CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT REGARDING CITIZENSHIP

 

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

 

The following amendment is intended to prevent any alien from entering the United States illegally in order to become a citizen.  This amendment protects minors brought to the United States illegally by their parents from being deported.

1.       No person who has ever entered the United States of America (USA) illegally may ever become a citizen of the USA, except as noted in paragraph 3 below.

2.       Minor children who are brought into the USA illegally by their parents, upon reaching the age of 18 years shall, upon good behavior (no felony convictions) be granted permanent resident status. Unaccompanied minors entering the USA illegally shall never be granted USA citizenship.

3.       Minor children brought into the USA illegally by their parents may be granted USA citizenship after completion of 8 years of military service with an honorable discharge.  Such service shall include at least two years of active duty in any USA military branch and may include any other active duty, reserve duty or inactive reserve duty, or State National Guard duty or any combination of the above totaling eight years.

4.       Children born to persons illegally in the USA are citizens of the USA and will not be deported, however, if the parents of such children are deported, the children will stay with their parents and may, upon reaching the age of 18, elect return to the USA.

Parents may formally grant guardianship to a relative or other individual and leave their children, who are USA citizens by birth, in the USA if they so choose.

5.       Any individual who is in the USA illegally shall be deported upon conviction of any misdemeanor or felony.

6.       Any individual who is in the USA illegally may be deported for any reason.

7.       No individual will be granted amnesty for any reason unless they first present themselves to a controlled and legal point of entry into the USA.  No amnesty will be granted to anyone who has ever entered the USA illegally.  No amnesty will be granted to any individual who has upon leaving their home country passed through another safe country before entering the USA but must seek amnesty at the first safe country they arrive at after leaving their home country.

Treason Against The Constitution

There has been talk over the last couple of political cycles about what constitutes treason.  I think there are probably many actions that could constitute treason but one I would like to address is Treason Against the Constitution.   

This would define Treason Against the Constitution as any action by a lawmaker or other government employee at any level (i.e. Local, State or Federal) that attempts or does create laws, rules or regulations that are intended to get around a constitutionally protected right.  If a lawmaker votes for a law intended to get around a Constitutional right or governor or president signs such a law into existence and the Supreme Court determines that the law violates the Constitution, it would be an impeachable offense and for individuals not subject to impeachment (e.g. U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives) it would be a criminal offense punishable by a mandatory 5 Years in prison with no opportunity for parole. For non-elected government employees such as agency heads or others who promulgate regulations based on laws passed by congress, that subvert or try to get around the Constitution it would be a criminal violation with a 5 year mandatory prison term with no opportunity for parole.  

It is unconscionable for any person who has sworn to uphold or defend the Constitution to then try to find ways to get around the Constitution.  Specific examples would be attempts to get around the second amendment which prohibits the government form infringing on the pre-existing right to keep and bear arms.  Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington State would be a prime example of a politician who actively tries to subvert the Constitution.  He should be ashamed, but being a typical racist democrat he has no morals or sense of right and wrong.  he does not trust the citizens of Washington State and he does everything in his power to support and protect the criminal element in society.  We need to start holding elected officials accountable beyond just saying vote them out of office.  While that is always a solution, being an elected official should never be a license to violate the Constitution. 

This of course does not apply to any attempt to Amend the Constitution for any reason as this is the approved and accepted way to "get around" a Constitutionally protected right!

AMMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION

OF

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The purpose of this proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America is to define commerce which the federal government may regulate in accordance with Article 1, Section 8.

1. Commerce among the several states (hereafter called interstate commerce) which may be regulated by congress in accordance with Article 1, Section 8, is hereby defined as the actual exchange of goods or services between two or more states;
   
   
2. Goods or services may not be regulated as interstate commerce prior to an actual exchange of the goods or services between two or more states, nor after the last exchange of the goods or services between two or more states;
   
   
3. Goods or services may enter and leave interstate commerce many times but may only be regulated by the federal government while in interstate commerce. Wholesale and retail sales within a state (intrastate commerce) may not be regulated by the federal government. Private exchanges of goods or services by individuals not engaged in business is not commerce and may not be regulated by the federal government.
   
   
4. The method of payment shall not be deemed sufficient to bring intrastate commerce into interstate commerce (e.g. the use of a credit card drawn on a bank in another state to pay for intrastate wholesale or resale transactions for goods or services shall not make the transaction interstate commerce) nor shall the method of payment cause private exchanges of goods or services by individuals not engaged in business to become interstate commerce. The use of payment methods involving interstate commerce (e.g. credit cards drawn on a bank in another state) may in and of itself constitute a service in interstate commerce which may be regulated, however, the goods or services purchased by such methods may not be regulated by the federal government unless such goods or services qualify as interstate commerce as defined in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this amendment.

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Discussion

The Constitution of the United States was intended to provide for a federal government with only the powers necessary for the orderly functioning of the nation. The federal government was not intended to have the unlimited powers it has assumed over the intervening years.

This is clear in the wording of the 10^th Amendment: “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”.

So how does the federal government get away with taking money you work hard for and giving it to someone who has done nothing to earn it? By claiming that poverty affects interstate commerce and it is thus within the powers granted to the federal government by Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution to take your money and redistribute it for the betterment of interstate commerce. This is also the rational for federal gun control, drug regulations and just about anything the government does other than defending the shores of this nation and delivering the mail.

Now please note that I am not taking a position in this essay as to the need for welfare, or gun control or the regulation of drugs, etc. What I am saying is that these are matters for the states to address in accordance with the constitutions and laws of each individual state. As long as states do not deny citizens their rights under the federal constitution nor violate their own constitutions, it should be up to states to regulate guns within their borders, or decide which drugs are to be regulated and how within their borders. It should be up to the states or local governments to decide if and how citizens should taxed for welfare or medicaid or any other purpose within their borders. Not only would this be more efficient, it would give the people being taxed a more direct line to the government taxing them.

If you agree, please forward the above amendment to your congressman and senators. Forward it to your local newspaper and to the national media. Send it to your friends and link to this blog. This is an issue that at the very least can be used to get the attention of those in power by threatening to take their power away. Perhaps this will appear on the White House citizens initiatives site, who knows. Please feel free to let me know what you think.

BLACK POWDER SHOOTOUT

My club, the Rattlesnake Gulch Rangers, hosted the 2006 Washington State Black Powder Shootout on April 8th and 9th. We had 62 shooters from all over the Northwest turn out for a great weekend of Black Powder competition. We put on 5 stages and side matches on Saturday and another 5 main match stages plus a shoot-off on Sunday. Although it rained and was a bit breezy on Saturday, Sunday proved a perfect day for shooting.

We took a few pictures on Saturday night after the two night stages. Night stages are always fun but with Black Powder it is really something to see the flame and smoke from the guns. Here is a photo which shows how spectacular firing these guns at night can be. The picture shows the civil war era Cohorn Mortor firing a pool ball. Too bad I didn't get the shooters framed up also. Oh well. I will get some really spectacular shots at our 2006 Annual Rattlesnake GUlch Roundup in September.

VP Dick Cheney Shoots Lawyer

HELL, I'D VOTE FOR ANY MAN THAT WOULD SHOOT A LAWYER!

LET'S FIX CONGRESS

Congress is broken. Both the House and the Senate, bodies elected by the citizens of their respective states, no longer represent the interests of those citizens. Rather they represent the interests of those lobbiests with the most money to pass around.

Now I am not particularly opposed to lobbying. Nor do I intend to address the fact that the States (as opposed to the citizens of the states) no longer have any representation in Washington, DC. That is a blog for another day.

Today I plan to lay out a simple solution to the fundamental problem of redirecting congress to once again represent the voters who elect them.

The problem is that all of those congressmen are together in one place. Washington, DC. That means that lobbiests have a target rich environment in which to spread their money and buy their influence. Of course while this is great for the lobbiests, it is a real imposition on me and other voters who don't live in Washington, DC.

The Constitution originally specified that "...The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day..."

Until the last couple of decades it may have been necessary for Congress to all gather in Washington, DC, but today, with the advent of the internet, broadband connections, and video conferencing it simply is no longer necessary. The Constitution only requires that congress meet (i.e. get together as a group) once per year. They could pass a law to move the day to the 4th of July and they could all meet at the Vice Presidents place at the Navel Observatory and have a Bar-B-Que. It should be limited to only members of Congress and their immediate families. No staff, no Lobbiests, no reporters or TV cameras. Not even any caterers. Just a Bar-B-Que. They can flip their own burgers and dogs just like the rest of us. Their wives can make a potato salad and bake a pie or two. This would suffice as far as the Constitutional requirement for them to meet once a year.

On July 5th, they would all fly home to their respective Congressional Districts or to the State Capitol and they would conduct their business from there. Now if a group such as the Beef Bakers Association or the Potato Fryers Association or the NRA want to lobby congress, they will need to have people in every congressional district to do so. This will not be anywhere near as effective. On the other hand, I will have ready access to my Congressman and my Senator is only as far away as my State capitol. Suddenly our congress is faced with having to respond to their constituents and to those lobbiests who are representing issues and groups more closely aligned with my interests and the interests of my State.

Not only that but think of all the money we save by shutting down the infrastructure supporting congress in Washington DC.

I have been to Washington DC and noted that they already do this. They seldom actually meet as a bunch, rather they go to an empty chamber and give a speech to a camera and the other Senators or Representatives watch (if they are interested) on a TV monitor in their office. If a vote is called they all rush to the chamber and vote. They can still conduct business the same way except that if a vote is called they would vote over a secure internet connection instead of physically walking to their respective chambers to vote.

Another simple solution. I just wish someone was litening...

THE COEHORN MORTAR

On Sunday, December 11, 2005, my wife and I and our friend Ron took the Coehorn Mortar out to Rattlesnake Gulch for to shoot it for the first time. What a hoot that was!

I have owned the mortar tube for several years. I purchased it through Dixie Gunworks but never got around to building a base for it so it has sat unused in my Father-in-law's garage. Our Cowboy Action Shooting club has applied with SASS to host the Washington State Black Powder Championship next April. As a result I decided to get the mortar out and build a base for it so we could use it as a signal gun to get the event underway each morning.

Ron, who has a rather remarkable home shop with every tool imaginable, helped with fabrication of the iron parts and after a couple of weeks of work we had the base complete. For projectiles I had approximately 8 "Clamato Juice" cans which were the correct diameter to fit the 2 1/4 inch bore with just the right amount of windage. These I had filled with concrete while doing some cement work around the house a while back. They weigh exactly one pound each.

For a charge I decided to work up from a very light charge of 1/4 ounce of Fg black powder so I put together charge increments of 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1 and 1 1/4 ounces wrapped in tin foil. We also took the powder can with us to try loose powder charges.

The first charge (1/4 ounce) fired the one pound projectile approximately 180 yards! Wow! Big Boom...Lots of smoke...This thing is fun!

We proceeded to work up to the 1 1/4 ounce charge and it went over 400 yards. We tried loose powder and it worked fine. We also tried Pyrodex CTG (Fg equivalent) black powder substitute but this stuff had very little energy and barely fired the shell 75 yards.

Unfortunately when I went hunting for more "Clamato Juice" cans I found they no longer use the odd ball size can but rather have gone to a standard juice can size which is too small for the bore. This is a shame because the original cans were the perfect size and weight. Ron and I serched for a substitute and found that pool balls are just about the right size, being only a tad smaller in diameter than I would like. We purchassed a half a dozen used balls and will try them out at the first opportunity. They are only 5 to 6 ounces in weight and thus a bit on the light side but on the other hand this means they will require a smaller charge for any given range. As difficult as it is to find Fg or Cannon grade, or any black powder for that matter, reduced charge requirements are a good thing.

It may be several weeks before we get out to shoot it again but in the mean time I am building some of the necessary acutraments that go along with shooting artillery. I have made a linstock, vent pick, brush and gimlet, a spoon for cleaning out the chamber, a bore wiper and a crooked rammer. I still need to make a worm and a sponge. I will also build a "limber chest" to carry powder charges etc.

The next project is a cannon. Our friend Dotty has a cannon barrel in need of a carriage. The cannon barrel is 33 1/2 inches long with a bore of 2 1/4 inches (the same as the Coehorn Mortar). Ron and I will start in on the cannon carriage and hope to have it complete in time for the match in April also. The next blog on this topic will include some pictures.