

strong resonance with the People.

• Finally we look at the first set of Problems to be explored in this article.

These Problems are first stated in “popular terminology”, and then restated in

more general terms as prelude to looking at a few “general solutions”.

OVERVIEW

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In this section, we’ll be covering some thoughts in these charts:

• Newt Gingrich ‘s highly perceptive assertion that many of our problems arise

from governmental processes which are “broken”. I find it a quite profound

point of guidance and it is a foundation element of this article.

• Over-centralized government rests on a fatal flaw, for which I use the

analogy of an ant colony. It’s not that the ants (the government bureaucracy)

are not well intentioned and industrious. They are. And to build an anthill they

do a highly competent job. But would anyone assign them the task of building

a modern American City? Preposterous, of course! Now think about 535 + 1 +

many other gov’t. workers mostly ensconced along the banks of the Potomac - -

assigned the responsibility to manage a Nation of 300M+ Citizens with homes,

jobs, families, beliefs, utilities, industry, infrastructure, financial systems,

defense, police and fire protection, etc. etc. Does the ant analogy still seem

so preposterous?

• Further, look at even the very recent growth of government. A good trend?

• Our Founders didn’t think so. Some say “it’s now a different world”. But are

People’s ideals, ambitions, characters really so diferent? Most philosophers

and specialists in human behavior and ethics think not.

• Finally we look at a little “systems analysis” sketch of People relating to their

Governance. The intent is to illustrate some general solutions by looking at the

busy-ness of a currently problematic activity and compare it with a solution

that is a much simpler process leading to the need for much less central

government. The idea of the Fair Tax as a replacement for our current tax

system is given as a radiant example. We’ll see more of this later.


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INTRO TO THE NEXT FEW CHARTS

The next 3 charts are related and here’s a brief intro. These are 3 versions of a “systems analysis-type” chart as mentioned earlier. The idea is to show how Citizens relate to the Governmental and Private Enterprise environments they encounter in daily living. This set of 3 charts is to help explore the following:

1st chart: This is simply a 1st order depiction of Citizens, our Nation as an entity, and Private Enterprise entities as they are embedded within the philosophies and inclinations of Government and Private Enterprise.

2nd chart: Here are some specific interactions (arrows) between the 4 basic entities for the special case of our current American Tax system. Money flows and various other exchanges including lobbying and tax rules are shown. As noted, even this simplified depiction appears fairly complex.

3rd chart: Modification of our current tax system to some variant of the “Fair Tax ”system, shows that the need for much of the complication is no longer required (red X deletion).


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EXAMPLE: THE TAX SYSTEM (CURRENT)

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EXAMPLE: THE TAX SYSTEM (UNDER “THE FAIR TAX”)

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OVERVIEW


GENERALIZING OUR PROBLEMS 3 EXAMPLES:

• AMERICA’S ULTRA-COMPLEX TAX SYSTEM

• BUREAUCRATIC POLITICAL MEDDLING (e.g., THE IRS)

• CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING ACCOUNTABILITY



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INTRO TO THE NEXT FEW CHARTS

The next 3 sets of charts are related and here’s a brief intro. Each of the 3 sets relates to a single specific problem selected in this article to help explore the process of taking a specific Problem, then generalizing several specific problems into a “Problem Category”. Ultimately we’ll match the Problem Categories to a set of “Generalized Solutions”. The present examples serve to help “test” the true versatility of the proposed General Solutions, and ultimately the consolidation of the Solutions into a single proposed Constitutional Amendment. IDEALLY, ALL OF AMERICA’S PROBLEMS WOULD THEN BE AMENABLE TO SOLUTION BY ONE OR MORE OF THE GENERAL SOLUTIONS DEVELOPED. For our purposes here, 3 Problems have been selected to illustrate the technique used. The 3 problems and sets of charts to follow are these:

1. AMERICA’S ULTRA-COMPLEX TAX SYSTEM 2. BUREAUCRATIC POLITICAL MEDDLING (e.g. THE IRS) 3. CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING ACCOUNTABILITY

Of course, I don’t pretend to have the ultimate solution set here and now. Rather I hope this to be an introduction to others to help contribute their views toward the ideal objective of a single, simple Constitutional Amendment that will help put Citizens back in control of America and America back to the path of long-term beacon of Liberty for all Nations.


In this section, we’ll be covering several charts with these thoughts:

• A graph illustrating the growth ot the U.S. Tax Code over the past 75 years.

This won’t be a surprise to anyone wrestling with his tax return every April.

• Several charts exploring in detail, some of the opportunities for simplification

in the lives of private Citizens. The Fair Tax is

an “elegant” solution to a branch of government, which currently wastes much

Citizen effort and government monies, which could be far better employed

tackling some real problems, such as creating an economic climate that

encourages maintaining American innovation, manufacturing and world

Leadership in the Principles of Freedom.

• There are then several charts on a 2nd

, related IRS Problem: just in recent

weeks the Agency has admitted a politicization of its activities. This

politicization is indeed a most heinous affront to every principle of freedom

that most Americans hold dear. And we don’t even touch on the arrogant

excesses and mis-use of taxpayer monies that have also come to light. These

are issues that can be laid directly on the doorstep of much-too-intrusive

central government and bureaucracy. And this example is only the tip of the

“big government” iceberg, nine tenths of which , as the word iceberg implies, is

hidden below the surface.


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OVERALL BACKGROUND

The current federal income tax system is large and growing. Moreover, it is so complex, most Americans (and most Elected officials) do not understand it. As discussed in covering Problem #1, It is a process rife with special loopholes developed to punish or reward politically selected population segments. This injustice is surely inimical to the intent of our American Constitution. Moreover, within this important tax framework, it is not feasible for Citizens to perform their necessary role of overseeing government revenue raising as it makes laws impacting our future.

A brief summary of Fair Tax (FT) features is this:

• It is structured like a National sales tax, is inherently simple, and is immune from special designations bestowed by Politicians. It abolishes Income, Capital Gains, Gift and Estate taxes. Rather, it is based on each Citizen’s personal consumption levels. Thus, the rich, who typically purchase more, will pay proportionally more in taxes. • Citizens will no longer have to fill out any yearly tax forms, since taxes are collected only from those businesses that sell new goods directly to the Citizen/Consumer. Re-sales of used goods are not taxed.

PROBLEM: AMERICA’S ULTRA-COMPLEX TAX SYSTEM

U.S. TAX CODE GROWTH – cchgroup.com

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Moreover, a unique accounting technique known

as the “prebate” is used to assure a uniform,

simple way provide for those in poverty. Every

Citizen/Family gets a monthly prebate payment,

directly equal to poverty level costs for single

individuals or family sizes, as determined by a

calculation currently in use to define the poverty

level in America. Thus those in need have the

funds to purchase their critical life needs. Those

spending beyond crtical needs, will, with their

purchases, be funding the National budget.

Many economists have analyzed and attested to

the multiple economic benefits the simpicity of

the FT would bring to, and greatly enhance, our

overall economy.

A highly important feature of the FT is this: The IRS Bureaucracy Is No Longer Needed. All of the FT payments will be collected by the businesses noted, then remitted to each of the 50 States within which the Citizen consumption took place, and thence transmitted by the States to the U.S. Treasury. In sum, our politically-tainted bureaucratic tax system will be replaced by a far simpler system driven by the collective choices of the American Citizenry. The process could hardly be fairer and more aligned to Citizen oversight. Plus, it is economically more productive for the Nation as a whole.


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SUMMARY PROBLEM STATEMENT

The Political abuse of IRS power, much in the news in recent weeks, has been going on since FDR’s “New Deal”. A key issue is that the persistent and complex growth of the IRS has become a camouflage for hiding many political twists and turns. The ultimate solution is to abolish the IRS, repeal the 16th Amendment and replace most existing Federal taxes with the far simpler FairTax, which is a national retail sales tax. In the broad picture, it is telling that so many government employees could participate in an unlawful attack on Conservative organizations and not realize that they were doing something wrong.

The FairTax would not involve collecting any information regarding individual citizens, yet be easily capable of collecting sufficient revenue to replace our current individual and corporate income taxes, payroll taxes, and death tax. A move to the FairTax would benefit the poor and the middle class the most. Moreover, the fairness level and simplicity of enforcement should appeal to many Americans, independent of political persuasion. E.g., even if a Citizen were employed “off the books” and received all of their income in cash, they would not be able to avoid paying the FairTax when they go shopping.


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Moreover, our Elected and Agency officials would be freed of spending significant time continually honing the massive details of the current system. This time could now be spent more wisely by Elected officials, for example: pruning other government Programs of duplication and activities no longer serving their initial purpose. Furthermore, arcane Citizen expertise to fulfill their oversight role of government would be lessened - - as indeed it should be.

The current IRS scandal demonstrates that the existing tax “patchquilt” cannot be “reformed” into something compatible with a free society. Citizens need to work for a better system. The IRS is one of the subtle tools of Progressivism which holds that control over the lives of ordinary Americans should not be vested in the people themselves, but should instead be wielded by “government experts”. However, the Founders saw the political temptations in direct taxation, and that’s why they prohibited it when they wrote the Constitution. The latest IRS scandal is a wakeup call. The 16th Amendment was a mistake. The income tax process gives the federal government more information about, and power over, citizens than is compatible with the freedom created by our Founders and defended by our Servicemen.

THE

FAIR TAX:

AN IDEA

WHOSE

TIME

HAS

COME

….UHH…

IS LONG

PAST

DUE !


Because the FairTax would not tax savings and investment at all, and because its compliance costs would be nil, the Fair Tax would deliver the highest rate of economic growth of any tax system. Here’s why. Both GDP and jobs are driven by capital investment. The Fair Tax would maximize GDP growth because it would maximize private sector savings and investment. Under the FairTax, every large corporation in the world would move its headquarters to the U.S. to avoid the corporate taxes imposed by other nations. At the larger growth rates stimulated by the Fair tax, our federal debt should quickly become manageable. Both Social Security and Medicare could then be sustainable without benefit-cutting “reforms”.

Grateful Acknowledgement: ref sources 1., 2.

ROOT CAUSE ISSUES

(PROBLEM CATEGORIES A,B, C)

As the introductory discussion illustrates, the following Root Causes characterize this issue: A. The complexity of tax collection imposes significant waste of time for both

Elected Officials and the Citizenry. Both groups could be far more productive by spending their time on (1) advancing American progress and economic health, and 2) managing the Nation’s Budgets and Debt accumulation.

B. Government complexity due to size and mass of regulations is a recipe for abuse of power by Electeds and the fundamental Rights of Citizenry. The Tax System opaqueness has enabled favoritism, waivers and loopholes that undermine Citizen confidence in basic fairness.

C. Additionally, the savings to all of the Fair Tax simplicity, could readily enable improved focus by both Officeholders and Citizens on better accountability of

the former to the latter.


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GENERALIZED SOLUTION

A. KEEP THE SOLUTION SIMPLE, WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY, WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF SMALL TO ZERO ROLE FOR THE FEDERAL GOV’T. THE FBI WILL INVESTIGATE AND DOCUMENT ANY CITIZEN ALLEGATION OF ANY FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIAL FAILING TO LIVE UP TO HIS OATH OF OFFICE.

B. GOV’T REVENUES, BUDGETING AND DEBT: EMPLOY THE FAIR TAX; MORE CITIZEN TRANSPARENCY; CITIZEN CHOICE; AND CITIZEN OVERSIGHT OF BUDGETING AND DEBT ACCUMULATION.

C. ENSURE CONGRESSIONAL FOCUS. LIMITED # BILLS PER SESSION AND LIMITED WORDS PER BILL. ADEQUATE TIME FOR CAREFUL DELIBERATION, PUBLISHED EXPERT ANALYSIS & CITIZEN FEEDBACK. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO REGULATORY AGENCIES IS RESTRICTED TO OVERSEEING IMPLEMENTATION, BUT ZERO ADDITION TO, OR EXPANSION OF, DULY ENACTED CONGRESSIONAL LAW..

REF SOURCES :

1. “IRS Scandal Is The Latest Evidence That We Need A Fair Tax”, Lous Woodhill,

5/22/2013 , Forbes.com

2. http://www.fairtax.org


http://www.fairtax.org/

http://www.fairtax.org/

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OVERALL BACKGROUND

THIS IS A PROBLEM ABOUT A CHILLING

EFFECT ON CITIZEN’S 1ST AMENDMENT

FREE SPEECH AND FREE PRESS RIGHTS.

SOME ELEMENTS OF THE CHILL, WHICH

CURIOUSLY SEEM TO HAVE IN COMMON,

OPPOSITION TO ADMINISTRATION POLICIES:

• THE DOJ ISSUED A DEMAND FOR TWO

MONTHS OF OFFICE, CELLULAR AND HOME

TELEPHONE RECORDS FROM MULTIPLE

ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTERS AND

EDITORS TO INVESTIGATE AN ALLEGED

BREACH OF NATIONAL SECURITY, IN

CONNECTION WITH A FOILED TERRORIST

PLOT.

• OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IRS AGENTS TARGETED CONSERVATIVE

ORGANIZATIONS BY SELECTIVELY DELAYING APPROVALS FOR TAX-EXEMPT

STATUS TO GROUPS WITH "TEA PARTY" AND "PATRIOT" IN THEIR NAMES. ANTI-

ABORTION GROUPS WERE ASKED TO PLEDGE THAT THEY WOULD NEVER

PICKET PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINICS.

• MULTIPLE ORGANIZERS WERE ASKED NUMEROUS PERSONAL QUESTIONS,

INCLUDING WHAT THEY SAID IN THEIR PRAYERS.

PROBLEM: BUREAUCRATIC POLITICAL MEDDLING (eg, IRS)

“GEE! IT DOESN’T SAY HERE THAT

THEY ONLY SUPPORT PROGRESSIVES !

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THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF

THE IRS WAS TOLD ABOUT

THIS ACTIVITY IN MAY

2012. GIVEN THAT IRS

PERSONNEL ARE LARGELY

DEMOCRATIC, THE

SUSPICION EXISTS THAT

THIS WAS POLITICALLY

DESIGNED TO PREVENT

THE STORY FROM

COMING OUT JUST

BEFORE THE 2012

ELECTION.

SO, IS ALL THIS JUST WATER OVER THE DAM? NOT EXACTLY. SARAH HALL INGRAM, WHO SERVED AS HEAD OF THE IRS OFFICE HANDLING TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS BETWEEN 2009 AND 2012 -- WHEN THE TARGETING WAS GOING ON - - THIS PERSON IS NOW HEAD OF THE IRS DIVISION RESPONSIBLE FOR POLICING OBAMACARE. IT WILL IMPOSE PENALTIES ON AMERICANS WHO CAN AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE BUT CHOOSE NOT TO BUY IT. IT WILL IMPOSE PENALTIES ON COMPANIES WITH MORE THAN 50 EMPLOYEES WHO WORK 30 HOURS A WEEK AND DON'T PROVIDE GOVERNMENT-MANDATED POLICIES. DOES GOVERNMENT ARROGANCE AND INTRUSION HAVE NO BOUNDS?


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ROOT CAUSE ISSUES

(PROBLEM CATEGORIES A,C,G)

A.) A GOVERNMENT AGENCY IS SUBVERTING THE CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOMS OF CITIZENS AS PROTECTED BY THE 1st AMENDMENT. C.) THE AGENTS WHO HAVE THIS POWER ARE NOT ELECTED BY THE CITIZENS AND CONSEQUENTLY ARE NOT DIRECTLY ACCOUNTABLE TO CITIZENS. CONGRESS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO FORMALLY SIGN OFF ON ALL RULES AND REGULATIONS PROMULGATED BY AGENCIES WHOSE TOP MANAGEMENT IS NOT DIRECTLY ACCOUNTABLE TO THE CITIZENS. G.) CITIZENS NEED TO TO BE ABLE TO LODGE SIGNIFCANT COMPLAINTS, REQUIRING TIMELY INVESTIGATIVE FOLLOW UP AND PUBLIC REPORTING, REGARDING THE ARROGANCE AND MIS-USE OF POWER BY THESE AGENCIES.


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GENERALIZED SOLUTION:

A.) KEEP THE SOLUTION SIMPLE, WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY, WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF SMALL TO ZERO ROLE FOR THE FEDERAL GOV’T. THE FBI WILL INVESTIGATE AND DOCUMENT ANY CITIZEN ALLEGATION OF ANY FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIAL FAILING TO LIVE UP TO HIS OATH OF OFFICE.

C.) ENSURE CONGRESSIONAL FOCUS. LIMITED # OF BILLS PER SESSION AND LIMITED WORDS PER BILL. ADEQUATE TIME FOR CAREFUL DELIBERATION, PUBLISHED EXPERT ANALYSIS & CITIZEN FEEDBACK. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO REGULATORY AGENCIES IS RESTRICTED TO OVERSEEING IMPLEMENTATION, BUT ZERO ADDITION TO, OR EXPANSION OF, DULY ENACTED CONGRESSIONAL LAW.

G.) ALL CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENTS AND CHAIRMANSHIPS WILL BE SUBJECT TO ROTATION OF THE JOBHOLDER EVERY 4 YEARS. ELECTED OFFICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY: EVERY FEDERAL ELECTED OFFICIAL AND EVERY CABINET LEVEL OFFICER SHALL BE SUBJECT TO FBI INVESTIGATION AND PUBLIC REPORTING OF ANY CITIZEN-SUBMITTED REPORT, WITH GREATER THAN 100 SIGNATURES, DOCUMENTING AN OFFICAL WHO FAILS TO LIVE UP TO HIS OATH OF OFFICE.

REF SOURCES :

1. “IRS and AP Scandals Cast a Big Chill on Free Speech”

Michael Barone , May 20, 2013, townhall.com

2. “Unions break ranks on ObamaCare”, Kevin Bogardus - 05/21/1, thehill.com


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OVERALL BACKGROUND

Government waste, fraud, abuse and duplication is nothing new at all levels of government. But in recent years, and particularly in the current recession, this extravagance becomes more and more outrageous. Some quantification of the duplocations can be seen in the Figure. The government has 76 programs to treat drug abuse spread across 15 different agencies. It has 47 programs for job training. And there are three federal agencies that inspect catfish. These are among the findings in a new Government Accountability Office report that found 162 areas where services are duplicated or money is being wasted in the Federal government. The annual cost of duplicative or wasteful programs is estimated at roughly $250 billion, according to fiscal hawk Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. The Government Accounting Office does some assessments to expose this waste. But by and large there is not a stable resolution and this is due to the difficulty of establishing accountability for the various government components involved.

PROBLEM: CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING ACCOUNTABILITY

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Now, part of the

problem seems to

be that Congress

spends so much

time on less

important matters

that they lack time

to follow the

progress (or lack of)

of previously

legislated

Programs. So some

thought must be

given to how to put

effort into more

productive output.

Part of the answer would seem to be more prioritization and focus on the major issues imposed on the Congress by the Constitution. Other issues should be left to the States and the People. Moreover a mechanism must be in place to establish a total boundary on the budget within which priorities can be assessed and established.


ROOT CAUSE ISSUES

(Primarily PROBLEM CATEGORIES A, C, D,

G but also some of E, and F) A.) Government complexity and lack of focus leaves Congress little time to truly manage Federal expenditures. This results in continuing wastage of of taxpayer monies on old and newly-legislated programs. C.) Congress needs the discipline of careful budget analysis, firm budget limitations and a mechanism to ensure open deliberation and spending prioritizations. D.) There is no justification for any law to be voted upon without a careful, transparent , and rigorous cost-benefit analysis . G.). The Constitution stipulates an allocation of responsibilities between the Federal government and “to the States respectively, or to the People”. But this wisdom is increasingly ignored.


GENERALIZED SOLUTION:

A. Each Congressman will be assigned RESPONSIBILITY TO PRIORITIZE a dif ferent Budget segment comprising approximately 1/535th of the total budget based on the immediately prior approved Budget tabulation, and to publish an annual REPORT TO THE PEOPLE.

B. Congress will enlist the support of the CBO and/or GAO for budget analysis, but each Congressional submittal of its share of the budget shall: (1) be published in a 500 word report to the Citizens, (2) turned into a newly created, ongoing, Special Joint, Congressional Budget Sub-Committee (SJCBS) for a full, integrated budget prioritization, and (3) contain a recommendation by the submitting Congressperson for deletion of the loweprioritization as summarized in the SJCBS REPORT . st 15% of the priority tabulation. The SJCBS shall similarly, but for the total budget, identify the lowest 10 % of their priority tabulation which shall be published yearly.

C. In any given year in which the proposed budget exceeds the 20% GDP limit (see Section 2. of the Proposed Constitutional 28 th Amendment) by YY%, the SJCBS shall submit for full Senate and House vote, deletion of YY% of the Budget based upon the Congressional prioritization as summarized in the SJCBS REPORT.

REF SOURCES : 1. “Actions Needed to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and

Achieve Other Financial Benefits”, GAO 2013 ANNUAL REPORT, GAO-13-279SP, Apr 9, 2013

2. “2012 WASTEBOOK”, Senator Tom Coburn, M.D., October 2012


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In this section, we illustrate briefly some of the synthesis of a

“generalized problem” and “solution” as compiled in the final

section. For simplicity, just the example of IRS POLITICAL

MEDDLING is illustrated. In the 4 step process ( next chart),

We start with simply a phrase that most Citizens will recognize

as a specific problem due to treatment in the various news

media. Next a common Problem Category is created broadly

enough to apply to several selected Problems . Then a short

Solution phrase is created that responds to the Problem

Category. Finally, we create a Generalized Solution statement

suitably containing the What, When and How verbiage that

might be used in a formally proposed Constitutional

Amendment. Each of these Solution statements will be used

as a formal section of the final Amendment. The next chart

illustrates the correspondence achieved between the selected

Problem and a shortened version of the Generalized Solution.

To conclude, it is reitereated again that We’d really be

interested in any thoughts or additions that any reader might

think would add to the collection of Problems and thereby also

add to an extension of the list of Solutions.

MATCHING PROBLEMS TO GENERALIZED SOLUTIONS

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MATCHING PROBLEMS TO GENERALIZED SOLUTIONS

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PROPOSAL: AMENDMENT XXVIII; 20XX

VALIDATING AND CLARIFYING CITIZEN

PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT

Section 1. IF APPROVED, THIS AMENDMENT WILL CLARIFY AND STIPULATE 7 DISTINCT WAYS (see Sections 2-8) THAT CITIZENS SHALL EXERT CONTROL OVER THE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE BRANCHES IN ACCORD WITH THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.

Section 2. IT SHALL BE A PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCHES TO ASSURE THAT THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT, IN TERMS OF MONIES AUTHORIZED AND SPENT, SHALL NOT EXCEED ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS OF 20% OF THE AVERAGE OF THE PRIOR 5 YEARS OFFICIAL GDP LEVEL, UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY A 2/3 MAJORITY VOTE OF BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS. Section 3. THE METHOD OF INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN TAXATION CURRENTLY IN USE SHALL BE MODIFIED TO A PROCESS THAT TAXES CONSUMPTION ONLY, AND NOT INCOME, INVESTMENT EARNINGS, SAVINGS OR ANY OTHER SOURCE. THE METHOD SHALL NOT REQUIRE ANY IRS FILING BY ANY CITIZEN. SUCH FILINGS SHALL BE LIMITED TO TAXING BUSINESSES THAT SELL GOODS OR SERVICES DIRECTLY TO THE CITIZEN CONSUMER. A “PREBATE” TECHNIQUE SHALL BE USED TO ASSURE THAT THE TRULY NEEDY CITIZEN IS ABLE TO PURCHASE NECESSARY GOODS AND SERVICES AS CURRENTLY CONSIDERED IN THE FEDERAL ASSESSMENT OF POVERTY LEVEL.


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Section 4. TO ENSURE: CITIZEN UNDERSTANDING OF THE LAW; CONGRESSIONAL FOCUS; AND TO LIMIT EVER-GROWING LEGISLATIVE OVERREACH - - CONGRESS SHALL, UPON PASSAGE OF THIS AMENDMENT, BE LIMITED TO PASSAGE OF NOT MORE THAN 100 BILLS PER CONGRESSIONAL SESSION. MOREOVER, EACH BILL (EXCLUDING , AT CONGRESSIONAL OPTION) 3 SINGLE- SUBJECT BILLS, SHALL BE LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF 5000 WORDS PER BILL, WITH NO APPENDICES OR OTHER KINDS OF CLARIFYING REFERENCES.

ADEQUATE TIME FOR: CAREFUL DELIBERATION; PUBLISHED EXPERT ANALYSIS; AND CITIZEN FEEDBACK; SHALL BE PROVIDED IN ACCORD WITH THE REQUIREMENT THAT EVERY BILL MUST BE PUBLICALLY ISSUED AT LEAST 120 DAYS PRIOR TO A FINAL VOTE BY EITHER HOUSE OF CONGRESS EXACTLY TO THE VERBATIM FORM OF THE PREVIOUSLY-ISSUED VERSION. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO REGULATORY AGENCIES IS TO BE RESTRICTED TO OVERSEEING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW LAW, BUT WITH ZERO ADDITION TO, OR MODIFICATION OF THE DULY ENACTED CONGRESSIONAL LAW. ALL REGULATIONS HENCEFORTH MUST BE APPROVED BY AT LEAST ONE APPROPRIATE COMMITTEE OF EACH HOUSE OF CONGRESS. ALL EXISTING REGULATIONS SHALL BE FULLY RE-ASSESSED AND RE-AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS OVER A PERIOD OF 5 YEARS FROM THE DATE OF APPROVAL OF THIS AMENDMENT. AFTER THE 5-YEAR REVIEW, THE TOTAL VERBIAGE PAGE COUNT OF ALL FEDERAL REGULATIONS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE SIZE IN FORCE ON THE DAY OF THE 78th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF PRESIDENT CALVIN COOLIDGE.


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Section 5.

TO ASSURE CITIZEN AND

LEGISLATOR FULL COMPREHENSION

OF THE COST AND BENEFIT IMPACTS

OF ALL LEGISLATION, A SPECIFIC

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF ALL

BILLS SHALL BE PERFORMED AND

PUBLISHED BY 2 SOURCES OF

EXPERTISE: (1) THE GAO AND/OR

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

AND (2) A NEWLY CREATED AND

DESIGNATED 8 PERSON PANEL OF

PRIVATE CITIZENS WITH EXPERTISE

COMMENSURATE WITH THE TASK.

THE PANEL SHALL BE EQUALLY DIVIDED IN ACCORD WITH THE 2 POLITICAL PARTIES EXHIBITING THE MOST CONGRESSIONAL VOTES IN THE MOST RECENT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. THE PANEL SHALL SERVE FOR A TERM OF OFFICE OF 4 YEARS AND REPORT JOINTLY TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE LEADERS AND PUBLICLY TO THE CITIZENRY.


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Section 6. ALL LEGISLATION SHALL BE CAREFULLY ALIGNED TO THE CONSTITUTION. ANY LEGISLATION THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED AS BORDERING ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND/OR CITIZEN LIBERTY SHALL REQUIRE THE SIGNATURE OF EVERY VOTING LEGISLATOR WITH THE FOLLOWING ASSERTION DIRECTLY ABOVE HIS/HER SIGNATURE: “I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE SPECIFIC PROVISIONS OF THIS LEGISLATION. I BELIEVE ALL PROVISIONS ARE WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION, WHICH I HAVE SWORN TO PROTECT AND DEFEND.”


ADDITIONALLY A SPECIALLY- CREATED, 7 PERSON PANEL SHALL BE CONSULTED FOR

THEIR WRITTEN ASSESSMENT OF CONSTITUTIONALITY. THE PANEL’S REPORT SHALL

BE PUBLISHED 120 DAYS PRIOR TO A FINAL VOTE BY EITHER HOUSE OF CONGRESS.

Section 7.

TO HELP ASSURE MORE BALANCE TO CITIZENS FROM GOVERNMENT NEWS RELEASES,

ALL EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCH MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RELEASES

(SEPARATE OR JOINT) MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN APPROXIMATELY EQUAL

LENGTH STATEMENT FROM THE OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTY. THE MEDIA TO WHOM

THE RELEASES ARE PROVIDED SHALL BE REQUESTED TO COMPLY WITH THIS

AMENDMENT PROVISION. MEDIA WHICH GAIN A RECORD AFTER 30 SUCH RELEASES

OF MORE THAN 10% NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THIS REQUEST SHALL NOT BE

PROVIDED FUTURE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE MEDIA RELEASES.

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Section 8.

TO MAINTAIN BETTER OFFICIAL RAPPORT

WITH , AND INFLUENCE BY, THE CITIZENRY,

ALL CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

ASSIGNMENTS AND CHAIRMANSHIPS WILL

BE SUBJECT TO ROTATION OF EACH SUCH

JOBHOLDER EVERY 4 YEARS.

TO ASSURE ELECTED OFFICIAL

ACCOUNTABILITY: EVERY FEDERAL ELECTED

OFFICIAL AND EVERY CABINET LEVEL

OFFICER SHALL BE SUBJECT TO FBI

INVESTIGATION AND PUBLIC REPORTING OF

ANY CITIZEN-SUBMITTED ALLEGATION WITH

100 SIGNATURES, DOCUMENTING AN

OFFICIAL WHO : (1) FAILS TO LIVE UP TO HIS

OATH OF OFFICE , (2) IS BELIEVED TO HAVE

KNOWINGLY MISLED THE PUBLIC ON A MATTER OF IMPORTANT PUBLIC INTEREST. THE FBI WILL INVESTIGATE THE CITIZEN COMPLAINT AND PUBLICLY ISSUE A RESPONSIVE AND DETERMINATIVE REPLY WITHIN 4 MONTHS OF RECEIPT OF THE ALLEGATION.


To summarize, we return to the Table that shows the

applicability of 2 dozen initial National Problems to the

Generalized Solutions developed as explained throughout

this article. The Table illustrates the hopeful result

that :

1. Each of the original Problems stands to benefit from 2

or more of the Generalized Solutions developed.

2. Each of the Generalized Solutions has applicability to

multiple of the realistic large National Problems

examined.

These results offer hope that the 28th

Amendment

proposal, comprised of the 7 derived General

Solutions, has the potential to be an effective tool to

solve critical Problems and ensure restoring Citizenry

influence over our National governance.

Further testing and clarifications remain. And again, if

you’re interested in adding some thoughts, please

contact: Mark Sussman at [email protected].

IN CONCLUSION

mailto:[email protected]

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THE END

ACTUALLY, IT’S NOT THE END - - YOUR VOICE IS IMPORTANT TO OUR NATION. CITIZEN INTEREST, DIALOG AND DATA ARE CRITICAL TO GOOD CIVIC OUTCOMES. AND THAT INCLUDES OUTCOMES WHICH SIMPLY ASSURE PROPER CONDITIONS FOR THE FREE MARKET TO WORK.

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AMERICA'S MAJOR PROBLEMS NEED CITIZEN ATTENTION