Jeff Davis
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Jeff Davis is a retired radio-TV journalist living in Gainesville, GA. Active in
civic and political affairs, he is past president of the Georgia Jaycees and former campaign chairman of the Georgia
Republican party. He volunteers as chairman of the Georgia Heritage Council.
He is a collateral descendant of President Jefferson Davis and a member of SCV Camp 1404 in Gainesville and National
Chairman of Public Relations and Media for SCV.
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Steve Scroggins is a volunteer contributor to the Georgia
Heritage Council who lives in Macon. He is the deranged creative force behind the
X-Files parody and satire feature.
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Steve Scroggins
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The Perils of Democracy, Part 4
The Enemy Within -
Commentary by J. A. Davis & Steve Scroggins
"It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real
or pretended, from abroad." -- James Madison
"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
--James Madison
In Part 3 of this series,
we explored the methods by which the Constitution
has been disabled, bypassed or ignored to the detriment of our liberties. The Founders predicted that external
threats (real or pretended) would be used to justify power-grabs and government expansion on the road to tyranny.
Along the way socialist utopian ideas have crept into our political lexicon and practice. Using class-warfare,
greed and envy to divide and conquer, the people have been separated from their liberties as they are forfeited
slowly over time.
Consider the truths articulated by our Founders regarding the preservation
of the American Constitutional Republic.
"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be
their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. " --James Madison
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of
civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson
While addressing potential threats from foreign powers or even assaults from
alien non-governmental criminals, the founders warned the most serious danger to the Republic is, and will continue
to be, the threat from within.
"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
--Benjamin Franklin
The Founders envisioned this in many forms, all based on the history of man.
In this Part of the series and the next, we’ll focus on the internal threats posed by greed, envy and power-lust and what author Walter Williams termed “legalized
thievery” ----the use of government force to take the property of others and give it to politically favored causes.
Interest groups have lined up to tussle for their place at the taxpayer treasury trough and to lobby for further
destruction or circumvention of the Constitution as a means to a larger share or to some ill-advised goal. Consider
just a few of them.
Infiltration in our government and business institutions by foreign
powers or financial interests with the long range goal of converting/subverting our law and our enforcement, all by
covert insurgency without a hint of violence. We've seen this mostly during the Cold War but some going back to
the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and Marxism (1860s).
"Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have
ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in
their lives as they have been violent in their death." -- James Madison, from
Federalist #10
“The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is, not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended.”
--Frederic Bastiat
"It has been said that all Government is an evil. It would be more proper
to say that the necessity of any Government is a misfortune. This necessity however exists; and the problem to be
solved is, not what form of Government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect." --James Madison, 1833
Domestic subversion has always existed. In fact, authors like Thomas
DiLorenzo claim that some Founders (like Alexander Hamilton) advocated adoption of the British system of mercantilism (Americanized),
with government controls of the banking systems,
and subsidy for shipping under the guise of building a navy. Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln (Whigs) always advocated
what they termed the "American system" which involved government subsidies of selected industries (railroads,
shipping, canals, and other 'internal improvements,' etc.)
One of the principal grievances of the Southern states leading to their
secession was that the Southern states paid the vast majority of the tariff taxes (estimates vary from 75% to 90%)
while most of these revenues were spent on "internal improvements" in the North given the Northern states' majority
in the U.S. House of Representatives. While tariffs protected northern industrialists against foreign competition,
they forced Southern consumers of manufactured goods to pay a higher price.
In essence, the Northern states were
treating the Southern states as colonies, much like the Brits treated all the American colonies. In 1860-61, the
Southern states saw that they could no longer defend themselves in Congress against a numerical majority when
Congress passed the Morrill Tariff, doubling the tariff rate to be paid. It was classic "taxation without
representation" in that their representation was powerless to defend their economic interests.
Obviously there have been, and will always be, honest differences in tax
policy and determining appropriate expenditures from the common treasury. Our point here is that these various -isms,
these other government forms that burrow their way into the American politic and ultimately the taxpayers' wallet
are questionable on constitutional grounds.
Does the Constitution authorize the construction of roads, railroads,
canals and such? That is debatable on a case by case basis. But the key point here is that if our leaders in
Congress are willing to trample the Constitution to achieve some goal---worthy or otherwise---then we have few
safeguards, and liberty's days are numbered. The Constitution includes checks against unauthorized power-grabs,
but the judiciary, the executive and the states must be willing to exercise them. The executive veto and the
judicial "strike-down" are checks used far too seldom. State nullification has been largely ineffective since
Lincoln's war.
Lincoln issued orders to arrest Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney when
he dared to declare Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus unconstitutional. The arrest was never carried out but
the threat was delivered....and habeas corpus remained suspended. FDR's government expansions were challenged by
the U.S. Supreme Court and his reaction was to pack the court with cronies. FDR's illegal expansions still stand.
Impeachments were clearly justified but our leaders apparently lacked the fortitude.
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good
conscience to remain silent." -- Thomas Jefferson
Where are the true conservatives? Where are the constitutionalists?
We need more Barry Goldwaters and Ron Pauls whose first
question about any proposed expenditure is, NOT whether it's a good idea or bad idea, but more importantly,
"Is that expenditure Authorized by the Constitution?" If not, then Congress should not act. Period. Same principle
applies to the executive and judicial branches.
An ongoing example of stealth subversion of the U.S. Constitution is the
formation of so called "public interest groups" to legally campaign for self serving interests that advocate
overthrowing parts of the Constitution, whether by avoiding or circumventing the Constitution through illegal
legislation or court decisions that contravene the powers granted, or which usurp powers not delegated in the
Constitution. In some cases, organizations form for other goals, then join in coalitions to advocate a given
policy by seeking to circumvent the clear prohibitions of the Constitution or to “nationalize” policy issues
that are more properly State issues, that is, they are not relevant to powers delegated in the Constitution.
"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government
those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."
--Thomas Jefferson
Rather than a long list of such groups (there are MANY), we’ll just list
a few issues around which interest groups form which have Constitutional relevance. Under the following issues,
there are groups for and against each one: Abortion (“rights”), Affirmative Action, Education, Environment,
“Gay Rights,” Gun Control, Health Care, Immigration, Labor/Unions, World Trade.
Let's look at a few examples of constitutional subversion by or on behalf
of special interest groups...
Abortion is clearly a state issue, yet a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1972
that illegally struck down state laws has created a special interest group that styles themselves “abortion
rights.” Previously unknown rights and, more importantly, UNWRITTEN in the Constitution, were "found" lurking
between the lines and the penumbrae of the Constitution (i.e., they just made it up). The Constitution is silent on
the issue; therefore, it is properly a state or local issue. This special interest group is so special, just writing
this paragraph may render these writers guilty of a
"hate crime."
"The constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the
hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please." --Thomas Jefferson,
from a letter to Judge Spencer Roane, September 6, 1819, on the topic of judicial review
Education is clearly a state and local issue, yet the feds are meddling
in it. Neither "education" nor "schools" are mentioned in the Constitution or in the 27 Amendments. Therefore, according
to the Tenth Amendment, any powers to regulate them are reserved to the states or to the people. We should
disband the U.S. Department of Education.
The Second Amendment
clearly articulates the rights of individuals to own firearms, yet “gun control” groups seek various ways to
infringe on this inalienable God-given right in the name of “public safety” or now---even more ridiculous---as
a “public health” issue.
You get the idea. Do a Google search for “Public interest groups” and
you can find a much longer list.
The above includes those who, in the name of democracy, had designs for
individual power, elitism, tyranny and even anarchy.
Corruption flows on a grand scale that is in large part based on the
intervention above by self-serving interest groups. Interest groups help to elect certain politicians expecting
favors once the candidate is in power. Examples in recent history would be the outrageous alleged
activities of voter fraud and
manipulation of home mortgage lending by
ACORN.
Political payoffs with taxpayer money, sometimes called earmarks,
sometimes more overt, such as rewarding special interests like
ACORN with huge
bonuses such as $2.25 billion taxpayer dollars.
If you had the time, look at the so called bail-out/stimulus
legislation and you
will find every active organization or movement involved in the victorious Obama campaign
being rewarded for
delivering. The campaign donations from these groups, many illegal and filtered through questionable sources,
have been repaid many fold by legislation and executive orders. That is just the beginning, they will be
getting more. Many of the payoffs will be loaded in the first 100 days to capitalize on the honeymoon period.
This includes illegal aliens who with the recommended legislation
expand their raid on the treasury granted by the Fourteenth Amendment (anchor babies). They are now being given
a universal Social Security number. Further payoff legislation will exclude the existing requirement for
e-mail confirmation
(E-Verify) of
their approved status in our country.
The Trial Lawyers have legislation to expand almost forever the right to
sue employers for terminating employees. Economic cutbacks are included. What a windfall!
The Social Security system and other government mandated programs such
as Medicare and Medicaid are doomed to no more than a few years of positive inflow against expenditures. All these
are fixtures of what economist Robert Higgs calls the state’s Hotel of Impossible Promises. In the near future,
there will be more benefit recipients than tax payers....and of course, we've known this for well over a decade.
Elected politicians know this but refuse to react in any positive way for
fear they may endanger their political careers. Ultimately, it’s the American people who keep re-electing career
liars who promise them the impossible. Economist Robert Higgs, in his essay entitled,
“Ticking Time Bomb Explodes,
Public Is Shocked,” expresses it this way.
"The trouble is… the American people have little interest in liberty. Instead, they want the impossible: home
ownership for those who cannot afford homes, credit for those who are not creditworthy, old-age pensions for those
who have not saved, health care for those who make no attempt to keep themselves healthy, and college educations
for those who lack the wit to finish high school. Moreover, they want it now, and they want somebody else to
pay for it." --Robert Higgs
"...[t]he failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, setting in motion the biggest government
bailout/takeover in U.S. history, brings a grim sense of fulfillment to competent economists....
Our political economy is rife with such catastrophes in waiting, yet the public always seems
startled, and outraged, when the day of reckoning can no longer be deferred, and another
apartment collapses in the state’s Hotel of Impossible Promises, loading onto the taxpayers
more visibly the burden of sheltering the previous occupants.... Call it democracy in action or
utterly corrupt governance; they are the same thing." --Robert Higgs, from
"Ticking Time Bomb Explodes, Public Is Shocked"
9/10/08
With the balances running into the red, Social Security and Medicare
beneficiaries who have paid into these funds are going to find themselves with incrementally declining
benefits, some say as much as a decrease of 50%. Think of the huge influx of baby-boomers
now qualifying. If changes come to somehow salvage these programs, the age requirements will certainly be
extended while the benefits are reduced. The only alternative is massive tax increases.
Few deny the huge amount of corruption taking place in the programs. There
are millions drawing Social Security checks every month that do not qualify.
Add to that untold numbers who now receive social security benefits for
disabilities. Experts report this is one of the biggest increases in beneficiaries. The growth trend seems to be
in youthful recipients, often in the twenties, thirties and forties.
Unknown to many taxpaying Americans is the fact that once approved for
Social Security because of a disability, full Medicare benefits are included.
Practical sense should be yelling a loud warning to us that collapse is
near. Add that to the collapse of the housing market and the huge bail-out of toxic mortgages, followed by
corporate welfare type bail-outs, including the yet to come crash of credit card debts which will likely include
dozens of banks going under.
There is no place in the Constitution that authorizes any of these
bailouts to save favored businesses that have taken risks or people who have bought homes they cannot afford.
Welfare for veterans and a host of other
benevolent activities became the business of Congress only after Lincoln’s war, but even then they were very
limited. The new standard seeks to protect everyone from everything, including themselves.
Social Security and Medicare are Ponzi schemes (pyramid schemes) but
they’re just part---- obviously a large part----of the Hotel of Impossible Promises. Other parts include the
huge portion of our population that is on the so called welfare dole with more programs hidden in pending
legislation (what Michelle Malkin calls the Generational Theft Act of 2009). Just as states and corporate
entities are lining up for their share of the "stimulus" pie, the people
are grabbing for their share of the Impossible Promise, too. They don't call it "welfare" any more, but it comes
down to the same thing.
We’ll explore in Part 5 the further development of class warfare with
a planned program of eliminating the middle class by the redistribution of wealth.
There was a time in America when it was an embarrassment to take public
assistance or be dependent on taxpayers for other than a helping hand, which most often came from friends,
relatives, our churches and neighbors. There was a time when rugged individualism proudly trumped looking to
government for assistance in any form. Our strength and soul of the nation was in ourselves. We’ll explore our
moral change in more detail in
Part 5.
"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
--Benjamin Franklin
"To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he
disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." --Thomas Jefferson
"
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the
people under the pretense of taking care of them." --Thomas Jefferson
"The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity
on a large scale." --Thomas Jefferson
Related Links
The American Ideal of 1776: The Twelve Basic American Principles - Hamilton Abert Long
Perils of Democracy - Part 1 - J.A. Davis & Steve Scroggins
Perils of Democracy - Part 2 - J.A. Davis & Steve Scroggins
Perils of Democracy - Part 3 - J.A. Davis & Steve Scroggins
Perils of Democracy - Part 5 - J.A. Davis & Steve Scroggins
Founders' Wisdom v. ignorance and 'democracy' - Steve Scroggins
The Judicial Activist Coup D'Etat -- Steve Scroggins
Slavery, Apologies & Duty - Steve Scroggins
The will of the uninformed - Jonah Goldberg
An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic
America's Worst Scandal: the 14th Amendment - J.A. Davis
Liberty Lost - Part 1 - J.A. Davis
Liberty Lost - Part 2 - J.A. Davis
Liberty Lost - Part 3 - J.A. Davis
Liberty Lost - Part 8 - J.A. Davis
Repeal the 17th Amendment - articlev.com
Anti Communitarian League - ACL
Contact: Telephone 770 297-4788 P-6, 2363 North Cliff Colony Drive Gainesvlle,
GA 30501
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