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Links of Interest
Janine Jansen, young
Dutch classical violin
concert and recording
artist.
When We Had Small Government and the People Were Mostly Free
"In every area the country grew. Population doubled from 1870 to 1900. In 1870, only one-fifth of the American people lived in cities (places with 8,000 or more); in 1900, one-third.
"From 1860 to 1900, the size of the American farm domain doubled and the capitalized value of American farms increased from $8 billions to $20 billions.
"In 1860, the capital invested in American manufacturing was $1 billion; in 1900, this had grown to $10 billions. In 1860, the value of American manufactured products came to $2 billions; in 1900, this stood at $13 billions.
"At the same time, the number of wage-earners in manufacturing grew from 1,300,000 to 5,300,000.
"During this period of unexampled expansion, the country's national income rose from $2,380 millions in 1850 to $19,360 million in 1900.
"At the same time, the real income per head of the occupied population almost doubled, that is, from $787 to $1,388."
"American Capitalism" - Louis M. Hacker [pp. 56-57]
At that time, there were no Federal Reserve, no income taxes, no sale taxes, and virtually none of the strangling mixed-economy regulations and laws we have today.
Freedom works. In history, the countries that had freedom achieved prosperity, and the freest achieved the most.
On Government Job Creation
If people are taxed to create new jobs, the loss of purchasing power to those paying the taxes means the loss of jobs for the people who would have made the products and services those taxpayers would have bought.
If the money for creating jobs is printed by the Federal Reserve, i.e., currency without real wealth backing it, then the purchasing power of everyone's money is decreased, and the effect is the same as a tax increase.
If the money for creating jobs is borrowed, then the loss of wealth in the future as the loans are repaid will result in job losses in that future. Borrowing merely postpones the problem of jobs lost and is even worse because there will be interest on the borrowed wealth.
Public officials can point to the jobs created but can't (and won't) show the layoffs and firings that resulted.
From the U.S. Declaration of Independence...
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
From the U.S. Constitution...
9th Amendment The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
(In other words, the citizens have rights other than those listed in the first eight and succeeding amendments.)
10th 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.
(In other words, the federal government is only authorized to exercise those powers permitted by the Constitution and all other powers belong to the states and people.)
From the Supreme Court decision on Marbury vs. Madison, 1803
The constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it.
If the former part of the alternative be true, then a legislative act contrary to the constitution is not law: if the latter part be true, then written constitutions are absurd attempts, on the part of the people, to limit a power, in its own nature illimitable.
source: www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/marbury.html
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 (Jefferson and Madison)
Nullification - states can nullify federal laws they believe are unconstitutional
References:
Virginia Resolution of 1798: (http://www.constitution.org/cons/virg1798.htm)
The resolution was adopted by the Virginia Senate on December 24, 1798, as a protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by Congress. It was authored by James Madison, in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson, who authored a set of resolutions for Kentucky.
Kentucky Resolution of 1798 (http://www.constitution.org/cons/kent1798.htm)
The resolutions were adopted by the Kentucky Legislature on November 10, 1798, as a protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by Congress. They were authored by Thomas Jefferson, but he did not make public that fact until years later.
Principles of 98 (YouTube video)
Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Ph. D.