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If Freedom & Liberty was the intention of this nation. With a bottom up tier of power, not top down ruling classes. The only way to achieve Freedom & Liberty, was that the Federal Government would never have direct power to punish the people, but only the States, for breaking the peoples Constitutional Rights.
The same with States and their independent Constitutions that could further Freedom & Liberty, but not take any the US. Constitution chained all government by. The States could not punish the people directly, only the counties/parishes and here at the County/Parish level, there was elected law enforcement to enforce the laws of the Counties/Parishes. Here is were the people governed themselves. The County level. States could punish Counties, for violating peoples Constitutional rights(State Constitution)
The 16th Amendment changed the entire bottom up power structure that maintains Freedom & Liberty.
The 17th Amendment took all State Legislation input to congress and at this same time, lobbyist, became the new rage, to push special interest(rich getting richer rigging the system of checks & balances so there where none) And now with the Federal government with the ability to take at will, what they want from the people, the power tier became a top down, ruling class with special interest filling the politicians and their buddies bank accounts, legally.
Prior to ratification of the 16th (income tax) Amendment in February 1913, the federal government managed its few constitutional responsibilities without an income tax, except during the Civil War period. During peacetime, it did so largely — or even entirely — on import taxes called “tariffs.” Congress could afford to run the federal government on tariffs alone because federal responsibilities did not include welfare programs, agricultural subsidies, or social insurance programs like Social Security or Medicare.
In one instance, the U.S. government paid off its entire national debt without the existence of an Internal Revenue Service. President Andrew Jackson boasted in his veto of the Maysville Road Bill in 1830 that God had blessed the nation with no taxes (except tariffs on imports) and no national debt:
Government cannot get bloated if they are living within their means, like we are expected to do.
It all comes down to the question of how you limit a government sustainably. I don't believe you can. The founders made a good effort, as good as I could imagine, and it failed.
Some may say we need to reset and make adjustments, but I believe it will just happen again. A government will go for as much control as it can reasonably get, and people become domesticated, content, lazy...and little by little they give up freedom of choice for security promised by politicians.
The only sustainable way to limit government is for society to stop believing we need rulers at all.
It all comes down to the question of how you limit a government sustainably. I don't believe you can. The founders made a good effort, as good as I could imagine, and it failed.
Some may say we need to reset and make adjustments, but I believe it will just happen again. A government will go for as much control as it can reasonably get, and people become domesticated, content, lazy...and little by little they give up freedom of choice for security promised by politicians.
The only sustainable way to limit government is for society to stop believing we need rulers at all.
Once they have it, it is 5x's harder to get them to give it up. Because they know best how the peasants should live.
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