Who moved my cheese?

I have been thinking a lot about the short book "Who moved my cheese?" by Dr. Spencer Johnson. Specifically, I am continuing to evaluate my life and the world around me and I am having difficulty coming to grips with which character represents me the best. At work, I am a very adaptive person - able to adjust to the changes of the business and customer climate (yes, they are different). At home, with my family, I have readily adjusted to the changes that occur when your children reach the teen years. On both accounts, I consider adaptation not only a reality of growth but I have been able to adjust and move prior to many around me. I am the hunter - looking for the next stash of cheese and doing the necessary things to provide for myself and my loved ones.

However, when it comes to the rest of the world we live in - apparently I am the mouse who is left watching, waiting and confused - "Who moved my cheese?". There are but a few cornerstones that I rely on that helps me stay grounded as I move through life. Unfortunately, it seems more than one of those foundations is becoming unmoored . Specifically, the second level of my foundation is crumbling which begins to change the structure above it. This country that I have been blessed to be born in to, and continue to believe is the best country man has been so graciously gifted with, is losing its way.

In the United States, there was a time - not so long ago, that the morals of the masses was the way of the land. The country was comprised of an overwhelming majority that believed we were free to fail or prosper on our own and that the government was there for very specific purposes. Specifically, as the United States Constitution's preamble reads "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America". Now, we live in a time that growing minorities pit 'rich' against 'poor', religions against religions, races against races, and constituents against representatives. I am not so naive to believe this is a new construct - differences have existed long before this great republic. What is disheartening to see is the acceleration and evergrowing conflict between the citizenry.

Many have lost sight of the facts that (this is but a very short list but have been a source of conflict for me in just the past few days) :

• 'Tax cuts' for a given class is nothing more than permission to keep more of what has been earned.
• Freedom of expression is for all to participate in, not just specific classes.
  
• Your rights stop when you impact the rights of your neighbor.
• To whom much is given, much is expected.
• Without a foundation of rights for all, not a single individuals rights are worth the paper they are written on.

Where does this leave us moving forward? Has the cheese been moved? If so, where do you go looking for more? After all, if this country fails - it is my genuine belief that this will be the last experiment of true government by the people. We are slipping away at an ever increasing pace.

I don't have time at this moment to finish my thoughts - but wanted to start the dialog.

Give Obama a little credit

When I see a positive - I will say so. On the 20th President Obama's press secretary stated that the administration would NOT support the Vehicle Miles program. If this is true - I agree with the President. The idea behind the program is to tally what times, which roads and how many miles an individual has driven and then bill them for the use of the roads. While the intended spirit of this program is to have those that use the roads pay for them - 1) I don't trust them and 2) this is an assault to all those not living in the inner city.

Once the group in Washington figure out what kind of data they are able to capture - I can only begin to see what they will want to do with that information moving forward. 1984 has nothing on what these 'lawmakers' can come up with. Time based tax policies for using certain roads, annual reporting of travel to specific areas to the Chamber of Commerce, tracking mileage versus fuel consumption to insure we the public are driving 'economical' cars. No - I don't trust them at all!

The assault on those of us living out side of the city limits where 'public' transportation is available could not be more direct. Lawmakers fail to recognize that in addition to driving to and from work - some of us use the roads and our vehicles for more than our own capitalist endeavors. Yes, some of us drive our children and other children to school. Some of us volunteer to run youth sports programs that the local government actually does very little to support (including blocking the use of public fields for youth sports use). Some of us volunteer in public schools - mentoring, tutoring and advising the youth in the community. Some of us volunteer with local churches and the programs those churches provide that the local communities can not live without. Some of us even drive in to the city to volunteer in the ways listed above.

So, President Obama - THANK YOU. On this topic - you have defended freedom.

Let's go back in time

While amendments to the Constitution are worthy attempts to keep the 'living' document alive, I think there was a change made that needs to be looked at again. The section of the Constitution that I want to talk about is one of the most sensitive portions - it is important to understand that I am concerned with the less known portion of what the 14th amendment modified.
The Constitution (Article I, Section 2), as originally written spells out :

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

I am most interested in the 2nd through 4th words of this sentence. The reference to taxes was completely removed from the 14th amendment and, in my opinion, one of the biggest reasons we have the imbalance in taxation we find today. This portion of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 2) is all about how the representative government would be set up ... representative of the population.
I believe our forefathers knew what would happen if large groups of citizens had a power without responsibility for the power they created. If you take the founding fathers at their word - the taxation of the states should currently follow that of the Electoral College. Take a look at the map to follow along.
Instead of a tax system where every citizen is taxed at a given rate (don't get me started about the unfair nature of regressive taxes) - each state would be responsible for paying 'their share' to the federal government. The fair share would be the same as their ability to elect the President and Vice President. Areas of higher population have more votes and should also pay more in taxes ( on a regional basis ). This has nothing to do with income levels - it is a direct mapping to their constitutional rights presented in the Constitution. To simplify - you pay the taxes proportional to your access to the government providing the services for you.
So, in the case of the U.S. population - my state would be responsible for providing 1.86% of the federal budget (10 electoral votes for the state of Maryland against 538 total electoral votes). On the other hand a state like New York (which can decide an election) should provide 5.76% of the federal budget and California should provide 10.22%.

This model could and should be used at the state level as well. If you have a larger voice - you should pay a higher price. This is not an attack on individuals - it is the fundamental fairness that our founding fathers had designed and over time, we have forgotten. Perhaps if the citizens had to pay for the services they are demanding - they could/would be a little more careful in exercising their right to the vote in the first place.