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1xthe United States Constitution11 PDF
1xthe United States Constitution11 PDF
Table of Contents
Preface ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
The United States Constitution................................................................................................................. 5
Preamble ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Article I (The Legislative Branch)........................................................................................................ 5
Section 1 (Exclusive Authority) ........................................................................................................ 5
Section 2 (The House of Representatives) ........................................................................................ 5
Section 3 (The Senate) ...................................................................................................................... 7
Section 4 (Meeting Times and Places) ............................................................................................. 8
Section 5 (Internal Rules)................................................................................................................. 8
Section 6 (Pay, Conflict of Interest) ................................................................................................. 9
Section 7 (Bicameral Rules) ............................................................................................................. 9
Section 8 (Legislative Authority) .................................................................................................... 10
Section 9 (Enumerated Limitations)............................................................................................... 13
Section 10 (State Limitations) ........................................................................................................ 14
Article II (The Executive Branch)....................................................................................................... 16
Section 1 (Exclusive Authority, Term and Election) ...................................................................... 16
Section 2 (Executive Authority) ...................................................................................................... 17
Section 3 (Enforce the Laws).......................................................................................................... 18
Section 4 (Removal From Office) ................................................................................................... 18
Article III (The Judicial Branch)........................................................................................................ 19
Section 1 (Exclusive Authority) ...................................................................................................... 19
Section 2 (Judicial Power) ............................................................................................................. 19
Section 3 (Treason)......................................................................................................................... 19
Article IV (States)............................................................................................................................... 21
Section 1 (Uniform Applicability) .................................................................................................. 21
Section 2 (Citizen Rights) ............................................................................................................... 21
Section 3 (Jurisdiction and Statehood)........................................................................................... 21
Section 4 (Republican Government)............................................................................................... 22
Article V (Amendment Process) ......................................................................................................... 23
Article VI (Legal Binding).................................................................................................................. 23
Article VII (Ratification) .................................................................................................................... 23
The Amendments.................................................................................................................................... 24
Amendment I (Authority Denied)....................................................................................................... 24
Amendment II (Citizen Militia) .......................................................................................................... 25
Amendment III (Military Occupation) ............................................................................................... 25
Amendment IV (Security and Privacy) .............................................................................................. 25
Amendment V (Liberty, Process and Property)................................................................................. 26
Amendment VI (Prosecution Rights) ................................................................................................. 26
Amendment VII (Common Law) ........................................................................................................ 27
Amendment VIII (Limited Punishment)............................................................................................. 27
Amendment IX (Enumerated Rights)................................................................................................. 27
Amendment X (Federal Leash).......................................................................................................... 28
Amendment XI (Limited Jurisdiction) ............................................................................................... 29
Amendment XII (Electors) ................................................................................................................. 29
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Amendment XIII (Slavery Prohibited)............................................................................................... 29
Amendment XIV (Reconstruction)..................................................................................................... 30
Amendment XV (All Citizens May Vote) ........................................................................................... 31
Amendment XVI (Income Tax) .......................................................................................................... 31
Amendment XVII (Election of Senators) ........................................................................................... 31
Amendment XVIII (Prohibition)........................................................................................................ 32
Amendment XIX (Women Are Citizens Too)..................................................................................... 32
Amendment XX (Presidential Details) .............................................................................................. 32
Amendment XXI (Power to Prohibit Repealed) ................................................................................ 33
Amendment XXII (Presidential Term Limits) ................................................................................... 33
Amendment XXIII (D.C. Gets Representation in D.C.) .................................................................... 34
Amendment XXIV (Poll Tax) ............................................................................................................ 34
Amendment XXV (Presidential Succession) ..................................................................................... 34
Amendment XXVI (Teen Vote).......................................................................................................... 35
Amendment XXVII (Congressional Pay) .......................................................................................... 35
"...a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them
otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the
mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to
close the circle of our felicities." – Thomas Jefferson
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Preface
On the following pages is the complete, current United States Constitution, with comments that I hope
you’ll find useful.
From citizens’ perspective, this constitution is a one-sided political covenant, since citizens don’t get
to “sign” it (I think that's a shame). But from the States’ perspective, after ratification by State
officers, it’s the law of laws, “…the supreme Law of the Land” (Article VI:2), that limits the authority
and scope of a federal government to only what’s written herein (clarified by Amendment X). As
affirmed in its breech by both Madison and Jefferson through their Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions,
our federal government’s legitimacy - and existence - depends upon keeping the terms of this social
contract (called a “compact” in the resolutions).
You ought to read the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions; they’re a little wordy and florid, but they
sternly declare the constitutions’ true purpose, and practical effect. The main point is that any federal
establishment, agent, tax or action existing outside the authority granted in this covenant is legally null
and void; no more valid than if I’d decreed it in PJ’s from my Lazy Boy.
Keep in mind that constitutions govern politicians, not you. But over the past generations we’ve
allowed politicians to stray ever more, and ever faster, from their legal boundaries. So you’ll be hard-
pressed to see any resemblance between our dying New Deal, and what this Fair Deal demands.
Our ancestors knew that politics is inherently violent. Nothing related to “government” happens
without at least the threat of violence. The IRS doesn’t pass the hat and say “please;” and you could
get killed if you resist an arrest for so much as a seat belt violation. Practically every political action
hurts somebody. Don’t forget this. It is the reason we have constitutions …and make politicians
swear to obey them.
Politicians tend to break laws that protect you from them. This makes the laws that protect them from
you null and void; but before you think any violent thoughts, remember that about 97% of us have
repetitiously chosen this ungoverned government throughout (mostly) the past hundred years.
Andy Horning
Freedom, IN
January, 2011
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Through the following pages all my comments are in italics. They’ll be in a box like this one, or
(added subtitles are in parentheses).
Everything else is the constitution itself. I can’t rule out typos; but I also didn’t attempt to correct
archaic spellings like “chusing,” or the punctuation and capitalization that seem odd today. I’ve done
my best to present the law as written and signed into law.
One more thing before we start ...just a little history: In 1787 there were some, like A. Hamilton, that
argued that the government operating under the Articles of Confederation was too weak (hmmm...this
is a common excuse for power grabs1), and that, for our survival, we needed a strong central
government. Not everybody agreed. The colony had whupped the global superpower under near-
anarchy, after all. So state delegates were authorized to only amend the Articles.
1. Under the Articles, states had to unanimously agree to any amendments. That was horribly unlikely.
2. There was a conspiracy afoot. In fact, it was to be a power grab, from the State perspective. There
were basically three opposing factions (royalists, federalists and anti-federalists), and the arguments
became pretty fierce. Royalists were many, some federalists were smart, and the anti-federalists were
…well, they turned out to be exactly right. It’s a shame they didn’t win.
But the resulting compromises, and social contract, turned out better than anybody could've expected.
Better, indeed, than any national charter before ...or since.
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“Was it not necessity which had always been the plea of every evil exertion of power, or excessive oppression? Was not
necessity the pretense of every usurpation? Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.”—William Pitt, Speech in the House of Commons, November 18, 1783
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The United States Constitution
Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the
Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
This is crucial. “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a…” means that no other
federal entity has any power to make law. IRS “regulations” aren’t law. Executive Orders are not
law. Judicial rulings/judgments aren’t law (really!).
This one sentence nullifies a huge percentage of our federal government, its actions and powers.
Executive bureaucracies like the FDA, IRS, EPA, individuals like the President or a judge, and private
corporations with governing power like the “Federal Reserve” illegally make “regulations,”
Executive Orders or rulings with effect of law, and actions that seize property and make policy.
This section leaves many details to the states regarding the selection of federal reps. It does specify
popular elections (chosen … by the People), but we typically ignore this mention of “Electors,” which
in Article II (President’s election by electors) comprise the so-called “Electoral College.” Are
Electors voters in this context? This same wording resurfaced in Amendment 17.
I don’t understand, but I confess I’ve never researched it. After all, the bigger problem is that we
ignore the whole constitution! But if anyone knows more about the story behind “Electors” versus
“the People” as it relates to legislators, please let me know.
2: No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years,
and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant
of that State in which he shall be chosen.
3: Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by
adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years,
and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
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The phrase “…three fifths of all other Persons” is almost always totally misunderstood. It was an
attempt to reduce the disproportionate power of southern states by discounting slaves for the
apportionment of US House reps. To be fairer, slaves shouldn’t have been counted at all.
I point this out mostly because we’re violating this principle of citizen representation today! Our
census counted everybody in the USA, including illegal alien, so states with more illegal aliens have
gained disproportionate power in Congress. States that have controlled their illegal alien population
have been, in effect, penalized.
Of course, since illegal aliens are also encouraged vote illegally (don’t even try to tell me this doesn’t
happen…I’ve seen it!), I suppose my point is muddied a bit…
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the
United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law
direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State
shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New
Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one,
Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
Above is the mandate for a decennial census. It’s for only the apportionment of representatives.
A case could be made that the founders would consider us under-represented today – averaging only
one rep for ~717,110 people! There wasn't a very good reason to lock in the number of reps a hundred
years ago; and with fewer reps, I believe the monied mighty have disproportionate power. At least
with more reps, it'd cost more to buy them all. And maybe reps wouldn't be such celebrity/lifetime
royalty icons if the districts were smaller, with less power each.
Who knows; with 5000 reps maybe we'd save enough money that the extra paychecks and a new
meeting place for them would seem like a bargain... Hmmm...
4: When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall
issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
5: The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole
Power of Impeachment.
#5 does grant a lot of leeway in the devising of rules and powers within the House of Reps. In fact you
should notice that, unlike the following rules for the Senate, it’s not unequivocal that each
representative may have only one vote!
But nowhere in this constitution will you find any authority to grant power to anything other than
human beings. This is constitutionally very important, in that political parties are non-constitutional
entities (not forbidden, but not authorized in any way) that have, in effect, constitutional powers
(minority/majority) as if they were specially authorized people.
The wiser founders warned us about political parties! In fact in George Washington's 1796 Farewell
Address he said,
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“...I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the
founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and
warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.
...The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to
party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is
itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The
disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in
the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able
or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on
the ruins of Public Liberty.
...The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and
duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.”
Federal Senators were to be directly chosen by state legislators until the 17th Amendment. There were
very good reasons for this, I think.
Most voters obviously disagree with me that the 17th Amendment (popular election of senators)
destroyed states’ rights, and the whole point of a bicameral house. I’m agnostic about the Electoral
College versus purely popular elections for Presidents (perhaps sour grapes over my experiences with
elections), but to have all politicians chosen in the same populist way by the same bored, uniformed/
disinformed and discouraged voters within the same elections is, I think demonstrably, a bad idea.
But the 17th amendment also reincarnated the odd wording about Electors as in Section 2.
2: 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; and
if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State,
the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature,
which shall then fill such Vacancies.
3: No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine
Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for
which he shall be chosen.
4: The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote,
unless they be equally divided.
5: The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the
Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
6: The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they
shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice
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shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members
present.
7: Judgment in Cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and
disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the
Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment,
according to Law.
The procedural details were given attention here because our founders assumed that impeachment
would be an important occasional cleansing, and the details reflect their intentions of division and
separation of powers, and firm limitation of same. Sadly, we’ve pushed all that aside. …Sigh…
Here’s proof that our government had gone stupid by the time of Amendment XX. They didn’t have to
go through amendment to change meeting days; they could have simply written legislation. It says so
here. But they went through the trouble of amendment …and to the amendment added, “…unless they
shall by law appoint a different day.” …What were they thinking?
The self-policing powers have obviously proved to be next to worthless (would your boss let you show
up the equivalent of less than 1 day a week? Could you get away with skimming money and taking
lavish trips on the company card? Could you use company stationary to apply for other jobs, or to
solicit personal donations? I didn’t think so). But if voters don’t mind, who am I to complain?
3: Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same,
excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members
of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the
Journal.
4: Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for
more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
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Section 6 (Pay, Conflict of Interest)
1: The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained
by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason,
Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of
their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
2: No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any
civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the
Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office
under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
This is a terrible problem in Indiana’s part-time legislature, where teachers, police and lawyers,
keeping their other jobs while also in political authority roles, are taxpayer-supported, yet have unfair
power over the domain of their career.
But at the federal level, the perky pay and benefits, combined with distance and the unlikelihood of
even wanting the second job, make this a lesser problem. However, the revolving door between
government office, and banks or other high-politics businesses, demonstrates that the founders didn’t
close all the loopholes in their quest to leash the double-dipping, two-faced sharks among us.
Pay close attention to the following section. It delimits the authority of Congress. If it isn’t written in
plain English here, it’s forbidden:
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Section 8 (Legislative Authority)
1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the
Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties,
Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
The above “general Welfare” is where there’s trouble (not from the same phrase in the Preamble).
This really does authorize Congress to “provide for the…general Welfare of the United States.” I
won’t lie; this wording is problematic for those who’d argue that “welfare programs” are entirely,
inherently unconstitutional. You have to read elsewhere in this constitution to see that politicians
can’t rob us for just any “common good.” The phrase proved troublesome from the start:
James Madison said: “With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as
qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense
would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not
contemplated by its creators.”
But the greatest limitation of this phrase is in federalism itself. The federal government has no
authority at all over citizens’ daily life; the phrase “…of the United States” is key.
The federal government’s jurisdiction is over the union as defined throughout this contract. The only
power the feds have over individuals is in its authority to tax, to punish violation of federal crimes (of
which there are only five!), or over what happens in federal lands or international waters.
One early, seemingly benign stretch of this jurisdiction was the 1798 law, “An Act for the Relief of Sick
and Disabled Seamen” which initially applied to only those operating on the open seas (outside of
state jurisdiction/ in federal jurisdiction). It started as (deep breath) a mandatory health-insurance
scheme (!), but it eventually dropped into the general budget. It was, in fact, socialized healthcare!
And it grew, as all government things do, into what is now the Public Health Service.
Yes, a national debt is constitutional! But for what? Aye, there’s the rub… Most of what is spent is
unconstitutional. Read on…
3: To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian
Tribes;
There’s no doubt from the wording here that the federal government has jurisdiction over trade
between states – but certainly not within states. The feds have no authority over any commerce that
takes place entirely within a state. So goods made in Indiana and sold in Indiana are constitutionally
free of any federal regulation at all.
Amendment XVIII changed this; alcohol was a prohibited product in every state by legitimate,
constitutionally authorized federal law. But the amendment was repealed, and nothing similar has
replaced it. This “commerce clause” has been stretched so far beyond what’s legitimate that the
violations and usurpations are now absurd.
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4: To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
OK, so “an uniform Rule of Naturalization” has been established, though it’s not enforced. But where
in this contract do you see any federal authority to usurp States’ internal rights and laws regarding
borders, citizenship and state-funded privileges? Read the Indiana Constitution (or, for another take
on current events, the constitutions of Arizona or Texas) and you’ll see just how much voters have
allowed the feds to fib, and fail us, in a very key responsibility.
5: To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights
and Measures;
Here, ironically, the feds do not exert the full measure of their authority. They’ve left certain key
issues of weights and measures (like time zones) up to the states, or private industry (which has largely
gone metric). Much worse, however, they’ve delegated away their power over money (now just paper
coupons) to private, and often foreign, banker/ moneychangers.
It’s worth repeating Thomas Jefferson’s warning: “The central bank is an institution of the most
deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an Enemy to all
banks discounting bills or notes for anything but Coin. If the American People allow private banks to
control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and
corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their
Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered.”
President James Garfield warned us just two weeks before he was shot: “Whoever controls the volume
of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce…and when you realize that
the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you
will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.”
6: To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
OK, here’s one federal crime that applies to citizens; counterfeiting. But it should apply to the Fed...
Notice that only “post Roads” are authorized. All other roads, canals (and starting in the 1820’s,
railways), were in private or state jurisdictions. Indiana, for example, went broke with canal building,
though it was forbidden by the Indiana Constitution of 1816.
I wish people knew the true history of private roads and railways – the best quality, lowest cost, fastest
innovation occurred in private hands. That this made some people rich wasn’t actually a problem.
8: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and
Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
9: To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
10: To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the
Law of Nations;
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Above is a citizen’s federal crime #2 through 4; piracy, felony, and offense against the Law of Nations.
It’s debatable what “Felonies committed on the high Seas” entails because we’ve greatly stretched the
meaning of “felony” since the Prohibition Era. But note that it doesn’t grant authority over felonies
on land, which would be under other jurisdictions (e.g., States). At the time it was written, the
“Felonies” clause meant serious crimes (crimes violate actual victims; offenses violate only laws)
committed at sea. Presumably, we should amend this to include the air space above the high seas
today – perhaps it’d still be rash to add deep space. But the clause does not even imply power over
fishing practices or safe boating rules. Such authority could exist only by amendment.
“Offences against the Law of Nations” is very abstract and hopelessly wide-open. The theory behind
the law of nations (jus gentium) is a lofty presumption that all sovereign states can share a basis of
civility according to treaties, customs and general principles of justice. But this theoretical sketch of
a hazy outline creates an opening by which nefarious foreigners (or, for the past 90 years, apparently,
American leaders) can twist our laws against us. I wish it weren’t in our constitution at all.
11: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on
Land and Water;
This is a pretty big deal. We’ve not had a year’s peace since the War to End All Wars, but there’s not
been a constitutionally declared war since WWII! This makes laws related to war moot; hence so
many legal issues related to Blackwater, Guantanamo Bay, “terrorism,” etc.
The so-called “War on Terror” could have been handled through Letters of Marque and Reprisal
against specific people/groups (whether even that is sensible is another subject), since no official
government can been named an enemy lately. But Congress dodged its responsibility and gave it to
the President. That’s illegal. And illegal war is...what, exactly?
12: To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term
than two Years;
15: To provide for calling forth the Militia2 to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections
and repel Invasions;
16: To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of
them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the
2
“…What is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few public officials.” – George Mason
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Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress;
No amendment changed what you read above. Whether you like it or not, it’s still law that militias are
State forces. When no properly declared state of war exists, the Indiana Militia (just for example) is
under their state Commander in Chief – the Governor of Indiana! (Art. 12, sec. 2 of the Indiana
Constitution…even after the 1974 amendments!) Only when – and for only as long as – Congress calls
forth the militias are they “federal” armed forces.
The “Militia Act of 1903,” or the so-called “Dick Act” should've been annulled long ago, as it was a
totally anti-constitutional establishment of a permanent, transnational war machine.
17: To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten
Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the
Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased
by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts,
Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And
18: To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing
Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in
any Department or Officer thereof.
This created Washington, D.C., and provided the authority to make law pertaining to its buildings and
such. This authority doesn’t exist over any other square inch in any State.
We should strike the last phrase from the above. When Habeas Corpus was suspended it was a painful
travesty that did no good at all.
A “Bill of Attainder” is legislation that specifically calls out an individual or group as, literally,
tainted; and essentially judges and punishes without a trial. This was mostly written to reinforce the
separation of powers; legislators are herewith prevented judicial/executive powers. Most obvious
violations of this principle were not actually committed by Congress. It’s been Executive and
bureaucratic actions (like the FBI/FDR’s 1939 Custodial Detention Index that was used for the
internment of Japanese, Italian and German citizens) that’ve been the worst violations.
But as with England’s “bills of pains and penalties,” which included special taxation/fees that could
be applied to disfavored groups like churches or sects, our corporate laws (many written for/against
specific corporations/ unions/ churches) and tax rates are legislative branch violations.
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An ex post facto law is a retroactive law. Some argue that some laws and practices like“three strikes”
or certain sex-offender laws violate this. Many tax laws and regulations have retroactive implications.
4: No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration
herein before directed to be taken.
Amendment XVI killed off this reasonable limitation and instituted, instead, our genuinely evil and
destructive income tax.
This one’s been stretched and pulled like toffee. I won’t here describe the laundering between “The
Fed” and the Treasury, but you should educate yourself on the workings of those moneychangers in
the temple we call the Federal Reserve System. And what happens with “security” and
(euphemistically) “intelligence” spending is appalling.
8: No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of
Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present,
Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
You know, this includes titles like “The Honorable…” and “Esquire.” If we were to clean out our
titled nobility, there’d be only beggars and museum curators left in DC.
Pay close attention to the following section, as it encompasses the limitations placed on states within
the union. No other limitations on citizens/states exist other than what’s constitutionally delegated to
the federal authority, and denied state authority in the following section.
The seeming opposition of, “No State shall …coin Money;” and, “… make any Thing but gold and
silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts” is confusing unless you consider the Indiana Constitution
as well. There was a tug of war going on here between the Hamiltonian central
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bankster/moneychangers and the sound money proponents like Jefferson, et al. The short answer is
that sound money won at both state and federal levels, but the language was muddied by the conflict.
This is an academic point, however, since we have no longer have constitutional money at all. The
constitution’s dead; the question is, really, whether we want it back.
2: No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or
Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net
Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the
Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the
Congress.
3: No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of
War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign
Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of
delay.
Governors and Secys of State are always traveling these days to enter “Agreement or Compact with
another State, or with a foreign Power.” But otherwise, the states have stayed limited as described
above. Worse, though, is that illegal alien invasion (to an astounding scale) happens without any state
action, which is clearly in their jurisdiction.
15
Article II (The Executive Branch)
Section 1 (Exclusive Authority, Term and Election)
1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold
his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same
Term, be elected, as follows
Section 1 of the first three Articles makes plain the separation and exclusivity of powers. Only
legislators may legislate. Only executives may execute. Only judges may judge.
2: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of
Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be
entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or
Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
3: The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one
at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all
the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and
transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number
of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors
appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes,
then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if
no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner
chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the
Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member
or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a
Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of
Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
We never elected a President this way. Amendment XII doesn’t legitimize how we elect Presidents
today. We probably should fix this…after electing better politicians, of course.
4: The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall
give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
5: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be
eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen
Years a Resident within the United States.
C’mon, “birthers,” the preceding is among the least significant sentences in this whole constitution. If
you really care for the constitution, you’ve got much better ammo to use against its enemies than this…
6: In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to
discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and
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the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of
the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer
shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
7: The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be
encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not
receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
8: Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--“I
do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,
and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The preceding oath/affirmation is at least equivalent to signing the contract. The greater the power,
the greater the responsibility…and the USA President is absolutely accountable to the enforcement of
the USA Constitution, as written.
Do not glide by this: “The President shall be Commander in Chief … when called into the actual
Service of the United States.” Do you see the significance of “…when called into the actual
Service…?” Here, again, it is clear that he’s the CIC only under a constitutional declaration of war.
Again, that hasn’t happened since WWII!
2: He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided
two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and
Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the
supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the
Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of
Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
Just because the President can appoint “other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are
not herein otherwise provided for” does not mean that those officers somehow gain powers that aren’t
provided for in this constitution. In fact, there is no federal authority beyond what’s authored here.
So if you want to legitimize the unconstitutional powers of the EPA, IRS, FBI, etc., etc., et cetera;
you’ll have to amend the constitution!
One scary huge power that, unfortunately, offers an easy path to overthrowing the constitution, is the
power of making treaties . It really is constitutional, though self-destructive, to make treaties that cede
authority to foreigners (see Article VI, Sect.2). It has been done, and it’s being done now.
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3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the
Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Violating the oath of office by violating this critical social contract is more than just a misdemeanor.
I’m not sure why it you couldn’t call it treason. But at the very least, we could remove most politicians
currently in office with this one.
But remember; they’re there because We The People put them there. Our politicians reflect who we
are as citizens. I wish we’d get a lot better.
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Article III (The Judicial Branch)
Section 1 (Exclusive Authority)
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior
Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme
and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive
for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Just a reminder…this authorizes judicial powers only. No legislative or executive powers at all.
Here’s what even the “big government” guy among the founders, Alexander Hamilton said about this
in Federalist #78: “The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse;
no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution
whatever. It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must
ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.”
Amendment XI actually narrows the jurisdiction of the courts from what’s above.
2: In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State
shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before
mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such
Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
3: The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be
held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any
State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section 3 (Treason)
1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to
their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the
Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
OK, treason is the third federal crime by my count that could apply to citizens. I don’t find any others
specifically described, since “Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” would generally fall
under State jurisdiction, or not apply to citizens unless it’s a lesser species of treason against the USA.
Bribery, as mentioned in the constitution, applies to politicians.
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Politicians are accountable to the crimes, “Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors,” and by
my judgment, most politicians are guilty! (I wish we’d quit voting for the guilty ones over and over
and over again!)
2: The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason
shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Did the preceding section on the power of courts seem short to you?
Yeah, it is short. The courts have very little legal power, actually.
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Article IV (States)
Section 1 (Uniform Applicability)
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings
of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such
Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
2: A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice,
and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he
fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
So you can commit treason against a State too? Yes. We should ponder what this means.
3: No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another,
shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour,
but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
Amendment XIII essentially removed the above; but raised another question: What's involuntary
servitude? Isn't an income tax payer, or more extremely, an income tax payer/ child-support-payer,
forfeiting a huge percentage of labor involuntarily? Only a “deadbeat dad” once convicted, is
actually guilty of even a statutory “crime*.” Amendment XIII allows for “Neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime.”
If you don't consider income tax payers involuntarily indentured, then who could be so considered?
The law allows for no threshold percentage. Involuntary servitude is prohibited. By my reading here
and elsewhere in this contract, only sales and property tax could constitutionally payable by citizens.
* At the time of the constitution's signing, a crime required a victim, and was thus much more serious
than a statutory offense.
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What constitutes constitutional “Property belonging to the United States?” This is beyond the scope of
my annotations, but beyond those early acquisitions (Louisiana Purchase, for example) and lands
deeded in trust (typically parklands, and typically deeded in perpetuity), the federal government
shouldn't “own” very much at all.
Of course you understand that “Republican Form of Government” does not mean GOP forever!
Republican means government by proxy, or representatives under the assumption that citizens actually
retain all power, and can recall/ replace proxies at will. It’s a theoretical form, actually; republican
representatives eventually become despots when “the people” lose their wits…as we have done.
Also, when the feds don't protect States against invasion, the states have an already enumerated right
to self-protection (Article I, Sec. 10:3). And please don't confuse our current notions of “domestic
violence” with this “domestic Violence,” which is about insurrection.
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Article V (Amendment Process)
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments
to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall
call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and
Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several
States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be
proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth
Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal
Suffrage in the Senate.
It’s supposed to be hard to amend this contract. It shouldn’t be undertaken thoughtlessly or with poor
punctuation and grammar. Some amendments were both necessary and well-done. …Others? Sigh…
Clauses 2 and 3 are no throwaways. #2 declares the force of the contract. #3 demands that all
constitutional officers promise to obey the constitution!
Well, that's it for the constitution's main body. What follows are the amendments, which are just as
much The Law as the preceding words.
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The Amendments
Many of the constitution's signers thought that a Bill of Rights was unnecessary, since they felt it
obvious that federal government had only the powers specifically granted to it within the text of the US
Constitution.
But perhaps our wisest founder, George Mason, refused to sign the Constitution without such a
declaration of rights (thus angrily ending his friendship with George Washington), and in 1791 (four
years after the Constitutional Convention), a Bill of Rights was grafted onto the Constitution as the
first ten amendments.
Good thing, too, since what was once considered a declaration of minimum freedoms has become a
tattered remnant of our liberties. In reading these you'll see very clearly just how far we’ve fallen.
You can’t pick and choose which freedoms you want; you get them all as written, or you've got only
conditional, and vanishing, privileges. In other words, you don’t have any protection under law when
politicians feel free to break laws!
“Congress shall make no law respecting…” is the operative phrase. Congress is forbidden to write
laws about any of the freedoms listed in this amendment. Congress is the only federal lawmaking
body, so there can be NO federal laws respecting these six (most claim only five) enumerated (see
Amendment IX) freedoms. Without laws, there is nothing for the executive branch to execute, and
nothing for the judicial branch to judge.
This is a total gag order upon any federal authority in matters of religious institutions, religious
practices, speech, press, peaceful assembly, and petitions to the federal government.
There are of course literally thousands of laws, prohibitions, restrictions and provisos to each of these
freedoms. And in embarrassing particular, the freedom of religion has morphed into freedom from
religion; completely the opposite of what was intended and plainly written as law… And ironically,
exactly the opposite of the interpretation the media gives to freedoms #2 and 3 in this amendment (and
separated by only the word, “or“)!
Do you think for a minute that the media would allow any politician to treat reporters like Ten
Commandment displays or Christmas trees; with “a veil of separation between the government and the
press?” Do you think they’d like “Free Press Zones” the way we have “Free Speech Zones?” Do you
think they’d like it if government issued press licenses, made public communication rules and created
restrictive tax laws for the media the way politicians have done to churches, political candidates and
“special interest groups?”
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Amendment II (Citizen Militia)
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep
and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The founders wrote exhaustively on this subject, and there is really no room for equivocation. The
founders wanted us to be at least as heavily armed as the Swiss, and ready to “refresh the Tree of
Liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” They intended that we’d fight tyrannical government
…with the best weapons possible! And the inclusion of “Militia” here underlines the fact that this
amendment was to prohibit the states from limiting citizens' right to arm themselves!
This is not about hunting or target practice. This is the amendment considered for generations as the
one that guarantees the rest.
Most of us can’t fathom that anymore. That’s a criminal shame, because we’re ignoring all the
lessons of human history and human behavior since Cain slew Abel when we get this wrong.
It is historically spooky when a nation that trusts its citizens with the right to vote no longer trusts them
with the power to protect that right.
Consider the facts of US history; particularly in the racist, oppressive origin of gun control laws, and
the number of times the 2nd Amendment served minorities (In 1957, this right saved the NAACP in
Monroe, North Carolina at a key time in the Civil Rights movement ). Consider the frighteningly rapid
militarization and expansion of our civilian-focused armed forces.
Turn around a common phrase you’ve no doubt heard before…”If they aren’t doing anything wrong,
then they have nothing to fear from armed citizens” …right?
Here’s one amendment that I’m not worried about right now. The related issue of eminent domain is a
concern, but that’s addressed in Amendment V.
Amendments 4 and 5 have always been under attack of course. But during the first Prohibition
(between amendments 18 and 21), renegade police tactics became accepted to the point that they now
make for popular hero movies. We apparently like to watch angry, stubble-faced rogue cops with a
dysfunctional family break sissy rules as they break doors and bad guy skulls.
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That’s not good. But the founders weren’t worried about twisted cops so much as renegade rulers. A
thousand “make my day” cops can’t cause the trouble that a single Stalin or Hitler does.
Until fairly recently, people had increasingly begged police to ignore these amendments in order to
catch pot smokers and pimps. But now that politicians are expanding civilian policing power to
campus security guards, or to firemen (who don’t feel the need to get search warrants before they
enter your home), I hope that we are getting wise to what’s at stake, and why we so desperately need to
defend this vital law.
Anybody, including government, who peeks through your stuff, or takes your stuff, or kicks in your
door and drags you out of your home without having a darned good, documented and properly
authorized reason, is a criminal. We should never think otherwise.
Yes, people have been forced to sell their property to a mall developer or sports team. But the “War
on Drugs” had really lifted all inhibitions in this area. You could lose your car or other property if
somebody else commits a drug offense in it! …Without any compensation!
Since 9/11, you can be called a “terrorist,” captured, interrogated and otherwise “processed,”
without any paperwork, notice, thank you, or please. Everything you do can be recorded. Of course
your income tax form is forced testimony that is used against you; but now, so is your library book
history.
When does the term speedy ever apply? Impartial jury?…what do you think jury selection is all
about?
But the condition of this law has actually stayed about the same for generations. While I’m by nature
suspicious of trial lawyers, they do at least protect their (profitable) turf; and that’s been a good thing
for the most part. I’ll raise no new alarm bells on the 6th. Not yet, anyway.
26
Amendment VII (Common Law)
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial
by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of
the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
There’s a great deal of misunderstanding regarding law, and the meaning and nature of civil,
common, and case law. Case and common law amount to law written by courts. We’ve come to think
that all law is case law in that we’ve been told by judges (not surprisingly) that judges have the final
say regarding the meaning, applicability and validity of written law. This is totally false.
Civil law is law simply as written; without “interpretation,” so that we all understand how to live
within the law. The constitution is a civil law contract that means exactly what it says. Judges have no
power over it; and in the context of constitutional law, judges are empowered to judge only other laws
against the constitution, or the case at hand against the applicable law.
The wiser founders knew about judges, and their tendency to acquire power over time. This
amendment is just one provision intended to keep common law in touch with the public…and with civil
law.
While the heart of this amendment is totally ignored, the issue isn't it's application to Common Law (or
the now-paltry $20 provision). The issue is that all courts are now, in essence, Common Law courts;
and that's not at all what Courts of Law are supposed to be.
In most ways I’m not concerned about the health of this amendment. The terms, “excessive” and
“cruel and unusual” do leave a great deal of wiggle room.
But far too many non-violent, victimless behaviors are illegal, and we therefore have too many people
in jail. The Land of the Free has the world’s highest percentage of citizens in prison, you know. And
half of them are there on “victimless crime” charges related to taxes and so on. They’ve called it a
federal felony to disarm the airbag in your own car! That’s pretty excessive, and certainly unusual, by
itself.
We need to reconsider when and why it’s necessary to ruin people’s life forever by throwing them into
a prison.
27
Have you ever noticed that our leaders and activists often try to force-fit a behavior into the category
of “free speech?” What they’re doing, in essence, is denying the existence of this amendment, which
gives people all of the rights not specifically taken away by the constitution!
Flag burning isn’t speech – it is flag burning; and we have the right to do it until that right is taken
away by constitutional amendment. Smearing dung on an image of Virgin Mary may be offensive, but
it’s neither speech, nor prohibited, by any federal law. On the other hand, we had full rights to our
income until the 16th amendment arguably took them away. Politicians had no power to regulate the
sale of any product until the 18th amendment…a power that, by the way, they relinquished with the
21st amendment!
Amendments 9 and 10 provide an easy key to understanding the purpose and power of the US
Constitution. These amendments nullify the “expansive” view of the “general welfare clause” in that
government cannot give without first taking away. And when you rob Peter to pay Paul (government's
#1 of 2 modi operandi [the other being violence]), you violate Peter's constitutional rights!
This means that our federal government has only the powers specifically granted to it by the US
Constitution. By most reasonable estimates, at least 80% of what our federal government does is
therefore illegal!
In fact, we no longer have a federal government, since this term describes a limited, distributed
government with sovereign states; more like the EU than the current USA. We now have a unitary, or
centralized almighty government.
What to do about it? Well, the clear intention of this amendment is to declare limits on federal power.
Exceeding that power inherently nullifies the authority of that power. Nullification is, in fact, the
inherent remedy to the breach of any of these constitutional delegations. I'd already mentioned the
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions as examples of the founders' views on nullification.
But there were controversies, of course! In general, it was situational. Those who wanted to nullify
something were strong proponents of nullification. But the same people, when they wanted power
denied them by constitutions, became opponents of the whole idea. Even one of my favorite anti-
bankster firebrands, Andrew Jackson, opposed nullification when it ran against his interests.
There was something of a “nullification crisis” circa 1828-33 that, unfortunately, didn't lead to much
nullification. Instead, it lead to stewing resentments, and the War Between the States.
That was the Bill of Rights. A total of ten fairly simple sentences. We should know them all.
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Amendment XI (Limited Jurisdiction)
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity,
commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens
or Subjects of any Foreign State.
As previously mentioned, this amendment actually more tightly limits the power of courts.
Notice that all previous amendments were one-sentence apiece, and dealt more with authority than
detail. The effect of this amendment could have been achieved by legislation; though in this case, very
little was achieved at all.
I've mostly said my piece on this one in regards to Article 4, Section 2, clause 3. I suppose you can
choose to avoid any work, and thus avoid the involuntary servitude inherent in income and payroll
taxes. But then, others are involuntarily forced to support you. In any case, XIII is violated.
29
Amendment XIV (Reconstruction)
1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any
law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
This part of this long, multi-issue amendment has been destructively, incorrectly “interpreted.” Prior
to this amendment, a state could at least theoretically impose any sort of oppression on its citizens as
long as,
1. All states did the same thing uniformly, and,
2. Such oppression didn't defy the limitations imposed on states by Article IV, Sect. 2.
In other words, a state could theoretically deny a state citizen any rights to free speech, to bear arms,
etc. Those rights were previously limits on only the federal government. That part is commonly,
though dimly, understood.
But what most conclude from this amendment is that the federal government herewith assumes
sovereignty over the states in civil rights; the states becoming subunits of the greater central
government. That's not true. It's an affirmation that citizens are sovereign over their government!
What this actually says and means is more like a constitutional Roe v Wade – it takes away the states'
previously superior power of oppression, and makes federal citizen rights universal. In other words,
states may no longer deny any citizen the rights to arms, religion, etc.
It does not grant the federal government more power – it gives citizens more rights.
2: Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective
numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when
the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United
States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of
the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years
of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion,
or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number
of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such
State.
3: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice
President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a
member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the
Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or
given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House,
remove such disability.
4: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for
payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be
questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation
incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or
emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
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5: The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
The rest of the preceding amendment was written in a very difficult era. I suppose we must excuse
their vindictive confusion. But it's a bad idea to make amendments more procedural and temporal
than authorization.
This is actually a short, sensible amendment; well in the spirit of the forefathers' design; though it was
unnecessary to add that last sentence. The preceding sentence is, in fact, the authority.
This is sad. Some argue that this amendment is null and void because it was improperly ratified, or
because it violates other parts of the constitution. Others say it's null because “incomes” has been
repeatedly defined as just about anything but wages. But that's all moot to me. In one way or another,
we've let these words become law. And these words are a pretty plain authorization of tax on incomes
...from whatever source derived. Both by practice and by neglectful violations of the constitutions,
what we have is what we've chosen for ourselves.
We could theoretically nullify the IRS and the collection of income tax as it exists today because they
violate other parts of the constitution. But that's a pretty weak theoretical basis of action. The correct
thing to do is replace this tax with constitutional alternatives (tariffs, sales tax, property tax, corporate
tax), and repeal this amendment.
The idea was originally that state governments should chose senators to protect states’ rights. Well, so
much for that...
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Amendment XVIII (Prohibition)
1: After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of
intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United
States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
2: The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
3: This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven
years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
So much could be said here...it'd be a book in itself. But I'd already said the key point; that this
amendment properly gave the federal government authority to ban the sale of something within the
states and territories; and that this authority was repealed by the 21st Amendment!
Read on; there is no longer any constitutional federal authority to ban the sale of any drugs, rockets,
“unsafe” cars or...anything...within the states.
You know, if anybody had cared to actually read the constitution before amending it, they'd have read
these words in Article I, Section 4, clause 2: “unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.” This
part of the amendment was totally unnecessary.
3: If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died,
the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the
time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the
Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may
by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have
qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be
selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
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4: The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the
House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved
upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a
Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
5: Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
6: This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date
of its submission.
This was mostly dumb. Granted, the constitution failed originally in specifying too much detail when
granting authority was all that was required. This amendment didn't fix that.
OK, fine. The 18th Amendment was dumb. But there's an insidious evil in clause 2. Of course it's
unnecessary to say that violating state laws is illegal. But within the statment, “in violation of the laws
thereof, is hereby prohibited” is the assumption that the federal government has authority over state
laws, and that's not just unconstitutional; it's anti-constitutional. It's not “hereby” prohibited at all.
State law is state law, and federal law is federal law. This amendment repealed a federal law, leaving
states to do what they may within their constitutional limits.
Well, clause 2 demonstrates that nobody had read the constitution before writing this, but otherwise
I'll not complain. In principle I have a problem with term limits since that's supposed to be what
voters do. But since voters don't seem to understand their power, I wish term limits would apply to all
federal officers.
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Amendment XXIII (D.C. Gets Representation in D.C.)
1: The District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as
the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a
state, but in no event more than the least populous state; they shall be in addition to those appointed by
the states, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President,
to be electors appointed by a state; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as
provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
This doesn't prohibit poll taxes! It says only that you can vote if you don't pay it. Perhaps it was
worded like this because it was 1964 and politicians/culture had already devolved to a sad state.
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by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the
President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
I'm shaking my head. I'll say no more about this rambling rules rubbish. This isn't important anyway.
Say all you want about the wisdom of letting 18 year-olds vote; or about the justice in letting them run
the country before we think they're old enough to drink. Just look at that comma-stuttered, dangling
modifier mess of a sentence! (yeah, I know…like I should talk)
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Index
"Commerce Clause", 10 D.C. In Congress, 34
Amendment I Amendment XXIV
Authority Denied, 24 Poll Tax, 34
Amendment II Amendment XXV
Citizen Militia, 25 Musical Chairs, 34
Amendment III Amendment XXVI
Military Occupation, 25 Teen Vote, 35
Amendment IV Amendment XXVII
Security and Privacy, 25 Congressional Pay, 35
Amendment IX Armies, 12
Expansive Rights, 27 Article I
Amendment V Enumerated Limitations, 13
Due Process, 26 Legislative Branch, 5
Amendment VI Legislative Power, 10
Prosecution Rights, 26 The House of Representatives, 5
Amendment VII The Senate, 7
Common Law, 27 Article III
Amendment VIII Judicial Branch, 19
Limited Punishment, 27 Judicial Power, 19
Amendment X Article IV
Federal Leash, 28 Republican Form, 22
Amendment XI State Citizens, 21
Judicial Limits, 29 Article V
Amendment XII Amendment Process, 23
Electors, 29 Article VI
Amendment XIII Legal Binding, 23
Slavery Prohibited, 29 Article VII
Amendment XIV Ratification, 23
The North Won, 30 Bankruptcy, 11
Amendment XIX Bill of Attainder, 13
Women Are Citizens Too, 32 Census, 6
Amendment XV Conflict of Interest, 9
Citizens May Vote, 31 Counterfeiting, 11
Amendment XVI Debt, 10
Evil Wins, 31 District of Columbia, 13
Amendment XVII Electoral College, 16, 29
Election of Senators, 31 Electors, 5, 16
Amendment XVIII Enumeration
Prohibition!, 32 # of House Reps, 6
Amendment XX Enumerated powers, 28
Presidential Details, 32 Enumerated rights, 24
Amendment XXI Rights, 27
Power to Prohibit Repealed, 33 Esquire, 14
Amendment XXII Ex post facto, 13, 14
Presidential Term Limits, 33 Executive, 16
Amendment XXIII Felony, 11
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Gold and Silver, 14 Offenses, 11, 12
Gun Rights, 25 Piracy, 11
Habeas Corpus, 13 Preamble. See Art.1, Sec8:1
Immigration, 11, 15 Roads, 11
Impeachment, 8 Taxation, 10, 14, 15, 31
Invasion, 15 the Bill of Rights, 24, 28
Law of the Land, 23 The Honorable, 14
Legislative, 5 Three fifths rule, 5
Letters of Marque and Reprisal, 12 Title of Nobility, 14
Military Treaties, 17, 19, 23
Appropriations, 12 Vice President
Rules, 12 President of the Senate, 7
Militia, 25 War, 12, 15
Limits of Fed Authority, 12 Washington, DC, 13
Money, 11, 14 Welfare
Naturalization, 11 Legislative Authority, 10
Oath of office, 23 Preamble, 5
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