Between Theory and Practice

“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

      The 1920’s and 1930’s was the era when liberal and progressives factions re-wrote Constitutional meaning and intent.  Those brilliant minds made booze illegal, added a federal income tax, gutted state sovereignty by repealing Article I, sect three, re-amped the federal court system, etc.
      The Senate ( legislative body) was not proposed in the original Constitutional draft, but it got added into our Constitution as a “bone” tossed at small state.  It morphed into a prodigious, augury, and House of Lords body, which has became all powerful through the seventeenth amendment. (visit: http://www.repealxvii.com/ for more details).  Set aside so much crap that has rolled downhill from it.   Then research just one of its big ideas: the Inter-state highway system or the “Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956”.
      Public Law 84-627, the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was passed in June, 1956, and President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law.  It was originally limited to 41,000 miles of widen highway at a cost of 25 Billion bucks over a 20 year period.   The Senate expected it to finish around 1976.  At that point, the Senate bunch began the largest public works project in U.S. history…. Now, what could possibly be go wrong in building more good roads?
      As America transitioned away from horse and carriage toward the horseless carriage, old game trails horse trails, wagon routes were covered with gravel.  Later these became America’s highways, U.S highways were paved, as well as most State highways. The old highway system went through towns and cities.  Old U.S 50, 44 10, 69, etc were merely two lanes wide.  Driving was tedious.  Plus, those cars did not have automatic transmissions or power steering with most top speeds of 60 MPH.
      The brilliance of the U.S. senate rose to the surfaced.  The underlying legal power came from D.C. because this was national defense issue; the military need a rapid response platform for moving its equipment.  In his inaugural Address, January 20, 1953, Present Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “A people that value its privileges above its principles soon loses both."   Well, a federal trust fund was set up with the federal government paying in 90% tax monies, but the states were mandated to pay an additional 10%.
      As a result, we presently have a highway system that by-pass the heart of cities, making commutes to work easier.  There is growth in the suburbs, businesses expanding, etc.   Have people looked at the flip side of this ever-expanding cement, steel, and billboard structure?  Major cities are stacked with layers of cement and steel, which undergoes continuous repairs.  Congress keeps adding taxes into this once limited project: extra gas tax, federal and state; special stimulus monies from income tax; sales tax on new vehicles; a refinery tax, EPA carbon tax, and on and on and on.
      How can voters stop the greedy U.S. Senate?  How can we restore the body’s original, intended purpose?  In its latest bad judgment, the Senate consented (approved an appointment) an Associate Justice to the U.S Supreme Court who had never been a judge or rendered a legal opinion.
      We need our state legislative bodies to take action by calling for a Constitutional Convention, which has the sole purpose of repealing the Seventeenth Amendment.  Repealing unbalanced Amendment #17 would increase the power to each local voter; it would make Senators deliberate best solutions for their individual state; it would cut the size of federal bureaucracy. Plus, there are other benefits for citizens in the states.
      As Congress now stands, it writes any piece of legislation by affixing some mythical Constitutional interpretation.  State legislatures can rein in federal excesses.  The first step is corralling their two U.S. Senators.
      Then there’s the “Chip off the old Block” Two sea monsters were swimming around in the ocean, looking for something to do.  They came up underneath a ship that was hauling potatoes.  Bob, the first sea monster, swam underneath the ship, tipped it over and ate everything on the ship.
      A little while later, they came up to another ship, again hauling potatoes.  Bob again capsizes the ship and eats everything onboard.  The third ship they found was also hauling potatoes and Bob once again capsized it and ate everything.
      Finally his buddy Bill asked him, "Why do you keep tipping over those ships full of potatoes and eating everything on board?"
 Bob replied, "I wish I hadn't, but I just can't help myself once I start.  Everyone knows you can't eat just one potato ship."