@fmf saidThe House has the power of the purse.
Only if the office of the President acknowledges and accepts the oversight role of the House as a joint branch of government and then cooperates with it. If that is undermined or bypassed by a president who was elected by a minority thanks to the electoral college, and he 'rules' by executive orders, where does that leave the 'dictatorship of the minority' versus the 'dictatorship of the majority' thing?
Checks and Balances only works if each member does its job. Seeing how the House has handed the executive branch so much power with things like the EPA and the Wars Power Act, the Presidency is more like a dictatorship.
This government is far from what it is supposed to be.
A friend of mine is a gun owner from the Netherlands. The gun laws in his country seem reasonable. It was interesting to hear him talk about them; I even made a piece for local radio on it. Anyone interested should look them up. Or, if you are so inclined, you can not look at them but move directly to quoting trenchant critics of Dutch gun laws. There's debate there too. The laws were tightened up in the wake of the Alphen aan den Rijn supermarket shooting in 2011
@eladar saidDo you believe the 2nd amendment gives you the right bear arms in order to gun down government officials and employees if you deem they are acting in a way that makes you think they have "abandoned the Constitution"?
The US was predicated on an armed populace that would force out a government that abandoned the Constitution as our government is doing today.
@fmf saidI am saying it was put in there to ensure it is possible.
Do you believe the 2nd amendment gives you the right bear arms in order to gun down government officials and employees if you deem they are acting in a way that makes you think they have "abandoned the Constitution"?
How do you think the US came into being? Citizens taking up arms against an unjust government!
@eladar saidLocal leaders worked together and declared independence, therefore creating a government and rendering the colonial power a foreign government, and then it fought a war against that foreign power, eventually beating and evicting it. Something similar happened in Indonesia 1945-49. Once independence was declared, "Anericans" weren't "taking up arms against an unjust government", they were fighting for a government.
How do you think the US came into being? Citizens taking up arms against an unjust government!
@eladar saidYour unwillingness to answer forms part of the discourse. I have the right to show you up for what you are by asking a question that goes directly to the heart of what you believe. It's your prerogative to dodge and deflect if you think that serves your purpose.
Why do you think you have the right to demand a yes or no answer?
