Read It…Now.

It may be oddly written, and I’ve learned that it’s not the best office-party icebreaker.  But every Hoosier should read, understand and memorize Article I, Section 25 of the Indiana Constitution.  It is short, unambiguous, and very, very important right now.

“No law shall be passed, the taking effect of which shall be made to depend upon any authority, except as provided in this Constitution.”

What could these words mean, but that even legislation does not create authority; laws depend upon authority.

It’s not only the Indiana Constitution that expresses this.  All throughout our constitutional republic, all political authority comes from our constitutions.

In other words, here in Indiana, as elsewhere under the Rule of Law established by our state and federal constitutions, politicians are not allowed to authorize themselves.  All of their power is written into constitutions, or that power is denied.

Just as you mustn’t allow a bad dog to hold his own leash, we mustn’t allow politicians to “interpret” the constitutions that restrain them.  “Legal precedent” and “case law” do not exist in our constitutions and have no legitimate power over constitutions.  Therefore, for example, no federal official can interpret away any first amendment rights because federal authority over religion, speech, press, assembly and petition is very plainly prohibited (see the First Amendment to the US Constitution).  All of our constitutions say this many times and in many ways; and constitutions were agreed upon and signed as solemn contracts (see the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1799).

Yet most politicians are routinely violating all of the laws that protect us from their historically demonstrated tendencies.  They have thus abrogated their legal authority, and rule by force alone.  Dick Cheney’s “nation of men, and not laws” is not just scary, it’s literally criminal.  This affects you more than you’ve been told.

Perhaps the most every-daily-relevant example is in your wallet.  State and federal constitutions mandate the use of gold and silver coin as money; and they’re clear that only our legislative assemblies have authority over this money.

But that’s not how your money works now.  And the way your money works today, is to rob you right into your grave.

With all our record-breaking taxation, regulation and litigation, there is only one private enterprise in America that has never been regulated, audited, taxed or brought to justice.  It is the so-called “Federal Reserve” Bank that’s been printing Monopoly money and charging you plenty for it since 1913.  It’s not federal, there’s no reserve, and it’s most definitely unconstitutional!

Frustratingly, many of even my political friends and allies tell me that “we’re too far from the constitutions now; we can’t demand compliance.”  But that’s like saying that once a criminal has done his deed, we, as a culture have failed, and that the criminal must therefore go free.

That is not sane.  That is self-flagellating madness.

Others claim that this is a democracy (why minorities want majority rule is beyond me), and voters can choose anything – even self-destruction.

I concede that this is pretty much what is happening.  But that’s both unconstitutional, and suicidal.

In each of my political races, and through all the years since 1995, I’ve proposed various plans to sunset all unconstitutional laws, agencies, powers and practices, and make the armed thug we call government go legit.  That is the law, it is morally right, it is proven to work…

…and our current path has proven to fail every time.

The Russian Revolution dreamed of liberty, justice and equality for all, but produced Stalinist nightmares and social collapse.  The French Revolution wielded the rhetoric but not the laws of our founders, so it was more about beheadings than freedom.  Even our own nation’s not-so-distant history illustrates oppression, slavery, genocide and war.  How can we think that now, with our government more powerful, secretive and intrusive than ever, we have put our ugly past behind us?

If you were to get curious and take the couple of hours necessary to read both the state and federal constitutions (yes, you really can read them without a federal judge telling you what they mean), you’d see that all of our biggest problems are unconstitutional.

Most taxation and government spending is unconstitutional.  All military engagements since WWII have been unconstitutional.  Pork, corruption, spiraling healthcare and education costs and tumbling dollars are all unconstitutional.

And every American constitution, both state and federal, codifies our right to alter or reform our government.  The Texas constitution couldn’t be more clear that should the federal government break its side of the constitutional contract, then Texas is specifically free and sovereign.  And that’s in the document’s very first paragraph.

You ought to read it!

Say what you will about our constitutions.  Call them outdated, call them “agrarian.”  But then read them.  We have nothing better, and we’re headed toward a truly ancient and horrible default state without them.

An open letter to my fellow patriots

My liberty-loving friends, we have lost.  We had our chance, and we muffed it. 

Gun rights activists fight the loss of gun rights, but not for the constitution upon which those rights depend.  Free speech activists protest their losses too, but they have no legal right to speak with out the constitutions.  Tax protesters haven’t a legal leg to stand on in the absence of constitutions.  Without constitutions, you’ve got no rights to property, due process or even life, because without constitutions, there are no agreed-upon, legal, contractual or practical restraints upon political power.  And we haven’t even asked for Rule of Law under the Constitutions since the New Deal and it’s “Switch in Time that Saved Nine.”  In point of irritating fact, most of us have fought for one right while opposing another for decades.  Speech activists oppose the constitutions’ religious freedom, while gun rights activists typically oppose the constitutions in moral, drug and lifestyle issues. 

We have stubbornly refused to unite over what it is that we all really want (Rule of Law under our existing constitutions, as written), while our enemies represent no more than our default state of oppression, slavery, genocide and war.  They win by our default in disunity.  We have torn ourselves apart and have nobody to blame but ourselves.

Sigh…

But let us not be bad sports.  Our side lost.  C’est ça.  Finito.  Now we must all Move On.

For years I have championed Rule of Law, but from now on, I want to be a Good Socialist.

Look at the positive side.  Authoritarians have always had the best uniforms.  Most people look good in a trim little cap, a neat military outfit with red epaulets and brass buttons.  And those shiny black boots sound so fetching as you’re running down side streets on a cold, rainy night, chasing down someone who just won’t fit in.

Think of the imagery.  Who else gathers thousands of cheering idolaters under triumphant banners and bold emblems?  Who else goose-steps a half-million troops with tanks and jet formations right through the heart of the capital?  What thrills!  Authoritarians have chutzpa! 

OK, I do so hope we don’t get stuck with a bad-hair ruler like the North Koreans got.  And murderous thugs like Che too often lack any cultural polish at all.  

But I, like Hitler and Mussolini, do enjoy fine cars, art, and well-choreographed young people.  I adore the martial music and stylized posters depicting gloriously happy workers.  I am ready to raise my arm in salute to our great Obama nation!

Dear friends, we must become the Übermensch; perfection in body, mind and… well, not spirit.  Who needs spirit when you have the state! 

We must reject our fetish with freedom, and replace it with devotion to global citizenship.  We must grow past and even spurn the apron strings and umbilicus of “traditional” family ties in favor of service to the family of humanity.

No sacrifice is too great for this dream.  You may be asked to give your life, but the promise is no more sickness, no more poverty, no more homelessness, no more injustice.  You may have to report your mother to the authorities, but you’ll be rewarded with the warm embrace of the global collective; from each according to his or her ability, to each according to his or her need.

We are now building a human bridge over the troubled waters of humanity’s brutal past; to embark upon a wonderful voyage so promising, that you’ll be jubilant and grateful to give your all, right up to your very last choking gasp.

Forget the tear-filled past with its tiresome clinging to “right” and “wrong.”  Forget the laws and old ways that held you back.  Forget humility and restraint.  Forget the chains and cages of individualism and family, and embrace the Power of Pride! 

Join me, my friends.  Let us erase the boundaries between nations and faiths and social norms, and march triumphantly toward the cliffs of a new day…

…In matching outfits!

Job Creationism debunked

All my bilious rumination against the media aside, I am pleased that the Indy Star printed what I’d submitted for their Voices pages:

 

Politicians tend to lie.  Citizens tend to believe.  The tragic, interminable history of what happens when governments go bad and citizens go silly is reason enough for a healthy condition of mistrust.  Governments are, at best, protection rackets.  They always extort some opportunity and wealth from citizens even when properly restrained to only protect our rights, property and life from others who’d take them away.  Government is a suppressive force, not a creative one.  So I’m sorry if this is news to you, but the political promise of “job creation,” is hogwash. 

 

A hundred years ago, there were no government “services” as we know them today, and government was leashed to solely a constitutionally limited, protective role.  Americans became the richest, freest and most secure people of all time because people naturally want to do well for themselves, and they were allowed to do just that. 

 

The genius of the founders was unequivocally proven.  Freedom works better than anything else ever tried.  That’s why it’s the law (see it in black and white at http://www.horningforgovernor.com/; it’s my Platform). 

 

But Americans fell for a “New Deal,” slowly devolving back to our brutish default of rulers versus ruled.  Government isn’t about protecting you anymore.  It’s about robbing Peter to pay Paul; with every election cycle merely an exercise to determine who’s Peter, and who gets to be Paul.  We’ve fallen so far toward this pre-Hammurabi authoritarianism that even the word “privatize” means the concentration of profits into the ruling class, while spreading their losses to you.  Now, if you make fat campaign donations and hire a lobbyist, you can live well on other people’s labor. 

 

This hurts Hoosiers more than most Americans.  Hoosiers once made 106% of the nation’s average salary, but we’ve lost twenty percent to that average in the past three decades.  Just in the last 4 years alone we’ve lost 72 electronics companies with over 11000 high-paying jobs; not to foreigners, but mostly to other rust-belt states.  These jobs have been only partly replaced by much lower-wage service industry jobs fueled by our political fixations on foreign corporations, sports and gambling.

 

So I’m running for the constitutional office of Indiana Governor because freedom is still the law.  I would govern government, not you.  I think it’s about time.

 

Prohibitions against firing bad workers increase resistance to hiring.  Such prohibitions are illegal, so I’d remove them and let the hiring begin.

Hiring illegal immigrants is attractive because doing so evades the mandatory costs of taxation, regulation, insurance, pensions and of course litigation.  I’d remove these illegal impediments to hiring Hoosiers, and bid illegal immigrants, ¡adios!

Because there are no impediments to buying foreign products made without our handicaps of taxation, regulation and litigation, we are competing against the world blindfolded with both hands tied behind our back.  I’d remove these illegal impediments too, and let prosperity happen.

 

I would massively cut taxation, regulation and litigation for everybody, not just for the elite.  Not only would businesses do better in Indiana, but so would the people that work for businesses.  Small businesses would no longer be at a disadvantage to the politically-connected corporate giants.  No more political class versus peons.  No more losing a home to property tax.  Everybody, including politicians, would be equal under the law.

 

Hoosiers would thrive because they could, and because they want to, and because nobody would stop them anymore.