Calling John Galt

By What Authority

So, what exactly is the Constitutional authority being cited in the Health Care bill?

The “Interstate Commerce” clause?

Is that the same Interstate Commerce clause that was used in Wickard v Filburn?

The one that said it was illegal for a farmer to grow wheat to feed his own chickens, because it affected the price of wheat, which is traded across state lines?

Welcome to the return of the Company Store. Uncle Sam’s General Store, where it’s now illegal to not buy things!

Forget about Bastiat’s “Broken Window.” Do you really want to live in a country where the State can order you to buy windows, on the grounds that windows are sold across state lines and therefore under the jurisdiction of bureaucrats?!?

(oh, and we’re going to have to tax you on those windows you just bought…)

Is there a Socialist in the House?

Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus thinks so. He thinks there are 17, but didn’t name names.

Here is the article, and the comment thread provides its own degree of entertainment and amusement.

Stealing Oxygen from the Influence Peddlers

The is the first part of my Modest Proposals for Change. Change I can believe in.

Get Congress out of Washington.

Greater Washington is one of the most segregated, dysfunctional cities on the planet. Having our elected representatives spend the majority of their time in a toxic place cannot be good for their outlook. Even worse are those that cocoon themselves within the padded and happy bubble of private schools and swank surroundings. They go, they plug in, and they lose touch.

So let’s get them out of there.

Telecommute. Don’t Pollute.

If telecommuting is the wave of the future, let’s get our Federal government in front of that movement.

Let’s get them back to their home districts. Let them do video conferencing with their committees. Let them vote remotely, and have every vote electronically tabulated (no more voice-vote games). Let them eat breakfast with their constituents. Let them be more open and transparent, with more meetings available for people to peruse online.

Most importantly, let’s get them out of a cluster that is convenient for lobbyists. K-Street can only exist if there is in fact a street close enough to lobby all of them on the cheap. No lobbyists, no revolving doors, no secret huddles. Let them lobby in person by flying around the country, where they can be tracked. Let them lobby over the phone, where there are records that can be subpoenaed, and make those phone records public and searchable too.

We the People don’t trust our Congressmen as far as we can throw them. So let’s keep them close enough that we can throw them. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get a better degree of representation. It would certainly cost less than what we have now.