Let us see how this would work. Perhaps, you too should be President! With those 34 friendly Libertarians in the Senate, libertarianism as a compass to guide the way, and The United States Constitution as a map, maybe you can make me redundant? How would you handle the three situations below? Check out the following quiz -- choose A, B, or C -- and see if, maybe, you too should be President!
Question 1:
What should be done about the Selective Service (the draft) and registration for the draft and so-called "Universal Service?"
A. The Draft should be reinstated and every male between the ages of 18 years and 50 should be trained and sent to Iraq. Anyone not sent to Iraq should clean our streets and wash our governments' windows.
B. Women between the ages of 18 and 50 should be required to register for the Draft (Amendment 14) equal protection under the law.
C. The Draft and registration for the Draft and "Universal Service" are anti-constitutional and therefore illegal and should never be instituted or maintained.
Question 2:
What should be done about the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)?
A. DEA agents should be on every major street corner and give drug tests to everyone who passes. Those people who fail the test should be taken to jail (they should not pass GO, they should not collect $200; they should go directly to jail).
B.The President should rubber stamp anything the Congress passes as law and should follow any decision of the Supreme Court.
C. The DEA should be abolished by the President and voided by juries. All those convicted of federal drug "crimes" should be pardoned.
Question 3:
What should be done about the Post Office?
A. Raise the postal rate to $10 per stamp to subsidize the people in rural areas -- and save the trees.
B. Lower the postal rate to one cent per stamp to subsidize the people in cities -- and encourage letter writing.
C. Recognize that your mailbox belongs to you and if you want mail delivered by someone other than the US Government, the government should not interfere.
The three issues above are examples of three different problems a libertarian President will face:
1. Anti-Constitutional laws, bills, rules, regulations, orders, or controls (such as the "draft" and "universal service").
2. The assumption of powers not granted by the Constitution (such as passing and enforcing so-called "anti-drug laws").
3. Laws, bills, rules, regulations, orders, or controls which may be constitutional but are not libertarian (such as the part of The Constitution authorizing the Post Office). (Article I Section 8)
Here are examples of how I believe we should apply the libertarian compass to the Constitutional Map:
1. THE DRAFT:
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." (Amendment 13.) The Draft and Universal Service are clearly involuntary servitude and clearly against (anti) what the Constitution demands. The first question shows the President a direct violation of the Constitution and a libertarian President should void such attacks on the Constitution and uphold the oath of office.
2. THE DEA:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." (Amendment 10.) The requirement of the 10th Amendment is that the powers of the federal government must be specifically named in the Constitution. What people should or should not put in their bodies is not named. Therefore, federal laws concerning drug use are not Constitutional. The DEA should be abolished by order of the President, and the effects of such laws should be nullified by anyone with the power to do so (such as Juries).
Since the President has the power of pardon (Article 2, Section 2), the President should pardon all those with federal convictions for drug violations. (As a side note, please remember that when they made alcohol against the federal law, they changed the Constitution -- (Amendment 18) and that was repealed by Amendment 21 -- thank God).
3. THE POST OFFICE:
"To establish Post Offices" (Article 1 Section 8.) The government has no good reason to be in the mail business. Yet, there it is in Article 1 Section 8. The Constitution does not demand that we have government post offices, only that the federal government may have them. Further, the constitution does not say that the federal government must have a monopoly and put those in jail who would dare to compete. The President should allow competition and eliminate subsidies and once competition is allowed, the post office would probably die of its own weight.
So, how did you do on the quiz? If you answered A or B to any of the above questions please reconsider, but if you answered C, perhaps you too should be President!!!
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