Constitution for the rights of the individual.

·        Our country is governed under a true Republic. One Person, One Vote. Majority Wins.  Must show ID to vote. All officials are elected this way.

·         Authority is first vested in County Sheriffs, then State Governors, and then the President.

·        County Sheriffs are to be elected officials who will reserve primary authority over maintaining public order. Sheriff’s and State officials will maintain boundaries.  

·        Laws will be passed through a legislative process and courts will operate in a similar manner as America.

·        Government Transparency.  No classification of any documents. Only the Military can classify material as sensitive during time of war for a maximum of 5 years after which it must be declassified and made available to the public.

·        Free and competitive market. Government is to only protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide legal framework. Absolutely no efforts should be made to redistribute wealth or to control or manage trade. Free Market Banking; Federal Reserve Bank is to be used to deposit and hold Government/State/County taxes.

·        Balanced Budget Amendment. Budget is to only be balanced by cutting expenditures and not by raising taxes.

·        Flat Tax Rate of 14% on all income. No additional taxes. Individuals who are in a marriage or a union will receive a tax break of 8% on household income.

·        Taxes are paid to the County first which will reserve 34% of the taxes to be used for local expenditures, continuous betterment and schools, 20% will be reserved to the States to allocate according to state needs, and 46% will be reserved for the Federal Government which will primarily focus on Defense Spending, Veteran Benefits.

·        County can only retain 6% of their taxes for county official employees, States can only retain 5% of their taxes for official employees, and the Federal Government can only retain 12% of their taxes for official employees.

·        Strict separation of Church and State and separation between Federal Government and Education.

·        It is the right of the people, and the people only, to alter or abolish the constitution if it becomes destructive of individual liberty.

The Constitution is to never be suspended under any circumstances.

 

Bill of Rights

·        Right to bear arms and use in self-defense. No restrictions shall be imposed, unless the person has committed unjustifiable harm against another.

·        Right to life, right to free speech and press, right to private property with no government interference.

·        Individual Privacy. No unreasonable search and seizures of private property. No unwarranted surveillances unless public is made aware of such use with reasonable cause.

·        Personal Freedom. Government will make no laws restricting any individuals Freedom.

·        Punishment is only warranted on crime that has affected another person. No laws to “create” victimless crimes such as war on drugs and crimes that only harm the individual. Complete restitution will be made to a victim of crime. Common Law Juries. Jurors must follow the minimum and maximum sentencing guidelines and will come to a fair and just sentencing. Any agreement reached in court must be upheld.
 

·        All humans are created equal and are held to a high standard of personal responsibility.

                                                                  

Values

·        Our Nation values individualism, individual rights, limited government, free markets.

·        All-encompassing freedom comes from no harm to others or society.

·        Corruption is not caused by a free market but by government inference in the economy.

 

         

"Law without force is impotent; Force without law is blind." - Blaisc Pascal

I completely agree with this quote by Blaisc Pascal. This is why there are three different branches of our US democratic government; Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. These three branches create a "checks and balances" system that allows ideally allows our government to efficiently and effectively make the correct decisions. What is the point of having the law if there is nobody there to enforce it? Or having enforcers without law? This was demonstrated in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The law in the small town of Shinbone was not enforced allowing Liberty Valance to get away with awful things such as robbery, assault and murder. 

"Law without force is impotent; force without law is blind." (Blaise Pascal) and "The capacity of people for good makes democracy desirable; their capacity for evil makes democracy necessary." (Reinhold Niebuhr) are two quotes that tie in a lot with the movie "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence". In the movie the Sheriff of the town and Ransom Stoddard did not have any force to enforce the law that they preached so Liberty Valence, an outlaw, basically does whatever he wants because there is no one to enforce the law. The movie also illustrates force without law through Liberty Valence because he exercises force without adhering to law. If either scenario occurs in real life a similar situation to the movie would occur. The second quote is validated in the movie by showing the good characters support democracy and having it be necessary because of people like Liberty Valence.

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Agree

Both quotes made sense to me and I agree with them for the most part. Here's my take...

The first being "Law without force is impotent; force without law is blind." -Blaise Pascal. If there is a law in place, and no one to enforce it, then people will take advantage. Sooner or later, people will start breaking any law because there is no one to keep them in check. Another point though is that people do that every day. For example, someone may speed and still not get in trouble if no one is around. And now the second section of the quote, "force without law is blind" makes sense because if someone does something that is legally allowed, yet gets in trouble for it, then that's wrong. A person can't just make up a law for one certain circumstance and not others.
And the second quote "The capacity of people for good makes democracy desirable; their capacity for evil makes democracy necessary." -Reinhold Niebhur. This quote was a little tougher to explain WHY exactly I agree with it. I agree that there are a lot of people out there that are good people, and democracy is in place to make it like that. And the "evil" people out there are why its set in place.

Behavioral Therapy for ADHD

The article that I chose is about how early behavioral therapy can help kids with ADHD. I think that this relates a lot to what we learned from the videos in the class today. When reading the article I found it fascinating how many adolescent children are currently diagnosed with ADHD today. The article claims that if the research is performed on a larger scale the behavior-first approach could grow to replace Adderall and Ritalin as first line treatment. Also Adderall and Ritalin would be more effective as a supplemental and second-line treatment for the children. They would also most likely be prescribed in lower doses than they are normally prescribed today. This article was particularly interesting to me because I have always disagreed with drugs like adderall being a goto drug for children with ADHD. This article helps to point out that there are better treatment methods that will be cheaper and more beneficial for the children.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/health/early-behavior-therapy-found-to-aid-children-with-adhd.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Regulating E-Cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration is currently pushing to put regulations on E-Cigarettes. E-Cigarettes were originally used as a "safe alternative" for cigarettes, but recent studies have proven that the number middle and high school aged teenagers that use E-Cigarettes has tripled since 2011. Since E-Cigarettes have been deemed a "safe alternative" for regular cigarettes teens are more willing to try them without realizing that E-Cigarettes can in fact lead to the opposite outcome than originally intended and cause them to become addicted to nicotine. The Heart Association stated that they believed that if regulations on E-Cigarettes and other tobacco products were not enforced soon that there will be chronic public health consequences. I don't believe that the federal government has a right to regulate tobacco products on a national level because it is an exclusive power for the state governments to provide laws for public health and safety. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/e-cigarettes-should-be-last-resort-heart-doctors-say-n187196?cid=par-time_20160218

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Zika vaccine?

        With the Zika virus starting to affect more and more people in America, a vaccine is needed. In the article from CNN, it is talking about Obama asking congress for 1.8 billion dollars for a vaccination. One of the problems is that it may take years to be made, which will not be good for the people affected by it now and in the future. A question is "will it be a mandatory vaccine in all Americans"? In my opinion, I feel it should be, every one should get the vaccine so every one is protected from it. Although there are people who will protest being forced to get it, it is in every ones best interest. We need every one protected so it can't keep spreading.