Good point.

Ah, Winterwind - but you do not need a constitutional convention in order to just pass amendments. I would like to make the changes in as small increments as possible. (If we get to the point where we have the constitution cobbled back together in a format that protects liberty, and a generation raised in that type of social milieu, then perhaps it will be 'safer' to call a CC without having the constitution socialized.

Jan

That's the first step of addiction recovery - no coincidence whatsoever. These people are drunk on power.

Why? There's nothing to look at down there anyway. More creepy than anything...

They're portable and a garbage bag or two of aluminum cans plus a couple of hours time appears to work just fine. It looks like the digging out is the toughest part.

The history of England is a constant over stepping of the crown followed by reassertion of the power of parliament, the nobles, and/or the people. So there is history here.

aaaiiiieeee! my eyes, my eyes!

I worry about calling a Constitutional Convention. There are too many who have a very different agenda than that of a free people, and throwing the Convention open to such [which you have to do] is a scary thought. We are where we are because government officials, and those who depend on the government for everything, are strong. And we're going to give them access to the Constitution, giving their destruction legitimacy? I'd rather not.

This fits in with a recurring email I receive from nearly all my contacts periodically. There is some good in it, maybe part of an answer--but how to implement it? A Constitutional Convention is not the easiest thing to convene.

Congressional Reform Act of 2013

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates
with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.


3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.


6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/14. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

We're both right Jan. An Article V convention is needed to slow this runaway train wreak of a government down since an intellectual discussion of the very nature of government worthy of The Federalist Papers is going to take some time.

Joe

You may be correct j_IR, but while we agree on the need for an intellectual revolution, I hope that - given such a revolution - our government will not be able to ignore us within the bounds of current law and society. The best result would be for a series of amendments to the Constitution that 'plugged the holes' created by the change from a boondocks colony to a superpower and from a preindustrial to technological society.

Jan

True enough, db. Unfortunately I think that the teachers' unions have sown enough weeds of disinformation into the youth over the last 50 years such that winning the ideological war at the ballot box may no longer be possible. The Republicans of this generation, with a few exceptions, offer but a slower transition to socialist hell.

hear hear

The cost is winning the ideological war

Unfortunately Jan when the government gets to being the 800-pound gorilla in the room, it no longer cares about what we think. What I was trying to say was that it is too late to trim around the margins. We need to have an intellectual revolution.

No, they are lower life forms than that. ;)

Are you suggesting that the three branches of our government are inhabited by insects:-)

I am expecting that we're going to shoot for something in the $ 20 million range for land, temporary housing such as a small hotel or resort, including pool, basic utilities, Internet, and a lab/manufacturing incubator. Building small separate domiciles beyond that would be up to those who choose to do so. I'm targeting around $ 500 K as a point of entry for each household. Even if labor might be cheap where we build, transportation costs won't be.

And preventing any competition in currency.

How much is the budget for Atlantis? (Probably cheaper alternative.)

That would be far more effective indeed.