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Post by Sadie on Feb 20, 2016 6:00:50 GMT
I think that one of the least important amendments is the twenty first amendment. This repealed the eighteenth amendment in which banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. I think think this amendment is least important because alcohol causes so many deaths on a daily basis. If alcohol was totally banned, so many deaths wouldn't happen every day. On about average, every fifty three minutes, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash. Alcohol addiction runs in many families and breaks them apart, and underage drinking is way too common. Not everyone is responsible with alcohol if if alcohol was illegal, a lot of families would not be torn apart and alcohol addiction wouldn't be so common. Our society would be a better place if alcohol was prohibited. Another amendment I think that is least important is the sixteenth amendment. This amendment means that Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on income, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states and without regard to any census or enumeration. I think that it is least important because taxes are too expensive and that our country can still operate even if the government didn't take up our taxes. Instead of giving so much money away to other countries, we should keep it so that the government is not forced to tax everyone on their income. I think that it is important for the people who work to get paid completely for what they earned and to not give away their money to the government because it is not the governments money.
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Post by Glen Brown - Instructor on Feb 20, 2016 17:29:40 GMT
Several things to consider in your arguments here: First, try to avoid using presentism (In literary and historical analysis, presentism is the anachronistic introduction of present-day ideas and perspectives into depictions or interpretations of the past). Second, when the 21st Amendment was ratified in 1933, no one could have predicted the transformation of the country into a system built on mass transit; thus leading to the high number of alcohol and vehicle related deaths every year (3rd in the nation by CDC statistics for the year 2013). Third, should we base legislation on the possibility things might happen? Can we legislate that people be responsible ? Should we prohibit anything that might end up being dangerous? For instance, referring back to the statistics listed by the CDC for the year 2013, heart related disease was the number one cause of death in the U.S. so does that mean we the government should start prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of anything and everything that leads to heart-related disease. I can only imagine how long that list might get. Fourth, while I disagree with your dislike of the 16th Amendment, there are several things to consider. 1) The income taxes that we pay now are not what was originally intended with the 16th Amendment; income was considered corporate profits but the New Deal and other Progressive legislative measures expanded that to the individual and families. 2) No, our government could not operate without taxes and revenue. However, it should be noted that federal income taxes usually go to paying on the interest that the Federal Reserve charges for printing our money (let that one sink in for a minute). Most of your government or public works are provided by the taxes on property, local, and state taxes. I also agree that we should stop spending so much in foreign aid. A quote that I particularly like by former Congressman Ron Paul, "Foreign aid is just taking money from the poor people of a rich country and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." is a good analysis of this specific topic. Evidence has further shown that privately owned charities, philanthropic organizations, and private individual charitable contributions not only outweigh government spending for such endeavors but is also much more effective and less wasteful.
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