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Article I, Section 8:
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;
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To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
Article II, Section 2:
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States,
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The Federal Government was tasked over 225 years ago with the defense of, and providing for, the well-being of American citizens.
The taxpayers of the United States pay billions of dollars each year for defense - and employ millions of people to provide for that defense every year.
Commander in Chief is much more than a title. It is a burdensome responsibility - one that continues twenty four hours and day, seven days a week.
The events at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, very clearly shows the disastrous results of incompetent and complacent leadership.
In my opinion:
On September 11, 2001, the Federal Government inexcusably and outright failed to perform one of its most fundamental functions. The citizen's of the USA did not get their money's worth for the taxes they paid; what they did get where excuses, finger-pointing, political and self-serving lies and deceit masked as 'spin', demonstrations of unaccountability, even more government (of questionable effectiveness) and their taxes raised to even higher, more ridiculous levels.
Being Commander in Chief precludes taking multi-week vacations "back at the ranch."
History serves an important function - for our own good, we need to learn from it. The dates are far from being the most important thing - it is lesson that the cause and results of human behaviour teach that is important.
Remember the events of 9-11-2001 - the extraordinary heroism displayed by those caught at the epicenter; heroism performed in part by those doing their jobs and brought about in part by the extraordinary ineptitude of their government.
8 comments:
Thank you for the reminder Iggy. The horror of 9/11 lives on today.
I am sorry if my tone is of outrage, Punkn.
If you go to a K-Mart and buy a product and later find it's 'defective', K-Mart gives you a refund - or a credit. Word gets back to the factory and someone will try to address the problem
- at minimum they will at least yell at the person, if any, or check the machine that caused the defective product and yell at the QA person for slipping up.
Suggest getting a refund for your tax money from the government and expect the 'culprits' to at least be honest enough to stand up, admit to, and take the blame they deserve... well, thats a whole other story - but it shouldn't be.
Amen Iggy AMEN I too always felt that the government had let us down The FAA knew the minute those planes veered off course. *shrugs* hindsight's 20 20 I guess!
ditto ditto ditto
Hugz Iggy. I share your outrage.
Government is out of control and not held responsible for its misdeeds. I have no answers. I struggle with pointing the finger at the Republicans or Democrats, as they both have a mighty hand in the decisions and misdeeds.
I often think of the much used quote "If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem" That means I'm part of the problem, because my only contribution is that I vote religiously. However, I cannot remember the last time I've felt good about the vote I cast. I feel that I am just choosing the lesser of two evils in most cases.
Maybe we all need to feel more outrage and act on it in some tangible way. I'm open to suggestions...
Well put, Iggy. :)
Any action that would correct the problem threatens a lot of people - mostly those holding public positions (offices and jobs).
I don't know any easy or simple or quick solution(s) -
I do however, think any solution would entail re-instilling personal honor and integrity in our citizens - and returning to the belief you are responsible for your actions - and having the sense of duty to hold yourself accountable.
How this can be done - seems to be an educational issue... one where everyone at every level - attempts to instill this into (or impress upon and demonstrate as role models to) youngsters - be it parents, 4-H, Scouts, Church, School, Bowling League, soccer, whatever.
This isn't a religious issue, in my opinion, and isn't something proscribed by "separation of church and state".
We could begin with requiring elective officials to pass exams (of rigor) that test them on their understanding of the constitution and of their "responsibilities" when/if they hold office.
The qualifications for President of the United States are currently lamentable - and even those feeble qualifications, some might say with some justification, are being skirted by the current candidates. Public service used to mean that... service... not careers... or getting a pensions or taking the public for what you can get.
only took him about 3-4 years to rip the constitution to shreds..
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