Dear Sir/Ma’am,
I am a retired US Air Force Master Sergeant, now very concerned citizen. First, allow me thank you for your time and consideration. I am sending this to the governor and members of the legislature of each and every state regardless of party affiliation. I believe that facts are facts so your particular party affiliation is irrelevant. I know you all are being pulled a thousand different directions. I would submit to you that much of what you are dealing with are results and they lead back to a single cause.
The federal government has grown too large to be efficient in any sense of the word. It has taken on tasks that are simply beyond its ability to accomplish. Anyone who has read the constitution and accompanying documents (Federalist papers, Jefferson papers etc) know that it was never supposed to be this way. The founding fathers recognized that too large of a central government is a recipe for disaster. The majority of the authority (and responsibility) was always meant stay within the state.
I won’t go through the rather large list of federal failures; we all know what they are. Nor will I try to inject my views of how they should be addressed. My intent here is to get you to pull back and take a look at the overall problem. Then consider taking the very bold steps necessary to restore things back to what was always intended, giving your state, your citizens, and our country a chance to thrive again.
There is no specific answer to any of the problems we all now face. That is because the US is too geographically large and economically diverse. For example: The federal minimum wage was just increased from $6.55 to $7.25. Here in rural Idaho that was a significant event but in places like New York City the amount is completely insignificant to their cost of living. The real issue is whether it should ever have been addressed at the federal level. As the federal action was obviously not a benefit to all, I would submit that this issue would have been better dealt with by the states to their individual circumstances. The more locally any problem is addressed the better, both in terms of fixing the problem and in keeping the cost down. If the problem is shifted to encompass too many then all that can be done is to try and find some “middle” and apply it to all. This the equivalent of placing a person with one foot on a stove burner and the other on a block of ice and telling him that the average temperature is 75 degrees you should be comfortable. The result is to spend a lot of money and the problem (while addressed) has not been fixed. This has been done over and over again (11 trillion in debt and rising).
The answers lay in each of us doing what we can do efficiently. Citizens can produce. We can add value to resources. Americans have proven to be the best the world has ever seen at doing that. Local governments can address local concerns. States can address issues that affect their state as a whole. The federal government should only do things that benefit all 50 states. If an action helps one state at the expense of another then that problem is best left to the two individual states. The very few items that are left should be deferred to the federal level. These issues include national defense, international trade agreements, etc. That list was always meant to be very short.
Government needs to keep in mind what they are. They are overhead on the country. Government at any level does not produce nor do they add value to any resource. Anyone that has operated a business knows that when overhead gets much over 25% then their business suffers, if it gets too high their business fails. Your business individually is your state, but collectively is the country. Your business is suffering (11 trillion in debt) and in danger of failing!
First you have to take back the authority that was always rightfully yours. That means you have to work together. It will take 2/3 of the 50 state legislatures to agree that this needs to be done, and a majority to agree on how to specifically accomplish it. You can legally force the federal government to your will with the use of a Constitutional Convention (http://www.usconstitution.net/constam.html). I realize this has never been done, but if you proceed with clarity of thought, and use the power the constitution afforded you it can be accomplished. The hard part here is to not let party affiliation get in the way. Keep to what needs to be done. You will have a hard enough time getting your authority back without letting issues that don’t belong get in the way. Yes I realize that the federal government is going try and stop you. It is just human nature, they have power, and they won’t want to give it up. Keep in mind their power is largely illegitimate (violating the 10th amendment) and detrimental to the future of your state.
The answer is simple, follow the money. The power comes from the money taken from your citizens. If you take back that money, you can used it to address your state’s issues and at the same time diminish the federal government’s power to blackmail your state and its citizens. The 16th amendment is where the critical shift in power and the demise of the 10th amendment took place. It allowed the federal government to go around the state and take resources directly from your citizens. Whether you are democrat or republican you surely have dealt with blackmail from the federal government in the form of “do this or funds for roads or schools etc will be withheld”. Didn’t the irony of the federal government blackmailing you with funds taken from your citizens and businesses ever strike you as just wrong?
Your goal should be two fold. Restore your authority and reduce the cost on those that produce to a maximum of 25% of the Gross National Product (GNP). That is 25% total. Not 25% income tax, plus sales tax, plus Social Security, plus Medicare, plus Medicaid, plus property tax, plus inventory tax, plus fuel tax, plus liquor tax, etceteras too numerous to list and mind numbing.
By rewriting the 16th amendment to the constitution the proper state vs. federal relationship can be restored (I didn’t say this would be easy). All money generated through any form of taxation in your state should come through your state. Citizens or businesses of your state should not be taxed directly by the federal government in any form. That way the federal government has to come to you for funding and can’t go around you to extort your citizens nor will they have the resources to extort you. Eliminate the government’s creative side in taxation by limiting the percentage of the GNP allowed to be collected from all sources combined. The point of attaching the limits to the GNP is two fold. First it shuts down creative taxation to get around the rules and second it encourages government at all levels to take actions that result in an increase of the GNP thereby increasing the number of dollars they receive.
Be fair and realistic. The federal government can’t do the things it should unless properly funded. For example: 10% federal, 15% state. The state may then relinquish part of its tax base to more local entities such as county and city. For most states that would probably be an increase, but states will be taking back more responsibility along with that authority so realignment is in order. The numbers may dictate even a greater shift. Remember keep state issues in the states hands. Only allow the federal government the funds required the do the things required and that are beneficial to all.
Last, but certainly not least, force all levels of government to live within the limits set by the allowed taxes collected as determined by the GNP. The only exception to that should be in time of formally declared war. Then a set limit of increase should be allowed with automatic reversal to the previous limits.
By now some of you are probably running some quick numbers in your head and saying to yourself “We can’t do what we need to do with those limits”.
Before disregarding this as unworkable (or worse) consider these few things. This federal government survived without any direct revenue stream from the citizens all the way up to 1913 (when the 16th amendment was ratified). We paid off a $1 trillion war debt after WWII in 8 years with a 3% tax rate. That is a 3% federal tax rate total, the normal functions of the federal government came out of that 3% as well. The number and complexity of bureaucracies will be greatly reduced. IRS can be reduced to dealing with 50 states period. If the total amount allowed to be collected is limited by the GNP there is no advantage to having a complex tax system. All of the efforts that are now expended figuring out how to get more out of fewer can be expended figuring out ways to grow the GNP. If government knows that they can only have so much and there is no way to keep reaching deeper into peoples pockets they will spend those resources more wisely. If the issues confronting us are dealt with at the lowest possible level the corrective action has a much greater chance of being on target and cost effective. This would automatically reduce waste and fraud tremendously.
There is also the dirty little secret no one wants to talk about, a large and growing underground economy. The harder government tries to pull dollars from citizens the harder they try to avoid that. It doesn’t matter that you don’t like it. It is a simple fact. The people’s first priority will be to provide for themselves and their family. When taxes get too high and/or are perceived as being unfair they will go to great lengths to not pay them. How much money do you think that is costing you now and how much can that amount grow? If either of us knew, I think we would both be shocked. The current system of taxation is complex and keeps changing on a yearly basis creating distrust. The people should be able understand the tax system and judge it fair. The people should know that when things go bad for them, resulting in lower GNP, then things will also go bad for the government in lower revenues. That would create a sense that we are truly in this together and that results in trust. They would know that the government at all levels is doing its best to grow the GNP as that is where their revenues come from. If the citizens knew that they were responsible for 25% of the GNP this year next year and it was written in constitutional stone. The tendency to dodge around trying to avoid the next tax change would be diminished. The result is more tax dollars for you. None of that underground commerce is currently showing up on the GNP or any tax rolls.
These strict limits may seem harsh and unnecessary. Unfortunately, that is apparently not so. This real example will illustrate better than any explanation the necessity of firm taxation limits. Our county is in need of a new school. No one denies that. This county has 3000 tax payers. The average income is $29,500. The average value of a house here is $97,500. The local school board has asked for a bond for a school which will serve less than 1000 students. The cost…. $30,000,000!! That bears repeating $30 million. That is $100,000 of debt for every tax payer. You just don’t have to be a financial genius to figure out that number does not work. Apparently they have simple math deficiencies (odd for educators) because they have tried to pass this bond 4 times and the number never gets smaller. They just don’t seem to see that if the people of this county could afford an additional $100,000 of debt each they might buy a nicer house.
I’ve heard it said that the average intelligence of a group is lower than its least intelligent member. I don’t know if that is the problem or if people just lose perspective when they spend other people’s money. Either way the above example clearly illiterates the need for iron clad limits on taxation. The other end is equally important. The government must have iron clad limits in spending so we (as a state or nation) cannot be buried in debt from that end either.
Lastly, why you? You are the only people that can. We as citizens can complain and whine or in the end I guess we could physically rebel. That would have to be a last resort and one no one wants to see. You, as state legislators, have the legal authority to make the changes necessary. Of course it will not be easy. Worthwhile efforts are rarely easy. The stakes for your state and the nation could not possibly be higher.
Now is the perfect time to effect change. People are normally reluctant to change and no one wants to change anything when things are going good. Right now we as a nation are a financial wreck. You have a unique point in history to correct the failures of our fathers that have led us on a path to national destruction and put us back the path that led us to world economic dominance. Your action or lack thereof will determine our future as a nation. I can only hope that your conscience will not allow you to pass up this opportunity.
Respectfully,
Sidney D Cook
"I do give my permission for reproduction and dissemination in any form and manner. While I did remove my email and home address from this copy (not sure I want that info just generally given out). I did leave my name, I'm not ashamed to be attached to that text. It can be kept or deleted. Credit to me as the author is neither required or prohibited. TC Sid"
