Brian from The28thAmendmentProposal.org sent me this outstanding article to share.  This article outlines the exact change that we need in order to restore the liberties that our founding fathers intended for us to have and keep.

Down With The King

All branches of the United States federal government have for over a century eroded the liberties and protections that were guaranteed to us by our founding fathers. This constant expansion of authority and usurpation of individual liberties and State sovereignty are directly counter to the principles and intent that the framers established.As administrations from both parties have expanded their reach into every area of our personal lives and decisions, they also have extended their hands into our pockets. The constant expansion requires an ever increasing amount of revenue to fund, but these actions also hold other purposes. Not only do they confiscate the product of our sweat and labor to fund this bloated system, but also to exact control over the citizenry and the States. They use the very funds they take from us to hold over our heads to enact de facto uniform national laws, to redistribute wealth from those who produce to those who do not, to bolster their own selfish desire to retain power and influence, and to exact policies in areas that are explicitly reserved to the States and the People.

After decades of this constant erosion, the People have grown weary, developed a sense of helplessness, become complacent with the status quo as they believe nothing can be done, for it matters little who they elect to represent them, the constant assault on the People continues. The ballot box has become little more than a place to select the lesser of two evils. Those who are selected in this manner then insulate themselves in Washington, alienated from those who consented to their governance, and immune from the will of the very people for whom they were chosen to speak. Those third and fourth parties, the options that many people wish they could choose, are effectively excluded from the conversation and blocked access to the ballot.

Many look to Washington in hope change will take root and blossom from within the Beltway. Hold no such illusions – the power, influence and authority held within the halls of Congress, in the White House and the high Court will never be willingly ceded by those who hold that power. Some believe if only their candidates were elected, if their party were in power, that these things could and would change. However, both parties have shared and dominated that power throughout our nation’s history, and both have seized as much authority and control as they felt necessary, whether through Executive Order, administrative and bureaucratic regulation, fiscal bribery or judicial activism.

No, this change will not come from Washington, it will be forced on Washington, by the People. The mechanism for this change will be the initiation of a Constitutional convention by the People at the State level. The State legislators – our neighbors, friends, family members, who live amongst us, who we can visit face to face – will direct Congress, as prescribed in the Constitution, to call a convention. When that convention passes this amendment proposal back to the States, it once again will be those elected officials in our communities – not in the disconnected and insulated national capital – who will enact the People’s directives.

Such an amendment will have as its primary objective the complete contraction of the federal government, in scope, size, power, authority and fiscal abilities. Secondary (but no less important) objectives that will naturally result include the return of powers reserved to the States and the People; the stimulation of economic growth and power, as individuals and businesses retain more of their wealth, and are restricted less by overburdening regulations; the restoration of the “fifty laboratories” concept, where different ideas and forms of governing can be tried, refined and modified, with those successful States providing a model for those less successful, and where the People can choose to reside in the laboratory that is most agreeable to them; and the return of federal focus to those areas specifically and expressly outlined in the Constitution, and as our founders intended.

This is how the amendment will accomplish these goals:

• repeal the 16th Amendment to the Constitution
• limit the amount of revenue the federal government has access to through a capped flat tax and firm restrictions on sources of income
• require the federal government to balance the budget every year, just as the People must balance their budgets every month, or face repercussions; stop the condemnation of our yet unborn progeny to a life of servitude to bear the weight of incredible financial burden
• require the federal government to fund the areas that are their expressed Constitutional domain, and return the authority and responsibility for all other areas to the States and the People
• restrict the federal governments ability to pass de facto national laws – that otherwise would be unconstitutional – by essentially bribing the States and the People with their own money
• close the interstate commerce clause that has allowed the federal government to claim Constitutional authority for many of their actions

It is time to reframe the discussion, and the expectations of how lasting changes to restore liberty can realistically be accomplished. Our founding fathers tried reason, tried to work within the constraints of an oppressive system, tried to negotiate to get out from under the crushing tyranny of the King of England. Of course, those methods were not successful, so the People forcibly claimed their liberties. Today, the federal government is the King of England, and the People once again are oppressed and living in tyranny. It is time to throw off the chains of bondage, to disobey and disavow the King’s edicts, to forcibly reclaim your freedoms and your inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

D. Brian Carter
Interim National Chairperson
The28thAmendmentProposal.org
03 AUG 2009

Please take some time to visit The28thAmendmentProposal.org and read through the proposed 28th Amendment.  This is a grassroots effort, so we can use all the volunteers we can get.  Whether you would like to simply spread the word to your family and friends, or become more involved and apply for an open position on the Volunteer Opportunities page, we can use your help!

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