themarketswork

a common sense approach to a liberal world

Trump’s Travel Ban & Media Lies

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In order to protect Americans, the United States must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward it and its founding principles.  The United States cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law. – President Trump – Executive Order

It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from foreign nationals who intend to commit terrorist attacks in the United States; and to prevent the admission of foreign nationals who intend to exploit United States immigration laws for malevolent purposes.” – President Trump – Executive Order

President Trump issued an Executive Order that laid out a Travel Ban on seven nations on January 27, 2016. Outrage ensued.

The United States had 325,000 foreign visitors land on U.S. soil in the 24 hours after the Travel Ban was issued. 109 were detained. All were released.

Directly stated, President Trump’s Travel Ban impacted .003% of all foreign travelers in the first 24 hours in which it was enacted.Continue Reading

Avoid the Nuclear Option

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President Trump will put forth a Supreme Court nominee for confirmation by the Senate as soon as next week. The process will likely prove lively. The future of the Supreme Court was the overarching issue I remained focused on throughout the election (See: Supreme Issues). This institution shapes our national character more than any other – and its presence is felt far past any president’s time in office. I am greatly heartened by President Trump’s list of potential nominees. But we need to navigate the nomination process first. And nuclear issues lurk.

Here is an abbreviated exchange between Fox News’ Chris Wallace and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:

“As Senate rules now stand, because the nuclear option was extended by the Democrats, you can confirm lower court judges with just 51 votes. If the Democrats block a Supreme Court nominee, are you going to extend the nuclear option to Supreme Court nominees?” – Chris Wallace

“Well, let me just say, I’m confident we’ll get a Supreme Court nominee confirmed. I expect an outstanding nominee sometime soon. We think our nominee ought to be treated the same way (no filibuster). If he is not treated that way, then, under the current Senate rule, we would have to get cloture. That is, we’d have to get 60 votes.” – Mitch McConnell

“But would you consider extending the nuclear option for Supreme Court justices, just a simple majority?” – Chris Wallace

“The nominee will be confirmed,” – Mitch McConnellContinue Reading

Term Limits or Bust

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While watching the various Senate Confirmation Hearings I found one short phrase constantly repeating itself in my head.

Term Limits… Term Limits… Term Limits…

John Conyers, House Member from Michigan, is the longest serving current Congressman. He has held his position for…52 years. The record holder, John Dingell, retired late last year with 59 years of “service”. Fourteen current members of Congress have held their posts for 36 years or longer. The average tenure at the start of the 114th Congress was 8.8 years for House Members and 9.7 years for the Senate – but these numbers are low as they do not count years of service by members of the Senate when they were members in the House and vice versa. And 53 of our 100 Senators were House Members before they became Senators. These numbers also do not capture how many Congressmen are effectively career politicians – having risen to their Congressional Membership through positions as political aides, lobbyists or by holding other political office.

You get the point.Continue Reading

A Republic to be Thankful for

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Sometimes we need to pause for a moment to remember – to allow ourselves to be reminded of all that is good in our lives.

There’s always much to be thankful for.

Like most, I’m grateful for my family and loved ones – my children, my parents, my partner and her family.

But it goes further – deeper.

I am grateful for the ability to wonder, to question, to grow and explore. I am grateful for the ability to speak my mind and engage in debate. I am grateful for the gift of critical thinking. And I am grateful for this country that helped make these things possible for so many people.

I am grateful for the freedom given to me by others.Continue Reading

The Fifth Article

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“The recent movement to call a convention to propose amendments…has sown consternation in Washington–precisely because it is the one device that can effectively bypass the Washington bureaucracy.”

– Milton Friedman

“We must rely on the states to force Congress to act on our amendment. Our Nation’s Founders gave us the means to amend the Constitution through action of state legislators. That is the only strategy that will work.”

– Ronald Reagan

“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress.”

– United States Constitution, Article 5Continue Reading

Exploring Federalism

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“The States can best govern our home concerns, and the General Government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore…never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may be more secretly be bought and sold as at market.”

– Thomas Jefferson

Our nation has experienced a complicated and ever-evolving relationship between our central (federal) government and our state governments. There are three broad approaches to division of powers between state and national governments; Unitary, Confederal and Federal.

Unitary systems are governments whereby virtually all power is consolidated at the central or national level.

Confederal systems are at the opposite end of the spectrum – where virtually all decision-making power is pushed out to the state level. The national government’s primary purpose is to serve as the mechanism that keeps states loosely bound to each other. Said another way, under Confederal systems each state keeps its own sovereign rights – and can secede.

Federal systems lie somewhere in the middle – and cover a broad spectrum of definitions. Federalism divides powers between state and national governments. Each level of government is independent and each level has its own set of powers and responsibilities. In its truest form, Federalism divides powers between national government and states in such a way that both levels are lawfully regarded as having equal stature or parity. In practice, the national government often attempts to consolidate power and ends up being supreme to state governments.

The system chosen by our founding fathers was a Federal system – one that retained a large amount of power at the state level and away from the central government.Continue Reading

Repeal the 17th Amendment

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“It is not by the consolidation, or concentration, of powers, but by their distribution, that good government is effected.” – Thomas Jefferson

A few days back I made a case for the Electoral College and why we should respect and be grateful for its existence (see: The Electoral College Balance). Essentially, it all boils down to preserving individual and state rights against the natural tendency towards consolidation of power at the national level.

Diffusion of power is good.

Diffusion of power – or separation of power – is one of the most fundamental tenets of our great Constitution. When power is consolidated in the hands of the few the needs of the many are ignored. The founding fathers recognized this great trap and sought to put in place lasting safeguards against the natural tendency of the national government to gain undue political power. It is the very reason we are a Republic as opposed to a Democracy (technically a dictatorship by the majority). We are a Republic with Constitutionally Limited Government.Continue Reading

The Electoral College Balance

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Please pardon the quotes – they have real relevance to the short discussion that follows

“A pure democracy…can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will…be felt by a majority of the whole…and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party…Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention…and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

– James Madison (Federalist Papers)

“Democracy… while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long…There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”

– John Adams

“A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking.”

– John AdamsContinue Reading

Embracing Gridlock

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Gridlock:

A traffic jam affecting a whole network of intersecting streets.

A situation when there is difficulty passing laws that satisfy the needs of the people.

When the ratio between bills passed and the agenda of the legislature decreases.Continue Reading

Pardon Me

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Can Hillary Clinton pardon herself?

Far-fetched? Perhaps not.

Let us see what the United States Constitution says on the matter.

“The President… shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment” – Article II, Section 2 – U.S. Constitution

Those few words quoted above are all that our Constitution says about the President’s sweeping power of Pardon Rights. Simple. Powerful. Broad.Continue Reading