Reining in the U.S. House of Representatives

___The Constitution sets a limit on the number of Representatives in Congress to 1 per 30,000 citizens. The House has limited the number to 435 plus 3 for the District of Columbia. Many Americans want to limit the terms of those in Congress – usually to 12 years. This requires amending the Constitution – a difficult process requiring 2/3 of Congress or 2/3 of state legislators to pass an amendment and ¾ of the states to ratify it. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so Congress has no desire to term limit themselves, and state legislators are afraid that term limits will spread to states.

___Like the Luddites, there are many Americans who fear or distrust technology. The America of 2017 is profoundly different than the America of 1787 as far as technology. A Representative does not need to leave his/her home district in order to completely fulfill the duties as a member of the House of Representatives. There may be a few face-to-face meetings necessary for extreme secrecy, but those would be few in number. Votes could be secure followed by confirmation for additional security.

___When I proposed this idea in a LTE, I was accused of wanting to increase the size of government. Anyone who knows me as a Constitutional conservative would see that criticism as profoundly ignorant. My Congressman represents over 700,000 and has three offices each with staffs (about 17 total) paid as federal employees. My idea would be one office in the district with a staff of 2 or three at the most. Assuming 1305 Representatives with staffs of 3 each, that is 5,220 employees. With 435 Representatives with staffs of 12 each, that is 5,655 employees. That is fewer federal employees and one rented office rather than four. Since each Representative would live and work in his/her district, citizens could more easily hold them accountable.

___Assuming a $4 trillion spending year, each Representative's share is currently about $9 billion. With 3 times as many Representatives this share of “power” drops to about $3 billion. With 10 times as many Representatives this share of “power” drops to about $920 million. This dilution of power and increase in accountability works like term limits, but it does not require amending the Constitution.

Defending the United States Constitution

___In 1967, I swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.” The document which became the basis for our rule of law has come under fire especially during the last eight years. France – which has had 2 empires and 5 republics in the same time frame – has been used to justify it as a “living document” which must be reinterpreted as times change. I know of no other written constitution which has lasted almost 230 years. During that time, the United States has become the most powerful nation on the planet.

___Citizenship in the United States was not included in the Constitution until 1868. This was necessary due to a SCOTUS decision in 1857 that slaves could not be citizens. The 14th Amendment gives two conditions for citizenship: 1) born or naturalized in the U.S., and 2) subject to the jurisdiction thereof.

___Virginia allowed convicted felons to vote in the 2016 election. The Obama administration has tried to give legal rights to POWs and illegals. Islamists want to replace the Constitution with Shariah law. Leaders in “sanctuary cities” have chosen to be subject only to laws of their choosing. None of these are citizens under the Constitutional definition. Read Acts 21:33 through 22:29.

___A liberal SCOTUS has made more bizarre decisions with “separation of church and state,” abortion and same-sex marriage in all states. The ACAPPA is legal as a tax (ObamaTax), and a federal exchange is a “state” exchange for taxpayer subsidies. A complete repeal of the 2010 law is necessary.

___The Department of “Education” has become one of the largest banks in the world with $1.5 Trillion in mismanaged student loans. The taxpayers had to absorb over $350 million of Corinthian College (CC) student loans. More CC loans will be forgiven because students were “fooled.” What about due diligence and let the buyer beware? The taxpayers were innocent bystanders who will pay for the ignorance and foolishness of others.

___Congress has abdicated its regulatory power to Executive appointees. Agencies promulgate regulations with the force of law without consideration by the peoples' elected representatives. So much for “government of, by and for the people!”

___The IRS mitigated and perverted efforts of conservatives in – at least – the 2012 election. A partisan DOJ did nothing. The Secretary of State made Top Secret documents vulnerable doing “exceptionally grave damage to the national security.” I had a Secret clearance for thirty years, and I can only imagine the damage! Again the DOJ did nothing and the voters in New York, California and Illinois voted for her for POTUS!

Incest Between the Medical Industry and Congress

___As we hear the politicians discuss repealing the “Affordable Care And Patient Protection Act,” (ObamaTax) we should trust but verify. The medical industry is wealthy. Malpractice lawyers are wealthy. Both groups like to stay that way! Billion$ have been donated to keep “friendly” politicians in power. The governments like power, and the power to tax is the power to control.

___In the 1980s, a Democrat-controlled Congress passed COBRA/EMTALA. This made emergency medical treatment available to all – including the poor and illegals. The efforts to pass “HillaryCare” and “ObamaCare” were more for the hospitals and insurance companies than for patients. SCOTUS ruled 5-4 that ACAPPA was constitutional as a tax. They also ruled 5-4 that federal exchanges were “state” exchanges for taxpayer subsidy purposes. Indirect medical costs soared. The 9th and 10th Amendments were ignored, and the much-abused 14th was used to legislate from the judicial bench. Killing a baby* is “legal” to preserve the mother's privacy. Taxpayers must pay for it and abortifacient drugs. Medical treatments for the effects of sin (AMA in 1989 says HIV+/AIDS is caused by male-on-male sex 60%, needle sharing 16% and both 13%. The other 11% is collateral damage due to the 89%) must be paid by taxpayers.

___Mosquito-born diseases like malaria are well controlled in the United States. Congress approved $1 Billion for Ebola; $1.1 Billion for Zika; and over $8 Billion for the CURES Act (passed during the lame-duck session in December) funding the National Institutes for Health and Center for Disease Control. There were no Ebola cases in the United States during 2016. It takes these billions of dollars to fly infected medical personnel in private jets to the United States. Since many diseases only exist in Africa and South America, the healthy nations need to set up state-of-the-art isolation hospitals on an island in the Atlantic Ocean to avoid immoral sexual contact (rape, incest, needle sharing, etc). Bringing the infection into the United States is not the answer. Most smallpox and tuberculosis preventatives would not protect our citizens during an outbreak. These diseases have been “cured” for too long.

* No one says “the fetus kicked!”