A friendly Reminder

A well regulated militia is necessary to a free state. Then why is Congress trying to disarm them? Congress wants to make it illegal for your neighborhood watch or church security group to train to defend themselves and others. What happens if it becomes illegal for people to assemble to prepare to defend themselves?  The gun grabbers in Congress are at it again. Attempts to disarm the American people have only been moderately successful over the past few years, so a bill was

Nobody likes paying taxes, but where did the federal income start? The Sixteenth Amendment did not create the federal income tax. However, the 16th Amendment did fundamentally change the republic. As April 15th approaches and people spend valuable time and money on filing their income tax returns, I think it worth our time to look at the source of our pain. While plenty of people grouse and complain about paying income taxes, most don’t realize that the cause of their pain is

In the United States, who is sovereign? Did we replace a sovereign monarch with a sovereign oligarchy? Do you need government’s permission to sue it?   When can you sue the government? What started out as an erroneous credit report filing has turned into the heart of the question brought before the Supreme Court in the case Department Of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service V. Kirtz (USDA v. Kirtz). What the court found, and how it got there, points to a seriou

How a U.S. President gets elected is both simpler and more complicated than most people think it is. What is this Electoral College and why does it exist? How can you participate in an election if you don’t know how it works? Every four years, the United States goes through the ritual of electing a President. I use the term ritual for two reasons. First, most Americans’ understanding of the election process is based on custom or rites rather than the law. Second, most of the

Are mask mandates constitutional? Do you have a right to refuse to wear a mask? Can you build a compelling argument for why you refuse? I’ve spoken repeatedly about the unconstitutionality of most mask mandates. Recently, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals was asked to review two cases where people were punished for attending school board meetings while refusing to wear masks. Sadly, the cases, as described in the Circuit Court opinion, seem poorly founded, thus leading to de

When does the No Fly List become a tool of tyranny? Can government actors avoid the consequences of their actions by simply calling them moot? Could you be on the No Fly List and not even know it? While looking through recent oral arguments at the Supreme Court, I stumbled across the case FBI v. Fikre. At first, I thought it was another simple procedural case, but something about it caught my attention. The oral arguments held before the Supreme Court were about whether Mr. F

We are in the middle of another primary season. But have you considered what the purpose behind these primaries? Why do we have an election season before the election? Why does the American taxpayer fund elections for private organizations? I propose that all elections for the board members of non-profit corporations should be run by the state at taxpayer expense. After all, we already have taxpayer funded elections for private organizations. We call them “Primaries”. While t

When Congress is ambiguous, who decides what they mean? Who decided that when Congress is silent, the executive agency decides for them? Is this Chevron Deference constitutional? For decades, Congress has been turning over more and more lawmaking power to the Executive Branch. Frequently this is done by legislation giving the head of some agency or department the power to establish rules which have the force of law. What happens when the legislation doesn’t explicitly say tha

Does the federal government have the legal authority to regulate anything it wants? The Department of Energy has decided they can regulate your dishwasher and washing machines. In the case of Louisiana, et. al. v. U.S. Department of Energy, it appears the DOE may have bitten off more than it can chew. Have you noticed how often the government of the United States decides how you should live your life? It seems everything from food and drugs to the light-bulbs in your home are

What are the legal grounds and arguments behind the efforts to disqualify Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in several states? How does Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution play a role in these legal challenges, and what are the key points of contention regarding its application to Trump's eligibility? What is the definition of "insurrection" according to the Fourteenth Amendment, and how does the article analyze Trump's actions on January 6th, 2021,

What happens when people use the judicial system not to redress a grievance, but to attack others? Does a person have standing to sue, even thou they suffered no harmed? What are the costs to others when people engage in such “law fare”? One of the most common ways for an American to seek a redress for some grievance is to file a law suit. This has made the United States a very litigious society. I was not able to determine the number of lawsuits filed, but in 2023 there were

How do you define income? Can the United States tax you for gains you haven’t received yet? If the United States can tax the Moores for profits an Indian company reinvested in themselves, what else could they tax you for? There are certain words that are so commonly used we think they have a universal understanding. One of those words is “income”. Think about it, what is income? Your paycheck? Dividends on your investments? Profits from your business? When does an increase in

Previously we started reviewing the farewell address of George Washington. As we conclude this review we’ll look at Washington’s view on separation of powers, Religion and Government, Debt, and more. As we read Washington’s farewell to public life, we should learn some of the lessons he tried to teach us. In the last article , I started reviewing George Washington’s Farewell Address. As we pick up in the middle of the document, you may want to go back and refresh your memory

While preparing to leave office, the first President under the new Constitution left the country he loved a present. He not only discussed why he was retiring, but provided some salient advice on how those who would pick up his mantle should seriously consider. The advice he gave his nation is something we should review, more than once. As he prepared to leave office, President George Washington gave a Farewell Address. Friends and Citizens:  The period for a new election of

Should the American way of life come to an end, would it be from a foreign foe or a domestic one? Can an 18th century lawyer and a 20th century defector warn us about our future? The Soviet Union may have died in the 20th century, but do its seeds still flourish in American soil? In 1837, Daniel Webster wrote: “I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe… Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to th

Should foster parents see Department of Children and Families as partners or adversaries? Can an otherwise excellent candidate for foster children be denied the chance because of their religious beliefs? When the state takes responsibility for children, can they place politics above their welfare? Studies show that the best outcomes for children is when they live in a home with their married parents. If the world were perfect, then all children would have that chance. The wor

Is social media the new public square? Can government actors block access to government information by putting it on a private account? Should government officials be allow to post official business on their private social media accounts? Social media has become so much a part of our everyday lives that we often don’t think about how we use it. This has led to what appears to be a large percentage of Americans developing what can at best be described as some “interesting idea

Two hundred and thirty-six years ago on September 17, 1787, the Constitution for the United States was signed and sent to the states for ratification. When asked what type of government they had given us, Benjamin Franklin famously said, “A republic, if you can keep it.” We’ve created the Patriots Program at the Constitution Study to help people keep the republic we were entrusted with some 236 years ago. Yesterday, September 17, 2023, was the 236th anniversary of the signin

Who has the final decision about the education of your children, you, or the state? Can state entities deprive parents of their right to opt their children out of objectionable curriculum. When government schools act in loco parentis , are they acting as tyrants? Who is in charge of your children? That has been a perennial question that has grown in importance over the last few years. When I was a child, it was understood that, with rare exceptions, parents were in charge of

People have rights, but do computers? When you create something, you have the exclusive right over it for a period of time. These are called copyrights and patents. Does a computer program have the right to copyright its creations? With the release of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) applications, there has been a lot of speculation and downright assertions about our future. With over 30 years of experience in Information Technology (IT), I have more than a pass