#renew1787

Immigration is not as constructive a force for the American economy as it used to be. Prior to about 1960, immigrants were primarily people who had some skills and wanted to use or improve those skills in the American economy. If they did not already know some English, they applied themselves to learning it quickly and using it in the job market. The 7-year naturalization process encouraged this and gave a good grounding in the Constitution and American history. Now a majority of immigrants are undocumented and have low-level skills, little or no English, and little or no interest in learning English and assimilating into American culture. This is complicated by the degeneration of American culture under the influence of Hollywood - people with a somewhat religious upbringing and decent family values really don't want to assimilate into the world of Hollywood values. Those who do fall into the trap of the supermarket magazine displays will lose their values. The undocumented immigrants are quickly intercepted by the welfare system, which always seeks out as many new clients as possible - and keeps them just satisfied enough that they have little motivation to learn English or seek anything more than temporary-labor jobs. The 'social safety net' does not necesarily give them a hammock to lie in, but it makes life tolerable without English and without any skills beyond the minimum-wage level. Minority groups tend to cluster in little ghettos where they use their native languages and have little awareness of things beyond daily needs. Information flow is usually by conversations within their groups, except where there is media in their language, and that is usually not America-friendly. The world is not a stable place for nations any more. Economic and social forces are becoming less predictable, and extremist groups are on the prowl for new followers. America's national debt makes us vulnerable to several kinds of attack by those who would like to increase their own power. Inflation will increase social tensions. There may be time before this house of cards collapses, and we should use it to reinforce the social bonds that people need in times of trouble. Judeo-Christian ethical norms must be maintained, and immigrants must understand them. Average Americans must understand the necessity of dealing with non-native individuals and groups in strict accordance with those norms, working with kindness and charity to create good relationships. Some measure of assimilation is essential for social cohesion in times of stress. Churches and employers must put extra effort into teaching English, history, and American governmental and economic principles to those who do not yet understand them - and that includes many who have come through our now-defective public schools. Those who have taken the online Constitution course from Hillsdale College should volunteer to teach what they learned. We have a republic IF WE CAN KEEP IT, and that will take some work on the part of those who know what a republic is. The federal government will inevitably define a path to citizenship and voting; those who are already citizens must bear the burden of teaching newcomers about the free-enterprise system. Personal contact is essential.

Congress was designed so that the House of Representatives represented the interests and the will of the people. The Senate represented the interests of the states. The 17th Amendment removed the interests of the state governments, and Senators became merely the representatives of their political party. For that reason alone it should be repealed, just as the 18th was when its unforeseen consequences became dangerous. But that would potentially give term limits on the Senate, so the incumbents would never risk sending a repeal to the states for ratification. Now we have a government which cannot even perform its legal duty to pass an annual budget, but which has created a $16 trillion debt for which the states and citizens are on the hook. The filibuster was a protective measure for situations where a majority in Congress was about to do damage to the interests of one or a few states, but it is not sufficient for the current situation. Congress has clearly acted to damage the interests of both the states and the people. Since state legislators are closer to the people than Congress, they deserve to have a say in the matter.

If a budget is not prepared and passed as legally required, then at least the members of the budget committee have failed to perform the duties for which they were elected. Their seats might as well be vacant. If a member of Congress votes for laws or policies which damage the interests of their state and its people, then that is even worse than having that seat vacant. If treaties are considered which could violate or override the Constitution as ratified and amended by the states, changing the terms by which the states are united, the states should make known their directions for voting on such treaty and be prepared to declare vacant the seat of any senator who plans to vote against their state’s direction. Such problems demand a quicker reaction time than the 6-year senatorial election cycle.

Under such circumstances, state governments must protect the interests of their citizens by declaring that seat vacant and selecting a replacement in accordance with state laws and the Constitution. Elections are certified, and can be de-certified, by the state governments. This action could be taken at any time during a congressional term. This appears to be the only way that incumbents can be forced to pay more attention to their duties than to their party leaders or their re-election prospects. Check the Constitution, Art. 1 Sec 2 paragraph 4, and the 17th Amendment.

The power to declare a seat vacant has not been used before in this way, but this precedent and principle must now be established. The bias, corruption and power of the news and entertainment media are unprecedented. The irresponsibility of Congress is unprecedented. The economic and political instability of the nation is unprecedented. State and local governments must provide stability. Unprecedented times do not invalidate timeless principles. The government that the states created now threatens to ruin them, and they have the right of self-defense. These discussion starters propose the means of defense. The states must be the enforcers of the Constitution; even the Supreme Court has a self-interest in enlarging the power of the federal government of which it is a part.

Many of our current economic difficulties stem from a long-standing violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers, by which the representatives escape the labor of actually writing law and at the same time evade responsibility for counterproductive policies and abusive enforcement. Federal regulations allegedly carrying the force of law are being written (and enforced) by executive-branch agencies. Article 1 of the Constitution states ”All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress…”.  No provision is made for delegating legislative power to any other branch. Article 2 states “The executive power shall be vested in a President…”, and it further states that the President is responsible to see that the laws are “faithfully executed”. No legislative power is vested in the Executive branch.

One of Congress’s most important duties is to defend its legislative powers from encroachment. It has abdicated that responsibility in permitting the executive branch to write federal regulations which purport to have the force of law. The judicial branch has also failed to defend its powers; it has permitted the executive branch to impose legal penalties for failure to observe those regulations, through ‘administrative law courts’ within the executive branch which also violate Article 3 by not conducting jury trials.

These violations proliferated in the 1930’s and have been permitted to continue. Now we have unelected, agenda-driven ’clean freaks’ shutting down reliable coal-fired electrical generating stations and driving up electricity costs while limiting supply; denying permits to drill for readily available alternative fuels; denying citizens the use of their own property; and imposing large costs on water treatment facilities without any evidence of public endangerment. This threatens the nation’s economic viability, and the economic health of many states.