Marriage Equality and the Constitution

With all of the hullabaloo over the Supreme Court addressing same sex marriage, I can’t help but educate both progressives and liberals as to the Constitutionality of this issue.  First and foremost, both DOMA (the defense of marriage act) and what the Supreme Court is hearing right now, the marriage equality issue, are both unconstitutional.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it say anything about marriage and whether or not marriage should be between a man and a woman or any combination of the two. As with many other issues, the federal government attempts to tackle an issue such as this that should fall within parameters set forth by the fourth amendment.  The fourth amendment ensures the federal government only addresses issues that pertain to the United States Constitution.  As a result it should be up to each individual state to decide how to handle same sex marriage.  

Another aspect of this issue I fear greatly is if this passes the Supreme Court is the idea that the federal government will then assume they have the power to decide whether or not religious institutions should honor same sex marriage, even if it is against their beliefs. The federal government could leverage religious institutions tax exempt status and threaten to revoke that status if they do not honor this.

This is why we must fight to get this issue and ones like this out of the Supreme Court and back to the individual states as the Constitution intended.  If we do not see this issue for what it is, more and more issues like this will be presented before the Supreme Court which will continue to erode away the foundational values this country was built upon.

Education Is Not a "Right"

Nowhere in the Constitution of the United States does it state that the federal government is burdened with the responsibility to provide each and ever child of the United States with an education.  Education is not a right, it is a privilege that many take for granted.  People in this country do not realize just how lucky they are to have the opportunity to take advantage of a free education.  The question becomes at what cost is this free education being administered and where is the breaking point.

As other countries around the world easily surpass the United States in regards to the quality of education, the federal government feels it necessary to simply throw more and more money at a problem they have yet to even come close to resolving.  If we look at the educational system in this country, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that something must be done to get our students back on track to once again being the envy of the world.

First and foremost, people in this country must rid themselves of the mindset of government reliance. If the government were to no longer provide a federal education in this country there is no reason to believe children would instantly become illiterate.

If we were to do away with the "federal education", education would then be left up to the states as intended by the Constitution.  Each individual state has the right to draft it's own Constitution and within that Constitution it can address the issue of education.  As a result it should not be up to the federal government to issue decrees regarding the educational system in this country and threaten teachers and other "state employees" with pay cuts and furloughs in the case of federal spending cuts.


TAXES!!!  

We all pay taxes that directly support school system that provide an education for all children.  Suppose one family decides to have eight children and another only two yet both families pay the same amount of money in taxes. How is it that the family with less children should have to pay the same amount in taxes as the family with eight while one is consuming four times the services????

Also, suppose one family concentrates heavily on ensuring their children study and excel in school while the other could care less about how their children do in school.  It then becomes everyone's responsibility to pay for the children that don't do well as they are held back, placed in remedial classes, or even instructed to re-take the classes altogether.  Why is up to everyone to pay for others lack of discipline????


TEACHER TENURE 

Now don't get me wrong, there are many great teachers out their who dedicate an enormous amount of time and effort into providing their students the tools to be successful and those teachers aren't rewarded enough for what they do.  While this is the case, there are plenty of teachers that simply skate by which is another issue that must be addressed and  can only be addressed by ensuring all teachers are held accountable.

Here's some insight to the mentality of some of the teachers teaching our young today.  This one administrator refers to her children as hostages simply due because she lies to parents saying the child is great in class rather than telling the truth.  As a result the student is a "hostage".

Chicago Teachers Union President Laughs About Lying to Parents Turning Students into Hostages

Regardless of the circumstances, I feel that we must get away from the idea that education is a "right" and get back to concentrating on the quality of the education.  That is only going to occur if we get the federal government out of this area, hold the teachers and the parents accountable, and raise the standards.

If liberals in this country can find it in themselves to understand that it is imperative to instill in kids the drive and desire to achieve, we can put our kids on the path of success.  We must praise academic achievement and reward kids for a job well done rather than downplaying their achievements just to ensure others "don't feel bad." That "feel bad" feeling is what should drive those who came up short to try harder and better themselves. If we can instill this in the young the desire to WIN, we can reverse the path we are currently on.

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Where Do We Draw the Line?!?!?!?!

I have gotten myself into several debates with friends and co workers in regards to our civil liberties and where to draw the line in regards to how much of those liberties we should surrender. This can often times be a sensitive topic, while this may be the case it is a topic that must be discussed. If we fail to take a topic like this into consideration the government will simply continue their trampling of our Constitution.

This lead me to my next point... The Constitution.  This is document was finally ratified in 1787 and has since provided the United States of America an outline from which we get not only the structure for which our government should function, but we also get our Bill of Rights.  This document known as the Bill of Rights is a list of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution ratified in 1791 that puts a limit on the governments ability to restrict the rights of American citizens.

This particular portion of the Constitution is what politicians, especially those on the left, seem to hate the most.  They see this document as a restriction on their power over us, the American people, which is exactly why the forefathers drafted the Bill of Rights in the first place. It simply amazes me that they had the foresight to see potentially where this government may one day end up.

This is precisely why we must continue to study the Constitution and it's bearing on society and realize that the left sees this document as a living document that can simply be revised on the whim of a politician or the president. This is simply not the case, there is a procedure already in place to make changes to the Constitution and that is the ratification process such has been done numerous times throughout history!

If this administration wants to make changes, let them abide by this process and if the changes they are pushing for are that significant they will pass!