I'm Here To Build A Team

Tell us about yourself...
User avatar
derrlf
captain of 10
Posts: 20

I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by derrlf »

I'm Richard and I've known that I would be involved with "saving the constitution" for the last 45 years -- learning and preparing for this very project. And current events have shown that NOW is finally the time. But my understanding of how it needs to be done has changed over the past few decades. So I'm looking for specific people with specific skills, and a passion for the Constitution, to be involved in the plan. I'll share it all with you soon. Meanwhile, let's get acquainted.

First, I'm new to this forum, but deeply indebted to whomever got it started, organized, and continues to maintain it. Sincere thanks!

Second, I have a plan to renew faith in the Constitution, but I don't believe it's the only effort needed. I suspect there will be many other projects, all working together to save the constitution, but the one I've spent decades preparing for is where my talents are best utilized. I'll gladly help with others, but this one needs to be my primary focus.

Third, I've chosen James Madison as my personal image. He's rightfully called the Father of the Constitution. He willingly came to Earth before the restoration of the Gospel, to prepare the ground for Joseph Smith's work and the founding of our Church. Now we are embarking on an effort to prepare the way for the dawning of the millennium. Madison said, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." During the coming 1000 years some form of government will still be needed, for laws, decisions, and even commerce to continue. When Joseph Smith was asked how he could govern so many people, he replied, "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves." We need to create the infrastructure for governing ourselves, both before and during the millennium. I'm convinced the Constitution is a key part of that infrastructure.

User avatar
creator
(of the Forum)
Posts: 8242
Location: The Matrix
Contact:

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by creator »

Thanks for the introduction, and welcome!

Zathura
Follow the Prophet
Posts: 8801

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Zathura »

This feels like a movie

User avatar
Sarah
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 6705

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Sarah »

derrlf wrote: October 12th, 2020, 8:46 pm I'm Richard and I've known that I would be involved with "saving the constitution" for the last 45 years -- learning and preparing for this very project. And current events have shown that NOW is finally the time. But my understanding of how it needs to be done has changed over the past few decades. So I'm looking for specific people with specific skills, and a passion for the Constitution, to be involved in the plan. I'll share it all with you soon. Meanwhile, let's get acquainted.

First, I'm new to this forum, but deeply indebted to whomever got it started, organized, and continues to maintain it. Sincere thanks!

Second, I have a plan to renew faith in the Constitution, but I don't believe it's the only effort needed. I suspect there will be many other projects, all working together to save the constitution, but the one I've spent decades preparing for is where my talents are best utilized. I'll gladly help with others, but this one needs to be my primary focus.

Third, I've chosen James Madison as my personal image. He's rightfully called the Father of the Constitution. He willingly came to Earth before the restoration of the Gospel, to prepare the ground for Joseph Smith's work and the founding of our Church. Now we are embarking on an effort to prepare the way for the dawning of the millennium. Madison said, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." During the coming 1000 years some form of government will still be needed, for laws, decisions, and even commerce to continue. When Joseph Smith was asked how he could govern so many people, he replied, "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves." We need to create the infrastructure for governing ourselves, both before and during the millennium. I'm convinced the Constitution is a key part of that infrastructure.
Maybe you can educate us. What should I teach my children about the constitution, and then what are some examples of how it has been abused or not followed?

User avatar
mudflap
captain of 1,000
Posts: 3227
Location: The South
Contact:

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by mudflap »

welcome. Nice intro.

I do believe you have your work cut out for you. I'm plugged in to quite a few social networks, and in my view, the landscape of support for the constitution is obviously barren on the left, and highly misunderstood on the right.

My gut tells me that a return to constitutional and DOI principles will only surface once other systems have tried and failed. socialism/communism has not been tried in the USA; I suspect it will go over like a lead balloon, splitting the nation in two. On the right, I'm not sure they are ready for it either, as I hear talk that sounds like tribalism, nationalism, and populism. What happens when the left tries socialism/communism is probably easy to guess. Not so much is known with the tribalism, nationalism, populism on the right.

Listening to the Republicans drone on today with the ACB hearings, it's a wonder there's any air left in the republic: Constitutionalists have maybe one friend in DC - Ron Paul. I mean, Trump is a great Patriot and all (and has my vote), but he's no Constitutionalist.

All said, I feel the key to freedom and liberty is to govern myself to a point where I'm independent of the system, mostly through being debt free. When you owe no man or institution any allegiance, you can freely stand on your principles, outcomes be d**d. That's where I'd focus. From a practical perspective, mostly why the right doesn't riot is because we all have to get up in the morning and go to work to keep the lights on. Deep in debt (mortgage, student loans, cc debt, car payments, Rx drugs, health insurance) is a very bad place to start a revolution. Well.... unless you're so in debt that you have nothing to lose, I suppose.......OTOH, it appears that all it takes for the left to burn down the local police station is $100. In other words, the right has everything to lose (career, home, family, community, etc.), while the left has nothing to lose. It's all a matter of capital*, or the lack thereof. So what'll "ignite the right"? when they are backed into a corner, threatened with extermination from thugs that are backed by State power. But at the point where the bayonet is in your back, pushing you towards the boxcar - is that the point where it's too late for the right?

OTOH (I'm taking 3 hands here): does the right even need to fight back, or will Babylon just eventually devour itself? Nothing said in Conference in the last 20 years leads me to believe that we should organize a resistance - at least, that's the drift I catch from the pulpit. As for me, I pray that the Spirit will guide me, and it has in big ways over the years - telling me to do things that I don't hear over the pulpit, but yet are still true. It's paid off so far.

Anyway, that's where I'm at. As for me, i'm the guy building a cabin in AL, trying to do it debt free, and then moving on to growing most of my family's food requirements on a few acres here. Oh, and I'm not much of a joiner. More of a maverick-loner. "50% redneck, 50% engineer" as another log home builder put it last week, and 100% git-r-dun.

*capital = productive resources of any kind, whether physical or moral; means of influence or of increasing one's power.

User avatar
derrlf
captain of 10
Posts: 20

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by derrlf »

Sarah wrote: October 12th, 2020, 10:07 pm Maybe you can educate us. What should I teach my children about the constitution, and then what are some examples of how it has been abused or not followed?
I think there must be some good resources for teaching about the Constitution. When we homeschooled our children (more than 25 years ago) I used W Cleon Skousen's book The Making of America and a quiz game, U.S.I.Q, that was based on the same book. That was before the internet and long before YouTube. Today there are many other good resources. I like Tom Woods, but I haven't used any of is homeschool courses. I assume you can't go too wrong with him. https://tomwoodshomeschool.com/

The main point of the Constitution is it created a system to protect natural rights. It did this by creating checks and balances, so no one branch could obtain too much power and abuse it. It created 3 perceptions--Legitimacy (laws), Equity (Justice), and Opportunity (Liberty) which motivated self-responsible behavior. It created the environment within which the free-market could operate.

Laws of just conduct are necessary for commerce to take place. Knowing who legitimately owns what is necessary for buying and selling. Likewise contracts and the enforcement of contracts. That covers the Legislative and Judicial branches, and part of the Executive branch. The Executive is also supposed to protect from internal and external threats--the military and police functions. And ensure that regulations do not become onerous and don't violate rights and stifle commerce. That's the veto power. Minimal regulations create the Liberty/Opportunity perception. People are thereby "free" to use their talents and resources productively.

Regarding how the Constitution has been abused or not followed; that could fill many many books. Even just the events this year. Most people have never recognized how the founders designed the Constitution to prevent abuse via checks and balances, so they regularly "short-cut" the systems designed to protect us. They also created systems that operate entirely outside of the checks and balances. Laws should be made by the legislative branch, not the Executive or Judicial branches. Presidential Executive Orders is one example of executive-made laws that shouldn't happen. And the "administrative state" is multiple layers of agencies, all creating laws and enforcing them, without involving the other branches of government. So no checks and balances there. Also, people have assumed that "democracy" is an end in itself, not a check on the system. So with the popular election of Senators, in the 17th Amendment, we lost another check on the system, and the States became less important while the federal government became stronger.

I'd like to refer you to a book that lays-out in exhaustive detail all the ways we have got away from the Constitution over time, but none comes immediately to mind. However, I recall a very short work by Ezra Taft Benson, The Constitution a Heavenly Banner and here's a short video by that name, which might help. https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taf ... ly-banner/

User avatar
Elizabeth
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11796
Location: East Coast Australia

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Elizabeth »

Welcome :)
I suggest you contact forum member lundbaek.
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=24
.

User avatar
Sarah
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 6705

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Sarah »

derrlf wrote: October 13th, 2020, 12:52 am
Sarah wrote: October 12th, 2020, 10:07 pm Maybe you can educate us. What should I teach my children about the constitution, and then what are some examples of how it has been abused or not followed?
I think there must be some good resources for teaching about the Constitution. When we homeschooled our children (more than 25 years ago) I used W Cleon Skousen's book The Making of America and a quiz game, U.S.I.Q, that was based on the same book. That was before the internet and long before YouTube. Today there are many other good resources. I like Tom Woods, but I haven't used any of is homeschool courses. I assume you can't go too wrong with him. https://tomwoodshomeschool.com/

The main point of the Constitution is it created a system to protect natural rights. It did this by creating checks and balances, so no one branch could obtain too much power and abuse it. It created 3 perceptions--Legitimacy (laws), Equity (Justice), and Opportunity (Liberty) which motivated self-responsible behavior. It created the environment within which the free-market could operate.

Laws of just conduct are necessary for commerce to take place. Knowing who legitimately owns what is necessary for buying and selling. Likewise contracts and the enforcement of contracts. That covers the Legislative and Judicial branches, and part of the Executive branch. The Executive is also supposed to protect from internal and external threats--the military and police functions. And ensure that regulations do not become onerous and don't violate rights and stifle commerce. That's the veto power. Minimal regulations create the Liberty/Opportunity perception. People are thereby "free" to use their talents and resources productively.

Regarding how the Constitution has been abused or not followed; that could fill many many books. Even just the events this year. Most people have never recognized how the founders designed the Constitution to prevent abuse via checks and balances, so they regularly "short-cut" the systems designed to protect us. They also created systems that operate entirely outside of the checks and balances. Laws should be made by the legislative branch, not the Executive or Judicial branches. Presidential Executive Orders is one example of executive-made laws that shouldn't happen. And the "administrative state" is multiple layers of agencies, all creating laws and enforcing them, without involving the other branches of government. So no checks and balances there. Also, people have assumed that "democracy" is an end in itself, not a check on the system. So with the popular election of Senators, in the 17th Amendment, we lost another check on the system, and the States became less important while the federal government became stronger.

I'd like to refer you to a book that lays-out in exhaustive detail all the ways we have got away from the Constitution over time, but none comes immediately to mind. However, I recall a very short work by Ezra Taft Benson, The Constitution a Heavenly Banner and here's a short video by that name, which might help. https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taf ... ly-banner/
Fantastic! Thank you for the links, suggestions and explainations.

Juliet
captain of 1,000
Posts: 3701

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Juliet »

One idea some other people had in a group I am with is to get to know the elected Sheriff. He has the power to deputize as many people as needed to protect and defend the constitution. If the Sheriff believes in anti-constitutional principles then he needs to not be elected again.

Another idea is to remove emergency powers legislation by challenging such laws created by state legislatures that give the Governor too much power. Challenge them in court until they are repealed. We forget the courts are not just to punish people, they are there to check laws that are created that are not for the people. A jury of the people has the power to repeal such laws.

We the people ordain and establish the law. In court, if we say, I am "we the people" then the judge is now subject to you. He cannot prove you are not We The People. If he says your birth certificate or other such thing means you are not part of We The People, then you can charge him guilty for fraud, because such a contract was not made clear at the time of receiving such license/certificate.

One problem we have, is the people do not believe in independence. The collective ideology has overtaken us, such that we rely on government to take care of us. We believe in the power of universities, licensed doctors, so forth; these officials are not elected. This is a problem. Another problem is funding. The people should choose which organizations to fund, and not the government. The state government should not receive money from the Federal government, but the other way around. Printing money is illegal and dangerous to not only our economy but to world economies and proliferates slavery instead of fair trade.

State tax revenue should come from tarrifs on goods from other states or countries to encourage self sufficiency within the state and country so as to protect from invasion foreign and domestic by those who will always exist who want the wealth seen in your state/country. No other tax revenue from any other source is constitutional and should be repealed.

Freedom of the Press means that the government is accountable to the republic for how they act. There is no behavior that is so secure that it defies the need of the Press to have access to it. All classifed government information is legal to publish. Freedom of the Press needs to be respected and challenged in court any time the government withholds information from the Republic in the interest of "National Security" which is a cover for treasonous acts to take place without the knowledge of the people. It would not be in the interest of the people to publish information on military procedure and assets to other nationalities. However, the citizens of the country have the least motivation to betray it; and if there are those who are traitors, the Republic is the most likely to prosecute it. The government should not have power that allows traitors to become high level officials and not be subject to the people through the unconstitutionality of non disclosure agreements. Discretion and secrecy is good, and already motivated by citizens. Non-disclosure agreements are a gateway to criminal enterprise funded by government and the people without their consent.

User avatar
Alaris
Captain of 144,000
Posts: 7354
Location: Present before the general assembly
Contact:

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Alaris »

derrlf wrote: October 12th, 2020, 8:46 pm I'm Richard and I've known that I would be involved with "saving the constitution" for the last 45 years -- learning and preparing for this very project. And current events have shown that NOW is finally the time. But my understanding of how it needs to be done has changed over the past few decades. So I'm looking for specific people with specific skills, and a passion for the Constitution, to be involved in the plan. I'll share it all with you soon. Meanwhile, let's get acquainted.

First, I'm new to this forum, but deeply indebted to whomever got it started, organized, and continues to maintain it. Sincere thanks!

Second, I have a plan to renew faith in the Constitution, but I don't believe it's the only effort needed. I suspect there will be many other projects, all working together to save the constitution, but the one I've spent decades preparing for is where my talents are best utilized. I'll gladly help with others, but this one needs to be my primary focus.

Third, I've chosen James Madison as my personal image. He's rightfully called the Father of the Constitution. He willingly came to Earth before the restoration of the Gospel, to prepare the ground for Joseph Smith's work and the founding of our Church. Now we are embarking on an effort to prepare the way for the dawning of the millennium. Madison said, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." During the coming 1000 years some form of government will still be needed, for laws, decisions, and even commerce to continue. When Joseph Smith was asked how he could govern so many people, he replied, "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves." We need to create the infrastructure for governing ourselves, both before and during the millennium. I'm convinced the Constitution is a key part of that infrastructure.
Hey there - welcome! I love the James Madison avatar / description.

Also, if you read the references to the Constitution in the Doctrine & Covenants, you'll notice the principles of the Constitution are referred to as sacred. As I recall this is underscored several times. The principles. These principles are what we need to learn and cling to, as the USA will not persist into the millennium but the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Amazing quote from James Madison! I love the first bits about angels as that is a peek into how the Kingdom of God will be governed:

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."

User avatar
True
captain of 100
Posts: 974

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by True »

derrlf wrote: October 12th, 2020, 8:46 pm I'm Richard and I've known that I would be involved with "saving the constitution" for the last 45 years -- learning and preparing for this very project. And current events have shown that NOW is finally the time. But my understanding of how it needs to be done has changed over the past few decades. So I'm looking for specific people with specific skills, and a passion for the Constitution, to be involved in the plan. I'll share it all with you soon. Meanwhile, let's get acquainted.

First, I'm new to this forum, but deeply indebted to whomever got it started, organized, and continues to maintain it. Sincere thanks!

Second, I have a plan to renew faith in the Constitution, but I don't believe it's the only effort needed. I suspect there will be many other projects, all working together to save the constitution, but the one I've spent decades preparing for is where my talents are best utilized. I'll gladly help with others, but this one needs to be my primary focus.

Third, I've chosen James Madison as my personal image. He's rightfully called the Father of the Constitution. He willingly came to Earth before the restoration of the Gospel, to prepare the ground for Joseph Smith's work and the founding of our Church. Now we are embarking on an effort to prepare the way for the dawning of the millennium. Madison said, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." During the coming 1000 years some form of government will still be needed, for laws, decisions, and even commerce to continue. When Joseph Smith was asked how he could govern so many people, he replied, "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves." We need to create the infrastructure for governing ourselves, both before and during the millennium. I'm convinced the Constitution is a key part of that infrastructure.
What specific skills are you looking for?

User avatar
derrlf
captain of 10
Posts: 20

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by derrlf »

True wrote: October 14th, 2020, 9:05 pm What specific skills are you looking for?
Thanks for asking! I'm drafting another message now, which I plan to post in the General Discussions section. It will have more detail and probably be posted sometime Thursday morning.

There's a LOT of skills we will need soon, but my most immediate need is for an attorney licensed to practice in Wyoming. An LDS Attorney, if possible.

Much more to come. Please watch for the other message...

User avatar
TheUnifiedTheory
captain of 100
Posts: 189

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by TheUnifiedTheory »

You're a little late.
I'd look into legally filing to become a sovereign and joining the United Allied States.

User avatar
BruceRGilbert
captain of 1,000
Posts: 1472
Location: Near the "City of Trees," Idaho

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by BruceRGilbert »


User avatar
BeNotDeceived
Agent38
Posts: 8960
Location: Tralfamadore
Contact:

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by BeNotDeceived »

Zathura wrote: October 12th, 2020, 9:49 pm This feels like a movie
2020 is the prequel to 2024 so premature planning prolly won’t pan out. :P

User avatar
righteousrepublic
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5580
Location: Telestial Earth

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by righteousrepublic »


Americans Can Save the Constitution

W. Cleon Skousen.. This founder’s message was presented at the dedication of the Freemen Institute in south Provo, Utah on September 18, 1976.
Now let me make a very brief report to you. First of all, I so appreciate your patience this morning insofar as the seating is concerned. Because this building was not constructed for a dedication with several hundred people in attendance, we have had to ask some of you to watch us through the large plate-glass windows from seats in the front parking area, but I hope you can see and hear adequately.

The New National Headquarters
At the conclusion of the program, we hope you will make yourselves at home and go through the entire building. Please go upstairs where our research center is located along with the editorial offices for the Freemen Report. On the main floor you will see our mail-out section and extensive storage and supply section. The presses occupy a large area to the rear. This new headquarters facility is a completely self-contained operation.
A few months ago this structure was merely an empty shell of a building. It was made available to us as a result of some of our fine friends watching us as we attempted to operate out of rented quarters about half as big as this assembly room. Of course, in the beginning we were merely serving Utah and southern Idaho, but by 1976 our program had spilled over into nine States. At our other building, boxes were piled on top of one another, desks were jammed together, and students were trying to maneuver in between them to attend their seminars.
Some of our friends saw what was happening and said, “Look, this isn’t the way we are going to save the Constitution. You need operating space.” So they rallied together and helped obtain this building. Others helped by raising money to construct the interior and provide the modest but attractive and efficient facilities you see today. Now our headquarters are finally finished, and what is equally important, they are all paid for! (Applause)
May I express our grateful acknowledgment to the following friends for their outstanding assistance in making all of this possible:
The Dudley Swim family,
Frank and Arlene Talley,
the Orvin Nielson family,
the Don Buehner family,
the Joseph McPherson family,
the Rita and Woodrow Miller family,
plus the 300 pledged Freemen who have been faithfully sending in ten dollars or more per month to strengthen our arm in accomplishing this work.

The Purpose of the Freemen Institute
Now the whole purpose of the Freemen Institute is to preserve freedom in this country. That can only be done by restoring the original Constitution as contemplated by the founding fathers. On your program you will see a replica of Independence Hall surrounded by a halo which says, “The Constitution in the Tradition of Our Founding Fathers.” That is our new logo. In order to accomplish our primary objective it was necessary to begin by setting up an ever-expanding program of Constitutional seminars. Someday we hope these will extend from coast-to-coast and reach hundreds of thousands of people.
At present we are still in our infancy, but during the past eighteen months we have given the Constitutional seminars to more than 5,500 people. These seminars take one night a week for eleven weeks or a Friday night and Saturday morning for four weeks. During the past eighteen months we have also been invited to give talks on the Constitution to many community groups which have been attended by more than 53,000 people. Out of these tiny acorns we expect some mighty oaks to grow.
Years ago when President David O. McKay asked that we try to do something along these lines he said it would be very important to structure the program so that it was not associated with any particular church or any particular group. He said it must belong to all the people. It must be done in the name of freedom, in the name of the Constitution, and it must be done so that people of every race and every creed will feel comfortable in participating. Our program is therefore structured on this basis. We call ourselves Freemen and this, the Freemen Institute, simply because the founding fathers called themselves “Freemen” long before they referred to themselves as Americans.

The Constitutional Seminars
The Constitutional seminars sponsored by the Freemen Institute are unique. They are different from any course you would ordinarily take in school, especially in law school. A person in law school is required to study what has been said in various court cases, particularly what the court has said in its cases lately. Our course is what the Constitution said originally. We zero in on this approach because in the final analysis it was the original Constitution which made us the first free people in modern times and built us into a great nation.
Of course, case law is also important for our students to know. They cannot practice in the courts without it. But what Americans especially need to study is the philosophy of the Constitution and the original precepts of the founders which were never completely carried out.
In our research for this course we discovered that the founders had aspirations to set up the United States as a completely new kind of civilization. Their ideas were only partially realized. For example, we read in a recent biography of Thomas Jefferson this interesting comment:
“… Jefferson’s great ambition at that time was to promote a renaissance of Anglo-Saxon primitive institutions on the new continent. Thus presented, the American Revolution was nothing but the reclamation of the Anglo-Saxon birthright of which the colonists had been deprived by ‘a long trend of abuses.’ Nor does it appear that there was anything in this theory which surprised or shocked his contemporaries; Adams apparently did not disapprove of it, and it would be easy to bring in many similar expressions of the same idea in documents of the time.” 1
Jefferson, himself, argued for the necessity of cleansing the English law of the barnacles of feudalism and Roman Civil Law which had attached themselves to the English ship of state after the Norman conquest. He wrote:
“Are we not the better for what we have hitherto abolished of the feudal system…. Has not every restitution of the ancient Saxon laws had happy effects? Is it not better now that we return at once into that happy system of our ancestors, the wisest and most perfect ever yet devised by the wit of man as it stood before the 8th century?” 2
What is equally interesting is that when Jefferson, Franklin and Adams were assigned the task of designing a seal for the United States, they wanted to associate the Anglo-Saxon institutes with ancient Israel. In the Journals of Congress, volume V, p. 517, we read:
“Mr. Jefferson proposed (to depict on one side of the seal) the children of Israel in the wilderness led by a cloud by day, and a pillar by night — and on the other side, Hegist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs, from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have assumed.
“Franklin was in full accord except that he thought the Israelites should be shown emerging in the distance from the Red Sea which had been miraculously divided, and show the Egyptians in the foreground all being drowned.”
In the end, neither of these ideas were accepted for the United States seal because of the complexity of the portrayal, but it clearly demonstrates the way these leaders among the founding fathers were thinking.

The Israel Connection
Why did they associate the original Anglo-Saxon institutes of law with ancient Israel? One of the most interesting aspects of our research for the Constitutional seminars has been the discovery that secular sources now available clearly demonstrate that the Anglo-Saxons are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Although they lost the religious faith of their fathers, the Anglo-Saxons retained their basic concepts of law and government which had been given to the ancient Israelites by divine revelation.
When I was in law school we were told that our Constitution and our legal system was based on the precepts of the Anglo Saxons. I visualized a group of Druid priests huddled around a campfire and dreaming up all of these wonderful institutes of freedom. Frankly, it was not very inspiring to imagine all of this coming from a primitive band of Druid priests. But it was inspiring to learn that these great precepts came to us from ancient Israel under the mantle of divine revelation.
Only a few modern scholars seem to be aware of this because there is not the same amount of study devoted to the origin of the common law as there used to be. One of the exceptions was a man known to most of you, named Stephen L. Richards. A law professor himself, he graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and was acclaimed by his dean as the best student of that school during the dean’s tenure of office which lasted 25 years. Here is what Stephen L. Richards had to say about the connection between the Anglo-Saxon institutes of freedom on which the Constitution was built and the institutes of ancient Israel revealed by God:
“It might be said … that there is not a single fundamental institution of this country, ordained and established under the Constitution, that does not have something like a counterpart in the Israelitish form of government …”
He proceeded to give a number of illustrations and concluded:
“So it might be pointed out, if time would permit, a large list and line of comparisons which establish a very close relation between the government which predominated during the time that the children of Israel were governed by their judges, and the government established here. I wonder how many know that in that form of government which prevailed in ancient times, there were three departments, which are comparable to our three departments of government, namely, the legislative, the executive and the judicial…. There is abundant evidence to warrant the conclusion that the fathers drew liberally on their knowledge of, and training in, the Hebrew scripture, in building the democracy of the New World.” 3
Sir William Blackstone, a contemporary of the American founding fathers, was the first scholar to make a complete compilation of English common law. In his famous Commentaries he devoted the last chapter of volume four to the history of the changes which had occurred in English law from the time of the Anglo-Saxons. All of the founders were familiar with Blackstone and quoted him frequently. He was no doubt one of the foremost sources which alerted the founders to the fact that early Anglo-Saxon law was far more efficient in administering justice than the later English institutes which had been corrupted by elements of continental feudalism and Roman Civil Law. It is unfortunate that in 200 years Americans have never gotten around to adopting Jefferson’s suggestion that we administer justice according to Anglo-Saxon common law as it existed up to 800 A.D.

Anglo-Saxon Justice
Anglo-Saxon criminal justice followed the same pattern as that of ancient Israel. In both systems offenses against people or property required reparation to the victim plus a heavy penalty to motivate the offender to avoid similar depredations in the future. In other words, offenses against people or their property were considered as torts against the victim and not as crimes against the state. The only exceptions were capital crimes such as murder.
Under the law of Israel if a person stole a sheep, he had to return two sheep or the value thereof. If the sheep was stolen as part of a commercial operation then the penalty was four to one. If it involved cattle the penalty was five to one. Injuries to a victim required compensation in damages under threat of very severe penalties if the damages were not paid. This is the meaning of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” A person made it up to his victim or suffered the consequences.
Leading authorities on Anglo-Saxon law point out that the law in England was similar to ancient Israel up to the Norman conquest in 1066. As John Richard Green indicates in his well-known history:
The free man’s life and the free man’s limb had each on this system its legal price. “Eye for eye,” ran the rough customary code, and “limb for limb,” or for each fair damages. 4
Dr. Colin Rhye Lovell of the University of Southern California points out that:
“In its substantive aspects … the law was one of damages for injury to person or property; that is, by modern legal terminology, it was exclusively a law of torts with no distinction between civil and criminal wrongs.” 5
However, there were a few “crimes” or offenses against the whole community which were punished by death. Dr. Lovell says these included “treason, cowardice, desertion, and because of its threat to the tribal population, sexual perversion.” 6
Under Anglo-Saxon law the fines for other offenses all went to the victim. Think how much more just that system was than the one we use today where the fines go to the county, the state, or the government. Of course, even under our law the victim can sue the criminal if he wants to, but what hope of recovery is there when the criminal is in prison and his family is on welfare?

Reviving the Anglo-Saxon Approach to Justice
It is part of the program of the Freemen Institute to carry on where Jefferson left off. We have been pushing hard for “justice through restitution,” and others seem to be joining in the crusade. One Assistant United States Attorney General, John M. Greacen, wrote in the Barrister magazine for lawyers 7 that most offenses against people and property should be treated as torts and require payment of damages to the victim. He said this could virtually empty our jails and reserve the penal system for the more incorrigible criminal.
In Connecticut a grant of $288,000 has been set up to experiment with “victim restitution” cases. In Las Vegas a judge told me that he had used this approach with more than a hundred criminals and it had worked on all but one or two. Those who failed to cooperate were given heavy prison sentences.
Only last week I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General in California asking for a summary of recommendations from the Freemen Institute concerning our “justice through restitution” program. I have also been told that this whole subject will be brought up for extensive consideration by the Utah State Legislature this coming year.
Of course, this is only one facet of our Constitutional seminars but it is typical of the principles we are emphasizing so that people can appreciate that the founding fathers had practical, time-tested answers for many of the most serious problems confronting the nation today. We like to show how the founders anticipated nearly every major issue of today’s complex world and provided answers if we just have sense enough to apply them.
If Jefferson were here he would probably point out that they warned against the erosion of local self-government, they pointed out the danger of having too many laws, too many regulations, and too much power in a central government out of reach of the people. In our hedonistic age of degeneracy and low morality he would point out that according to Blackstone 8 the law of God is the supreme law of the land and any court or legislature which issues edicts or passes laws in violation of God’s law is “no law” at all. It is null and void. Jefferson would emphasize the sanctity of property rights which are unalienable along with liberty and the right to life. He would point out that popular books like the one written by Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner, entitled Beyond Freedom and Dignity, is an act of philosophical treason against the American Constitution and the Christian concept of free agency.

Freemen In Action
Now, just a word in closing. I would like to say something about Freemen in action. In the Freemen Institute we do more than just study. We encourage our people to become active in the party of their choice and go to work. We want to encourage the promotion of Constitutional principles in all political parties throughout the United States. Under the Constitution, political action is a “numbers game,” and we must get thousands of people directly involved in the task of restoring the Constitution.
It was pretty exciting last Tuesday when we found five of our Freemen coming out of their respective parties as victors in the primaries. A lot of them gathered their workers together to celebrate their success. Since most of them were from one party it was interesting when a candidate from the other major party came bursting into the room and said, “I won too!” They all congratulated him and rejoiced in his success. You see, parties are important only as vehicles of action. When we get well-trained Constitutionalists coming up in all the parties they can work together and start turning things around.
Sometimes people come to me and say, “What can I do?” It isn’t always easy to tell them what to do but I know they can do something. A lot of people are self-starters and don’t need suggestions. One of these is Ken Porter who came to us last year and said, “How about starting seminars all over Idaho?” We already had a number of other fine friends initiating seminars in that State but he volunteered to spend his own time to serve as a coordinator for Idaho and get things going. As a result, we have held a whole series of seminars in Idaho Falls, Blackfoot, Salmon, Preston, Pocatello, and Burley.
John Scott and Lupe Barbare of North Dakota had us fly up to Bismark for four weekends and give our seminar to a packed audience at the Holiday Inn.
Dr. Robert Meese has done a great job at Tucson, Arizona.
Judge Kenneth Chatwin is coordinating our seminars in Phoenix.
Ken Warthen has put on two fine seminars in Las Vegas.
And President Jim Bean was very successful in sponsoring a seminar in Portland.
Up in Ogden Tom Hadley and his associates have had so many seminars we had to set up a branch Institute there to take care of the crowds.
Mark Porter and Clyde Baugh have handled our seminars in Logan.
We have been in Seattle and Yakima, Washington, and had people fly as much as 500 miles to attend from Montana and Wyoming.
In Salt Lake City we hold our seminars at the Carden School which is operated by two outstanding Freemen, Don and Anna Lou Jells.
In Utah we have held seminars all up and down the whole state from Logan to Kanab.
During the next few months we will be revising our text so that it will include all of the new and exciting information we have discovered. It will be so thoroughly documented that no one will have to ask where we found the information. As soon as the text is finished we will put the lectures on tapes and films so that we can start reaching tens of thousands.
I want all of you to know how deeply I appreciate your marvelous loyalty and support. I know many of you sacrifice both in time and money far beyond the ordinary call of duty to make this program succeed. I see some here today who have not only worked on this building but slept here at night so they could get started early the next morning. In my book all of you are cut from the stripe of the founding fathers themselves. Thanks to all of you for coming, and God bless you every one!
...........................................................................................................................................................................
101 Constitutional Questions To Ask Candidates
by W. Cleon Skousen

W. Cleon Skousen. 101 Constitutional Questions To Ask Candidates. 1980.
Because so many millions of Americans finally realize that something is seriously wrong with the way the government is handling our affairs, people are continually asking: “Do you think there is still time to turn it around?”
When you ask, “Still time before what?” they usually reply: “Before total disaster overtakes.”
For those who wonder about such things the answer is this: “Yes, there is still time, but not much.”
The next question is: “What can we do to get America turned around and regain our national sanity?”
The answer is: “Elect a President and a majority in Congress who still believe in the Constitution and will fight to return America to her original moorings.”
Identifying Constitutional Candidates
“But how can you tell when a candidate for political office is really a Constitutionalist?”
If the candidate is already in office he will have a voting record which will clearly show whether or not he is a Constitutionalist. Several organizations monitor the Congress and publish the results.
However, if the candidate is a newcomer to politics you will have to test his knowledge of Constitutional principles by asking a few questions.
What Kind of Questions Should Be Asked?
We are listing a few of the many questions which might be addressed to a candidate in order to determine whether or not he stands for those basic principles advocated by the Founding Fathers.
As we go through these questions you will note that nearly all of them can be easily answered by anyone who has attended the “Miracle of America” seminars on the Constitution. In the text for this course the answers to all of these questions are explained and documented. If your candidate does not know the answers, invite him to take a Constitutional seminar at the earliest possible date. The thirteen hours required for this study may turn out to be the best investment in political orientation he could find. No American should run for public office until he has studied the Constitution in the tradition of the Founding Fathers.
Questions on General Principles
1. Under the Constitution, who has the sovereign authority to govern?
The founders said it is in the people “by God’s own allowance”. No branch or agency of the government should be allowed to operate in violation of the expressed will of the people. Their collective will is set forth in the Constitution and the laws passed by the people’s representatives.
2. In what way are “all men created equal?”
All humanity are equal in three ways: 1. equal before God, 2. equal before the law, 3. equal in their rights. In all other respects people are different.
3. What is an inalienable right?
An inalienable right is one which comes as an “endowment from the Creator” and cannot be violated without coming under the judgment of God.
4. Which inalienable rights were listed in the Declaration of Independence?
The Declaration of Independence lists the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
5. What did the founders mean by the “pursuit of happiness?”
This is a collective phrase designed to cover all of the other inalienable rights.
6. Give an example of an inalienable right which is essential to the pursuit of happiness.
The Founders believed, for example, that human happiness requires that each of us enjoy the right to acquire, develop and dispose of property. They believed that without the protection of property rights, all other rights are placed in serious jeopardy.
7. What are some of the other inalienable rights?
The inalienable rights of mankind include such things as the right of self government; the right of human beings to beget their own kind; the right of parents to rear their children free from outside interference (unless there is criminal abuse or neglect); the right to freedom of belief; the right to freedom of speech; the right to assemble; the right to petition; the right to change residence; the’ right to change jobs, etc.
8. What is the purpose of government?
The Founders said the basic reason for creating a government is to protect the inalienable rights of the people. The government is to provide “liberty under law,” which means that no law should be passed unless it is specifically designed to protect the freedom, liberty. and well-being of the people.
The American Structure of Government
9. What is a democracy?
A democracy is a government wherein decisions are made by the masses of the people rather than by elected representatives.
10. What is a republic?
A republic is a system in which the laws are passed and decisions made by the elected representatives of the people.
11. Why did Jefferson call the American system a democratic-republic?
Because the system allows the masses of qualified voters to participate in the election of their officials (democracy) and then the people’s elected representatives enact the laws and administer the affairs of the people under majority rule but with the equal protection of individual rights (a republic).
12. Is it a mistake, therefore, to call the United States a democracy?
Yes. The only part of the American system which is borrowed from “democracy” is the popular election of government officials. Except for this, the Founders strongly emphasized the republican aspects of the American system. A republic places the responsibility for sound government and decision-making on the people’s elected representatives rather than allowing the fluctuating and superficial emotions of the people to override law and order or the rights of minorities. The classical example of government functioning on republican principles and prevailing over “pure democracy” would be the case of a sheriff protecting a prisoner against a lynch mob.
The Task of Controlling Power
13. Why is separation of power safer than concentration of power?
Government is “force” which Washington compared to “fire” and said government is a “dangerous servant” and a “fearful master.” Power should be dispersed among the people where they can keep it under control.
14. How should the powers of government be separated?
First of all the Founders wanted political power separated vertically. They considered the principal power base of society to be the family. However, there are a few things which a community of families can provide better than a single family (police, fire, water, utilities, etc.). Power to perform these functions is therefore delegated to the community. Then there are a few things which groups of communities can do better than the single community. These tasks are assigned to the higher level of the county. There are also a few things that a group of counties can do better than a single county and these are assigned to the State level. The Founders also discovered that there were certain matters dealing with foreign affairs, problems of war and peace, imports, etc. which need to be handled in behalf of all the states. These responsibilities are therefore assigned to the Federal Government. It should be noted that the Founders’ pyramid of power provided that the greatest number of responsibilities should rest with the family. Only a few responsibilities were assigned to the levels of government above the family and the Federal Government was to have the least of all. 1
15. What remedies did the Founders provide if government officials violated the channel of power assigned to them?
Administrative pressures from other departments are provided and if his offenses are serious he can be impeached for treason, bribery, high crimes or misdemeanors.
16. Why did the Founders want the powers of government to flow from the bottom up rather than the top down?
Jefferson stated that a political unit governs best which governs least. In other words, the services which the people need from government are relatively simple and when circumstances are normal the people like to conduct their affairs with as little interference from the government as possible. Consequently, in the Founders’ original plan for a happy and prosperous society, the functions of government were designed to be relatively simple and remarkably cheap.
17. Then why do we have such a complicated and expensive government today?
The professional politicians learned that in a war, depression, or a serious crisis, the people will endure higher taxes and a far greater concentration of authority on the higher levels of government. Certain politicians therefore set out to exploit every emergency as an excuse for the acquiring of more power. During most of the twentieth century ambitious politicians trumpeted the message that the government can solve practically all problems better than the people. Today, as a result, Americans are being literally “programmed” to death. And taxes have skyrocketed.
Separating Power Horizontally
18. How did the Founders separate power horizontally?
There are three functions of government at each level of society. One function is to make the law, another is to administer the law and a third is to interpret the law. These are all on the same horizontal level and are referred to as the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government. The Founders wanted these three functions to be separated into equal, independent departments. At the same time, they wanted to coordinate these functions so that one department could not function without the other two. Each department was therefore assigned to serve as a check on the others. The idea of the Founders was to have these functions of government “coordinated but never consolidated.” This was one of the most ingenious devices contributed by the Founders.
19. What happens if the separation of powers breaks down either vertically or horizontally?
The Founders warned that if the vertical separation of power should ever break down so that all power began to be concentrated in Washington, there would be a severely arrogant abuse of the people by government officials. They also said that if the legislative executive and judicial departments failed to act as a check on each other, there would be tyranny and the people would lose their freedom. For more than one full generation this is what has been happening.
Americans Experiment with Another System
20. Is the consolidation of government functions the trend today?
Yes. Consolidation of power is gravitating toward Washington at a pace which would have greatly alarmed the Founders.
21. What has caused this?
Beginning around 1900 certain wealthy influential groups lost confidence in the original American system and began propagandizing the people into believing that a “redistribution of the wealth” by the government would greatly improve the American life style. This theory of economics with its concentration of political power at the center of government is usually referred to as socialism. Samuel Adams vigorously warned against these principles. He said socialism violates equal protection of rights and completely destroys the concept of limited government. In fact, he said the Founders had done everything possible to make these collectivist policies “unconstitutional.”
22. What has been the result?
These policies launched the United States on a wild and dizzy trajectory which has resulted in run-away inflation; a huge burden of national debt; taxes which are devouring nearly half of the peoples’ earning power; a serious invasion of individual rights; and a virtual collapse of states rights.
23. Has socialism or “collectivism” worked anywhere in the world?
Unfortunately, it has not. In fact, the militant forms of socialism such as Communism, Nazism, and Fascism have caused more wars and shed the blood of more human beings than any system of government in the history of the world. Even the so-called “peaceful” forms of socialism such as Democratic Socialism and Fabian Socialism, have proven counter-productive and have continuously crept along the razor’s edge of perpetual bankruptcy. Americans have sent over hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid trying to help the socialist nations survive. Now we are bordering on bankruptcy ourselves.
24. How did the Founders structure the American system so that socialism would be unconstitutional?
They did it by setting up a “limited” form of government with carefully enumerated powers. Jefferson called these limitations on government the “chains” of the Constitution.
American Leaders Began to Abandon the Founders Success Formula
25. Does this mean Theodore Roosevelt was In error when he said the President could do anything except that which the Constitution forbids?
Yes, he was turning the Constitution upside down. The President and all other officials of the government are only allowed to do that which is expressly authorized. The Founders referred to any exercise of power outside of these Constitutional chains as “usurpation.”
26. Was President Woodrow Wilson also in error when he said the United States should become involved in the political and economic affairs of the world?
Yes. The Founders had continually warned against foreign, entangling alliances. The Founders believed the United States should try to be friendly with all nations, but beholden to none. They knew that political interdependence leads to the development of power blocs, and power blocs ultimately lead to war.
27. Was Franklin D. Roosevelt in error when he structured the New Deal?
Yes. The New Deal was structured on collectivist principles designed by such men as Harry Hopkins who saw socialism as a tremendous vehicle to acquire power over the people and their resources. His famous formula was “tax, tax — spend, spend — elect, elect!”
28. Was Lyndon Johnson in error when he said, “We will take from the haves and give to the have nots!”
The Founders would certainly have called it an error. There is absolutely no Constitutional authority for the government to engage in any such invasion of private property rights. Throughout history it has always been popular for governments to pretend they are going to “soak the rich,” but such programs have always ended up with government officials using this newly acquired power to violate the inalienable rights of both rich and poor. It is a political trick to build bigger government with bigger debts and bigger taxes.
29. Was President Nixon in error when he continually tried to involve the United States in a “New World Order”?
Yes. It is extremely dangerous for Americans to enter into foreign engagements where decisions for Americans are made by non-Americans. The Founders believed that we should coordinate but never consolidate our free and independent society with foreign nations.
30. Was President Carter in error when he began meddling in domestic affairs of foreign nations?
Yes. The Monroe Doctrine specifically promised that the United States would never undertake to meddle in the domestic affairs of other countries. Any President or Secretary of State who has followed a policy of “interventionism,” has operated outside of his Constitutional authority.
Presidential Violations of the Constitution
31. What about executive orders which are treated as laws after being published in the federal register?
In the eyes of the Founders these would be considered unconstitutional. The President can issue executive orders to the administrative branches of government under his supervision but he has no authority whatever to make “laws” for the people since the Constitution assigns that authority exclusively to the Congress. An act of Congress could stop this whole illegal procedure.
32. What about executive agreements between the President and heads of foreign governments?
This procedure is also unconstitutional. The Founders provided that all agreements with foreign nations must have the advice and consent of the Senate. Since American Presidents began holding summit conferences with the heads of foreign governments, they have been entering into secret engagements which very often never see the light of day let alone receive the advice and consent of the Senate. Each year there are many more executive agreements signed by the President than there are treaties ratified by the Senate.
Judicial Violations of the Constitution
33. What about new laws laid down by the Supreme Court?
This is called “judicial legislation.” This occurs when the Supreme Court creates a new law by pretending to interpret an old one. In the Federalist Papers the Founders specifically warned against this type of arrogance by the Supreme Court.
34. How is the Supreme Court supposed to interpret the Constitution?
The Founders made it very clear that the Supreme Court would be violating its assignment if it substituted its own opinions for that of the Founders. Until recently it has always been an established principle that the
Constitution must be interpreted the way the Founders intended it and not according to the whims or caprice of modern justices.
35. Is there any way to curb the Supreme Court from exercising its power in an unconstitutional manner?
Yes. A Judicial Reform Amendment would allow any Supreme Court decision to be overturned by two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate. A decision could also be overturned by concurring resolutions from three-fourths of the State Legislatures. Had this procedure been available the States would have’ undoubtedly outlawed forced busing of school children at least twenty years ago.
Unconstitutional Edicts of Regulatory Agencies
36. Is it Constitutional for an agency of the Federal Government to write rules and regulations which are enforced in the courts as “laws?”
No. This is a recent development in governmental procedures. It is called “administrative law.” The Founders provided no power in any agency of government to make laws except the Congress.
Blurring the Founders’ Division of Labor Between
the States and the Federal Government
37. How did the Founders intend to divide the problem-solving powers between the States and the Federal Government?
James Madison spelled it out in the Federalist Papers, No. 45. He wrote: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined…. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and the properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.”
38. How did the Founders know whether to assign a problem to the State or Federal Governments?
If a problem involved foreign relations (war, peace, treaties, etc.) or matters which could not be handled by any one of the states (regulating interstate commerce, crimes on the high seas, navigable waters, naturalization, etc.) it went to the Federal Government. All other powers were retained by the States.
39. How many areas of power were ultimately assigned to the Federal Government?
The Constitution gives the Federal Government twenty powers. These are set forth in Article I, Section 8.
40. What if the Federal Government thinks it needs more power?
The government cannot legally exercise any powers except those which are specifically granted to it by the Constitution. The only way Washington can get any additional legitimate power is by an amendment.
41. Where does it say that the Federal Government is specifically restricted from exercising any power not granted to it by the States?
The Tenth Amendment
42. Then how did the government get so much power?
The dominating arrogance of the Federal Government today came about primarily through three channels: 1. outright usurpation of power, 2. an edict by the Supreme Court in the Butler Case in 1936 reversing the original meaning in the Welfare Clause, and 3. distorting the Commerce Clause as the means of shattering the restrictive chains of the Constitution and expanding Federal jurisdiction into hundreds of areas never intended by the Founders..
Subverting Two Important Constitutional Clauses
43. What was the Butler Case?
In this decision, Justice Roberts included in his opinion a dictum that the Congress would no longer be restricted in its taxing and spending powers so long as it was in the “general welfare” of the nation. This immediately opened the U.S. Treasury to looting for all kinds of give-away programs which politicians began using to buy votes.
44. In what way has the Commerce Clause been distorted to give the Federal Government unconstitutional powers?
This clause was simply designed to give the Federal Government sufficient power to insure the “free flow” of commerce so that the States would not interfere with inter-state shipments as they had done in the past. Since 1936 the original intent of the Founders has been expanded to include Federal control over practically everything which affects inter-state commerce either directly or indirectly. This usurpation of authority by Congress (which has been upheld by the Supreme Court), has shattered some of the most important restrictions on Federal intervention in the business and commercial life of the nation.
Some Practical Questions
45. Doesn’t the more complex nature of modern society require a far more extensive control of the economy by the Federal Government?
No. The more complex society becomes the more it needs the automatic problem-solving devices of a free-market economy operating with the least possible interference from government. As Adam Smith pointed out, government interference only adds to the complexity of the system and results in a serious deterioration of individual freedom.
46. What is a modern example of the Founders’ original success formula solving some of the highly complex problems of a modern society?
No nation could have had a much more complex situation than West Germany right after World War II. Every major city in Germany was bomb-gutted and the people were surviving in basements and make-shift hovels. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany took over in 1949 and immediately initiated the basic economic principles advocated by the Founding Fathers. By using freedom instead of heavy-handed government regulations, West Germany achieved the highest standard of living in Western Europe within eight years. The West Germans were not only fully employed but importing foreign labor besides. Clothing, food and housing were abundant and cheap. West Germany became so prosperous she was the envy of socialized Sweden. It will be recalled that Sweden wasn’t even in the war and had boasted of the superiority of her socialist controls. However, in Sweden a young married. couple has to wait ten years to get a one-room apartment because of the government monopoly over housing. It was obvious West Germany had chosen a better way.
Questions About Money and the Budget
47. What happened to the Federal budget after the “Butler” case?
In 1936 (the year of the Butler case) the Federal budget was around six billion dollars. By 1980 the looting of the American taxpayer had pushed the Federal budget to more than six hundred billion dollars!
48. Is it Constitutional for the government to spend more money that it takes in?
Yes. The Constitution allows the government to borrow in emergencies. Unfortunately, during the last 50 years Congress has continually found excuses to borrow whether there was an emergency or not. The only way to stop this is to replace the big spenders in Congress with Constitutionalists who recognize that we are presently on a disaster course.
The National Debt
49. How much is the national debt today?
The U.S. National Debt is nearly a trillion dollars (extremely higher today!) requiring interest payments which cost more each year than the entire cost of World War I. Future liabilities to which the government is already committed will require taxation of an additional six to seven trillion.
50. How does the U.S. debt compare with the debts of other nations?
The United States now owes more than all of the rest of the nations of the world combined.
51. Why would the Founders have considered this gigantic indebtedness immoral?
The Founders said that no generation should go so deeply in debt that it becomes guilty of squandering the next generation’s inheritance. They said such extravagance is immoral. All past generations tried to pay off all the debts accrued during their time. Ours is the first generation which has deliberately squandered the inheritance of its children.
What About Welfare?
52. But hasn’t much of our money been spent for welfare and other Important social programs?
This was the main excuse for sky-rocketing taxation and deficit spending. Tragically, however, the money has been squandered primarily to build a vast bureaucracy. It is amazing how many of the government’s multibillion dollar social programs have provided only a pittance to trickle down to the poor, the sick and the elderly.
53. But didn’t the government have to try to do something to help those in need?
The Founders specifically warned against this type of political deception where the compassion of the people is exploited to build big government and raise taxes. They said that all types of charity and welfare should be handled on the local level where abuses could be quickly detected and corrected.
54. But what if the states do not provide needed services?
The existence of a need on a State level does not create a power on the Federal level. When a State fails to fulfill its obligation the pressure should be exerted on the State, not the Federal government. Jefferson said there is no way to preserve freedom if all political power gravitates to Washington.
The National Debt and Foreign Aid
55. In view of America’s tremendous national debt, why do we continue giving foreign aid to over a 125 countries?
This whole procedure violates the Constitution and common sense. What started out as part of the defense program in the interest of the United States has turned into an international Santa Claus give-away program. similar to the extravagant give-away programs at home. Tens of billions given away each year automatically add to the national debt.
Social Security
56. Is Social Security an insurance plan or a welfare plan?
The Supreme Court has held that it is a welfare plan. This means that it can be terminated at anytime. It also means the government can distribute its proceeds arbitrarily. The contributor to social security payments acquires no rights and receives only what the government condescends to distribute to him as “payments” if he qualifies under the government’s arbitrary poverty level.
57. Is there a better way?
Yes. It is called an annuity program. If the money contributed by an employee (and his employer) between 25 and 65 were invested in American industries under an annuity plan, the fund could be built to a quarter of a million dollars by the time he retires. An annuity fund of this kind would permit an employee to retire at $1,200 to $1,500 per month. Furthermore, the money is his. He does not have to be poor to get it. If he dies it goes to his widow and children. He earned it. He owns it. [these figures would be higher now]
58. Is the Federal Income Tax Constitutional?
Yes. The Sixteenth Amendment was adopted according to the requirements of the constitution.
59. Is this the type of tax which the Founding Fathers would have employed?
No. They provided that direct taxes be apportioned to the States according to population, not according to the incomes of the people.
60. Has income tax been administered uniformly?
No. A graduated income tax violates the equal protection of rights. It violates the principle of uniformity required by the Constitution and makes the property of accumulated wealth less sacred than those who have less.
61. Is it possible to administer the Income Tax fairly?
No. This could only be done by setting up a universal monitoring system similar to a “police state.” This would violate all of the basic rights guaranteed in the Fourth Amendment.
62. Would it ever be possible to repeal the Federal Income Tax?
Yes. By phasing out governmental activities which are clearly outside the Constitution, the cost of government would be greatly reduced and the income tax could be safely eliminated.
63. Would the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment interfere with defense and other legitimate Federal responsibilities?
No. Corporate taxes and other sources of Federal revenue would more than adequately provide for the legitimate expenses of the Federal Government if its unconstitutional expenses were phased out. Who knows, there might even be a surplus!
64. What about the thousands of Federal-aid programs covering nearly every aspect of American life?
Federal grants are unconstitutional unless directly related to some power specifically delegated to the Federal Government. A strict interpretation of the Constitution would probably wipe out at least 95% of the Federal-aid programs presently plaguing the nation.
Federal Regulatory Agencies
65. What about EPA?
The Environmental Protection Act involves problems which the Founders delegated exclusively to the States where local supervision could prevent abuses and deal with over-regulation more readily. Today, federal control over air, water, and land environment is strangling the economy and suppressing the development of energy and natural resources.
66. What about OSHA?
Occupational safety and health are important responsibilities but they should never have been delegated to the Federal level. The Founders knew that government is too big, and the legal machinery too expensive for most citizens to handle. They therefore endure the disruptive and oppressive edicts of this agency because it has been too big for the average citizen to fight.
67. What about the Federal Communications Commission?
This agency was designed to “police” the traffic on the air waves but the FCC has used its licensing power to control the editorial content of programs. This is in direct violation of the First Amendment.
68. What about the Pure Food and Drug Administration?
There is no authority for this agency under the Constitution. If it is in the national interest to have such an agency it should have been authorized by an amendment. There is already a wide-spread criticism of the arbitrary manner in which this agency has exercised its broad spectrum of power.
69. What about Consumer Protection?
Here again we have an exercise of power unauthorized by the Constitution. Do we really want that much power allocated to the Federal level where the agency is so big and powerful that not even the largest corporations are able to cope with its abuses?
What About the Government Setting Up Business Operations?
70. Is there any authority in the Constitution for the government to set up tax-exempt corporations or business operations to compete with tax-paying citizens?
The answer is no, unless the corporation or business is directly connected with an area of Federal responsibility enumerated in the Constitution. For example, an independent government corporation to provide mail service would be constitutional. However, a corporation set up to compete in the production of electricity, the manufacturing of clothes, or the operating of a chain of public restaurants, would not.
71. How many corporations and businesses does the government operate at the present time which are unauthorized by the constitution?
Around 700 corporations and 11,000 businesses. [much higher now]
72. Are all of these tax-exempt?
Yes. They are not only tax-exempt but most of them are being subsidized out of tax funds because they are not being operated efficiently.
What Caused the “Sagebrush Rebellion?”
73. Shouldn’t all of the states have been admitted to the Union on an equal basis?
Yes. This was set forth by Congress in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
74. Which states were strong-armed into accepting statehood without being admitted on an equal footing?
All of the Western States and Alaska.
75. In what way were they forced to accept statehood unequally?
Large regions of these states were retained by the Federal Government for purposes not authorized by the Constitution in Article I, Section 8, Clause 17.
76. About how much of the land did the Federal Government usually withhold from these states?
The government retained around 50% of the land in most Western States, but 79% of Nevada and 96% of Alaska.
77. Are any of these states attempting to get this land back?
Yes. The press has labelled this effort the “Sagebrush Rebellion,” but it is not a rebellion. These states are simply following the legal and Constitutional procedures necessary to have this land turned back to them.
What About Locking Up State Territory As Wilderness Areas?
78. Does the Constitution authorize the President and the Secretary of the Interior to lock up large blocks of land within a state as a “wilderness reserve?”
No. This violates the express provisions of the Constitution but was upheld by the Supreme Court on extremely tenuous grounds.
79. Does the Constitution authorize the Federal Government to have a national forest within the confines of a state?
No. This is not included in the list of territories which the Federal Government is allowed to occupy with the consent of the State. (See Article I, Section 8, Clause 17) The Supreme Court had to distort the Constitution to justify it. Historically, the States have had fewer forest fires and have maintained the State forests on a higher level than the national forests.
80. Does the Constitution authorize the Federal Government to have national parks within the confines of a State?
No. For the same reasons as those cited above, the Supreme Court should have disallowed them. It has been observed that as a rule State Parks are better maintained and provide better facilities than those operated by the Federal Government.
What About Federal Control of Energy Resources?
81. Does the Constitution authorize the government to control, regulate, or inhibit the production of energy resources within a state?
No.
Problems with Government Monopolies
82. What about the widely expanded activities of the Interstate Commerce Commission?
The Founders never intended the “regulation of commerce” to include cartel monopolies, fixing prices, fixing routes, and regulating industries into bankruptcy. The recent deregulation of airlines dramatically demonstrated the advantage of free-market competition over a system of unconstitutional governmental regulations.
83. Does the Constitution authorize the Federal Government to set prices?
Not in time of peace.
84. Does the Constitution authorize the Federal Government to set wages?
Not in time of peace.
The National Labor Relations Board
85. Does the Constitution authorize the Federal Government to enter into labor-management disputes in the private sector?
No. This area of Federal usurpation occurred during the “New Deal” days by completely distorting the original intent of the Commerce Clause.
The Department of HEW
86. Is there any Constitutional foundation for the extravagant and wasteful expenditures of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare?
No. Each of the agencies under HEW has developed since the Butler Case. The dictum in this case authorized the general welfare clause to be interpreted in a manner which extended government intrusion into areas specifically excluded from Federal jurisdiction by the Founders.
87. About how much of the Federal budget Is spent each year on these unconstitutional activities?
Around 201 billion dollars in 1980 which is approximately 1/3 of the Federal budget.
88. Would it require an amendment to the Constitution to eliminate the Department of HEW?
No. An act of Congress could dismantle this extremely costly department which has probably been more wasteful and nonproductive in its assigned area of activity than any other branch of the government.
The Equal Rights Amendment
89. Why are so many millions of American women now opposing the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment?
In the beginning nearly everyone assumed that this amendment was designed to provide equal rights for women. This supposed objective was widely approved. It was only after 30 states had ratified this amendment that it was realized that the simple wording of this amendment would actually destroy a broad spectrum of rights which American women already have.
90. What are some of the rights of American women which ERA would destroy?
At present American women enjoy both the common law right as well as the statutory right to be supported, along with their children, by their husbands. ERA would not only destroy this right but also eliminate many rights relating to employment, maternity leave, insurance and survival rights which are presently provided by law.
91. Would passage of the Equal Rights Amendment give women any more rights than they now have?
No. All of the rights which the advocates of ERA claim they are getting for women through the passage of this amendment are already provided by law.
92. Would the passage of ERA further damage the original separation of powers instituted by the Founders?
Yes. For example, it would transfer a large percentage of cases involving family and other domestic problems from the State courts to the Federal judiciary which is already smothered with legal problems.
Abortions
93. Is Federal funding of abortion a violation of the Constitution?
Yes. The specific and limited authority granted to the Federal Government does not include any funding for abortions.
The Gold and Silver Standard
94. Was the United States taken off the gold and silver standard in violation of the Constitution?
Yes. The gold standard is written into the Constitution (Article I, Section 10, Clause 1) and was removed by several acts of Congress without an amendment to the Constitution between 1934 and 1964. From the Founding Fathers standpoint this whole procedure was illegal.
The Federal Department of Education
95. Is it Constitutional for Federal funds to be used in the financing of local schools?
No. The Founding Fathers warned against the funding of schools by the Congress. In fact, education in the U.S. has seriously deteriorated since Federal funding began. James Madison equated the Federal funding of schools as extremely dangerous and said it was almost as bad as funding and controlling the churches of the nation.
96. Should the members of State and educational associations be required by law to pay dues to the National Educational Association?
No. The NEA is a private lobby with an annual budget of nearly $60 million dollars. It succeeded in getting the States to pass a law requiring the educators in State associations to pay dues to the NEA. These laws should be repealed. Teachers find themselves compelled to pay dues to this private organization which often advocates policies that are inimical to the best interests of American education.
Taxes on Dividends
97. Should stockholders be required to pay income taxes on their dividends when the corporation has already been subject to a corporate tax?
No. The stockholders are the owners of the company. They have already paid around 48% tax on the company’s earnings. The residue should be distributed among the stockholders as funds on which the required tax has already been paid.
Control of Firearms
98. Should the Federal Government pass laws providing for the control of guns?
No. The Founders left gun control under the exclusive jurisdiction of the State. They felt it was extremely dangerous to allow the Federal Government to “infringe” on the right to bear arms even in the slightest degree.
The Modem Method of Electing Senators
99. Should the Seventeenth Amendment be repealed?
The Founders would undoubtedly say yes. They set up a House of Representatives to represent the people and set up a Senate to represent the individual States. Senators were originally appointed by State legislatures and were the watchdogs of States rights. The Seventeenth Amendment took away the authority of the State Legislatures to appoint Senators. and therefore required Senatorial candidates to appeal to the people in a popular election. This resulted in the Senators frequently ignoring States rights in an effort to get more money for their States just as Congressmen do. States’ rights have been seriously deteriorating since the Seventeenth Amendment was adopted in 1913. It destroyed an important element of balance which the founders built into the Constitution.
The BLM
100. Should the Bureau of Land Management be abolished?
Yes. This bureau has been rapidly phasing out the traditional grazing rights of ranchers and setting up impossible regulations on land which should have been turned over to the States when they were admitted into the Union.
Government Expenses
101. Can you find out how the government spends its money?
Yes. A complete breakdown of government spending is published each year by the Government Printing Office. This is required by the Constitution.
Conclusion
Now, as nearly as we can ascertain from the writings of the Founding Fathers, this is about the way they would have answered each of these 101 questions. We have also tried to reflect the line of reasoning which their writings portray when similar questions were raised in their own day.
It is believed their point of view deserves careful consideration in view of the rather calamitous consequences which modern Americans have encountered as a result of following a different line of thinking. The socialist or collectivist formula has not worked for Americans; nor any one else for that matter.
It is believed this generation of Americans could earn the eternal gratitude of their descendants if they would immediately undertake to restore the Constitution in the tradition of the Founding Fathers.

User avatar
righteousrepublic
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5580
Location: Telestial Earth

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by righteousrepublic »

How many truly want to see our government back on track doing what they're supposed to be doing? Well, listen to Mike Badnarik starting at 1:11:07 in the video I posted and find out what it takes to acquire new guards for our country. There is a way to restore freedom and liberty if people really want it. But so far socialism is winning. Are we going to wait until we're all stuck into cattle cars and taken to incinerators before we say wait a minute, something is wrong here?

Hear what Michael has to say about it. Also, find out what it really means to be sovereign a little prior to 1:11:07.

User avatar
righteousrepublic
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5580
Location: Telestial Earth

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by righteousrepublic »

What happened to the team organizer?

ChevySam
Hi, I'm new.
Posts: 1

Question about Cleon Skousen's list of Contitutional deviations?

Post by ChevySam »

In speaking to Cleon in 1998 I learned he put together a list of deviations made unlawfully to the Constitution. I never received the list from him as I never asked. Does anyone know where I can find that list?

I believe restoration of Constitutional principles requires an Article 5 Convention of the States as outlined by Mark Levine. However, before engaging in such an effort we need to understand where the deviations occurred, how they occurred and the incentives in the Constitution that prompted these deviations from freedom principles. Hence my need for this list.
From this list and with help from this forum I intend to write a declaration of freedom to commit ourselves to preserving. This serves as a base for an IDEF study to determine the how in restoring constitutional freedom principles.
We need a forum such as this to engage in the restoration of the constitution. It requires mighty prayer, faith and sacrifice as we face the evil resistance that arises.
I plan to follow this forum attentively.
Sam Skousen

User avatar
creator
(of the Forum)
Posts: 8242
Location: The Matrix
Contact:

Re: Question about Cleon Skousen's list of Contitutional deviations?

Post by creator »

ChevySam wrote: June 3rd, 2022, 11:21 am In speaking to Cleon in 1998 I learned he put together a list of deviations made unlawfully to the Constitution. I never received the list from him as I never asked. Does anyone know where I can find that list?
This is possibly the list you are referring to, or at least it contains part of it: 100 Things Destroying America by W. Cleon Skousen
ChevySam wrote: June 3rd, 2022, 11:21 amI believe restoration of Constitutional principles requires an Article 5 Convention of the States as outlined by Mark Levine.
Cleon Skousen rightfully warned against an Article 5 Convention of the States (Con-Con), stating that it is "a great danger if we tried to apply Article V of the Constitution during a period of the most depraved political corruption in the entire history of our country". That was in 1994. Today the political corruption of the R's & D's continues to get worse.

User avatar
Elizabeth
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11796
Location: East Coast Australia

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Elizabeth »

Welcome ChevySam. :)

User avatar
Niemand
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 13999

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Niemand »

Zathura wrote: October 12th, 2020, 9:49 pm This feels like a movie
He says, "I'm here to build A Team"
Image

blitzinstripes
captain of 1,000
Posts: 2294

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by blitzinstripes »

I believe that the only thing that could save our nation(s) at this point is a bloody civil war. And nobody seems to want to actually do that- drag the Gadiantons from their offices and hang them in the streets. So while I appreciate your patriotism, I think it's far too little, and far too late. Build your spiritual and physical arks and keep an eye on the sky. The USA accomplished her divine purpose a long time ago. I find it highly unlikely that it exists in an organized and recognizable state when the Lord returns.

User avatar
letsjet
captain of 100
Posts: 148

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by letsjet »

Welcome to the forum! I too have felt for a long time that I will play a role in saving the Constitution. The Lord gave me a LOT of personal revelation starting in 2015 about how this will take place.

Apparently the Lord is about to restore the political branch of the Kingdom of God which is simply known as the Kingdom of God. The ecclesiastical branch of the Kingdom of God which we call the Church was restored in 1830.

If I have correctly interpreted my inspiration the establishment of the Kingdom of God will be the vehicle to save the Constitution. I will have a stewardship in that kingdom and every red-blooded American who cares about his country and every member of the Church, who has awakened to our awful situation will join that kingdom.

The marvelous work and a wonder mentioned in Isaiah has to do with the restoration of the Church and the Book of Mormon, but the marvelous work and a wonder that will grab the world’s attention and greatly disrupt the devil’s kingdom will be the restoration of the Kingdom of God which will be a political kingdom. It’s there in Isaiah if you read between the lines. In the Doctrine and Covenants section 95 the Lord refers to it as his “strange act.” In Doctrine and Covenants section 101 he refers to it as His “strange act” and His “strange work.” It’s strange because it will turn the devil’s kingdom upside-down! The establishment of this kingdom will astound everyone because nobody will be able to stop it! It will come to power in a miraculous way and will seriously disrupt the devil’s kingdom!

Right now the Church has a GREAT weakness because the Church is politically neutral. A lot of people on this forum say bad things about the Lord’s Anointed. This bothers me a lot! If a person has gone through the Temple they made a sacred covenant there not to “speak ill of the Lord’s anointed.” If they bad mouth the Lord’s anointed and break this covenant what happens to them? Who has POWER over you if you break a Temple covenant? I will leave the discussion right there.

Unfortunately some people don’t understand that our Church leaders have to be politically neutral because the Lord DOES NOT want His Church contaminated with the corruption of politics. He won’t allow it! When the political branch of the Kingdom of God is restored you will see RIGHTEOUS political power unleashed like never before!! The Church will quietly continue its mission of saving souls and the Kingdom of God will turn the political world on its ear!

In a tweet on November 1, 2018 President Nelson said, “We are witnesses to the process of restoration. If you think the Church is fully restored, you’re just seeing the beginning. There’s much more to come. Wait until next year, and then the next year. Eat your vitamins, get your rest. It’s going to be exciting!”

The Restoration cannot be complete until the political branch of God’s Kingdom is “set up” as mentioned in Daniel chapter 2.

Ether 4:6 says that the Gentiles will repent and become clean before the Lord. I’ve read that scripture many times before, but in 2015 it hit me like a ton of bricks! I was always under the impression that the Gentiles would be destroyed by a “remnant of the seed of Jacob.” Apparently that will only happen to the “unbelieving of the Gentiles.”

When I read this scripture in Ether in 2015 I had the feeling that MILLIONS of Gentiles will repent. Which makes sense because the Gentiles are supposed to bless the world in the latter-days!

Ether 4:7 blew me away even more! Verse 7 says that these repenting Gentiles will have the faith of the brother of Jared! Let that sink in. Imagine MILLIONS of Americans having the faith of the brother of Jared! Because of their faith the sealed portion will be translated and made available to them before the Millennium.

The scriptures talk about the power of God descending upon the saints in the latter-days. I’m referring to 1 Nephi 14:14. The brother of Jared had enough faith to move mountains and did so at least once. So if you have millions of Americans with this kind of faith it will certainly fulfill the scripture that the power of God will descend upon His saints “in great glory.”

I am looking forward to the establishment of this kingdom! I’m looking forward to having a stewardship in this kingdom, but there are still a lot of things that need to happen first. We just need to be patient. In spite of appearances, the Lord is in control and He knows what He’s doing!

Anyway, I suspect that we will be working together someday. I believe that “the pit” that has been dug for us is about to be filled by the evil losers who dug it. Like President Nelson said, “It’s going to be exciting!” I’m look forward to it!🤗

Teancum
captain of 100
Posts: 873

Re: I'm Here To Build A Team

Post by Teancum »

Although I am not as well versed constitutionally, I understand the principles of checks and balances to power. That power must not be concentrated in one entity or place.

It is my thought that Zion, and /or the Kingdom of God here on earth, will of necessity be decentralized in all aspects (political, economic, infrastructure, education, etc.). Only by having no central point of power to aspire to or central control point to acquire, can Zion be truly free from tyranny and corruption. Furthermore, it must needs be built by the method the Lord has decreed so that there is no pride or ego swelling.

I have thought long and hard about this topic and have come to the conclusion that alternative parallel structures of currencies, energy, goods and services, education, health, voting, and any other sector of society that can be controlled, need to be built and supported as checks and balances to the aggregation of power. But the unification of purpose and will among the people (collective will, not central power), causes the inhabitants of Zion to be terrible to those that desire otherwise - wherefore their evil purposes cannot stand.

I don't know about the A Team, (Don't like tobacco smoke - have to ask Hannibal to give up his cigars) :lol: but I have offered over the years to help develop alternative parallel structures such as energy, transportation, health, education, and others, but most people cannot see how to do that without threatening their 401k or house on the hill. The most I have ever gotten people to do is to realize that such a journey and destination takes real hard work and sacrifice. Then most went away sorrowful. :cry:

Post Reply