Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Paul tells the Senate: The 10th Amendment means something

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, made a compelling case today in Frankfort for a convention of the states to amend the Constitution to require that the federal government do what 49 of the nation's 50 states are required to do -- balance their budget.

In a speech before the Kentucky Senate, Paul urged the commonwealth to assert its sovereign power and force Washington to reign in spending through holding a constitutional convention that would be limited to approving a federal constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget.

"We are approaching the point where our total debt equals our total economy," Paul said.

Opponents of the idea expressed fear that opening up the Constitution to a constitutional amendment would result in an out-of-control process that could threaten current liberties.

But Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, who introduced Paul on the floor of the Senate today said: "I would rather take my chances on a constitutional convention than on anarchy," which he said could result from out-of-control debt and deficit spending.

Two-thirds of states would have to call for a convention before one was held, while three-fourths would have to ratify an amendment before it became embedded in the Constitution.

"I'm looking for the state legislature to be more assertive -- to do what we can to step up and say: 'the 10th Amendment means something," Paul told the Senate.

3 comments:

Hempy said...

Kentucky’s national embarrassment, Rand Paul, knows nothing about the 10th Amendment and has little or no understanding of the intent of the founders.

Our founders wrote a Constitution designed to protect us from feudalism. Today, feudalism is called conservative, Republican, teabaggers, right-wingers to name a few.

Our founders wrote a Constitution designed to produce good government that provided for the needs of the people.

They didn’t want an income tax, but they did want a tax that taxed the movement of all money proportionally.

Today, we have a tax code that largely exempts people from paying taxes on much of any monetary movement including derivatives and bank-laundered drug money, as two of the more egregious examples.

If Paul knew anything about the Constitution, he’d acknowledge that there’s nothing in it to prohibit the Affordable Care Act. If anything, Art, I, 8, 8 promotes it. Congress shall have the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts.

If Paul had a glimmer of understanding about this article, he would’ve introduced legislation to declare anything pertaining to hemp in the Controlled Substances Act, as unconstitutional. Over 50,000 products can be made from hemp. Now, Ford and GM are going to start making body frames of hemp. It’ll reduce the weight of vehicles by about 1.000 pounds. It’s stronger than steel.

Those frames likely will be made in China, shipped here and assembled as cars. One doesn’t have to be a psychic to deduce that auto manufactures are likely to say; it’d be cheaper to make the whole car in China. So, Ford closes it’s Louisville Kentucky plants and all those jobs will be lost to China -- all because politicians aren’t interested in creating jobs for Americans.

Nor will politicians promote and defend the US Constitution that they took an oath to do. Neither will they heed the advice of its founders. Rand Paul is the more recent example of this prevaricated behavior.

Anonymous said...

Hempy makes me laugh. Always so many assumptions in his responses.

Hempy said...

Glad to make your day.