Repeal the 16th Amendment 

Actions to repeal the 16^th Amendment would return the checks and balances that had been originally placed in the Constitution.  The 16^th Amendment was a major blow against States Rights.  The States were no longer a barrier between the people and the Federal government.

Our Founding Fathers established the States to be a “Wall of Political Protection” between the citizens and the Federal government.  This Wall of Protection was one of the checks that were placed into the constitution to assist in bridling an out-of-control central government.

The 16^th Amendment to the United States Constitution allowed the Federal government to directly tax citizens of the United States.  Prior to the enactment of the 16^th Amendment the Federal government would tax the individual States for monies it needed to operate.  The States then had to decide how the necessary funds were to be collected from the State’s population. 

What is a Constitutional Amendment?

An amendment to the constitution permanently changes the constitutional document.  Changes to the constitution must be made carefully so that the unalienable rights of the people are not adversely affected.  A constitutional amendment not only affects the constitution it may affect other related laws.  Our Founders made adoption of constitutional amendments difficult to avoid reckless changes to the constitution.

To protect the rights of the people additional requirements was established mandating that ¾ of the States approving any changes made to the constitution.  This approval was to be performed by either the State’s legislature or a specifically elected constitutional convention committee.  Failure of ¾ of the States to approve an amendment would negate that amendment.

Article 1, Section 9 of the Original U. S. Constitution

Article 1, Section 9 of the U. S. Constitution prohibited the Federal government from collecting taxes or funds from individuals.  The Federal government was limited to collecting revenue from the States according to that State’s population.  Each state was responsible for determining how the individuals within the state were to be apportioned for their individual share of the monies levied against the state.

Our original constitution gave the Federal government the power and authority to collect revenues from limited specific sources.  The Federal government was authorized to set tariffs, excise taxes, along with consumption taxes.

The 16^th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution

The 16^th Amendment severely damaged State rights by allowing the Federal government to tax the State’s citizens directly.  The 16^th Amendment and the following 17^th Amendment have severely damaged the “Wall of Political Protection” that the Founding Fathers had established to control the Federal government.   By repeal the 16th Amendment and repeal of the 17th Amendment the damage to the checks and balances established within the constitution can be corrected.

• The 16^th Amendments reads as follows:  “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regards to any census or enumeration”.

Repeal the 16^th Amendment

The Wall of Political Protection or checks and balances must be re-established in order to bring the Federal government back under control.  The power and authority of the States must be returned.  It is important to repeal the 16^th Amendment however of greater priority is to repeal the 17^th Amendment. 

Repeal of the 17^th Amendment will give the States power and authority to once again bridle the Federal government.  After the 17^th Amendment has been repealed we can proceed to repeal the 16^th Amendment. 

Failure to correct errors placed in amendments to the constitution in a proper order will open up the possibility of greater control being taken from the States and given to the Federal government.  Corrections to the constitution must be done with care and forethought. 

Healing of America

America can be healed.  Through education followed by deliberate actions the errors placed in the constitution can be corrected.  The healing of America can be accomplished in a relatively short period.

The Tale of Two Constitutions

The people of the United States are living an illusion.  Most citizens of this country feel their rights and freedoms are protected by the U. S. Constitution.  This is no longer the case.  Over the years the constitution has been changed so that the present document lacks the protections the original charter had in place to protect the peoples’ freedoms. 

We now have two distinctly different constitutions.  The first constitution was written and ratified by our Founding Fathers.  The latter is the constitution that we are governed by today.  There is a drastic difference between the two constitutions. 

In “The Tale of Two Constitutions” video is presented for your edification.  Dr. Glenn J. Kimber provides information about the U. S. Constitution our Founding Father’s had created to control the United States federal government.  The constitution was written to place shackles on the federal bureaucracy so that the freedoms of the people would be protected. 

The Constitution as It WAS!

Our Founding Father’s felt that the document possessed great power in its ability to protect and guarantee the freedoms of the people.  The Revolutionary War ended September 3, 1783.  The U. S. Constitution was not ratified until March 4, 1789 nearly seven years after ending the war.  Great care and deliberation was taken by our founders in choosing the words and phrases used in the constitution.

Major debates occurred for several months by our Founding Fathers over the wording of our constitutional document.   The constitution provided the necessary protections for individual States and the people alike.  The Founding Fathers were aware and fearful of an all powerful central government.  The U. S. Constitution was written to limit the powers of the central government thereby protecting the freedoms of each and every citizen.

Our original constitution was a charter designed to shackle the federal government limiting it to what it could do or not do.  The Senate was established to protect the State’s rights.  Each word and phrase found in the constitution was added to the document after diligent efforts by our founders.  Many of the provisions of the constitution required multiple votes before an acceptable consensus had been established. 

The Tale of Two Constitutions Video

In this video Dr. Kimber explains why the constitution was written as it was.  Dr. Kimber then goes onto explain the protections we lost by adding certain amendments to the constitution.  The poorly thought out amendments have greatly altered the checks and balances the founders had placed in the constitution to protect the people’s rights and freedoms.

Many of the problems the United States is facing today are the result of abandoning the principles encased within the original constitution by our founders.  Our founders believed the people’s rights were unalienable.  In addition the rights of the government were those rights and responsibilities the people have given the government. 

The Tale of Two Constitutions – Part 2

In this video presentation, The Tale of Two Constitutions, Dr. Glenn Kimber discusses the difference between the constitutions as established by our Founding Fathers versus the constitution that we are governed by today.  The differences between the two constitutions are quite dramatic.  Many of the problems we face as a nation today are the result of the changes that the people have allowed to transpire by altering the constitution.

A Wise Old Adage

There is an old adage that goes something like this:  “Don’t tear down the fence until you know why it was built”.  Over the years as a people we have allowed our elected officials to make changes to our constitution that has made alterations to the constitution without understanding the full consequences of the change.   These changes through ill advised amendments have eliminated many of the “checks and balances” that were in our original constitution. 

Amendments to the Constitution

Each new amendment to the constitution supersedes everything before it.  Though Article 5 of the constitution provides for the people to be able to amend their constitution great care should be taken when considering amendments.  It is important that changes to the document not alter the “checks and balances” that have been established.

Every citizen of the United States should have an understanding of the constitution that the Founding Fathers created.  Only through knowledge can educated choices be made.  We the people have allowed our political officials to pollute the constitution. 

It is important to remember that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Anyone with power will devote further efforts to increase his power and authority.  The people have allowed our elected officials to increase their powers over the people.   By making changes to the constitution our government officials, as well as judicial body have made procedural moves to enhance their authority and power.

The Constitution as it IS TODAY!

It is common to hear people upset with their elected officials for not adhering to their promises of protecting the constitution.  The elected officials often appear dismayed feeling that they have been actively protecting the constitution.  The problem arises because there are the two constitutions. 

Our federal officials when accepting a position in the federal government must affirm their allegiance to the constitution of the United States of America.  The constitution these elected officials are affirming to protect is the constitution as it is today.  The constitution as created by our Founding Fathers has been altered to the point that the people’s rights and freedoms are no longer protected.

It is therefore possible for an elected official to correctly claim he is working to preserve and protect the constitution.  Often people whom are upset over the actions taken by their elected officials are upset because the constitution they know and understand is the constitution of the founding fathers and not the constitution that we are governed by today.

Healing America By Healing the Constitution

Over the years attempts had been made to heal problems that America found itself afflicted with to only cure that ailment having five other societal ills pop-up.  Most all of the problems that America is undergoing today are the result of alterations made to the founding fathers constitution. 

Thomas Jefferson Center’s answer to healing America is to return the constitutional “check and balances” to the constitution that our founding fathers had originally placed in this great document.  By reestablishing the “checks and balances” problems can be corrected without creating additional societal problems. 

The Tale of Two Constitutions – Part 2

Dr. Kimber uses this video to explain the two constitutions as well as the constitution that we have today.  He then provides an answer to correcting America’s ills and healing the constitution.  I invite you to take a few minutes to view the video.

To Heal America

Part 1—Events and People Who Prepared the Way

In order to appreciate the historical setting of God’s hand in the building of America, we need to review some of the little-known or forgotten events that led to the discovery and development of the Western Hemisphere. The Founding Fathers would probably consider this one of the most important parts of our study of American history, because it covers the tempestuous historical period that gave birth to our great American heritage.

During that great formative period of the United States more than two centuries ago, the American Founding Fathers became acutely aware that all mankind is seeking the same three things

1. Freedom
2. Prosperity
3. Peace

They set out to find a system of government that would provide these things for the people of America. Unfortunately, in their own day no such government existed. They therefore determined to sit down and invent one.

It was fortunate for the Founders that they were able to build upon the sacrifices and hardships of those who had preceded them. It became very evident to them that without God’s help, freedom never would have become a reality.

Even though many nations contributed to the establishment, development, and settlement of the United States, there were three that had the greatest impact on historical America.

The contribution of France was the great belief that freedom was a gift from God. This was manifest in the marvelous story of the life of St. Joan of Arc, a personage of history, highly revered by the American founding Fathers.

From Spain came the great concept of the mission of spreading the religion of Christianity throughout the world to uncharted lands. This led the great Columbus to declare, “It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel his hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to [the New World]….I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied.”

England’s great contribution would come in their documents of freedom, especially: The Magna Charta, The Petition of Rights, and The English Bill of Rights. Although the Magna Charta preceded the Founders by more than 500 years, they were all thoroughly familiar with it, and 17 of them had memorized it entirely.

Today, many of these religious truths have been eliminated from our public schools and college textbooks. As a result, most Americans are floundering and don’t know where to turn during these troubling times. Many are giving up hope.

However, renowned author W. Cleon Skousen, as the co-founder of the Thomas Jefferson Center, explained:

I am not pessimistic about the future. I think the soul of America is going to be cleansed by events which will humble the whole nation and put us back on our knees where we can talk with God and recommit ourselves to lives of virtue and morality. I am a great believer in the promise o God which appears in 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Dr. Skousen went on to explain:

Of course, I know the skeptics, the immoral, the political sophisticates and the cynics might laugh at this scripture, but I believe it. And I further believe that God will not be mocked and that if this nation does not seek God and turn from their wicked ways — their crimes, drugs, abortions and political corruption — there will be a crisis and a cleansing that will turn the people from their wicked ways and put them on their knees.  I have lived long enough to see this happen several times before.But we need not be pessimists, just realists. Every family needs to do whatever it can to put its house in order. A home can become a refuge against the coming storm. The love developed between parents and among children for their parents is God’s supreme formula for his kind of social security. Wherever I find families struggling to build these bonds of trust and love I know they are paying the dividends for a kind of insurance that will hold them together through the pressures an trials that may reach their peak one of these days.Now I know you may have heard me say this before, but sometimes people say, “Dr. Skousen, you have studied the problems of our country most of your adult life, and yet you remain optimistic. How can you be optimistic when you know from your own experience how serious thing are?”My answer is rather simple. I tell them, ‘I have read the book, and in the end we win!’

We at the Thomas Jefferson Center agree with Dr. Skousen. Americans WILL win – but only if we do our part.

All of us need to appreciate that the God of heaven did not establish the first free people in modern times just to see us collapse into oblivion. We believe America can and will be saved.

It must be saved, however, by individuals, who will take the time and energy to learn about the Founding Fathers’ principles of freedom, and then work diligently to see that they are restored and implemented.

The Thomas Jefferson Center for Constitutional Studies has developed a seminar called “The Healing of America” where the steps to take in getting America back on track again are outlined in detail.

This “Healing of America” series reveals the documentation as to what is really happening to our beloved America — not so we will fret over the problems, but so we can know how to help fix the problems.

In Seminar 1-1, “Events and People Who Prepared the Way,” you will be able to receive in-depth training on this vital subject of America’s beginnings.

Glenn J. Kimber, PhD
Glenn J. Kimber was born and raised in northern Utah. After graduating from High School he attended Weber State College. In 1965 he married Julianne Skousen and shortly thereafter he joined the Air Force where he served for 4 years, including one tour of duty to Vietnam.

Upon returning from Vietnam, Dr. Kimber continued his university studies graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree from Brigham Young University. He then joined with W. Cleon Skousen in establishing an educational foundation called the Freemen Institute, which was organized for the purpose of teaching American History and Constitutional studies. During the next number of years, Dr. Kimber presented patriotic seminars and conferences in all 50 states and in a number of foreign countries.

Dr. Kimber continued his education, receiving two Doctorate degrees, one in Constitutional Studies in 1992 from Coral Ridge Baptist University, based in Florida. He continued his educational pursuits and received a second Doctorate in education from George Wythe College.

Dr. Kimber established a series of private schools called the Benjamin Franklin Academies to incorporate a strong moral and patriotic curriculum back into the classroom. In 2001 he also established the Kimber Academies, a private school for students ages K – 12. He and his wife have authored over 100 textbooks and educational guides which emphasize the U.S. Constitution, America’s Founding Fathers, and moral and religious values in all five core subjects.

Dr. Kimber was instrumental in developing a program for television called The Miracle of America, which was presented in a number of states. This series taught American history and Constitutional principles from the viewpoint of the American Founding Fathers.

Dr. Kimber has testified before a number of legislative committees in several states pertaining to Constitutional and educational issues. He has also been a guest on a number of radio and television talk shows.

Currently, Dr. Kimber is the president of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Constitutional Restoration, and in that capacity conducts seminars throughout the United States called “The Healing of America.”

This seminar series teaches participants:

1) the founding of America,
2) the establishment of the U.S. Constitution,
3) America’s drift from the Constitution, and
4) how the greatness of America can be restored.

Dr. Kimber also conducts tours to the Middle East, including Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.  He and his wife are the parents of 8 children, grandparents of 28, and currently reside in Cedar City, Utah.

Dr. Kimber can be contacted via e-mail: glenn@glennjkimber.com.

Healing of America

The “Healing of America” series is composed of four seminars. Each seminar consists of four classes full of positive, upbeat and hopeful information while at the same time exposes the students to the documentation as to what is really happening to America—not so we can ignore the problems but so we can know how to help fix them.

You can also become a member of the Thomas Jefferson Center education committee and represent the center by coordinating and hosting seminars in your area. Call 801 938-7135 to join the education committee and host a seminar in your area.