Best thing about the U.S.A. -— we can change course

If our Founding Fathers could see their country today, they might think, back to the drawing board.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union ….” Are the first words in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution written in 1787.
In all, 55 delegates from 12 states attended the Constitutional Convention. Our forefathers gave their hearts and souls to craft a document that to this day stands firm in its intent to create a democracy based on a strong central government.
Yes, it’s fraying at the edges.
Back then, no lobbyists or special interest groups were writing the bills. No one from the NRA, Planned Parenthood, the Chamber of Commerce or the Sierra Club (I’m trying to offend equally here) was insisting the wording be favorable to his or her special interests.
All through that summer of 1787 the delegates worked on draft after draft of the Constitution. After being under the thumb of a British monarch, the new Americans were cautious about too central a role of government.
That said, their current Articles of Confederation were proving a disastrous way to govern a growing country.
With 13 independent states, it was akin to herding cats. There was no uniform taxation to benefit the whole. The till was empty. No defense of the country existed. No regulations oversaw interstate commerce. There was, in effect, nothing united about those states.
Today, we give short shrift to their efforts of creating a strong government that relies on a balance of powers between the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government, each structured to check the other.
The design was not without its detractors.
Alexander Hamilton of New York initially maintained a monarchy was the best form of government. The right “executive,” Hamilton said, should be able to serve “for life.”
In the end, he changed his mind and became an ardent supporter of democracy.
After the constitution was approved, the Bill of Rights was soon to follow, spelling out specific maxims – to which many, then and now, interpret as keeping “big government” at arm’s length.

A REVIEW of the Constitution and how it came to be is a timely lesson. It reminds us to guard against usurpation of power.
In today’s world, wealth is power and as a country we are increasingly headed toward an oligarchy, where just a few people call the shots because they have the influence to change laws.
Today, 40 percent of our country’s wealth is concentrated in the pockets of 1 percent of its population. The assets of that 1 percent have more than tripled over the past 30 years thanks to tax policies that favor the wealthy both in their personal and business affairs.
The rich are good at deflecting the attention when it comes to their income tax rates. “Forty-five percent of Americans don’t even pay income taxes,” was their line of defense in the 2012 elections.
That may be true. But don’t call them freeloaders. They don’t pay income taxes because they don’t earn enough money to qualify to pay income taxes. That, by the way, is not getting a break.
An overhaul of the U.S. tax system will help right the imbalance between the haves and the have-nots. The wealthy aren’t crooks; they are just taking advantage of current tax laws that overwhelming benefit them. Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican nominee for president, was roundly criticized for paying only a 15 percent tax rate on his net worth of $250 million. That’s the same rate charged to those who make from $8,700 to $35,350. Rather than pay a 35 percent tax rate, Romney gets the break because his money is invested in stocks and various portfolios.
Warren Buffett, net worth $53.3 billion, is widely quoted as saying he thinks people like himself should be paying a lot more in taxes.
“We have it better than we’ve ever had it,” he maintains.

IT’S LAWS like these that lead us away from a path of justice and equality. By virtue of being born in the United States no longer guarantees the same opportunities it once did for our forefathers.
We can get those visions back, as long as we keep the truth as our guiding light.
That we have the ability to realign our destiny is what makes this country so great.
-— Susan Lynn