Now that we understand the problem [CRITICAL BACKGROUND HERE], we move into the solution discussion. There is a way to deconstruct the current system of corruption within the U.S. government that follows a path outlined by the framers of our constitution. In this series of articles we will outline what I believe to be the way forward. It is a narrow path, and each step is dependent on the American electorate understanding the challenge.
There is a way to stop the Intelligence Branch, but it requires some outside-the-box thinking and reliance on the Constitution as a tool to radically change one element within government. In order to achieve it, we must focus on three tiers needed for success:
• Tier One is “tactical civics” at a local level. Engaged and active citizen participation at the community, city, town and hamlet level of society. This is what might be described as grassroots level. School Board level; City Council level; County Commissioner level.
• Tier Two is “extreme federalism” at a state level. Engaged and active citizen participation through your State House and State Senate representative. This is state level assembly and action demands upon the House, Senate and State Governor.
• Tier Three the challenge of “federal offices” on a national level. This is where a singular action can be taken upstream that allows the first two tiers to retake control over federal offices. This is where we throw the One Ring into the fire of Mordor. CTH has tested this approach with a multitude of political allies who understand the issue. All eventually agreed with the solution at a federal level; it won’t be easy, but it will be possible.
I cannot emphasize enough how each tier is dependent on the preceding tier. Additionally, each voter has to understand the larger objective in order to see how they are all connected. That is the goal of this outline.
• Tier One – The lack of attention to local or ‘tactical civics’ is now manifest in your community with examples of school boards dictating mandates to you and your family. In almost all of these instances where local officials running amok, you will note their baseline detachment. They have lost their ability to identify exactly who they work for; perhaps they never had it to begin with. Various local officials no longer view YOU as their employer. Instead they view you as someone they need to protect themselves from. We cannot address the state level disconnect that is needed for correction unless and until we first reset the relationship at a local level between the citizen and the community government. That means you MUST get involved.
• Tier Two – The lack of attention to federalism, states rights, responsibilities and state government overall, is manifested most clearly in the outcome of the 2020 election; and the issue of election integrity. Even in states where republicans are in control of the state House and Senate, there are few legislative bodies focused on ensuring election integrity. Just look at how much difficulty grassroots organizations are having with the demand for audits, reviews, and election controls. This is an outcome of detachment from the legislatures.
It will be impossible to correct the federal issues of government without first and foremost making sure we have the right representatives in our state legislature. You will see why that is going to become more important when we talk about the needed action in tier three. The outlook of every single state representative toward the federal government is critical. We must elect state level representatives who understand and cherish the principles behind ‘state’s rights‘ and the tenth amendment.
If we have the right state-level representation, then -and only then- can we move into the third tier and begin traveling the path that addresses the federal issues.
• Tier Three – The nucleus of corruption amid every element of the federal institutions of government is the United States Senate. The U.S. Senate is the single most powerful part of the federal government. All other federal corruption is dependent on a corrupt and ineffective Senate. If we correct the problems with the Senate and reconnect the representation within the chamber to the state-level legislative bodies, we will then be able to demand change.
There will be ZERO institutional allies in this effort. Because of the scale of their power, the Senate will not give up control easily; and every institution of society and government will attempt to stop We The People from taking back control of the upper chamber. Every entity from Wall Street to multinational corporations, big tech, banks, foreign governments and world organizations will be aligned against us. When you truly understand the epicenter of the corruption, then you are able to see the tentacles extending from it.
It would be easy to say “repeal the 17th amendment“, it is another thing entirely to walk through the process to make that happen. Yes, ultimately we do need a full repeal of the 17th amendment, and return the selection of the senators from each state with a nomination and appointment process within the state legislature. [Common Explainer Here]
Seventeenth Amendment- “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.” (link)
Prior to the 17th amendment, there was significant state level corruption as business interests and senate candidates worked in power groups with party officials to attain the position. Politicians seeking Senate seats began campaigning for state legislative candidates in order to assemble support. The state legislative races then became a process of influence amid powerful interests seeking to support their Senate candidate. Get the right people in the State legislature and you can get the Senator appointed.
Those state-level entities, bankers, wealthy people of influence, later became the permanent K-Street lobbying groups once the 17th amendment was ratified. In essence, they just shifted the location of their influence operation from the state to an office in Washington DC. [Those same power groups, albeit much larger, now write the physical legislation we see in congress.] Additionally, prior to the 17th amendment, there were issues of vacancies in federal senate seats as state legislatures could not agree on an individual Senator.
The biggest issue following the passage of the 17th amendment became Senators who were no longer representing the interests of their state. Instead they were representing the interests of the power elite groups who were helping them fund the mechanisms of their re-election efforts. A Senator only needs to run for re-election every six years. The 17th amendment is the only amendment that changed the structure of the congress as it was written by the founders.
Over time, the Senate chamber itself began using their advise and consent authority to control the executive and judicial branch. The origination of a nomination now holds the question: “Can this person pass the Senate confirmation process?” The Senate now abuses this power to ensure no one challenges them. Additionally, the Senate began using their oversight capacity to control elements within the executive branch and judicial branch. The full scope of that issue in modern form is OUTLINED HERE – which is the cornerstone of the Intelligence Branch of Government.
If we can repeal the 17th amendment and return the selection to the state legislature, you can see where the background work of Tactical Civics and Extreme Federalism begin to take on importance. [NOTE: Within the repeal effort we would need to include a recall process for states to reach out and yank back their Senator if they go astray; the ability to recall was missing in the original construct of the framers; it would need to be added.]
In part-II we will outline the process for repealing the 17th amendment in the current era. It will take the creation of two paths being built simultaneously in the background of the 2024 federal election.
◊ PATH ONE is the primary platform of the presidential candidate…. a visible and emphasized mandate that includes: “vote me into office and you are voting to repeal the 17th amendment“. This specific election issue would need to be the #1 priority of the candidate and spoken at every event. This approach would give the presidential candidate the mandate to demand congress to act if he won the 2024 election. We would need a warrior of epic strength, resolve and fortitude. A Trumpian candidate, if not Trump himself.
◊ PATH TWO is the parallel path built along with the 2024 election platform path, and put into place in the event that Congress refused to accept the mandate. Obviously, this could be an ugly battle. The second path is a convention of states in the first year of the successful presidential candidate’s term in office. The ‘convention of states‘ would be detailed, strategically planned, and the future schedule determined during the 2024 GOP convention preceding the November election (assuming the right candidate wins). That way, if congress refuses to act on their own, within say the first 100 days of the new administration, the state legislatures will then assemble a convention for the singular and limited purpose of one action item: “repeal the 17th amendment“. That’s it. Full Stop. Nothing more. Nothing else entertained.
There is a lot more to this, and a lot more to cover in discussion of this. However, this is the path that can resolve most of the issues we face with an out of control federal government. The shift in power would kneecap the Intelligence Branch of Government by re-instituting genuine oversight and control. A repeal of the 17th amendment stops Senators from campaigning, needing to raise money and puts them directly into the accountability position as a steward for the interests of their state.
The people within each state would then have a mechanism to address any negative federal action by contacting their state legislative representative. In a worst case scenario, a rogue Senator could be removed within days if they support any federal legislative activity that is not in alignment with the state interest. This approach also wipes out most of the power amid the Senate Majority Leader, as he/she could also be recalled by the state and would be less likely to work against the interests of the majority in the chamber.
More details to come soon….
Forgive me in advance but we are completely fooling ourselves to keep believing our government can be outvoted anymore.
We are a century past that being possible.
Beyond that, if you are putting any faith in any “party” you are simply prolonging the problem.
No county in the history of the world has ever walked back this type of power imbalance, we are no exception.
If everyone adopted that attitude, then you’d be right and past would remain prolog. Thank GOD for the faith and vision of the Founders.
Yes, I agree, and yet, we should have been listening to the Founders a while back. We failed to heed their warnings, and now, it might very well be too late.
Not too late with 100 million armed citizens.
Sounds good! BUT, who is going to organize this million man army?? Fantasy Land.
AND DON’T FORGET THE 2ND AMENDMENT…That Amendment ALONE scares the bejesus out of these malcontents, however, what SD has OUTLINED is MORE favorable due to NON-VIOLENCE aspect of it…BACKED UP BY THE 2ND AMENDMENT!!!…
I quit with both parties after the GOP response to the Tea Party. They are a UniParty and it’s clear if one simply looks inside both parties.
You may have quit, but there are 80M-100M of us that are now awakened and REFUSE to go back to sleep.
I for one am now a Precinct Captain for my local GOP, and I’m working to get 3 Consitutionally-principled candidates onto my local school board and 1 onto my county board of supervisors.
Stay on the sidelines if you so choose, but keep your MOUTH SHUT until you get back in the game.
We don’t need defeatist attitudes as a distraction because #WeThePeople have real work to do.
Amen! The only solution to this mess is the Precinct Strategy that has been heralded by Dan Schultz. We need to fulfill the mission that Dan has given to us which is to fill up all vacant Precinct Committeeman seats to take back “our” (America First, MAGA, Economic Nationalist, Populist, Limited Government Constitutional conservatives) party and restore our Republic. Once we are successful with this mission we need to vet, nominate and endorse true conservatives for local, state and federal offices and work with them to win elections. Until we are successful with this strategy we will be condemned to be spectators who can only complain on social media which is a useless and fruitless exercise.
Yes, that could be true. However, there is also another dynamic in play, which is basically what the population is accustomed to (POPULATION INERTIA). As we just saw in Afghanistan, they just rejected liberal democracy, despite 20 years of effort. Also, the same in Vietnam and also likely to happen in Iraq. One of the reason’s the American Revolution succeeded was because people were running their own affairs through colonial assemblies and saw the intrusion of the Crown as alien. Rome’s turn from Republic to Empire was not a switch from Democracy but from Oligarchy to the rule of an Emperor, so I am not sure that is a good contrary example.
You can also look at Russia, it is a Chekist State now and has been a Chekist State for the last 400 years. The current FSB is just another (albeit milder) version of the Czarist secret police (the Okhrana) that was the glue of the regime back then. The names are the only thing that have changed: Okhrana -> Cheka -> NKVD -> KGB -> FSB.
CHECKISM
The head of the Russian Drug Enforcement Administration Viktor Cherkesov said that all Russian siloviks must act as a united front: “We [Chekists] must stay together. We did not rush to power, we did not wish to appropriate the role of the ruling class. But the history commanded so that the weight of sustaining the Russian statehood fell to the large extent on our shoulders… There were no alternatives”. Cherkesov also emphasized the importance of Chekism as a “hook” that keeps the entire country from falling apart: “Falling into the abyss the post-Soviet society caught the Chekist hook. And hanged on it”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekism
You could obviously argue the reverse as well, as you are doing. However, I think you have to really take into account “population inertia” as a massive counterweight. And 400 years of US Democratic Tradition is our counterweight. IMHO
For what it is worth…
“No country in the history of the world” has ever done the things that The United States has done.
World: It can’t be done!
USA: Hold my friggin’ beer.
During the American Revolution, no more than 1/3 were Patriots, 1/3 were Tories / Loyalists, and 1/3 were neutral.
I agree we are late to take action, but believe it still can be done.
We need to stop allowing the Feds reaching into our paychecks to confiscate taxes.
We need more political parties and the House needs to be increased 10 fold.
We need to strengthen the States to resist the Federal overreach.
We must have fair elections.
I was with you until you wanted to add more politicians in the House. I assume your premise is that would dilute their power. I just see more people with greedy corrupt purposes taking our money to figure out how to get more.
Poland got rid of communism with zero elected (non communist) representatives, zero judges, zero control of the army, zero guns, zero control over schools, almost zero money, zero privacy, and an actual communist dictatorship with secret police opposing them.
The only two things that the Poles had that you don’t are a) the willingness to suffer and be killed and to fight even when it looked like they were never going to win, and b) a huge amount of faith in God (which is probably why they had a) in the first place).
Man up. Get out on the streets and engage in some nonviolent civil disobedience. Take your arrest, take your new lower income.
For the sake of a more complete understanding, I suggest that there needs to be a discussion of why a 2024 presidential candidate should not run on the platform “If elected I will do a thorough housecleaning of the Executive branch.”
The Senate’s advice and consent power is an obvious blockade, but there might be ways to circumvent it with temporary appointments, and build overwhelming political pressure with early successes. As much as the effort depends on steps 1 and 2, I instinctively feel that the most critical factor is a strong presidential candidate who is elected with the explicit mandate to clean house, in the face of fully expected resistance from the Senate! Yes, that is indeed Trumpian, but an informed and energized populace could withstand an obstructive Senate, even without repeal of the 17th Amendment.
I sent this to my state legislator who is from my local area. She is new and accessible and asked her to share with others. My area is getting more active locally. Disinterest in voting landed our city with a soy boy mayor. I think he’s done in a few weeks!
Excellent post, as always! IMHO, the most critical element is educating the electorate, for our public schools no longer “do” civics. Repeal of the 17th Amendment must be framed as returning control of the US Senate to the states.
As it now stands, there is no one in the federal government to represent the voice of the states as expressed by those who we elect to our state legislatures, and as a result, the federal government in Washington passes budgets, spending cap increases, continuing resolutions and omnibus bills that pile debt upon debt on the people in the states without state representation. AND… they confirm Supreme Court Justices who rule on issues vital to the states!
Ever since passage of the 17th, the priorities of our US Senators have grown further from the needs and demands of the states that they are supposed to represent. Some would argue, and I include myself among them, that our representative democracy is no longer the true republican form of federalism that the Founders created because, even though the House of Representatives can be culled at the voting booth every two years, the state legislatures no longer hold sway over the Senate.
The Framers envisioned a system of checks and balances, where the people in the states, through pressure on their local legislatures, COULD recall a senator who was not acting in the best interests of their state. It wasn’t designed to be “easy,” but possible. The 17th Amendment changed all that. By design, our representatives in the House are supposed to speak for We the People… and those loud voices that vary in subject and intensity over time are to be heard, considered and burnished, refined to fit the long-term needs of the states by our senators. That is no longer the case. The people’s right to immediately correct their state’s representation in the US Senate has been curtailed… their only option now is limited to a state-wide election, a virtual popularity contest, every six years, leaving the state legislatures with absolutely no voice in the selection.
One additional thing to consider is that the Founders gave the Senate the exclusive power to approve US Supreme Court appointments. Thus, in the Framers’ vision, the states, through their Senators, were the final arbiters of who was to resolve differences that might develop between the states, and ultimately determine which laws were constitutional and which ones were not. Removing the check of the state legislatures from the votes of their Senators during SCOTUS confirmation hearings stripped the states of their power to have a voice in the process and left it entirely in the hands of one branch of the federal government, the U.S. Senate.
The 17th Amendment has not only taken from the people in the states and their legislators the power to determine and control their own representation in the Senate, but it now provides a wall of separation and protection from redress to a branch of the federal government, the U.S. Senate, one a privilege and the other a power, neither of which the Founders ever intended nor would consent to today.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5928014650601957&set=a.119185134818300
Please consider this reality when pushing for a Convention of States – there is absolutely no limitation that can be placed on what topics can be brought before such a convention, people who think one can be called for a specific topic and only allowed to adhere to that topic are gravely, and very seriously, being misled.
If anyone here has had the experience of attending a primary and a caucus, at State level will have observed first hand the difference between orderly processes, almost a Roberts Rules of Order event (the primary) vs the rowdy, whoever is the pushiest, loudest voice rules the day (the caucus) – and a Convention of the States is nothing less than a national caucus – and we have all seen over the past few decades where letting rowdy, loud, bullying voices has gotten us.
Please, reconsider that approach. There are other ways to repeal the 17th Amendment, which must be done, perhaps use that Extreme Federalism on the State level to get the States to push for the repeal, ground up, similar to how the repeal of the 18th (liquor) Amendment came about and steer clear of any Convention of the States.
(because I am only a guest here on this wonderful Treehouse branch, won’t bring it up again so as to not create a fissure in the branch I’m a-sitting on, but ask this reality be taken into consideration. Thank you.)
https://www.freedomfirstsociety.org/the-danger-of-a-convention-of-states/
I ask two things of you:
“Please consider this reality when pushing for a Convention of States – there is absolutely no limitation that can be placed on what topics can be brought before such a convention, people who think one can be called for a specific topic and only allowed to adhere to that topic are gravely, and very seriously, being misled.”
Bingo!
There is a cabal pushing for the Convention of States, and has been for some time. They are mostly neocons and fakers posing as “conservatives,” from my observations. They make pretty noises, but it seems pretty clear (having been involved with them for a while) that there is an ulterior motive.
It would probably be better to search out a better, more focused, laser-point.
Once they get the Convention, with their existing organization, against SD’s neophytes, they’ll be able to push through whatever their mystery objectives are.
Beware.
Kent Clizbe,
Good point about their ulterior motive……. we still have many foreign enemies and domestic traitors working within the walls…….. not wise to give them an opportunity to corrupt the Constitution…….
There is an appropriate saying: “No need to rework, just reread the Constitution and follow it.”
Bessie2003 ~ Your contention about limiting Convention topics is in direct contradiction with comments by Michael J. Alexander on Page 2 of this thread @ 1:50 and @ 2:20, as well as with Sundance. I have been backer of the COS and every time it is brought up here at the CTH, there are many who agree with your assessment. It would be most productive to get debate on this point out of the way, or there will not be any unity of purpose, and effectively, no plan forward.
Sundance ~ It would seem that the ball is in your court.
Martha in VT – Agree with you. Always wondered if COS is as bad as always described when brought up on CTH then why don’t we see the LEFT clamoring for it? Anyway, I haven’t thought through this much yet but have been thinking perhaps a 17th Amend repeal amendment could dovetail into the current COS framework.
This is fake news. Limitations absolutely can be placed on the convention of the states. I encourage you to do more research.
This is not true. To call a Convention of States you need to have 34 states pass the exact same resolution which outlines what the delegates to the Convention are limited to focus on. Regardless, if you think that somehow the Convention will get out of control, they do not have any power to pass an Amendment. Their only power is to propose amendments. It takes 38 state legislatures (both houses) to pass any proposed amendments. Why would you want to limit the proposal of amendments to the U.S. Congress. The Founding Fathers gave us this gift of Article V to be used when our federal government got out of control. They were unanimous in their support of Article V at the Constitutional Convention because they knew that if the U.S. Government ever became a tyranny then the U.S. Congress would never propose amendments that would limit their own power. Please go to Convention of States Action website to get more fully informed about this issue: https://conventionofstates.com/
Work in your state to get to the bottom of 3 Nov. If we don’t figure out the voting corruption, voting will serve no purpose. Educate yourself-if you don’t know about the Convention of States, inform yourself. All answers can be found in “The Liberty Amendments” written by Mark Levin. It’s available at many libraries. Knowledge is power. The founders expected an informed citizenry—be that, take the time to learn how your govt. works and what the constitution says. We can do this.
PragerU has free civics classes
All well and good, as far as it goes! However, I don’t see any mention of the time element and that issue (likely) is not up to U.S.!
Gettysburg suffered from a similar flaw (among others).
I’m all for it but my eyes are wide open: systems are always corruptible if corrupt people exist in them AND if the majority of the population isn’t aghast the corruption to the point of countering it with immediate actions.
The failure that led to what we have is that the public schools and what was once called “civics” collapsed, for a variety of reasons.
As a result, we have a good many Americans who don’t understand the very basics of the US Constitution and who don’t know the history, don’t appreciate the events which led to its writing.
Teachers actually trying to teach kids an understand AND APPRECIATION for our founding and the underlying documents of our Republic are undermined by a popular and corporate culture which reject the underlying principles.
In short, the rot is everywhere.
We have already shifted our resources to Republican State Legislatures. Most of these people are part-timers who have little understanding of what is really going on. We are educating them on their responsibility to run fair elections. Quite frankly, most of them are not aware (in any detail) of the Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, or Georgia progress and results. Educating them is step one. Getting the RINOs primaried is step two. That takes money. Donate your money to State Legislators if you want your donation to have the most bang for the buck.
The Convention of the States still requires three-quarters of the states to ratify. That is a tough, altho not impossible, hurdle. This will be most possible during a crisis moment. Having the repeal of the 17th amendment ready to go is imperative.
Taking over school boards is perhaps the easiest route. Now is the time. Check your state laws to see if you can recall Board members, or directly vote policy changes into being by rallying the voters. New Hampshire allows this.
There is a law that fixes everything. This is much easier to accomplish than a Constitutional amendment. Here it is:
“All money for federal elections must come from the taxpayers, and only the taxpayers. The maximum donation is 1.7% of your income tax up to $170 (indexed for inflation). These donations will occur on your 1040 tax form. (Note: This percentage may have to be adjusted to get the correct number, but you get the point.)”
https://www.militaryvotescount.com/?p=1985
While this is far from perfect, it forces the politicians to get their campaign money from the middle class. Once this changes the population of the House and Senate, the Constitutional amendments will take care of themselves.
An alternative of this law is that all media companies, including Hollywood and the monopoly internet companies, must be 100% American owned, and can only do business in the United States. They may not be owned by a parent organization that does any business in foreign lands. No owner may hold more than 5%. Institutions are prohibited from owning these stocks. Foreign held corporations are forbidden from advertising on these outlets unless at least 20% of their manufacturing resides inside the United States.
What this law does is stop our media companies from pushing a foreign agenda.
One other law that seems reasonable, is to make political persuasion a protected class like race.
“Internet companies and banks may not discriminate based on political persuasion or viewpoint. If they do, their officers and board members can be personally sued.”
This stops the monopoly internet companies and banks from hushing political speech. It will allow Nazis, skinheads, and other nefarious groups equal access, but such is the nature of free speech.
“Make political persuasion a protected class like race.”
A protected class in constitutional terms is a group of people who, due to some immutable characteristic, have been discriminated against. This protection comes from the 14th amendment and covers the people themselves, not what they say or believe.
Political persuasion is speech (not a class of speakers) that is protected by the First Amendment from GOVERNMENT censorship. The protection is already there and there is significant court precedent supporting our rights. The mechanism is already in place to extend protection from censorship to private companies like Twitter. SCOTUS has already held that some private entities stand in the place of government in creating the “public square”. The only thing lacking is either 1. someone with the $ to get the issue in front of the SCOTUS and pray they stand up against big tech censorship or 2. Find more than half of the members in both chambers who are willing to turn down Big Tech bribes to extend 1A to big tech via legislation. 218 honest congress members and 51 honest senators? Ha! I think we commoners would be better served by sending $ to support lawsuits by people who have been deplatformed.
Courtney Evans Persecution and Trial HD 720p – YouTube
This is a good sound plan to stop these actions we’ve seen over the past few years. Let’s go
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer gain their power by taking large political donations and doling them out to those who obey to use for their next election. If we get rid of K-street, those donations dry up, sapping much of the speakers’ powers.
Here in Ohio there is a battle underway in the republican party based on the fact that the party leader has funded incumbents but not challengers. The GOP’s response to attacks was to say that ORP has a long-standing tradition of supporting incumbents while in office. And the disbursal of funds is at the Chairman’s (of the party) discretion.
As part of both Tier One and Tier Two, we all need to look at the organizational documents that allowed control to be ceded away from the People. That includes party documents up to the state constitutions. What we have endured the past almost 2 years with covid tyrannies enacted at the direction of unelected bureaucrats as well as dictator governors as well as the certification of fraudulent and illegal votes for the Nov 3rd election demonstrates without question that state government documents require change. If people want to restructure the GOP, those governing documents need revamping also. We need to identify each and every sentence, phrase and word that in any way removes control from We the People.
Not only is it important to get involved, you need to address where you keep and where you spend your money. Community banks are a breath of fresh air. The employees smile and wave at you when they see you in the grocery store or the gas station. They go out of their way to “help you with any issue. And, they are grateful for your patronage.
Are you still purchasing slave labor crap from China? Do you still use Amazon Prime? If so, WHY???
Why are you still on Twitter? Facebook? Why is your attention focused on your insidious “Smart” Phone?
Seriously, it goes beyond addressing issues with the government. It is about addressing the issue of how we conduct ourselves.
Well said!
I’ve been impressed with, among others, True the Vote’s recently reported use of big data and teams of citizen investigators and experts to surface new evidence of deep corruption in the 2020 election.
Why not also and with equal urgency generate a similar effort to uncover corruption by our current crop of corrupt and feckless Senate leadership? PDJT has demonstrated his considerable power to topple incumbents in prior elections, and is already tuning up for 2022. Surely the establishment’s power to cover up such evidence, as was done for Hunter Biden and the Big Guy’s Family, will fade as their prior lies and dishonesty are revealed. For each counterproductive elected official, there needs to be a ‘breakthrough scandal” that publicly humiliates, a “career ending event,” as they say in bureaucracies.
With the recent demonstration of “regulatory capture” (agencies chartered to protect the public from particular industries end up working for the industry leaders, protecting them from both the public and unwanted competitors) by pharma’s vaccine wing, I believe the public is primed for a shaming expose of how that actually has worked. Make the taking of Pharma-sourced political contributions toxic for your state and federal representatives. I believe non-corrupted societies of scientific disciplines are primed to do the same for those societies and academic departments who have sold out scientific discipline for money and power. Mini-scandals can work the a similar cleansing effect.
The problem is, when you look at the history of the 17th, state legislators were pretty much all in favor of it. First, the idea that Senators pre-17th served to carry out state-level interests isn’t supported by history. The terms of Senators are long compared to terms of legislators, so legislators will always have weak control over Senators unless you also introduce something such as recall. Then you have the problem that election of Senators as you allude to becomes the dominant issue for state legislatures and the nationalization of politics means that national issues will largely determine the electioon of state legislators after a repeal of the 17th. So IMHO, repealling the 17th will not achieve the “states rights” goal. But, it might have a chance of making a difference (though I still am a skeptic) with some additional changes:
“vote me into office and you are voting to repeal the 17th amendment“ is an invitation to the deep state for emergency action as requested by the senators.
Maybe better if they say “vote me into office and I will support a convention of states to bring back control to we the people”. This is more broad and says more about working for every citizen vs emphasizing the candidate. It will bring out voters who are discouraged and want more of a voice. It also helps build grassroots groups who will be ready when the call is made for action.
Any candidate who openly espouses draining the swamp, or housecleaning or disbanding the FBI will be targeted with a smear campaign bigger and broader than Trump got. No, it has to be more subtle and sneaky. The grassroots will know what’s going on. We need a big picture action oriented professional wordsmith like Mike Pompeo as POTUS and a backroom brawler hit man like Ron DeSantis as VP.
Becoming a Precinct Committeeman is another way to get involved (many states have openings). Attorney Daniel Shultz has been advocating this for some time at his web site https://precinctstrategy.com
Great practical advice HB. Everyone here wondering “what can I do to help” should click on your link, click on the links on Dan Schultz’ site to your local party structure where you can probably look up in a couple minutes where your precinct is and whether the chairperson position is vacant. If not, Dan suggests asking to be an assistant to your chairperson.
Alelujia!!!
10 years or more I have thought, preached, and prayed “repeal the 17th” and put the states back in the equation.
I am all in whatever it takes.
This is a great place to start. Definitely will participate in any repeal of the 17th amendment. It was a TRAVESTY to America. The Senate is OUT of CONTROL. Look what they did to Trump’s nominations for any number of positions. They too have turned into a CRIMINAL and CORRUPT group of politicians. DEFUND THEM ALL! If this doesn’t work the only thing left is to follow the Declaration of Independence…the people have the right to overthrow a CORRUPT and EVIL government.
ELECTION FRAUD is still the #1 issue in America today.
You are correct JackT,
There is no competition …… election fraud is still #1.
Each MAGA patriot knows his skills and resources …….. please bring them to the battlefront as best you can.
I absolutely agree. And, forgice me if I’m wrong as i’m not able to read here evceryday, but I’ve not seen much on the
subject of voter fraud and what we can be doing about it. I’d love to see a call to action that We the People start demanding
state audits of the 2020 election. Until that is dealt with, and voter fraud is revealed, we will never get these traitors out of office and they’ll be voted (illegally) in time after time.
Go to (your state) Stands Up!com For Example, MichiganStandsUp.com
Election integrity is their main issue.
To all the pessimists in the comments below.
The Democrat Progressives have been planning and chipping away at the things that hold this republic together since the end of the Civil War. In that respect the are like Taliban, “You have the watches but we have time”. They are committed to their Theocracy….to the end. The only way to defeat them is to do so every day, so that when they pray to Allah they have to ask why he is punishing them so badly. Thats how you defeat them. Your resolve has to exceed theirs. Same with the Democraps. Take their foundation out from underneath them.
Conservatives focus on working hard to build prosperous lives, and we forget the extent to which our civic duty requires our constant attention. And in doing so become complacent. It cannot be limited to election cycles, but all the time. Progressives have infiltrated government positions, that don’t really require a lot of actual work and therefore spend time on their cause, which is laid out for them by the party and its Socialist/Marxist ideologies. Conservatives need to be as patient but determined in order to take it back.
When you have pessimistic attitude like that, you have already given up. Whats happening should piss you off. Start local and make local changes, and create a process that ensures quality of individuals in those local positions on going. For example, look whats happening with School Boards in regards to Covid Policies and CRT policies. Parents are coming for their positions now. But you cant just get complacent after winning only once and say its done. You need to make sure these fools never see light of day in a government role again.
Look at Catherine Englebrecht (sp) from True the Vote. She was one of the early Tea Party organizers and was harassed by the IRS, DOJ and FBI. She is still persisting today, and seems to be making headway. She is an example of the type of commitment required. She’s been at it since 2009 I believe.
Your cause is your Constitutional Republic. The Commitment is generational and Dems understand that. Whats being done now needs to lay the foundation for future gains. The Democrats understand this. Immigration for example, Ted Kennedy started the big push for illegal immigration back in the 60’s they are still pushing and almost achieving open border policies without changing any laws to this day. They got gains with Reagan, they (and the RINO’s) pushed for law changes with Bush, with Obama and tried to stop Trumps border policies while we was in office. They didnt just wait for the elections though, they have been conspiring inbetween elections to undermine Immigration policy.
“She (Catherine Engelbrect) is an example of the type of commitment required”
I also admire Catherine, but I’d like to gently suggest that many potential participants in the process are not able to offer Catherine’s commitment. Our strength is in our numbers and our movement also needs MANY people who just SHOW UP. Find out where any group with an America First agenda is gathering (election integrity rally, anti-mandates, etc) and SHOW UP. It’s not enough to HAVE the numbers. We have to SHOW them. Not enough to give a shout out to others around the word who are standing up. We have to get off our duffs and show our numbers.
How about a million man National solidarity march down Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the resignation of Biden and his administration? Do you think Pelosi would have the Capitol Police out there taking pot shots at the marchers?
The Dems need an exit strategy for Joe. Why should we hand it to them? I say let them enjoy the worldwide disgust for their dementia patient until they figure out how to remove him without admitting he had dementia all along.
Until the voting machines are removed and we back to paper ballots elections are fraudulent. This needs to be a number 1 priority. WE need to each contact our state senators and state representatives in masses. Each county in each state needs to organize petitions and contact any state lawmaker who will listen. Actively work to primary any sitting state government elected official unless they move to support forensic audits in key precincts and work for paper ballots. How can anyone believe our votes will count until this is done. Listen to Lin Wood on Telegram. We don’t have much time until the mid terms. No fair election can ever again happen until this is done. Get a list of your state lawmakers and organize and call and contact them and call them out in the news until they commit to this. It is our nunber 1 priority for election integrity.
Well TWO of the most important Needs are being overlooked.
2.The second is the Executive Office of Sheriff. The Sheriff is the protector of the People and is an equip-er of the said. People, public servants must be held accountable and is this office to do this. Servants need to be removed and charged with Treason.
Unless we are willing to do these two then this Country is through and over.
It is way past time as Your “Wake Up Call” as I have been trying to get people, men to do.
Gunny Evangelist
Sundance, I’m going to take a slightly different angle on this.
The President can override and Executive Order with the stroke of a pen. This includes Executive Order 13526 which deals with declassification. Also, the president does not need to get the sign-off of anyone else to declassify and make public any information. President Trump chose to give them that power in a weak, buck-passing move.
“Consistent with the review of the previous memorandum, the President ASKED [emphasis mine] the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice to assess the declassification request.”
–Don McGahn II, Counsel to the President
Treepers are going to get mad at me, but President Trump had a terrible record of appointments. Don McGahn was one of those terrible appointments.
Likewise, all Executive employees can be fired by the President. This means he can place his folks in the FBI that approves security clearances. He should do that first should he win again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers_v._United_States
The Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Clause 1) vests “all executive power” in the president singly, and authorizes—but does not compel—the president (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1) to “require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices”.
The President can also appoint acting cabinet officers. These acting officers can be in place while the Senate takes its time to confirm them. If they do not confirm them, then choose another acting officer that is even tougher. For example, Kris Kobach as acting Attorney General. If he is not approved, then make Sidney Powell acting Attorney General, followed by Larry Klayman. The Congress will capitulate or impeach. Let’s see what they do.
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (commonly called the Vacancies Act) (5 USC § 3345) establishes the procedure for filling vacancies in an appointed office of an executive agency before the appointment of a permanent replacement.
The Act allows an incoming President 300 days in which to temporarily and unilaterally fill positions with “acting” officers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Vacancies_Reform_Act_of_1998
Why President Trump used only a tiny portion of the power We The People voted him is a mystery. My best guess is that he was new, and not a detail oriented person. He delegated, as most good CEOs do. The problem is that if you are going to delegate, you had better have your people in place – President Trump did not.
My idea is to launch a first strike on the Intelligence Community that decapitates them. Something from which they will not be able to recover. Fire the top 25%, strip them of their security clearances, and appoint all fire breathers. Then prosecute them. Put them on defense, and keep them there.
It would take a president with big brass balls to use all of his authority in this way, but that is what is needed.
The question is whether or not the public would sit still as their 401K accounts are hit hard. As Sundance points out our corporations and our Intelligence Community are intertwined. If you could restore the proper role for our Intelligence Community, but it meant a 30% hit to your 401K, would you press that red button. Are you sure? Think about it.
If you lose the people’s money, they may turn on the President’s reforms. The media will be screaming to make that happen.
Sundance: is the notion that supports repeal of 17th amendment a solution that exploits a majority “conservative” state legislature that exists in many now and going forward?
what would happen to this notion and it’s chances of success if the existing conservative state legislatures assembly senators just failed to rally behind it. of course we would expect the radicals to hyena about it, but they would not want to see it gone…and then be even more exposed to state recalls/impeachments/censure/penalties/invites to the cocktail parties dry up.?
this process (broken and impossibly disconnected to any kind of accountability) would be vigorously defended …by both parties if for no other reasons that it provides more direct accountability…I don’t see even members of the conservative party here in Louisiana moving to put any effort into this. sad but true…ya dance with the one that bring ya…
I understand the idea…it would solve some problems that are huge. it would also invite corruption in an even more difficult to estimate number of ways.
the biggie is that you are expecting state senators to be faithful…and not all states have working recall options when they do fail…so the disconnect continues, it just gets pushed out to thousands upon thousands of state senators/legislators/assembly/ … that’s a huge order…
now do these same state senators have the power to recall a congressional member.
that’s really the issue
it looks like pushing the power to state legislatures who have proven over and over they are completely fine with the “direct vote”..they can manipulate that just fine without any additional duty to citizens..
If the long game is to take advantage of majority conservative state Senate to drive 17th repeal as a party driven political goal ..I think it definitely has to happen…debate… that puts the WHY this is being proposed linked to the plan.
right now there is a majority conservative state Senate…across the board…
so if it’s got a chance this would be the time to roll it out and take advantage of that opportunity.
God Bless America
yes, I read your article five times…I understand the imperative to move from 1 through 3 in a logical way.
I like the idea alot.
I just have some doubts about how the state legislatures would embrace this new duty to their constituents?
I just don’t see participation beyond some party political speech.. not from the kind of people are aware would fight like hell to see this never even gets beta tested anywhere
God Bless America