We hold these truths to be self-evident...

[image: myteacherpages.com]

A Proposed Amendment to the United States Constitution:

No act or vote by Congress that would defund the United States government shall be legal, nor shall any such act or vote be honored by any person or entity at any time or place. Violators shall be subject to immediate expulsion from Congress and forbidden from ever holding any office of public trust.

Governments exist to serve the residents and institutions within the scope of their authority. Shutting down the United States government for any reason violates common sense; it constitutes a dereliction of duty; it is antithetical to good order; it violates the purpose for which legislators are elected to serve in Congress; it breaks faith with the electorate; it is costly to all citizens and residents; it interferes with foreign commerce; it foments distrust among the general population and among nations; while the burden for nonpayment of debts falls disproportionately on the poor, the very young, the disabled, and the aged. Above all, it violates and dishonors the fundamental principles on which our nation was founded, namely, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Only a coward would cast a vote to defund the government. Doing so is much like the little boy who finds that his skills at football are far below those of his playmates, so he takes his ball and goes home with it thus denying all of them the simple pleasure of playing the game. He is so selfish he fails to recognize that he might participate in many other ways that we all see at well organized football games, such as scorekeepers, referees, umpires, equipment keepers, timekeepers, announcers, cheerleaders, waterboys and others.

It is time to put an end to this “cute” trick by immature little boys and girls and strip them of their football, incidentally, paid for by all of us.