Stop The Foolishness | Getting to the root of the Problem

Stop the Foolishness

(Getting to the root of the Problem)

“We have the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen, as long as we remain honest — which will be as long as we can keep the attention of our people alive. If they once become inattentive to public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors would all become wolves.” — Thomas Jefferson

In our newspapers, emails and blogs, on our TVs and our radios, we hear of billion or trillion dollar government bailouts, government health care legislation with unknown costs, more government regulations, the creation of more government agencies, government projects that have gone drastically over-budget, government agencies not following their own guidelines, government official violating the law and not being punished, the erosions of our liberties. We hear attacks on the liberals by conservatives and attacks on conservatives by liberal, and similar attacks by the Democrats and the Republicans. BUT we never hear or read ideas that GET TO THE REAL ROOT OF THE PROBLEM.

“We the people” (citizens of the United States), our children, grandchildren, and future generations are burdened with a national debt so large and with so many laws and regulations so complex even the authors do not understand the meaning or impact on the now or on the future,.

Following are proposals which will allow “We the People” to have our voices heard at all levels of our government. These laws will set reasonable guidelines on the activities of our government(s), while allowing them to perform the duties with which they have been tasked. This action must be taken to make our governments responsive to “We the People” and to make decisions that good for the nation not only now but with foresight for the future.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” (Declaration of Independence)

Title: Subject of proposed legislation.

Section 1: The subject of this proposed legislation is: The subject of proposed legislation

Section 2: The subject of every legislation shall be written as follows: The subject of this legislation is: followed by no more than 20 words.

Section 3: Every legislation shall embrace one subject, and matters properly connected therewith and germane to the subject, which shall be expressed in the title and section 1 of every legislation, as described in section 2 of this legislation. Any subject embraced in an legislation which is not expressed in section 1 of said legislation shall be void.

(This section shall not be construed to prevent the inclusion in any amendatory legislation, under a proper title, or of matters otherwise germane to the subject, as stated in section 1 of said legislation.)

Section 4: A list of all author(s), co-authors, sponsor(s), shall be attached to all legislation at all times.

Section 5: All legislation shall the revenue source, if applicable.

Section 6: Actions taken to transfer funds from one fund to another shall indicate the source and the destination of the transfer.

Section 7: Only that legislation which addresses classified national security issues shall be exempted from this legislation.

Section 8: This legislation may be amended, repealed, or superseded only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 6: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

Comment: This proposal is intended to limit the size and complexity of legislation.

Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day. – Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
# 2

Title: Posting of legislation.

Section 1: The subject of this legislation is: The posting of legislation, regulations, or assessments

Section 2: All proposed legislation, regulations, or assessments shall be posted on the Internet the day of proposal.

Section 3: Legislation, regulations, or any assessments in their final language shall be posted to the Internet at least 15 working days before the final vote.

Section 4: Assessments shall be understood to be any revenue generating device, legislation, or regulation.

Section 5: Only that legislation which addresses classified national security issues shall be exempted from this legislation.

Section 6: This legislation may be suspended only during a declared war by the President of the United States and the United States Congress, or a national emergency and/or a specific natural disaster which must be identified by a comment line under the title of the legislation.

Section 7: This legislation may be amended, or repealed, only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, and within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 8: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

Comments: With the advent of and ease of access to the Internet it is now possible to reach a large section of the citizen base (through home computers, computers in the schools, libraries, and in the work place, as well as newspapers, television, and radio) for comment on proposed legislation or amendments. This will allow for and result in better representation by elected officials….a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

“It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.” — Justice Robert H. Jackson, U. S. Supreme Court

# 3

Title: Posting of proposed amendments.

Section 1: The subject of this legislation is: The posting of proposed amendments

Section 2: All proposed amendments shall be posted on the Internet the day of proposal.

Section 3: Only those legislations that address a national security issue shall be exempted from this legislation.

Section 4: This legislation may be suspended only during a declared war by the President of the United States and the United States Congress or a national emergency or a specific natural disaster which must be identified by a comment line under the title of the amendment.

Section 5: This legislation may be amended, or repealed, only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 6: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

“The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled.” — Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)

Title: Roll Call Voting

Section 1: The subject of this legislation is: Roll Call Voting

Section 2: All action taken by either body of the United States Congress, or any committees of the United States Congress, shall be done by a roll call vote.

Section 3: All roll call votes shall be posted on the internet on the day of the vote, with a hyperlink to each of the voters and a hyperlink to the complete text voted upon.

Section 4: A legislator that is unable to be in their respective legislative chamber at the time of the vote must summit a ballot with their signature. This ballots shall be counted and recorded with the notation that the legislator was not in the chamber at the time of the roll call vote.

Section 5: This legislation shall never be suspended.

Section 6: This legislation may be suspended only during a declared war by the President of the United States, United States Congress, a national emergency/a specific natural disaster which must be identified by a comment line under the title of the amendment.

Section 7: This legislation may be amended, repealed, only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

.Section 8: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

# 5

Title: Amending of Legislation, Proposed Legislation, Amendment, or Proposed Amendment

Section 1: Subject: The subject of this legislation is: Amending of legislation, proposed legislation, amendments, proposed amendments, regulations, or assessments

Section 2: NO proposed legislation, or proposed amendment shall have more than 25% of its original wording changed or removed.

Section 3: Should a proposed legislation or proposed amendment have more than 25% of its original wording changed or removed, that legislation or Proposal shall become void and a new legislation or amendment may be proposed.

Section 4: This legislation may be suspended only during a declared war by the President of the United States and the United States Congress, a national emergency or a specific natural disaster which must be identified by a comment line under the title of the amendment.

Section 6: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

“Governments are like a baby, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.” – abridged from a Ronald Reagan quote.

# 6

Title: Who may make law, rules, or regulations

Section 1: The subject of this legislation is: Who may make laws, rules, regulations, or assessments

Section 2: Only laws(s), rules, regulations or assessments passed by the Congress of the United States of America shall be enforceable.

Section 3: All previous rules, regulations, assessments set forth by entities of the government of the United States of America other than the Congress of the United States of America must be presented, individually, to the Congress of the United States of America, and approved, within 10 years of the passage of this legislation, or they shall become void.

Section 4: This legislation may be suspended only during the time of war as declared by the President of the United States, and by both House the Congress of the United States of America.

Section 5: This legislation may be amended, repealed, only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 6: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

# 7

Title: Disclosure of accounting, studies and reports

Subject: The subject of this legislation is: Disclosure of accounting, studies and reports

Section 1: The United States government and all of its agencies shall make available on the Internet all accounting, documents, reports, studies, and all supporting information. All financial information shall be in two of the most widely used spreadsheet formats used by the general population.

Section 2: Those documents, reports, studies, and supporting information that may compromise national security shall be exempt from this legislation.

Section 3: This legislation may be amended, repealed, or superseded only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 4: The legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”– Thomas Jefferson

# 8

Title: Rules Suspension

Section 1: The subject of this legislation is: When the United States government may suspend rules

Section 2: The acknowledged rules of conduct and operation of any body or agency of the United States government shall not be suspended for any reason except as described in section 3.

Section 3: The acknowledged rules of conduct and operation of any body or agency of the United States government shall only be suspended when the United States has entered into a war declared by both bodies of Congress, OR to respond to the implications of a national disaster and only for those items pertinent to the specified natural disaster.

Section 4: This legislation may be amended, repealed, or superseded only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 5: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

“Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.” — Thomas Jefferson

# 9

Title: Federal legislators pay and benefits

Section 1: The subject of this legislation is: Pay and benefits for members of the United States Congress

Section 2: A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no tenure or pension when they leave office.

Section 3: Congress (past, present, and future) shall participate in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund shall be moved to the Social Security system immediately.

Section 4: Members of Congress may also purchase their own retirement plan at their own expense.

Section 5: Congress shall participate in the same health care system as the citizens of the United States.

Section 6: Congress must abide by all laws that are imposed on the Citizens of the United States.

Section 7: All contracts with past and present members of the United States Congress are void.

Section 8: Members of the United States Senate, and members of the United States House of Representatives, pay, benefits, and retirement benefits must be approved by a two thirds majority of the states casting a vote of approval and a 50% + 1 vote of the people at the next presidential election.

Section 9: This legislation may be amended, repealed, or superseded only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 10: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

“Beware the greedy hand of government, thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry.” — Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

#10

Title: Political Campaign Contributions

Section 1: The subject of this legislationis: political contributions

Section 2: Only those citizens of the United States of America eligible to vote may contribute to the campaign a candidate.

Section 3: All contributions shall be reported online within 10 calendar days of receipt.

Section 4: All reported contributions shall be published online and the 2 most common spreadsheet formats used by the general population within 15 days of receipt.

Section 5: Contribution reports shall be made to the appropriate government agencies and posted to the internet in one(1) of the two(2) most widely used database formats used by the public.

Section 6: This legislation may be amended, repealed, or superseded only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 7: This legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.” — Robert Heinlein

“A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.” – John James Audubon

#11

Title: Proposals referred to committee

Section 1: The subject of this legislation is: Proposals referred to committee

Section 2: All proposals referred to any committee, shall be sent back to the submitting body in no more than twenty-one calendar days and shall be voted on by one or both bodies of the United States Congress no more than 90 days after proposal.

Section 3: This legislation may be amended, repealed, or superseded only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 4: This Legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” — Thomas Jefferson

#12

Title: Hours for legislative action

Section 1: The subject of this legislation is: The hours for official legislative actions

Section 2: Neither the United States Senate nor the United States House of Representatives shall convene for conducting of official business before the hours of 7am eastern time and shall close no later than 6pm Pacific time, Monday through Friday, except as described in Section 3.

Section 3: This legislation may be suspended by a 2/3 majority vote of both legislative bodies of the United States Congress, and only in the case of a declared war, a natural disaster, or a specific national emergency, noted on a attached page.

Section 4: This legislation may be amended, or repealed, only by a 50%+1 majority vote of approval by both the House and the Senate of the Congress of the United States, a 50%+1 majority vote of approval of both houses of legislature of two-thirds of the states, within the next 180 days, and a majority vote of the people within the next 365 days.

Section 5: This Legislation shall take effect immediately upon passage.

How can we grow these ideas to fruition? We need to start at the local level with meetings and rallies and progress to the state level and finally, just as our forefathers, the states need to convene a Continental Congress, a gathering of representatives of “We the People” from each state (3 representatives from each county in each state sent to a state convention where those individuals elect 7 individuals to represent that state at the Continental Congress…(While this does not represent the people as we normally do, it more correctly represents the diversity, the people, and socio-economics of each state) The convening of the state conventions and the Continental Congress would be to let our government(s) know “We the People” will no longer tolerate legislation and actions that does not represent the will of the citizens of the United States of America and the best interests of the United States of America.

“That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government” (Declaration of Independence)

The quotes throughout this text are gifts by our country’s forefathers and other great minds, of documents and insights that have and should guide us. Please remember and consider how long ago many of these were written and yet how they apply to today.

These proposals should also be modified appropriately to apply to state, county and city governments as well.

I hope you will take the time to study these proposals, discuss them with your friends and colleagues, send them to your elected officials, newspapers, and friends.

This website is stopthefoolishness.com

My email address is stopthefoolishness@centurytel.net

STOP THE FOOLISHNESS…NOW!!!!!

Respectfully

Steve Sprenger