I hate sneaky taxes.

Now that I work in the oil business, I have become far too familiar with the amount of taxation on petroleum products.  There are so many fees, exises, and other hidden taxes on petroleum products that the Government his now the biggest beneficiary of their sale.

There are many other commodities that are secretly taxed as well.  Oil is just a good example.

We also have the income tax withholding that most folks don’t even consider to be part of their income.   Many people just don’t care about it because they don’t deal with it.   Escrow accounts hide property tax as well.

Taxes should never be out of sight and out of mind.  Taxes should be overt.   We should feel the hit every time we pay.  That way we will remember what we pay when we go to the ballot box.  We should properly place the blame for the pain at the pump.  We should know what we are paying our government each time we cut a check.

Thing to make the country better #5:  End the tax shell game.

I have heard a countless suggestions regarding immigration.  Some good.  Some bad.  Some bright.  Some not so bright.  I have my own ideas too.

I get to see much of the damage, that is related to criminal immigration, first hand.  I have also had to deal with an unpredictable system that is difficult to understand and beleaguered by incompetence.   I still contend however that a messed up legal immigration system is not that big of a problem.  It could be fixed quickly.  Criminal immigration is the source of all kinds of problems.  But, the magnitude of those problems could be controlled without a single new law.  Because even criminal immigration is the symptom of a larger problem:  Border Security.

Since March 9, 1916, our border with Mexico has been a problem we have failed to deal with effectively.

I contend that securing our border with Mexico would make many related problems insignificant.

Thing to Make the Country Better #4: Secure our Border with Mexico.

When I consider assaults on individual rights, I find that local governments are some of the worst offenders.  These governments have never been constrained by the Constitution in the same manner as the federal government.  I’m glad for that.  But local governments have been a problem in their own right.

Many local governments have no problem misusing eminent domain to stomp on property rights.  They have no problem telling business owners how to run their business.  Even the most conservative places have city councils and county commissioner’s courts that have no small government conservative presence.  It is no wonder many of these governments are out of control and power happy.

Many school districts are also out of control.  Their agendas and priorities don’t even remotely resemble the people of the community.  The source of the problem is typically the local school board.  Again, very few small government conservatives serve on these school boards.

And lets consider the taxes these groups collect.  I pay over $200 per month for very little property.  This does not include the sales taxes that I pay.  I’m sure that is chump change compared with many of you.  Some folks live in places where the taxes are down right confiscatory.

Thing to make the country better #3: Elect small government conservatives to small government.

United States citizens need to learn the constitution.  This is key to controlling our government.
If I asked you what article 1 was about, could you answer me?  How about telling me the article and section that discusses the limits on legislative power?

I’m not saying we should all be constitutional lawyers.  But, if we learned this one document, we would run rings around many constitutional lawyers.

I have posted two pages that contain the entire constitution.

The Preamble and Articles of the United States Constitution

The Amendments to the Constitution

This is the 17th amendment:

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

I guess in 1913 it seemed like a good idea.  But, this was not the intent of our founding fathers.  I believe the founders had a better idea.  They contended that senators should be elected by the states’ legislatures.

Think about this for a moment.  This amendment  totally changed politics and government.  It brought lobbying to a whole new level.   It made the states’ legislatures less important.  It opened up Capitol Hill to demagogues in unprecedented ways.
You can talk of term limits and campaign finance reform but this is where true reform  reformation could really happen.  See, the constitution did not originally contain any term limits.  The framers would have seen campaign finance reform as the worst sort of oppression of ideas.  But they decided to have U.S. senators elected by the states’ legislatures.  The states would be free to limit terms if they so desired.

Making politics more local is good thing.

Thing to make the country better #1:  repeal the 17th amendment.