If our Founding Fathers could see their country today, they might think, back to the drawing board.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union ….” Are the first words in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution written in 1787.
In all, 55 delegates from 12 states attended the Constitutional Convention. Our forefathers gave their hearts and souls to craft a document that to this day stands firm in its intent to create a democracy based on a strong central government.
Yes, it’s fraying at the edges.
Back then, no lobbyists or special interest groups were writing the bills. No one from the NRA, Planned Parenthood, the Chamber of Commerce or the Sierra Club (I’m trying to offend equally here) was insisting the wording be favorable to his or her special interests.
All through that summer of 1787 the delegates worked on draft after draft of the Constitution. After being under the thumb of a British monarch, the new Americans were cautious about too central a role of government.
That said, their current Articles of Confederation were proving a disastrous way to govern a growing country.
With 13 independent states, it was akin to herding cats. There was no uniform taxation to benefit the whole. The till was empty. No defense of the country existed. No regulations oversaw interstate commerce. There was, in effect, nothing united about those states.
Today, we give short shrift to their efforts of creating a strong government that relies on a balance of powers between the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government, each structured to check the other.
The design was not without its detractors.
Alexander Hamilton of New York initially maintained a monarchy was the best form of government. The right “executive,” Hamilton said, should be able to serve “for life.”
In the end, he changed his mind and became an ardent supporter of democracy.
After the constitution was approved, the Bill of Rights was soon to follow, spelling out specific maxims – to which many, then and now, interpret as keeping “big government” at arm’s length.

A REVIEW of the Constitution and how it came to be is a timely lesson. It reminds us to guard against usurpation of power.
In today’s world, wealth is power and as a country we are increasingly headed toward an oligarchy, where just a few people call the shots because they have the influence to change laws.
Today, 40 percent of our country’s wealth is concentrated in the pockets of 1 percent of its population. The assets of that 1 percent have more than tripled over the past 30 years thanks to tax policies that favor the wealthy both in their personal and business affairs.
The rich are good at deflecting the attention when it comes to their income tax rates. “Forty-five percent of Americans don’t even pay income taxes,” was their line of defense in the 2012 elections.
That may be true. But don’t call them freeloaders. They don’t pay income taxes because they don’t earn enough money to qualify to pay income taxes. That, by the way, is not getting a break.
An overhaul of the U.S. tax system will help right the imbalance between the haves and the have-nots. The wealthy aren’t crooks; they are just taking advantage of current tax laws that overwhelming benefit them. Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican nominee for president, was roundly criticized for paying only a 15 percent tax rate on his net worth of $250 million. That’s the same rate charged to those who make from $8,700 to $35,350. Rather than pay a 35 percent tax rate, Romney gets the break because his money is invested in stocks and various portfolios.
Warren Buffett, net worth $53.3 billion, is widely quoted as saying he thinks people like himself should be paying a lot more in taxes.
“We have it better than we’ve ever had it,” he maintains.

IT’S LAWS like these that lead us away from a path of justice and equality. By virtue of being born in the United States no longer guarantees the same opportunities it once did for our forefathers.
We can get those visions back, as long as we keep the truth as our guiding light.
That we have the ability to realign our destiny is what makes this country so great.
-— Susan Lynn

It wasn’t the Alamo, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry wasn’t taking any chances.
Monday morning more than 100 heavily armed state police swarmed the Texas capitol to guard against abortion rights supporters.
Armed with truncheons and helmets, state police stood at the ready in case the demonstration turned ugly.
Hardly.
The crowd, an impressive 5,000 in number, were mostly women in bright orange T-shirts signifying their support for pro-choice.
Texas legislators were called back to Austin for a second special session by Gov. Perry.
Perry tacked on the extra legislative session to address last Thursday’s debacle caused by State Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour filibuster that effectively stalled stringent new rules on abortion clinics.
Thursday’s victory for pro-choice supporters will be short-lived.
The bill is all but guaranteed to pass Wednesday in the predominately Republican House and Senate.
The measure bans abortions after 20 weeks, requires that abortionists have admitting privileges at a local hospital and that clinics meet the same standards as hospital surgical centers. The last measure is expected to force the closure of all but five of the state’s 45 clinics.

DAVIS, 50, says her real argument is against big government invading what she regards as a woman’s prerogative.
She herself was a teenage mom. At age 18 she was married and had a child. By 19, she was divorced, dirt poor, and raising her daughter Amber in a trailer park.
But at that point, all similarities between Davis and the typical teenage mom part ways.
Davis was a determined, and smart, young lady.
She put herself through Tarrant County College followed by Texas Christian University, on scholarships. She then attended Harvard Law School, graduating with honors.
From there she joined a Texas law firm and made it big.
Her parents divorced when she was 11, when her dad pretty much left the scene. Her mother, Ira, had a sixth-grade education.
Davis began working at 14 to help support her mother and siblings. She was the first person in her family to earn a college degree.
Clearly, Davis is an anomaly.
Truth is, less than 2 percent of teen moms attain a college degree by age 30. Heck, only 38 percent end up getting a high school diploma.
Two-thirds of families born to unmarried teens are poor, and one-quarter of teen mothers go on welfare within three years of the child’s birth.
So yes, the predictors for success for those born to single, teenage mothers are dismal.
 Ms. Davis is fully aware of the effort it took to rise above what for most people is a life sentence of low-paying jobs and limited opportunities for their children.
Ms. Davis chose to become a teenage mother believing she could buck the odds. The choice was hers. It’s a privilege she wants all women to be able to enjoy.

WHO GETS abortions these days? By and large, four predictors: those who are young, unmarried, poor and black, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease and Control. Abortions among blacks are more than twice the national average.
More than half say they do not want to bring a child into their current circumstances.
They are desperate. Abortion keeps their lives from getting worse.
As birth control measures have improved, the number of abortions has decreased significantly.
Someday, perhaps when men take more responsibility in birth control, abortions can be eliminated.
That’s the goal.
To help keep contraception as the predominate means of birth control, minorities and youths must have better access to birth control methods. Some work better than others. Those that are long-acting and require minimal intervention such as the injectable kind and the IUD, have very low failure rates.
Birth control pills and condoms can be effective, but have higher failure rates due to their dependency on consistent use.
As a society, we can keep unintended pregnancies at a minimum by keeping public health clinics funded and having our schools do a good job of teaching sex ed.
Davis was ready for a fight last week, by evidence of her wearing sneakers instead of high heels.
Her tenacity and strength among such hostile foes — her “colleagues” — was admirable. It’s amazing what one person can do.
Were that we all were so impassioned.
Wendy, you go, girl.
— Susan Lynn