All About US – Congress' Section 8 (Eleventh of a series) >From my unpublished book.
This series is archived at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Rich Martin "Congress shall have the power to…establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the Untied States." U. S Constitution Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 Congress' Section 8 Question: What did the late Woody Herman, the venerable jazz musician have in common with Senator Gary Hart, besides the same last initial? Answer: They both ran up a huge debt to the tune of $1.5 million, give or take a couple of hundred grand. Hart ran up his bill during his unsuccessful bid to become president in 1984. Herman, who was neither youthful nor unsuccessful, got into debt as a result of an IRS audit assessing him for unpaid income taxes. Stiff penalties and interest which accrued until the day of his death, if even that ended it, accounted for the rest of it. The Founding Fathers addressed themselves to the problem of bankruptcies in Article I, section 8, of their masterpiece. They authorized Congress to establish "uniform laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." The need for consistency from top to bottom of this country, lock stock and barrel, was a lesson taught them by Daniel Shays, like in Shays' Rebellion, the winter prior to their famous convention in Philadelphia. Even in defeat, the rebellion dealt the Articles of Confederation a fatal wound. The new doctrine had to ensure even handedness wherever possible. It is only because our Constitution epitomizes this genuine feeling of fairness that it has endured these many years. To be an American is synonymous with being fair. Or, at least, it used to be. In large part, Congress has fulfilled its duty to set up fair bankruptcy laws. They generally strike an acceptable balance somewhere between what is rightfully due and what is compassionate. Today's courts do not strip a citizen clean. They forgive debts. They leave the petitioner some cash, a method of transportation and often protect his residence from creditors. All in all, the courts work astonishingly well, even in high-stakes cases, as in the Texaco and Hunt Brothers law suits. http://www.palisade.com/articles/ptree_texpen.asp http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2000/hunt_bros.html Still, there are a few glaring abuses screaming for a hearing, to wit, the Hart and Herman situations. Herman had been paying for decades even after he lost everything, including his homestead. Annual interest continued to mount to the point of absurdity for a debt claimed by the country Hart wanted to lead. http://www.anusha.com/donnaric.htm What is fair about a system of laws which punishes a terminally ill person on his deathbed yet allows a privileged upper class politican to go Scot-free, if he so chooses? Why shouldn't these two financially over-extended citizens be resolving their indebtedness in Bankruptcy Court under the same set of uniform laws as their fellow countrymen? Why should the debts of a man campaigning for public office be virtually uncollectible through life? Is it a simple case of whose ox is being gored, or is there more? (To be fair to Hart, he did promise to pay his creditors with his 1988 matching funds IF the Federal Election Commission gave him special permission to do so. And Xerox sued him to make sure.) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE2DD163DF933A05751C1A961948260 Why aren't the modern would-be patriots of his great nation railing against the inequity of these contrasting rules of law that benefit citizens by their chosen self-serving vocation, or treats them indifferently because of favorite status granted their creditors? Congress did write "uniform laws", did they not? Did Congress violate the Constitution one more time by ignoring Section 8. It all puts a person in mind of another musician named Woody---Woody Guthrie---who wrote "This is my land, this is your land." Or, at least, it's supposed to be. The only thing worse than Waco is the ongoing cover-up. http://www.documentarywire.com/waco-the-big-lie/ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4298137966377572665 http://www.myspace.com/bdsda http://www.movie-forumz.org/showthread.php?t=35645&highlight=waco --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "APFN" group. 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