Bad Amendments of the 20th Century

At the dawn of the 20th Century, the U.S. Constitution had been unchanged for more than 40 years since the amendments of 1865-1870 that prohibited slavery. But then the country panicked. Fearful of the shift from an agrarian to industrialized society and the movement of people from the country to the city, the United States 100 years ago experienced a crisis of confidence that led to something called progressivism. Progressivism was the belief that the government could and should mandate something called the public good as opposed to traditional values of limited government and individual responsibility.

One of the ways that this manifested itself was the creation of the Federal Reserve System in which the federal government would retain some quasi-ownership of the nation's banks, and would retain the right to intervene into economic affairs as a matter of public policy, but really political influence. All these things began under Republican Theodore Roosevelt and Democrat President Woodrow Wilson, the first progressive president who ushered in Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and finally Barack Hussein Obama, and the long national nightmare of progressive (socialistic) politics. Let the history lesson begin:

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Amendment 16 - Income Taxes, Feb. 2, 1913.

This gave Congress the authority to collect taxes on income. There are several historians who question whether this amendment was actually legally adopted. But that's another story. Fundamentally, it is not the business of the federal government or anybody else what an individual earns. This was passed, of course, as a "tax on the rich," which eventually ensnared everyone. The only fair way to collect taxes is by tariffs on goods or on consumption with sales taxes. It's perverse that the federal government has the authority to tax personal income. People are more engaged in government on the state and local level. One of the main points of the American Revolution was self-government as close to locally as possible. Repeal the 16th Amendment, and let the federal government continue to sell bonds to raise revenues for wars and not much else.

Amendment 17 - Direct Elections of Senators, April 8, 1913.

The mother of all bad amendments to the Constitution! Right up there with the 18th Amendment, Prohibition, which was at least repealed by the 21st Amendment. The whole point of the Senate in the Constitution was to cool the overheated passions of the House of Representatives, who had to face voters every two years. The House is the People's Chamber; The Senate was supposed to be the Guardian of the Republic, insulated by appointment by the State Legislatures. Granted the Legislatures should probably limit the senators' service to two terms, but that would probably happen if the 17th Amendment were repealed. As we have now, senators, have to raise millions of dollars for political campaigns. Many of these seats are uncontested, once the incumbent gets ensconsed in power and serves for a term or two. So let's repeal it and get back closer to the original Republic and experience freedom from progressive, democratic tyranny.

Amendment 18 - Prohibition of the Sale of Intoxicating Liqours. January 16, 1919.

Helped usher in excessive drinking in America and organized crime. 14 years of stupidity. Eventually we will see decriminalization of some drugs in the United States, which only makes sense. Repealed by Amendment 21 in 1933.

Amendment 21 - Repeal of Prohibition, December 5, 1933.

The end of a 14-year disaster.

Amendment 23 - Presidential Electors for the District of Columbia, March 29, 1961.

Pushed through by Democrat Congress and President Kennedy. Repeat after me: "The District of Columbia is not a state." It has a local government. The people who live in Washington D.C. in the Virginia part should vote for federal offices in Virginia, and those who live in Maryland let them vote in Maryland. Repeal Amendment 23. It will never happen because anyone who tries will be branded a racist.

Amendment 26 - Eighteen-Year-Old Vote, July 1, 1971.

One of the bad ideas that came out of the 1970s, the decade that produced the designated hitter in Major League Baseball. How many 18-year-olds really have it together? Why should they be allowed to vote when almost all 18-year-olds are still dependent on someone else for support? I say let them become adults first, get some skin in the game, and let them vote at 21. What happens now? We have something called "The Youth Vote," as if youths should vote. So because there is a youth vote, the Democrats pander to them with the promised plum of more student loans and grants. Hooray! More young people graduating with debt that they can't pay back! Let's remember why this amendment to the Constitution was passed: The thought was that if people were old enough to be drafted into the military and serve in Vietnam, then they should be old enough to vote. Well, young males still have to register for the Selective Service, but the army is now all-volunteer, so presumably they are old enough to determine if they can support the policy of the United States of America, which they are sworn to serve. Let's get this right: Repeal Amendment 18, so people can vote at 21 and lower the drinking age to 18. And that’s a brief look at how a “government of laws, and not men," became a progressive democracy committed to “social justice and the so-called national good.”