Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Let's Read the Constitution Day!

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January 29, 2011

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 23

Hatched by Dafydd

Under Woodrow Wilson, our first "liberal fascist" president (but not our last!), utopianism of the progressivist kind reigned. There was nothing that Americans couldn't do -- so long as the government imposed it with an iron fist.

This was also the era of the Sedition Act, pushed by President Woodrow Wilson, which criminalized any criticism of the government, the Wilson administration, or the administration's entry into and prosecution of World War I. So much for the 1st Amendment; but then, Wilson had little patience for the way the entire Constitution limited the arbitrary power of elected officials.

The Wilsonian-Progressivism Amendments I

Amendment 16 - Status of Income Tax Clarified. Ratified 2/3/1913.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Amendment 17 - Senators Elected by Popular Vote. Ratified 4/8/1913.

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.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

The first of these amendments was enacted in 1909, years before Wilson was even elected; but he strongly supported an income tax, and he pushed one through Congress as soon as the amendment was ratified (along with antitrust legislation, farm supports, unionista legislation, the League of Nations, and so forth). The Wilson administration was truly a dream come true for progressivist utopians.

The direct election of senators amendment was passed by Congress six months before Wilson was elected, but he strongly supported the idea of "direct elections" for virtually every office. I have a running argument with several friends of mine, but I insist that Wilson was as near as makes no difference a populist as well as a progressivist. So there.

All verses in the Lizardian Constitutional Collection:

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 1 (Preamble)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 2 (Congress; House, part I)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 3 (House, part II)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 4 (Senate, part I)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 5 (Senate, part II)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 6 (General congressional admin stuff)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 7 (Legislative process and enumerated powers)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 8 (Limitations)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 9 (The prez -- who does he think he is?)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 10 (What would a president do?)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 11 (Judiciary)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 12 (States, part I)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 13 (States, part 2)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 14 (Amendment; supreme law of the land)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 15 (Ratification rules and signers)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 16 (Amendments: Bill of Rights, Amendments 1-4)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 17 (Bill of Rights -- Courtroom Amendments 5-8)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 18 (Bill of Last Rights 9 and 10)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 19 (Amendments: Suing other states, president vs. vice president)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 20 (Amendments: Abolition of slavery)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 21 (Amendments: States prohibited from infringing rights)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 22 (Amendments: Racial voting rights)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 23 (Amendments: Wilsonian-Progressivism I)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 24 (Amendments: Wilsonian-Progressivism II)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 25 (Amendments: Rooseveltian amendments)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 26 (Amendments: Camelot amendments)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 27 (Amendments: Panacea amendments)

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, January 29, 2011, at the time of 12:00 AM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: brotio

The Evil Duo. These two Amendments have done more permanent damage to individual liberty than any other act in American history. Without these two, the New Deal and the welfare state would be virtually impossible. The IRS, and the notion that government has a right to know so many intimate details of a person's life would be unthinkable.

The above hissed in response by: brotio at January 30, 2011 12:50 AM