A comment posted on my blog on Monday started me thinking. It pointed out that in order for the FairTax to really work, we must repeal the 16^th Amendment which allowed the income tax. It also said that we should repeal the 17^th Amendment. At first this surprised me, and then I started thinking about it.

The 16^th and 17^th Amendments were both passed the same year, 1913. Combined they represent the largest consolidation of federal power in our history. The 16^th Amendment gave Congress access to massive new revenue and the power to shape society through “creative” taxation. The 17^th Amendment removed power from the states by changing the way U.S. Senators are elected.

When the Constitution was written, the Founders deliberately made it difficult for the Federal government to raise money. The majority of the work of governing, they felt, was to be left to the states. They also built a plan that was designed to protect us from the tyranny of democracy. The House of Representatives was to be “the People’s House” with membership based on population and popularly elected every two years. The Senate was to represent the states, two Senators from each state selected by the state legislatures and serving for staggered six year terms. The 17^th Amendment changed this to allow for the popular election of Senators.

After the Civil War, one of the more profound changes was in the role of the federal government and how the government and country are perceived. As was pointed out in the movie National Treasure 2, prior to the Civil War, the country was considered in the plural: the United States are in North America. After the Civil War the country was considered in the singular: the United States is in North America. (Interesting side note: MS-Word considers both usages to be grammatically correct.)

These two Amendments laid the ground work for the New Deal, the “Great Society”, the “War on Poverty” and every other populist program that was implemented in the 20^th century. By giving the federal government the power to tax based on income and by making Senators responsive to the people rather than the states, these Amendments forever changed the nature of our country.

I believe that it can be safely argued that these two Amendments set the course for the destruction of the American Republic and have directly lead us to the situation we have today where an elite Oligarchy runs most of the country and through control of much of the media, the education system and Congress has successfully made the states and even the Constitution itself irrelevant.

The new Congress and President have made it clear that they do not consider themselves bound by Constitutional constraints. They have begun the rapid nationalization of our financial system and key industries to the point where only three weeks into Obama’s term Newsweek magazine victoriously proclaims on its cover that “WE ARE ALL SOCIALISTS NOW.”

 Edmund Burke said “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Unfortunately we have done nothing for too long, we have accepted each government intrusion into our lives: from airbags to Waco, from Elian Gonzalez to the TSA, from punitive taxes to the “Fairness Doctrine” all the way to the government seizure of our homes to allow the building of a mall.

The Declaration of Independence tells us that while “[p]rudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Are we too late? I hope not. But if President Obama and Congress continue on this reckless course, I am terribly afraid that consequences will be horrible, not just financially, but to our entire way of life.

As someone once said, now is time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. We are in real trouble folks; right now it is time to just say no. Start by contacting your representatives in Congress, your Senators, your legislators, your Governor and make sure they hear you. Write letters to the editor of the your local paper, your regional paper and national publications. Join the Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org), the National Rifle Association (www.nra.org), and FairTax.org (www.fairtax.org). Let your voice be heard. Nearly 60 million Americans voted against President Obama. Millions more are likely regretting their vote today. We can get back on track and we must. Because if this doesn’t work, the next steps will be more painful, like stopping paying taxes and stopping participating in this monstrosity they are building.

Please act today, before it really is too late.

God Bless America