>>Beautiful words indeed, but even nicer when they are followed. This country went for a long time ignoring these words, at least if you were a slave. Even Jefferson himself owned slaves. And as far as the consent of the governed goes, well, don't try and express your opinion by voting if you were black and living in the South before the 60s.
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>All moot points.

Why?

>>My view of Congress is that they try to create a level playing field. While their attempts are not perfect, I like it a lot better than doing nothing. If you are a white male in this country, life is pretty good. If you are not, well, it can still be pretty good, but look at all the hurdles you had to overcome. Is there anything wrong with overcoming hurdles? No, its part of life. Anything wrong with hurdles deliberately put in place by some in the majority based on the color of your skin? Yes, as those hurdles try and deny them their pursuit of hapiness.
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>You are extracting from my statement nothing I stated explicitly or implicitly. For example, I did not say everyone is entitled to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness only if you are a WASP. There have been several amendments to the Constitution that eliminated barriers based on race, sex, etc. There are also laws already on the books that go unenforced. We are at a point now where we do not need more laws. The problem now lies in the hearts of bigots and racists.

I have not extracted anything from your statement. I have expressed my view on Congressional legislation, and its attempts to create a level playing field for the pursuit of hapiness. Your statement was that Congress and other attempt to legislate hapiness. Exactly what laws are you referring to?

>I have no problem with help for disabled and mentally ill. I do have problems with fraud and abuse. Rewarding aberrant behaviour is an abuse.

I agree.

>Libertarian principals -- government should get the hell of my back and out of my wallet! And he lost the next election because of it. Where were you the first 2 years of the Clinton administration?

Your statement was that there was a current trend toward higher taxes. My understanding was that the last tax hike we had was under Bush. If taxes are trending higher, where?

>>Praise the all-mighty dollar.
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>No. Praise the self-motivated and the right to reap the rewards of your own labor. Our current tax system penalizes success and does not equally share the risk when a venture fails. If you succeed, pay the gov't 20 to 40%. If you fail, the gov't does not suffer proportionately with you. That is wrong.

How does our system penalize success? By taxing it?