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Charter to be published soon
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H. Lance Freeman Jan. 23, 2004 – I often hear people complain that Congress makes legislation that applies to everyone but them. The most glaring example is the Social Security tax. The complaint is, the common man is required to pay it, yet members of congress are not. James Madison addressed this issue in his Federalist Paper, #57, on February 19, 1788. He addressed the fear of having a House of Representatives that would be made up of persons who’s station in life was so elevated as to remove them from the plight of their constituents. “I will add as a fifth circumstance in the situation of the House of Representatives, restraining them from oppressive measures, that they can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society.” Has Congress violated this fundamental precept, by mandating the burden of ‘Social Security’ on the people, but not on themselves? Actually, no! I challenge anyone to find a mandate for universal participation (42 USC beginning at §301). In fact, most Americans will be hard-pressed to show they fall into a category that makes them ‘eligible’. Never-the-less, on its face, it appears that Congress has excluded itself. Though the Old Age Retirement, Disability and Survivors Benefit insurance program is legally voluntary, the American public finds itself trapped into it. Most employers believe it is unlawful for them to hire anyone who has not voluntarily applied for the benefit. Once a person ‘voluntarily’ applies for ‘benefits’, they have submitted themselves to a financial obligation that can land them in jail for non-payment. Yet, Congress has not actually made a law burdening anybody. So, members of Congress choose to not burden themselves with participation. The friction with the American people comes when the members of Congress brazenly bask in the benefit of properly applying the law. How can Congress get away with proper application of the law when we can’t? The simple answer: Congress does not have the force of the Executive Branch working against them. Does that mean that Congress is not guilty of making a law “which will not have its full operation on themselves”? Does Congress carry no responsibility for subjecting the people to a force of law from which the members of Congress are immune? No! They know that the rest of the citizenry has been duped into enslavement under a master whom Congress has enabled. Though the responsibility of this inequality goes to Congress, the blame goes to the people. We bear the burden of vigilance: “If it be asked what is to restrain the House of Representatives from
making legal discrimination in favor of themselves and a particular class
of the society? I answer, the genius of the whole system, the nature
of just and constitutional laws, and above all, the vigilant and manly
spirit which actuates the people of America, a spirit which nourishes freedom,
and in return is nourished by it.”
Paragraphs in quotations are from the Federalist #57, by James Madison, February 18, 1788. © 2004, David Alan Carmichael
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