Mandate

[Petrie]

Mandate of the American Taxpayer
By Craig Ross



Recognition of human nature, it’s complacency and propensity for corruption, is a natural and necessary attribute that has allowed civilized men to temper and guard themselves against the overwhelming proliferation of such evils, that we all must recognize as an inherit part of the human condition. At times, it becomes necessary to illustrate the existence of such foolishness, and take measures to ensure that complacency and corruption are kept in check. When such crimes against our neighbors become too oppressive to bear, the constituency shall invariably stir, wipe the sleep from its collective eyes, sit up and take notice, and take action. We presently find ourselves in such times.
Abuses by the governors of the governed have continually and increasingly eroded the faith, trust, and goodwill of the relations of governor and governed. The time has come for the governed to reassert themselves into the equation of a government of, by, and for the people. As elected representatives, we the people have bestowed upon you our collective voice. Too many times have we been surprised to hear our representative voice tell ourselves that we don’t matter. How, exactly, do you propose to know what is our best interest, when you no longer know or recognize us? Taxation without representation is not just some Revolutionary War catchphrase, an antiquity, a historical battle cry. It is alive and well in these United States, and we the people have no say about taxation, and even less about representation, especially in regards to how OUR taxes are spent. The time has come for the people to enforce checks and balance of the predators of our well being, our elected officials.
Our laws shall be respected. Our borders, language, and culture shall be preserved. Our wishes shall be respected. Our representatives shall be reminded that you serve on behalf of us, not in spite of us. The following shall serve as a course correction for those among us who have strayed from the path of well-being of the people, and shall be adhered to as a show of good faith, good will, and friendship between governors and governed.





Immigration:

ILLEGAL immigration shall be cease, immediately, and all further insurgency shall be punished as criminal trespassing, as it is criminal trespassing by definition. LEGAL immigration shall be fostered and encouraged with resources and funding diverted from the cessation of subsidizing criminal trespassers, i.e. healthcare, education, and welfare for trespassers. These diverted funds should be more than adequate to finance border security and traveler processing. Non-Citizens DO NOT have CIVIL rights by definition alone. No further discussion is needed, definitions are absolute. Any lack of clarity can be remedied with the use of the nearest dictionary.
Individuals granted entry into the United States shall be granted such permission and designated Candidate for Immigration by fulfilling four (4) essential requirements: (1) Candidates for Immigration shall establish a residential destination prior to entry. (2) Candidates for Immigration shall establish legal and gainful employment prior to entry. (3) Candidates for Immigration shall be the ward of a Citizen Custodian, an American citizen responsible for the accountability of said Candidate for Immigration. Any failure of said Candidate for Immigration to maintain accountability for continued eligibility shall be the shared responsibility of both Candidate and Custodian, and both shall be punishable by Law. (4) Candidates for Immigration shall perform service to the community, be it Municipal, State, or Federal, to maintain eligibility. Upon five (5) consecutive years of fulfillment, Candidates shall be naturalized as American citizens, subject to all rights and responsibilities of full citizenship. Failure to maintain residence, gainful employment, accountability, and service requirements shall immediately render Candidacy null and void, and shall disqualify immediate family members of prior Candidate from Candidacy.


Homeland Security:

Close the borders, North and South. Every inch. All seaports, West coast and East coast. All individuals entering the United States shall be accounted for, regardless of entry method; land, sea, or air.
Military conflicts shall be conducted with the sole purpose of absolute victory and absolute defeat of named enemy. Once approved, all military action shall be conducted by military personnel. No decisions or objectives shall be set forth by the legislature, and no decisions or objectives shall be negated by the legislature.


Sovereignty and Powerchecks:

The Tenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America shall be reinstated and strictly adhered to. ANY powers NOT specifically granted to the Federal government by Constitution shall be reserved to the States. Period. States governance shall have jurisdiction over Federal governance unless specifically enumerated by the Constitution of the United States.


Congressional Privilege:

Regarding failure of the legislature to adequately enforce the laws it has thus far created, there shall be no further excuse for failure to enforce existing laws. Congress shall no longer introduce or adopt new legislation without first citing ten (10) specific examples of enforcement of every single existing law. Each new legislative consideration shall stand alone, and shall be subject to enforcement requirements, meaning each new piece of proposed legislation shall require ten (10) new examples of enforcement of each and every existing law.

No member of Congress shall serve more than two (2) consecutive terms, and shall serve no more than five (5) terms in their lifetime.

Congress shall no longer be permitted to enact legislation pertaining to increases in their own salary and compensation. Pay raises for Congress shall be considered by popular vote, every four (4) years, coinciding with term and Presidential elections, and shall be approved by popular vote alone.

Members of Congress shall no longer be enrolled in their own exclusive healthcare program. Senators and Representatives shall be enrolled in the private Healthcare plans provided to employees of their respective states largest employer, and shall pay into said plan at the same rate as said employees, without option to increase coverage unless the same increase in coverage is afforded to said employees.

Any member of congress with a ratio of Votes: No Votes exceeding 5:1 shall be immediately dismissed for Failure to Represent. Their states shall lose dismissed members vote for the remainder of that congressional term, until the vacancy can be filled with the next general election.

Any member of Congress voting to disarm or effectively disarm American citizens shall immediately, upon record of such vote, forfeit their right to arm themselves, afford themselves armed security, or armed response to monitored alarm systems at their private residence, place of occupation, or place of business. This shall include "sporting" or "hunting" firearms.

Any member of Congress voting in favor of energy usage restrictions shall submit, upon record of such vote, their personal utility records, in their entirety, for the preceding six (6) years. Records shall include residences, and any business owned in whole or in part by such representative.

Any member of Congress requiring travel within the United States shall do so by commercial means. Public funds shall not be used to purchase upgraded travel status, i.e. first-class upgrades, with the exception of private charter. Private charter shall only be authorized for official diplomatic business outside sovereign borders of the United States, and within the United States as a “group” excursion of members of Congress requiring 5 or more members to qualify for private charter, with the exception of upgrades or charters purchased with private funds of members of Congress. Validity of funding shall be approved before travel date.

All riders or “earmarks” attached to legislation by a member of Congress shall be automatically excluded without the Signature and disclosure of the member attaching such riders or “earmarks.” Any attempted attachment by any member of Congress without signature and disclosure shall result in immediate dismissal of member, and respective member’s state shall forfeit member’s representation and legislative vote until member is replaced at next general election.


Regarding Loss of Representation:

Any member of Congress engaging in behavior resulting in dismissal, and thus loss of representation and member’s vote, shall remain in effect until the next general election. There shall be no special election to replace disgraced member.

[longtooth]

Dont know about the rest of you but this RedNeck Texan s sure likes this.

[Commander Cody]

I'm with you fellas.

[Abraham]

Preserving our republic by repelling the aggregating cancer of illegal (so-called) immigration, enforcing effective border security, recognizing fundamental law and scaling back our putative aristocracy - yeah, sounds good to me too.

[raccol]

I like it overall but would certainly add some items. Some of my terminology and explanations could obviously be improved (I'm an engineer, not a lawyer), but I think you’ll get the point.

Congressional Privilege and Action:

Regarding failure of the legislature to adequately enforce the laws it has thus far created, there shall be no further excuse for failure to enforce existing laws. Congress shall no longer introduce or adopt new legislation without first citing ten (10) specific examples of enforcement of every single existing law. Each new legislative consideration shall stand alone, and shall be subject to enforcement requirements, meaning each new piece of proposed legislation shall require ten (10) new examples of enforcement of each and every existing law.

ADDED: Considering a Bill of Attainder, an implied reciprocal meaning shall be applied. No law shall be passed that specifically excludes a single person or group, including Congress.

(my thoughts. Congress has a tendency to exclude itself from legislation [sexual harassment laws come to mind] and is essentially putting itself above the law)

ADDED: Each new bill shall require a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority empowering Congress to enact said law. Any bill put forth which places any restriction whatsoever on the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights requires a two-thirds majority vote for passage.

(my thoughts: I think this one is pretty self explanatory. Restrictions that come to mind are fairness doctrine, McCain-Feingold, AWB)

ADDED: All new laws henceforth will have an automatic expiration date assigned of no more than 5 years. Existing laws will have an expiration assigned of no more than 20 years and are subject to review the same year digit/odd or even decade in which they were enacted[note]. The year in which a given law is to expire, Congress may vote to keep the law as previously written (intact), modify the law and put forth as a new bill (redress), or simply allow the law to expire with no action. Intact legislation must pass with a 60-vote majority and is subject to expiration in 10 years. Any redress legislation, even if previously intact legislation, is subject to expiration in 5 years.

(my thoughts: if a law is truly a good one, then obtaining 60 votes shouldn’t be too difficult. Also, keeping Congress busy fine-tuning our laws is probably a lot better than them constantly over-reaching and knee jerking. They wouldn’t have time to take up new legislation unless they felt it was really important. I believe it would also quell a lot of the divisiveness if they have to work together a little better to attain 60 votes to keep something around.)

NOTE: i.e., current year 2010; law enacted 1954 (odd decade, year digit is 4), subject to review 2014; law enacted 1967 (even decade, year digit is 7), subject to review 2027.I'm sure there's a better way to explain but that's what came to mind.

No member of Congress shall serve more than two (2) consecutive terms, and shall serve no more than five (5) terms in their lifetime. CHANGED: No member of Congress shall server more than 30 years or beyond age 72. Members of Congress shall receive the same retirement pay[note] and benefit entitlements afforded to military personnel.

(my thoughts: I used to be for term limits but think we limit our ability to persuade our representatives if instituted. If it’s good enough for the military, it certainly should be good enough for Congress)

NOTE: 50% pay for 20 years federal service + 2.5% for each additional year

ADDED: As representatives of the states and citizens thereof, all votes cast by members of Congress shall be congruent with the laws and constitution of the state they represent. Any proposed vote not congruent with a state’s legal authority requires approval of either the state’s legislature (simple majority) and governor or two-thirds majority of the state’s legislature.

(my thoughts: how well is a representative doing his/her job if they vote to nullify your state’s laws?)

ADDED: As representatives of the states and citizens thereof, any candidate for these positions are prohibited from accepting campaign contributions from any person or entity that can not legally cast a vote for that candidate.

(my thoughts: why should a candidate be able to accept a contribution from someone who they won’t represent? IMHO, this isn’t a violation of free speech because a person wishing to make a contribution is not prevented from doing so to the candidate who will represent them. Also, why should an entity [business, union, etc] be able to contribute when it can’t vote as an entity? )

[nitrogen]

I think you got something here, this "somewhat liberal" guy likes all of these, too.

[longtooth]

raccol,
You are right. One of the problems w/ bing simple country boy (59) is that all of the above that you so exactly articulated (now I have used all the big words I know) we take for granted & dont know how the politicians will twist & spin everything.

First thing I remember the Elite Rulers that know best exempting themselves from was Social Security. Only way they could get it passed so they could steal it.

[raccol]

This expiration date on laws is my biggie. This would be another form of checks and balances and hopefully keeps the government from getting too large and intrusive. I don’t believe the framers intended for laws to be permanent. They provided a means of permanency by allowing us to amend the Constitution.

[Purplehood]

I think the original post completely overlooks what this country represents.

What it is saying is that if any member of Congress votes against something that the majority of this particular board/website supports, than that particular member should be submitted to special indignities in order to support their own vote.

Isn't this the "tyranny of the minority" that so many conservatives complain about?

[Abraham]

Are these the indignities you address?:

1.Term limits
2. No exemptions from laws all plebeians must observe - NONE/ZERO (down to ignoring the "do not call" list exemption they now enjoy when running for office)
3. Common sense requirements be proven before any new law can be enacted
4. No special Privilege i.e., no sweetheart medical coverage unavailable to the hoi polloi or voting themselves pay raises whenever whim or fancy strike them or getting away with blatant hypocrisy that sticks it into the eye of the public i.e., anti guns for the responsible members of the public, but like Rosy O'Donnel, have armed security...yeah, that kind of hypocrisy.

Congress is not our aristocracy as much as they act it - they can be voted out.

(of course they've set up their "retirement" so they have to serve but a fraction in time to qualify for money and health care the envy of any pasha - Totally unavailable to the tax payers who fund this ludicrous arrangement equal to slapstick comedy without the laughs...)

[Purplehood]

Are these the indignities you address?:

1.Term limits
2. No exemptions from laws all plebeians must observe - NONE/ZERO (down to ignoring the "do not call" list exemption they now enjoy when running for office)
3. Common sense requirements be proven before any new law can be enacted
4. No special Privilege i.e., no sweetheart medical coverage unavailable to the hoi polloi or voting themselves pay raises whenever whim or fancy strike them or getting away with blatant hypocrisy that sticks it into the eye of the public i.e., anti guns for the responsible members of the public, but like Rosy O'Donnel, have armed security...yeah, that kind of hypocrisy.

Congress is not our aristocracy as much as they act it - they can be voted out.

(of course they've set up their "retirement" so they have to serve but a fraction in time to qualify for money and health care the envy of any pasha - Totally unavailable to the tax payers who fund this ludicrous arrangement equal to slapstick comedy without the laughs...)

These are all great if they are applied equally. The original post seemed to support specific ideological stands, which is not what our country is about.

[raccol]

The original post seemed to support specific ideological stands, which is not what our country is about.

Which part specifically?

[Trinitite]

It sounds good but has no weight unless we back it up like they did 233 years ago.

[nitrogen]

The original post seemed to support specific ideological stands, which is not what our country is about.

Which part specifically?

This part, for one:
Any member of Congress voting to disarm or effectively disarm American citizens shall immediately, upon record of such vote, forfeit their right to arm themselves, afford themselves armed security, or armed response to monitored alarm systems at their private residence, place of occupation, or place of business. This shall include "sporting" or "hunting" firearms.

Any member of Congress voting in favor of energy usage restrictions shall submit, upon record of such vote, their personal utility records, in their entirety, for the preceding six (6) years. Records shall include residences, and any business owned in whole or in part by such representative.

[raccol]

It sounds good but has no weight unless we back it up like they did 233 years ago.

If you don't have a goal in mind, then there's nothing to work toward. It's not like it could all take effect at once, but a couple on the list implemented here and there would make great strides at restraining the federal gov't.