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Just as the Founding Fathers designed. Yes, the Senate is the Elder body of our Congress, in that it is the senior and most reasoned body. The Founding Fathers knew (foresaw) that destructive populist movements might well gain a majority in the lower house of Congress. As a boy, and young man, I read “The Federalist Papers’ and ‘Articles of Confederation’. It was in these documents that our nation’s democracy were brought to fruition. They outlined how the lower house of a Congress was ‘The People’s House’ and, as such, could easily fall prey to populist ideals that ran contrary to the continued health of our democracy and our Republic.
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Why, just this morning, one of the basic tenants of our Republic came under attack in our Supreme Court. Today the Supreme Court heard arguments in “Perkins vs. Federal Trade Commission,” a case brought by billionaire venture capitalist Thomas Perkins. His case is in support of ‘proportional voting’ for all Americans and American Corporations. It goes a little something like this; if a person pays a million dollars in taxes, that equates to that individual having “one million votes to cast” in elections. That corporations, since they now have free speech, which means that they too should each have votes proportional to taxes paid.
. Yeah, I haven’t stopped laughing yet, either. England has been a democracy for… well, since 1376 making it the oldest democracy on this planet. (Hang on the Isle of Man… The Althing… 930AD. Yeah, but let’s let the Brits’ take this one for the sake of argument. Now, in all that time our brethren ‘across the pond’ have not attempted to devolve democracy in this heinous manner. If one were to read; ‘The Federalist Papers’ and ‘The Articles of Confederation’ (now you have to read all the way to the end) . One would understand that our Founding Father’s actually considered this idea of ‘proportional voting rights’ during the great intellectual deliberations they engaged.
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Considered and discarded this idea. Why? One should really read this for oneself. However, when the intellectual exercise was over? They all came to the same conclusion, ‘proportional voting’ would result in… … … … (drum roll, please!) another Monarchy in the Americas. That, in time, would result in the creation of an Aristocracy just like the one America was fighting against! BINGO! Hundreds of years ago, the greatest minds of the time, the men that gave birth to this great nation, rejected this very notion. Oh, it took some time.. and lot of argument, and in the end a handful of them stood by their mistaken ideals. The majority agreed on ‘One MAN, One VOTE’, PERIOD.
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Little known to many Americans that, in our first elections only landowners were allowed to vote. Women were not allowed to vote until ‘Women’s Suffrage’ and the Nineteenth Amendment ratified in 1919. African Americans did not have the right to vote until 1965. American history is a story of expanding voting rights to the individual, not corporations. Our very Founding Fathers understood that ‘proportional voting’ would lead to an American Monarchy, and that would defeat the very purpose for American’s birth.
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Now that I have given you, My Dear Readers, a more complete understanding of the why of our voting rights in this Republic, let me share some words… from the bench, from today.
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“Sounds sensible, If you pay a million dollars in taxes, you should get a million votes, just like an investor in a corporation. That was the original intent of the Founding Fathers.” said Justice Antonin Scalia.
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“Obviously, if a corporation has First Amendment free speech rights, a corporation that pays taxes should have voting rights and in proportion to how much it pays in taxes.” Justice Samuel Alito
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Clarence Thomas, who rarely speaks, was jubilant and nearly shouted… “No taxation without representation!”
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I am bloody amazed that Supreme Court Jurists would express opinions that run so fundamentally contrary to the will of the Founding Fathers. This makes it abundantly clear that our Supreme Court Bench has been deeply corrupted by politics. Proof my opinion comes from the words of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg;
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“This must be an April Fool’s joke."
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This, certainly, can be nothing more than a joke… right?
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Leaving the shores, and the insanity, of America behind us we venture down south to moderate climates of Venezuela. What, pray tell, brings us to this South American country? Huge social changes that could be precursors for American change. You see the distribution of wealth in Venezuela is even more striking than here in America.
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This week the Venezuelan government introduced a new voluntary ID card system. This card will track family grocery purchases in order to address the hoarding engaged in by the wealthy. You see in Venezuela the cost of groceries is subsidized by the government, due to rampant inflation placing food out of the reach of millions of families. These wealthy families would purchase the same items, day after day, at the subsidized prices. Later, they would see these groceries at greatly inflated prices.
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“"The rich people have things all hoarded away, and they pull the strings," said Juan Rodriguez to the Associated Press.[1]
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Now, on the housing front there is a new law that focuses on improving ownership in Venezuela. Any resident, of an apartment, living in the same apartment for twenty years now has a new right. The right to purchase their apartment from the owner, at a ‘fair price’ set by the government. Landlords will have 60 days to offer up the apartment, or face a financial penalty of $40,000.00. This measure will, hopefully, increase ownership and result in ‘the pride of ownership’ by residents.
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Both of these measures are meant to improve the lives of the majority of citizens and bring equality. Here Venezuela is taking important steps to address the great financial inequality that has gripped the nation. The rampant inequality has resulted in violent riots, by the poor and disadvantaged, which have plagued this nation. America would do well to keep an eye on this nation, and the changes there to address their financial inequality.
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Finally, today, I have a disconcerting story out of Africa. Today, the Centers for Disease Control (here in America) have sent a team of five experts to Guinea[2]. They are there to evaluate an outbreak of Ebola! The Ebola virus is a virulent hemorrhagic virus that causes violent and deadly bleeding. Resulting, so far, in seventy deaths in just the past week.
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There is no treatment or cure for this type of infection. Patients infected with this virus bleed profusely and die from shock. There is little concern for the virus spreading outside this African nation. Most infections come from direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person.
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This outbreak is particularly troublesome for two reasons. First, this breakout has happened at the border of three nations. This could result in a rapid spread of the virus, outside of Guinea, prior to the other nations make appropriate preparations. Second, this particular strain is an especially deadly strain of the virus. I will be watching this story, closely.
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That brings us to the end of this, the very first edition of ‘News from Around the World’. Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to read. Thank you for your support.
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As always I am deeply honored that you come here and read my work.
Thank YOU!
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The Other Shoe's Daniel Hanning February 2014[/caption]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
