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Posts Tagged ‘Constitution’

A Traveling Crap Shoot

Posted in an expository essay, Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, Public Policy, tagged , , , , , , , on December 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »

What does the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York have to do with politics? Let me make the case.

The words indecent, and traitorous are being thrown around all of a sudden regarding the intel pointing at Russia’s attempt, successful by all accounts, to influence our elections. The “Comey Effect” – the last supper letter he sent out simply to enflame our fears of HRC’s emails, and now his apparent inaction regarding Russian hackers – will haunt our history books forever. But amid all the Sturm and Drang (German for storm and stress), the most fascinating word of all to come across my desk is “Emolument!”

mid-15c., from Middle French émolument and directly from Latin emolumentum “profit, gain,” perhaps originally “payment to a miller for grinding corn,” from emolere “grind out,” from ex- “out” (see ex- ) + molere “to grind” (see mallet ). 

The Emolument Clause in our Constitution was intended to prevent anybody in the government who is holding an “Office of Profit or Trust” to accept any titles or gifts from any foreign government. Ever. So even if your great great grandfather once removed happened to own a parcel of hundreds of thousands of acres in Pennsylvania (yes, I admit mine did and he wasn’t once removed) and you were just elected to Congress, the Queen of England could not bestow upon you a Knighthood! Jolly good right?

screen_shot_2016_11_22_at_1-14-57_pmWrong.

Because once Mr T takes office, even IF he puts all his many global businesses into a blind trust, like Reagan, Clinton and Jimmy Carter did before him, IF his children are in charge of said companies this whole set-up by the founding fathers will be moot. And our newly elected President will be in violation of our Constitution on January 20, 2017. http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/23/13715150/donald-trump-emoluments-clause-constitution

We already know Ivanka will be taking over Michelle’s office in the White House, so after some redecorating, how is it possible that every seductive picture seen of her on social media will not mention her designers…in fact she already made a slight faux pas in that regard during their campaign, and how is it possible her clothing and design company and in fact that “blind trust” of the TRUMP name that she and her brothers will be running, how will it not profit from all that free advertising? I mean Daddy T won the highest office in the land, the greatest reality show on earth, with all his Tweeting and free advertising didn’t he? Oh and a little help from Comey and Putin. And then there’s the obvious co-mingling of private, for-profit and government:

“As with the defense industry and the financial industry, success on a large scale in real estate often depends on government connections. Tax incentives, licenses, and inspections come more easily that way. As Trump has said, explaining his contributions to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaigns, ‘I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, and they are there for me.'” http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/22/ivanka-trump-and-jared-kushners-power-play

We have floors in Trump tower rented out to some very wealthy people in the world. Our Secret Service may have to rent out some more floors too just to protect Melania and the heir apparent. That’s you and me folks, paying protection money ie tax dollars for a constant penthouse presence. Forget our border, Mr T wants to build a sea wall in Ireland to protect one of his golf courses, but it will also eliminate a certain snail the Irish hold dear. His family ties to the most powerful political brokers in India and the Philippines run strong and deep.

In fact, the conflicts of interest on such a global scale are so vast and intertwined one has to think that Mr T really didn’t think this through; he never in a million years thought he would be elected! He’s got a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue and now the gym behind the police station opened up and Jimmy the Greek and Slim from Scranton walked in with billions of dollars!

It’s a rather new predicament for our young country, and may demand the Congress vote all of this is just fine with them?! Otherwise I can see years ahead of all my fine Dems on the Hill trying to impeach the guy until it reaches the Supremes, who will most likely be veering to the right by that time. But at least it’s a fight over the very fabric of our country, and not a sexual peccadillo in the Oval. Oh the humanity!  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/26/us/politics/donald-trump-international-business.html

Tonight I’ll be heading out to dinner and a show with some friends. Naturally we’ll discuss the above and hope for a Hail Mary by the Electoral College on Monday because who could think having Putin meddle in our election is a good thing? You may have guessed already that Live Arts in Cville is doing Guys and Dolls. Democracy itself is one big messy crap shoot that Hamilton tried his best to salvage. I’m going to bet that Mindy’s sells more cheesecake, and Mr T has sold us out for 30 pieces of silver.

Take back your mink Mr T   5d87403da1fb0b5be31e86a0fc817033

 

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Exercise Your Right

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Morning All. Today is National Voter Registration Day so do yourself yourself a favor and check to see if the rules have been changed in your state. And if so, become acquainted with said new rules – like picture ID and/or your original stamped birth certificate, along with your energy bill and a library card maybe? Maybe you moved? Or maybe you got divorced this year and changed your name back to your birth name, or maybe you got married and adopted his name, you’ll need those papers…And if you don’t have one of those things you will now need to show at the voting booth in November, today is the day to get them together and register people! http://nationalvoterregistrationday.org

The deadline to register is usually 21 days before an election, which would make this year’s date for a November 4 election to the  US Senate and House of Representatives October 14th in VA SO we have 15 weekdays to get everybody registered. Remember Nate Silver has said that the GOP has a good chance of taking over the Senate.

As of July 1 of this year voters in VA need to present a valid photo ID card at their polling place, and it could be one of the following:

  • Valid Virginia driver’s license or DMV-issued photo identification card
  • Valid Virginia DMV-issued Veteran’s ID card
  • Valid U.S. Passport
  • Employee photo identification card issued by employer in the ordinary course of business
  • Other government-issued photo ID card (issued by the U.S. Government, the Commonwealth of Virginia, or a political subdivision of the Commonwealth)
  • Virginia College or university student photo ID card
  • Virginia Voter Photo ID card issued by any local general registrar’s office

  Another change this year for VA’s voters is Gov McAullife’s initiative to restore voting rights to convicted felons who have served their time in prison. “Nine months of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration so far has restored voting rights to 3,200 ex-felons, Secretary of the Commonwealth Levar Stoney said enthusiastically to members of the Lynchburg Voter’s League Thursday. That total, which he said is three times more than any previous governor, is only an appetizer…His office helped secure a change in the criteria for drug offenses to nonviolent offenses, which drew applause.” http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/restoring-voting-rights-to-ex-felons-the-topic-of-state/article_dec5ea20-3fa3-11e4-9e28-001a4bcf6878.html

The kickoff for voter registration will be all afternoon on the Historic Downtown Mall, near the Post Office and Free Speech Wall. If you have not yet registered to vote, remember that your vote is your voice. On the day after our President has started bombing Syria without a vote from the House, we should all be enraged engaged with this upcoming election.

The question on this year’s Albemarle County ballot is:

Question: Shall Section 6A of Article X (Taxation and Finance) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the general Assembly to exempt from taxation the real property of the survivng spouse of any member of the amed forces of the United States who was killed in action, where the surviving spouse occupies the real property as his or her principal place of residence and has not remarried?    tumblr_nbyk9pjnfn1qz8q0ho1_500

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Penalty or Tax?

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , on March 27, 2012| 2 Comments »

Excuse me for waxing constitutional, but I’m one of those wild Americans who fought for Health Insurance Reform – meaning I signed petitions,marched and asked perfect strangers on the historic downtown mall to sign petitions, and regaled anyone I knew with its necessity. Granted, we progressives didn’t get everything we wanted, but leave it to VA to bring one of the first constitutional challenges to bear on the Affordable Care Act. My in-Laws arrived just in time to hear my complaints, and they left this morning while the Supreme Court continues to hear their own arguments.

So what better place to bring Ada and Hudson than to the birthplace of the Constitution itself! This living, breathing document first began life in James Madison’s mind right here in Orange, VA at Montpelier. Our fourth President was born in the foothills of the Blue Ridge but studied at Princeton (then called The College of New Jersey). He spoke and read many languages, including Greek and Hebrew and studied the history of the first Scottish Parliament from 1297. Most have heard of his beautiful wife, Dolley, but by all accounts his intellect and capacity for the politics of persuasion simply put, forged those 13 states into a democracy. Well, maybe Dolley’s idea to throw open the doors of the White House every Wednesday night to everyone who wanted to catch the ear of the President helped!
http://www.montpelier.org/explore/james_madison/constitution.php

Now the question the Justices must answer is whether Congress has the power to require “almost” all Americans to secure health insurance or pay a penalty. The penalty for those intransigent enough to not acquire insurance would be payed to the IRS, so does that automatically make it a tax? Should Congress compel its people to purchase a product? All of us, at one time or another, will need some health care. Not all of us will need to purchase broccoli. We are required to buy car insurance when we drive a car, or pay a penalty. We are all driving our bodies through this life. All of us end up paying for those who cannot afford medical care anyway…for me, it hinges on our core American values. And I believe every American deserves health care, just like the rest of the civilized world!!

Madison wrote a document that was broad enough in scope to be amended when our country outgrew things, things like slavery. “The quest for a Bill of Rights helped to merge the two traditions of the Founders, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. After the adoption of the Bill of Rights, both camps were able to give their support to the new Constitution. The Bill of Rights provided the mortar that helped cement the new relationship between the states, the people, and their new national government.” In the First Amendment we read “…the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” We did this 2 years ago. Now my son and daughter’s young friends can purchase health insurance. We cannot be denied insurance for a pre-existing condition. Don’t deny the American people this fundamental human right to health and wellness. Dolley would be very disappointed.

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