A few weeks ago we published, “Before 1913 No One Paid Income Taxes, Tariffs Covered Everything.” Actually we have always had tariffs as the Constitution requires “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives…” and, “The Congress shall have Power: To lay and collect Taxes, Duties Imposts and Excises…” with duties being a synonym for tariffs (Article I, Sections 7 and 8). But 124 years later, with the ratification of the 16th Amendment in 1913, America replaced the tariff tax on countries selling their products in the United States as the primary source of revenue for the federal government with a forced income tax on its own residents. Today most paying are taxed a fourth of their income.
Canals, shown in red, were a major source of transportation in the Old Northwest 1820-1860. Two north south canals from Lake Erie traversed Ohio to the Ohio river continuing South to the Mississippi River then to the Gulf of America. The most famous of all the canals was the Erie Canal carrying goods from the Great Lakes to Buffalo, New York then 363 miles East to the Hudson River than South to New York City and the Atlantic Ocean. Commerce to and from New York City necessitated their going to skyscrapers to accommodate the traffic. Tariffs funded all this including the skyscrapers. There was no federal income tax until 1913. Americans kept all their earnings. The same was so of four transcontinental railroads that followed.
The first concern of the newly formed Republic was how it would fund itself differently than had their former British government, as an object of economic control which fed their rebellion. They passed the Tariff Act of 1789, “which levied duties on imported goods to raise revenue and protect American industries from foreign competition” (TRUMP’S TARIFFS Constitutional, or Executive Overreach?,”New American, March 24. 2025, p. 21-22). Such funded a series of canals in or through the Appalachian mountains, the most famous being the Erie Canal linking the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, 363 miles long in an unprecedentedly efficient waterway. We had four transcontinental railroads, the Civil War, and the Spanish American War. We had schools, colleges, subways, an army and navy. Tariffs funded the Industrial Revolution and Americans kept all their earnings which stimulated the economy.
Many believe this still realistic if we do three things. 1) Remove the trillions in waste and fraud identified by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk. 2) Require all federal spending to stay within the constitutional list Article I, Section 8. 3) Return to the tariff as our source of federal income excepting “unavoidable wars,” as George Washington admonished in his famous Farewell Address.
It was Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, that ushered in the fourth branch of government, the federal bureaucracy, that necessitated a gigantic federal budget. “Beginning with the New Deal, the entire complexion of the executive branch changed, as president Franklin D. Roosevelt effected an unprecedented revolution … a permanent entrenched, professional government bureaucracy to impose continuity.” He “set up a welter of new government agencies tasked with regulating every aspect of Americans’ lives, organs that could effectively legislate without the encumbrances of legislative process, and which were ‘apolitical’ – that is, unaccountable. All of this was accomplished by FDR via executive order, particularly during his fabled ‘First 100 Days,’ which featured an effusion of executive orders and proclamations without precedent, along with an enormous volume of enabling legislation passed by a supine Congress” (“President or King,” The New American, March 24, 2025, pp. 9-10).
Roosevelt created “69 new government regulatory agencies” now referred to as the alphabet soup agencies. No president changed the government and Constitution more in his first 100 days in office than he. It was indeed a bloodless revolution leaving us thereafter at the mercy of Big Government. Moreover, he put these —not under legislative branch authority but the executive—where they operated virtually “free of accountability….This sprawling regulatory regime, wholly illegitimate by any constitutional standard, has been inserted into the executive branch…[this] completely restructured the executive branch and redefined the powers of the presidency without even the formality of a constitutional amendment.” Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office established “an unprecedented executive power grab that utterly —and illicitly— transformed the entire federal government and laid the foundation of modern Big Government” (Ibid.).
Donald Trump emphasized the tariff in his first term and is presently making it ever more dominant in the economy today. With it he believes we can gradually end federal income taxes altogether—as was once the case for more than half of our history. He would also like to investigate and audit the Federal Reserve, with a view of removing it, which serves as an open-ended credit card for the Deep State allowing it to create money at will for its nefarious projects and purposes. The most visible consequence of it is inflation which destroys the value of everyones money especially retirees on fixed incomes and may prevent the young from ever owing a home of their own.
Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt virtually created the Big Government regulatory state wholly illegitimate by any constitutional standard. He created “69 new government regulatory agencies” and served four terms in office. He controlled the legislative and executive branches of government. The media and his party swooned over him. After him his own party supported a two term limitation on the office. If we ever had a dictator in office it was him. Ironically, President Trump is called by them a dictator for trying to undo his/their regulatory state. This makes Trump the only dictator in history advocating less government and taxes.
There is considerable evidence that the Deep State, then called Internationalists, abandoned the tariff for their federal income tax and the open-ended credit system of the Federal Reserve or Central Bank. These hatched the same year, 1913. Trump’s America First Policy is a return to protectionism and a rejection of the past—even present— move toward globalism.
Trump believes that “America has been taken advantage of through unfair trade practices which have weakened America’s “manufacturing, led to job losses, and made the country too dependent on foreign suppliers—particularly China.” He would like “to reduce our reliance on foreign nations for essential goods.” (TRUMP’S TARIFFS, p. 22). He believes he can do this and restore the tariff as the nation’s majority source of income as it once was, leaving the people untaxed.
Some are critical, as am I, as the Constitution gives only Congress the “Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises”—not the president. But that authority too was transferred by FDR to the Executive Branch by his signing the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934 (Ibid., p. 23). So Trump is not violating the Constitution by initiating tariffs as used by both parties for ninety years.
But that is a small issue next to Trump’s attempt to reveal and destroy the ‘secret combination’ now commonly called the Deep State and Congress seems unable to impeach even a single rogue judge. We’ll correct Mr. Trump later. Other than Kennedy and Reagan, Trump is the only president willing to take a bullet to remove the Deep State.
Dr. Harold Pease is an expert on the United States Constitution and a syndicated columnist. Read his weekly columns at www.LibertyUnderFire.org Column # 820 `
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As a nation under the U.S. Constitution we are 236 years old. The first 124 of these years we had no federal income tax and handled our national expenses quite well, most of those years without a national debt. Today most are assessed a fifth to a fourth of their gross income. Prior to 1913 we kept what is now taken from us. We first advocated a return to this system on Dec. 13 2013,“Blows to Liberty 100 Years Ago Still Impact You” (LibertyUnderFire.org).
The then existing Deep State, then called Internationalist, prompted this. They wanted this financial “water faucet” that they could turn on at will. They could purchase anything—even people. They created a private corporation, the Federal Reserve, and pushed for the 16th Amendment to the Constitution which now funded the government from the taxpayer, an internal source, rather than by tariffs from other countries, an external source.
What would you spend it on were it not taken from you? Normally not on the basics such as food, housing, and utilities as they likely are covered in what you are allowed to retain. You would spend the extra fourth of your salary on hundreds of items that are made by others as well as services you might like. This not only would enrich your life but it would provide jobs for others making those items or providing those services.
Would you spend it more wisely than the federal government? Likely! Most of the money taken from you by the federal government is spent on perpetual war, foreign aid, grants to privileged portions of our society, and endless unconstitutional subsidized programs; the last two of which basically take the money of those who produce and redistribute it to those who do not. Even some non-tax payers get income tax refunds as we have reported—so corrupt is the system.
Of course, those receiving and benefiting from these programs will defend them. But the fact remains that tax monies provide largely government jobs, which are almost entirely consumption jobs (jobs that consume the production of society but produce little consumable). Such jobs cannot produce for public consumption a potato, a carton of milk, or even a can of hair spray. They bring another person to the table to eat, but not another to produce something to eat.
What largely brought about the vast give-away programs of the Twentieth Century was the now 112-year-old 16th Amendment—the federal income tax. All three 1912 presidential candidates Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson, their respective parties, and the then existing Deep State, then called Internationalist, did this to us. They wanted this financial “water faucet” that they could turn on at will. They could purchase anything—even people.
Prior to 1913 the federal government remained mostly faithful to her grants of power in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which left them with only four powers: 1) to tax, 2) pay the debts, 3) provide for the general welfare and 4) provide for the common defense. Because the federal government has the inclination to grow their authority the last two power grants, general welfare and common defense, each had eight qualifiers to harness them more fully. Outside these qualifiers the federal government had no power to tax or spend—still doesn’t.
General welfare then meant everyone equally (general) as opposed to “specific welfare” or “privileged welfare” as it is today, targeting those to forfeit and those to receive monies. The Constitution did not deny states, counties, or cities from having such programs, only the federal government. But politicians soon learned that the more they promised to the people, from the money of others, the easier it was to get elected and stay elected.
The problem with the federal government going off the list and funding things clearly not on it was that each time they did so the stronger the inclination to do so again. One minor departure begets another until one notices that what the federal government does has little or no relationship to the list in the Constitution. I ask my students what would happen if they took one lollypop to kindergarten and gave it to one child? What would the others say? Where is mine? Try taking away long provided benefits from a privileged welfare group, as for example food stamps, and see how popular you are with that voting group in the next election.
So why does the government now need a fourth of everything you make and it is still not enough? Answer, because we went off the listed powers of the Constitution and every departure required more taxpayer funding. The solution to less tax is less government. A side benefit is more freedom. The productive classes would not be hurt as might be supposed. Seldom do they qualify for the federally subsidized programs anyway. The fourth taken from the productive classes would be spent by them creating a plethora of jobs for those who wished to work and give them no excuse not to. The cycle of dependency would be drastically reduced. The federal government would no longer be an enabler to those not working. States would decide for themselves what assistance programs they could afford and generate with some states offering more and others less as the Tenth Amendment mandates.
One side benefit of tariffs is that it stimulates domestic production and industries giving them an advantage.
I have a friend who freely admits that he became a Democrat as a young man because they offered more. His departure from the Constitution began with that choice. The Democrat Party since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has always offered more freebies, confiscated from the “haves” and redistributed to the “have nots” to paraphrase Karl Marx and his socialist ideology.
So, how did we cover the expenses of the federal government—even wars—our first 124 years? Products coming into the country were assessed a fee to market in the U.S. called a tariff. We got product producers in other countries to cover our national expenses and thus we were able to spend on ourselves every cent of what the federal government now takes, which inadvertently stimulated the economy. No one should be able to argue that our present approximately $36 trillion national debt (up from $20 trillion just 8 years ago) is fair, has really worked for any of us, and is a better plan. It also enslaves our posterity who is required to pay it back amplified with interest charges, enabling us to bask in the sunshine of fake prosperity. Imagine what you could purchase annually with the money confiscated from you in federal taxes.
To protect prosperity and the Constitution for all, three things must happen. 1) We must identify and remove all waste and fraud in the present government identified by DOGE with ALL excess money from cancelled contracts to immediately be returned to liquidate the national debt. 2) We must remove the 16th Amendment and restore the tariff as our source of financing the federal government as it was our first 124 years. 3) We must return to Article I, Section 8 and the listed powers of government with ALL expenditures specifically tied to one of those powers. Yes this will hurt for a time, all surgeries do, otherwise we eventually self destruct as a free people.
Dr. Harold Pease is an expert on the United States Constitution and a syndicated columnist. Read his weekly columns at www.LibertyUnderFire.org Column # 817
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The Constitution says, “The executive Power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America.” No administrative power was given to either the Judicial, (especially not independent judges—non-existent at the time) or Legislative branches. There exist only one person elected by every citizen voting in the United States and that is the President. He executes the laws of the land as passed by the Legislative Branch. No unelected bureaucrat or district judge has ANY independent authority This was upheld until recent times. (Article II, Section I).
Trump signed Executive Order 14215 entitled, “Ensuring Accountability for all Agencies,” Feb. 18, 2025, restoring ALL executive power under the president of the U.S. as it was pre 1935. It argues that under Franklin Delano Roosevelt this authority had been “scattered between independent boards, commissions and agencies that have proliferated since the Roosevelt administration.” With 443 government agencies such is necessary for the government “to be truly accountable to the American people.” This power “must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected president.”
By the early 1970’s the federal government had become so big and sprawling that the Deep State, then called the Establishment, desired a different system to disperse the funded money authorized and originating “in the House of Representatives“(U. S. Constitution, Article I, Section 7, Clause 1). Normally Congress paid little attention to the money once allocated. They had previously, in 1913, allowed the Federal Reserve System (a private corporation) to create money on demand, debt they then repaid by their inflated currency. It seemed to work for everyone not on a fixed income—retirees mostly, who would soon die anyway.
On November 3, 1961 the Deep State, again then called the Establishment, pushed for even more control over allocation by creating the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Congress’s allocated money would go to it and be distributed by it. A portion—gradually even a majority of it—could go to any cause they liked that had not been approved by Congress— so long as the cause voted on by the House got some of the money. The money spawned Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). Some NGOs were members of Congress whose loyalty could be rewarded by kickbacks. It became self propelling—they proposed and pushed the legislation. That is believed to have made many members of Congress millionaires on public servant salaries—especially Democrats as they saw federal gift giving as enticements, thus recruitments, to their party. Mostly they funded themselves and their left of center causes.
Two things inhibited their intended total control, the Gold Standard, which they were pleased to have Richard Nixon remove in 1974, and an uncontrolled U.S. president as he could, discover their fraud and veto USAID payments to unworthy causes as President Trump and Elon Musk are now doing. The Deep State’s answer to this possibility was The Empowerment and Control Act of 1974. They saw power in the administrational dispersement, after Congress’s allocation, and wanted that removed from the president to themselves. They succeeded until Donald Trump.
President Trump wants this act revoked and the power presidents had prior to 1934 restored to the Executive Branch as was followed our first 146 years. Until then, in keeping with his oath to preserve and defend the Constitution, he is creating a constitutional crises through executive orders constitutionally cancelling billions of dollars going to causes never actually approved by Congress as stipulated in Article I, Section 7, Clause I.
His Executive Order 14215 entitled, “Ensuring Accountability for all Agencies,” Feb. 18, 2025, restores ALL executive power under the president of the U.S. as it was pre 1935. It argues that under Franklin Delano Roosevelt this authority had been “scattered between independent boards, commissions and agencies that have proliferated since the Roosevelt administration.” All is returned under the management of the White House. Such is necessary for the government “to be truly accountable to the American people.” This power “must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected president” (X22 Report, Ep. 3576b, Feb. 19, 2025, 45:00).
How many federal agencies are there? Forbes counted 443, most of which are controlled by the Deep State, not the president with his executive authority given him by the Constitution (“How Many Federal Agencies Exist? We Can’t Drain The Swamp,” By Clyde Crews Jr., July 5, 2017). Most of these under FDR and since are difficult to justify constitutionally as written and most originated after 1971 when Richard Nixon took us off the gold standard.
Nobody yells louder then Senator Elizabeth Warren about what Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, is finding in its government audits. The adage, “He who yells the loudest has the most to lose,” may come true for her. Senator Warren’s annual salary as a public servant is $285,000, yet her net worth is $67 million. She never ran a business, nor produced or manufactured anything. DOGE reports, almost 160,000 civil service employees are now millionaires up from fewer than 70,000 when Biden took office four years ago.
Trump’s Executive Order reads in part, “All executive departments and agencies including, so-called independent agencies shall submit for review all propose and significant regulatory action to the office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Executive Office of the President before publication in the Federal Register. ‘The White House, not the agencies, not the Deep State swamp creatures, will provide interpretation of the law. This in particular is going to stop agencies like the EPA from using their interpretation of law, to increase their regulatory power.’ The President and the Attorney General, subject to the President’s supervision and control, shall provide authoritative interpretations of the law for the Executive Branch. The President and the Attorney General’s opinion on questions of law are controlling on all employees in the context of their official duties. No employee of the Executive Branch, acting in their official capacity, may advance an interpretation of the law as the position of the United States that contravenes the President or the Attorney General’s opinion on a matter of law, including, but not limited to, issuance of regulations guidance, and position advance in litigation, unless authorized to do so by the President, or in writing by the Attorney General.”
Translation. “Trump has promptly and fundamentally changed the Executive Branch as it has existed since 1935 in the last month to how it existed from 1789 to 1934, for 146 years. Trump just wiped out 90 years of the Deep State system.” The president is once again in charge of ALL federal agencies. Now none of these swamp creatures can make decisions or authorize anything without his say so. And he is draining the swamp. Formerly the Deep State had taken away presidential power by the Empowerment and Control Act. of 1974. Congress will need to remove that unconstitutional legislation which is likely to follow (X22 Report, Ep. 3576b, 2/19/ 2025, 45:00). Once done they will no longer control the flow of money to a myriad of harmful activities to this country and the world without presidential consent like funding gain-of-function research or illegal immigration.
Dr. Harold Pease is an expert on the United States Constitution and a syndicated columnist. Read his weekly columns at www.LibertyUnderFire.org Column # 811 Help preserve our Republic while we still can by sharing this column.
Joe Biden is expected to bring in at least 15 million unlawful aliens before his term ends. The Biden illegal alien avalanche invasion, starting as a million a month, has accelerated doubling that, to “about 2 million people—from every country on earth—are entering through the US Southern border every year.” It’s killing the economy! In one day more than 8,000 migrants were apprehended at US border (“Biden’s Hope to make Caucasians a Permanent Minority in the United States,” LibertyUnderFire.org, Sept. 2023). Let’s restructure the Democrat Party from these beholding invaders lined up for food stamps, housing, social security, and soon medical benefits—endless “free” taxpayer-funded services—and become the permanent political party.
Illegal immigration is costing major cities billions potentially bankrupting them. Endless free taxpayer-funded services and jobs are going to illegals instead of to largely Democrat residents turning them from their own party. Ironically Trump’s Wall cost $15.8 billion in steel, mortar and labor costs–with supplies to finish it. Biden’s unlawful resettlement has cost over $20 billion and it hasn’t paid for a single brick or steel rod to end the problem.
Overwhelmed southern border states forced to forward the hordes to northern cities and states who are now also overwhelmed, reached the breaking point. The Democrat solution to the problem is more of the same under their Schumer-Lankford Border Deal limiting the illegals coming in to 5,000 per day but with work permits and legal status, preparatory for voting in 2024. All this on a border that was just three years ago more secure under the Trump Administration, largely by his building a wall, than at any time in our history.
In self defense Texas governor Greg Abbott finally invoked Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution authorizing his state militia (National Guard) to seize “control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, (city property where mass illegal crossings are), and is restricting the Border Patrol from accessing the area, saying the feds ‘perpetuate illegal crossings,’ the State has taken control over this area. Texas has deployed armed soldiers and vehicles to block the federal government from accessing the river ‘in Eagle Pass.’” (X22 Reports, hereafter not cited, Ep. 3256b, Jan. 12, 2024, 16:03).
The constitutional provision Abbott cited reads . “No State shall…[a list of activities reserved to the federal government follows] unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of Delay.” THESE EXTREME NUMBERS ARE AN INVASION. Texas also could have cited Article 4, Section 4, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion.”
Biden is violating this clause in two places. First, “a Republican Form of Government” necessitates a Republic. Biden intentionally placed people illegally in the country, who in gratitude are likely to vote for his party because he let them in, even giving them a free ride to a starting place. Doing so gives his party the edge in elections which damages the required “Republican Form of Government.” Second, obviously Biden is not protecting each state “against Invasion,” but, instead, leading the invasion he is supposed to be protecting the states from. More so when he is using the military to assist the invaders in transporting inland.
And Biden violated the Constitution in two other places as well. In his oath of office He “promises to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Unites States” (Article II, Section 1, Clause 8.), that means upholding it on immigration law. And in Article II, Section 3, the president promises to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,…”—that means existing immigration law. Also, only Congress and governors, (not the President), can call “for the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union suppress Insurrections and repel invasions;” which Biden is violating by attempting to control state militias, now thought to be national guards, (Article I, Section 8, Clause 15). Consequently, 25 states have joined Texas in her efforts to close her border, many committing their national guards as well.
On unlawful immigration alone Biden and his Party are violating several key parts of the Constitution. But the Constitution does allow the state to have its own militia, now called the National Guard, to secure their own borders when the federal government refuses to do so, as Texas is now doing and 25 state governors are supporting.
Current immigration law is Title 8 U.S Code 1324, and has no sympathizing for Americans breaking it. Accomplices are “defined as anyone knowingly encouraging, assisting, transporting, concealing, harboring, or shielding from detection an illegal immigrant.” Anyone who “engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,” is punishable for up to 10 years for each person assisted or activity. How many years would Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and others encouraging or assisting the caravans of thousands coming up and into the United States get under just law—many life-times?
But what is a state’s recourse when its chief executor, Joe Biden and the Democrats Party openly defy established immigration law, engage in human trafficking of illegals into the interior, and refuse the primary duties of his office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and “To take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed…?” We answered that in, “If the Executive Branch Refuses to Protect America, the States Must,” (LibertyUnderFire.org, Oct. 2021). A state with Biden opposition cannot order federal agencies to protect it from an invasion, but it can use the state militia without his authority, which is what Texas is doing. The militia is not the army. It is the people, the citizens, and existed in the 2nd Continental Congress, even before the Constitution. The militia was defined as every able bodied male 17 years of age and older.
Optics are wonderful. The border is the #1 issue for most Americans in the 2024 election. Half the states are standing against this Deep State tyranny. “The only time Joe Biden takes action on the invasion is to block states from stepping in” (Ep. 3265b, January 23, 2024, 19:59). America sees this. If Biden fights Texas, he loses. If Biden stops the invasion, it shows that he could have done so earlier. “The federal government is on the verge of outright war with Texas +25 governors, in order to open up the border for invaders.” Their attempt to change the population vote through illegal immigration is election interference and undermines the vote of every citizen. The enemies of this Republic want foreigners to choose our next president rather than “We the People” as the Constitution mandates. In this Democrats are destroying themselves.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org Column # 752
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Few realize that New England’s first form of government under the Pilgrims was communalism (socialism) where “each produced according to his ability and each received according to his needs,” applied in practice more than two centuries before Karl Marx first penned the above quote. The result, “share the wealth,” then and now was, and always will lead to shared poverty.
Socialism made strong men lazy!!
William Bradford, Plymouth colony’s governor its first 30 years, wrote of the agreement between the 102 Pilgrim Mayflower passengers and the financial “Adventurers” in his book Of Plymouth Plantation. He noted that the seven-year contract signed July 1, 1620, before leaving Plymouth England, stipulated that the Pilgrims were to pool, for common benefit, “all profits and benefits that are got by trade, traffic, trucking, working, fishing, or any other means of any person or persons…” It further noted “that at the end of the seven years, the capital and profits, viz. the houses, lands, goods and chattels, be equally divided betwixt the Adventurers and Planters…”
During this time the colonists were to “have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock and goods of the said colony.” It doesn’t get more socialistic than this because the government divvied out the goods and loafers received the same as those who worked.
The first two years the result was shortages and starvation. Half the colonists died. No one did more than the minimal because the incentive to excel was destroyed by the contract. The industrious were neutralized. Bradford wrote of the scarcity of food “no supply was heard of, neither knew they when they might expect any.” The contract, Bradford added, “was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to the benefit and comfort. For the young men, that were most able and fit for labour and service, did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense….”
In other words, socialism made strong men lazy. Bradford spoke of another problem because of the government created famine—thievery. Even in this Christian community, “much was stolen both by night and day….” to alleviate the prevailing condition of hunger.
The “feast” of the first Thanksgiving did fill their bellies briefly, and they were grateful, but abundance was anything but common. Harvests were not bountiful in that year nor the next. Why did this happen? Because they had fallen victim to the socialistic philosophy of “share the wealth.” This dis-incentivized the productive base of society.
After two years of such, with the survival of the colony at stake, they contemplated upon “how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in misery.” They opted to abandon the incentive killing socialist contract in favor of the free market. And so they “assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number, for that end….”
The effects were almost immediate. A delighted Governor Bradford wrote: “This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor … could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.”
Postcard depiction. Only half of the 102 who boarded the Mayflower survived the first two years.
Then suddenly, as though night changed to day, the crop of 1623 was bounteous, and those thereafter as well, and it had nothing to do with the weather. Bradford wrote, “Instead of famine now God gave them plenty and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God.” He concluded later, “any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day.” One variable alone made the difference and ended the three-year famine. They abandoned the notion of government (or corporation) owning the means of production and distribution in favor of the individual having property and being responsible to take care of himself. Before, no one benefited by working because he received the same compensation as those who did not. After the change everyone kept the benefits of his labor. Those who chose not to work basically chose also to be poor and the government (corporation) no longer confiscated from those who produced to give to those who did not.
In other words, the free market (capitalism) is a much greater stimulus than governmental force. The Pilgrims now wished to work because they got to keep the benefits of their labor.
Secure property rights are the key to prosperity for all who wish to work. When this right is threatened by confiscatory taxation or outright confiscation of property, or by excessive government rules and regulations governing such, whether planned as in a contract enforced by the government at Plymouth, or gradual as in our day, work and production slow and can eventually stop. The answer for them was to extricate socialism immediately from their midst, as it is for us today as well. May we have the wisdom to do so.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. Read more weekly columns at www.LibertyUnderFire.org. Column #739.
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In 2015 then-Vice President Joe Biden explained what he viewed as the ideal immigration policy for America. “An unrelenting stream of immigration NON STOP. NON STOP. Folks like me who are caucasian or European descent for the first time in 2017 we’ll be an absolute minority in the United States of America. ABSOLUTE MINORITY!! Fewer than 50% of the people in America—from then and on—will be white European stock. That’s not a bad thing. That’s the source of our strength” (“Tucker plays Biden in 2015 celebrating ‘unrelenting stream’ of migrants to make whites a minority in US,” By Jon Dougherty, September 23, 2021).
This is an actual view of your country being invaded. Recently, not pictured, more than 8,000 illegals were apprehended at the US border in one day. “Promising the poorest people on the planet that they can have endless free, taxpayer-funded services if they show up and break your laws isn’t just stupid. It’s suicidal,” said Tucker Carlson.
This was the Democrat Party’s immigration policy under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was expected to follow with the same. Biden could not have expected that he, more than they, would open the flood gates himself fulfilling his dream. “Promising the poorest people on the planet that they can have endless free, taxpayer-funded services if they show up and break your laws isn’t just stupid. It’s suicidal,” said Tucker Carlson. The Democrat plan was little more than granting illegals citizenship to replace “native-born Americans who do not vote for their party.” In time the Democrats could create a super majority of grateful obedient followers who would keep them in power indefinitely. Biden’s suggestion that “non-white DNA is the source of our strength” smacks of racism—even worse, eugenics (Ibid.).
On the surface the Deep State Plan under Biden is having enormous success. He is expected to bring in at least 15 million illegal aliens before his term ends. The Biden illegal alien avalanche invasion, starting as a million a month, has accelerated doubling that. “About 2 million people—from every country on earth—are entering through the US Southern border every year,” according to Elon Musk who spent time at the border last week (X22 Reports, hereafter not cited, Ep. 3170b, Sept 22, 2023, 29:31).. How bad is it? Charlie Kirk reported, “This is a live look at your country being invaded….More than 8,000 migrants apprehended at US border in one day” (Ep. 3171b, Sept 24 2023, 15:34). This is obviously a highly coordinated invasion. Illegals coming in under Biden are said to “outnumber populations of 15 entire states” (Ep. 3170b, Sept 22, 2023, 29:50). “More than half of voters consider it likely that next year’s election could be decided by illegal immigrants voting” (“Could Voting by Illegal Immigrants Shift 2024 Election?,” Rasmussen Reports, September 28, 2023).
Worse, once in the United States illegals stay. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan reported, “More than 99% of illegal aliens released by the Biden Administration between Jan 20, 2021, and March 31, 2023 remain in America” (Ep. 3182b, Oct. 9, 2023, 19:04). Biden is not sending any back.
Democrats also want to give American jobs to the illegals. “U.S. offers work permits to half a million Venezuelans already in the country.” But the end goal is to have them vote not just take our jobs. “Biden Admin. to give illegal immigrants photo ID’s inches closer to reality” where they can work, vote and stay (The Daily Caller, Ep 3169b, Sep. 21, 2023, 19:00).
But under the surface the story is turning off Americans—even the Democrats. Rasmussen asked voters, “The spending bill passed by Congress does not include any money to secure the U.S. border against illegal immigration. Would you support or oppose Congress passing a bill to secure the U.S. border?” Support Democrats 65%; Independents 77%; and GOP 81%. All voter’s 74% (Ep. 3182b, Oct. 9, 2023, 15:59). Rasmusson also asked, “Should illegal immigrants be allowed to vote in U.S. elections?” Yes/No: Dems 23%/66%; IND. 9%/84; GOP 5%/93%. All Voters 13%/80%” (Ep. 3175b, Sept. 28, 2023, 51:47). Even most Democrats do not approve of using illegals to cheat in the 2024 presidential election.
Chicago, which voted 96% for Biden, is “begging local politicians to close the borders of Chicago to stop illegals coming from Texas” (Ep. 3167b, Sept. 19, 2023, 28:15). Why? Being a sanctuary city with open arms to all humanity is quite different when you are a thousand miles away and they’re not taking your jobs and welfare services and, in the case of New York City, your motels. “NYC is gearing up to pay over $1,000,000,000 (billion) on just hotels over the next 3 years to house illegal immigrants.” But that’s just the hotel costs. NYC Mayor Eric Adams estimates the total cost of the migrant crisis will be about $12B over the next 3 years. “We are past our breaking point,” he said. “With more than 57,300 individuals currently in our care on an average night, it amounts to $9.8 million a day. Almost $300 million a month and nearly $3.6 billion a year” (“NYC is gearing up to pay over $1,000,000,000 (billion ) on just hotels over the next 3 years to house illegal immigrants,” by Lenox Hill, Nextdoor Daily Digest, Sept. 27, 2023).
Mass deportations happened under previous presidents and under Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954-55. His was called Operation Wetback. It can and will happen again under Trump. Please come in the front door fully vetted. Those then and those today “breaking in” realize that coming in any other way is a crime and deportation, even mass deportation as depicted above, is the penalty for breaking the law.
But it is not just Chicago and New York City that are suffering from this bankrupting policy. Kevin McCarthy noted, “Democrat Governors of New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are declaring emergencies and telling illegal immigrants “to go somewhere else.” He concluded, “Biden’s failed border policies have turned every community in America into a border city” (Ep. 3171b. Sept 24 2023, 19:34).
Since this is an invasion the military has been tracking those crossing the border illegally but that is a story for another column. In Summerville, South Carolina Trump said, “I will begin the largest deportation operation in American history first day as president” (Ep. 3173b, Sept. 26, 2023, 28:15). Trump wants to do as Presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower did when they were confronted with illegal entry violations. Eisenhower’s, 1954—55, Operation Wetback was the most extensive resulting in perhaps 2 million deportations. Trump’s will be much larger and will be aided by the military, again because it is an orchestrated invasion.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org Column # 736. Subscribe now for free columns at this address.
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