Bill of Rights re-written
If I were to go back in time and influence the writing of the Bill of Rights, the following is what I would advocate for. The three lawfare amendments have been combined into one. My edits are in bold. The first three Amendments are ranked by the importance of their impact on individual liberty; the rest are in no particular order.
1: Security 2: Sound Money 3: Free Speech 4: Privacy 5: Taxation 6: Elections 7: Lawfare 8: Institutions 9: Enumeration of Rights 10: Delegation of Powers
Before we dive in, let’s hear from those who came before us. Below are some of my favorite words about the illusion of “daddy government” being the solution. If you notice a lot of Thommy J., that is because, in my opinion, he was the thought GOAT of our founders. Benjamin Franklin can’t shine his shoes.
“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program” Milton Friedman
“I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.” Thomas Jefferson
“Paper money has had the effect in your state that it will ever have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice.” George Washington
“I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of its constitution; I mean an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing.” Thomas Jefferson
“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.” Noah Webster
“Always remember that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics – that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe.” James Madison
“The militia is the natural defence of a free country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections and domestic usurpations of power by rulers. It is against sound policy for a free people to keep up large military establishments and standing armies in time of peace both from the enormous expenses with which they are attended and the facile means which they afford to ambitious and unprincipled rulers to subvert the government or trample upon the rights of the people. The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers and will generally even if these are successful the first instance enable the people to resist and triumph over them.” Justice Joseph Story
“Whensoever hostile aggressions...require a resort to war, we must meet our duty and convince the world that we are just friends and brave enemies.” Thomas Jefferson
“Overgrown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.” George Washington
When a private entity fails, it disappears; when a government program fails, it gets bigger.
“I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves ; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.” Thomas Jefferson
“Bad government grows out of too much government.” Thomas Jefferson
“Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” Thomas Paine
How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words! Samuel Adams (not me)
The government has never created a single job; in every instance, the government steals a job from the private sector and makes it less productive and more costly.
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.” Ernest Benn
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.” Thomas Jefferson
“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” Thomas Jefferson
“The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” Thomas Jefferson
“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions indeed generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is a medecine necessary for the sound health of government.” Thomas Jefferson
“We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in.”
Thomas Paine
“Our plan is peace forever.” Thomas Paine
The fact that there is any serious debate about what our founders meant when they said what they said is incredible. They left us great records as to the reasons and purposes of our founding. All misinterpretations are easily avoidable ignorance or grievous malintent.
Bill of Rights re-written:Preamble: Without goodness, all is for naught. Therefore, read, listen, converse, and study.
1st Amendment - Security
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, its borders, and security of public places, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. A government of the people has a military of the people. Congress shall make no law prohibiting or inhibiting the people forming armed: groups, militias, or armies. The people's inalienable right to make an appeal to heaven is hereby enshrined.
2nd Amendment - Sound Money
A sound and fair money, being necessary to the security of a free market and, therefore, a free state, the right of the people to retain wages and wealth shall not be inflated by the government. Congress shall take no part in inflating, manipulating, or prohibiting any unit of value exchanged by the people. Congress shall make no law prohibiting the people from informed buying or selling. No branch of government shall borrow money without an eminent threat to the United States and a declaration of war from congress.
3rd Amendment - Free Speech
Congress shall take no part in respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The people’s right to openly discuss and advocate for the rights of the people shall not be infringed.
4th Amendment - Privacy
Transparency is for the government; privacy is for the people. Government shall take no part in surveillance, or storing records pertaining to the people. Congress shall pass no laws requiring papers or a license. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Congress shall make no law in violation of people’s inalienable right to the autonomy of their own bodies.
5th Amendment - Taxation
Any Tax levied for the shared welfare of the people must be voted for directly by the people by a six in ten majority and must be re-instituted every second year. No store of value levied from the people shall be transferred to another. Taxes levied must keep all records for no less than twenty years and withstand an audit from any state, person, or persons. All Taxes, in combination, shall never surpass five percent of income earned in a year. No unnaturalized person shall receive any direct benefit of taxes voted for by the people.
6th Amendment - Elections
The right of the people of one state to audit an election of another state shall be preserved for no less than twenty years. All elections must commence and be completed within one day. All ballots must be saved and have a certificate of authenticity and chain of custody. Those receiving a direct benefit from taxes levied from the people shall cast no vote for double the time of benefits received, not to exceed four years from the last benefit received.
7th Amendment - Lawfare
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district chosen by the defendant no further than one day of reasonable travel of wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. 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. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. All restraining laws must contain a burn date no longer than 50 years.
8th Amendment - Institutions
Any institution created by Congress or affiliated with Congress must retain all records in perpetuity and shall be subjected to an audit from a rotation of three states yearly, and be dissolved every eight years, notwithstanding a vote of the people in favor, six in ten. Benefits stemming from an institution created by Congress shall follow the will of the people individually. Any expenditure relegated to an institution can be withdrawn by the people in forfeiture of its benefits. Any institution found to be operating with favor towards, or prejudice against a person or persons will face a trial by all states with a jury composed of each state’s local representatives. The results of any expenditure of the people’s money will be reviewed every second year by two members from every state’s, state legislators.
9th Amendment - Enumeration of Rights
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10th Amendment - Delegation of Powers
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. When in doubt, power is of the people.
Hold Tension, Be Vast.Remember, restoration alone brings victory.