Update: Sep 17 2010. The Alaska Dispatch is reporting the Joe Miller denies taking any farm subsidies, although he admits to owning farm land in the Delta Junction area. Someone named “Joe Miller” certainly took farm subsidies in the Delta area. There may be two of the rascals, but WC thinks it would be a remarkable coincidence. Alaska Dispatch Reporter Craig Medred has a FOIA request under way. We’ll see. Of course, it would be more reassuring if Candidate Miller, and not a spokesperson, came forward with an unambiguous statement.
Shockingly, Joe Miller keeps making mistakes in his public appearances. WC is shocked – shocked! – that Candidate Miller is so ill-informed. WC is determined to be helpful and point out these little boo-boos. And there are lots of these whoppers. Time and space don’t permit WC to address them all. WC starts with these four:
Mistake #1: “In this state, two-thirds of it is owned by the federal government. There really isn’t a good constitutional basis for that.” CBS News, Aug 29, 2010.
The Truth: Even ten years ago, the Federal share of Alaska lands was down to 60%, according to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act has sped up the conveyance of the remaining 15%, as WC pointed out earlier. About 101 million acres have been conveyed, according to the latest report WC can find. That’s a conveyance to the State of Alaska of an area about the size of California.
And remember, the State of Alaska agreed, in its Constitution, to accept 28% (108 million acres) of Alaska as state land at statehood. And released all other claims. There was even a lawsuit about it. Alaska lost. It seems to WC that the Alaska Constitution is a pretty “good constitutional basis” for the Federal government to retain its share. Interesting fact: the percentage of land owned by the Federal government in the State of Nevada is much higher (84.5%), but you don’t hear Nevada whining about it.
Mistake #2: “It’s not just Alaska that’s under the thumb of the federal government, but it’s many other states as well.” NewsMax, Sep 1, 2010
The Truth: There are 48 other states that would like to be under that “thumb.” Alaska gets $2,574.68 per capita from the Federal government. Only Vermont gets more. We pay no state income tax. Most of us don’t pay a sales tax. We have some of the lowest property tax rates in the nation. And each October, we get a fat check from the Alaska Department of Revenue. So exactly what thumb are you talking about?
Do you mean we have to follow the Clean Air Act? Obey the Clean Water Act? Comply with the other environmental laws? Obey the dictates of the Fourteenth Amendment? Shall we instead let the Chena River or Ship Creek, like Ohio’s Cuyahoga River, catch on fire and burn? The fact is there isn’t an obtrusive federal thumb; only rules we have to follow to cope with an overpopulated planet.
Mistake #3: You said, “The Social Security system is unconstitutional and bankrupt.”
The Truth: WC has already shown that, far from being unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1935 that the social security system was constitutional and a lawful exercise of federal power. Nothing has changed. WC understands you are reluctant to back down from your death grip on the Tenth Amendment, but dude, the war was lost. Before you were born.
Nor is the Social Security Fund bankrupt. It has quite a large surplus at present. If changes aren’t made by 2037, there will be a crisis. But the changes are easy, well-identified and, if the Republican Party weren’t irrationally obsessed with blocking anything President Obama seeks, simple to implement. Remove the cap on contributions. Right now, we only pay social security tax on the first $100,000 or so of wages received. If we removed that limit, it wouldn’t impact 97% of Americans and the Social Security long-term funding shortfall would be solved.
Mistake#4: You’ve railed about supposed extra-constitutional actions by the Federal government. “The only answer is to return our federal government to the limits prescribed by our Constitution. Federal powers not specified in the Constitution are reserved to the States by the 10th Amendment.”
The Truth: It looks like you took more than $14,000 in farm subsidies from the Feds. WC can’t find farm subsidies in the Constitution. If you were a strict constructionalist of the U.S. Constitution back in 2003 then you should immediately give that money back, shouldn’t you? It would be a serious mistake to look like a hypocrite. If, like Paul, you were struck by the Tenth Amendment more recently, then doesn’t common decency and credibility require you to give the money back?
And WC notes you have a deed of trust on your home, and make monthly mortgage payments. That’s great. But WC can’t find a Constitutional basis for deducting mortgage interest, either. WC bets you a Designer Coffee of your choice at River City Coffee that your income tax return shows a mortgage interest deduction. Wouldn’t it be a mistake to take that deduction when it isn’t in the U.S. Constitution? Can’t be looking like a hypocrite, can you? Or have your explanation of complex Constitutional law be simplistic nonsense, either?
Special note to Tea Baggers who have wandered in by mistake: Yep, the income tax is in the U.S. Constitution; Amendment XVI. Wait? Do Tea Baggers not count them after Amendment X?
Wickersham's Conscience 