#tax districts

[kramlabs]

Texas told the Biden administration to take a hike.

Via Brion McClanahan

But this isn’t “nullification”.

Texas insists that the Biden administration enforce the laws of the United States.

Biden has so far refused and instead retaliated by cutting off natural gas exports from Texas.

In other words, Biden has chosen economic warfare against a State, the very definition of treason in the Constitution, to appease the hard left faction in his political party.

This is the very thing the founding generation feared from the executive branch.

Some background is in order.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas National Guard to construct obstacles—barbed wire fencing and shipping containers--on land adjacent to the Rio Grande River. This is Texas property, not federal land.

The United States Border Patrol used it as a processing center for illegal aliens, and thus it became a focal point for massive numbers of “migrants” crossing into Texas across the Rio Grande River.

Invasion would be a better word.

Texas then told the Border Patrol that they were no longer allowed on State property while Texas law enforcement began arresting and deporting illegal aliens.

The Federal Government sued in federal court and demanded that the razor wire and makeshift border wall come down. Biden’s Justice Department also argued that Texas’ efforts to enforce federal immigration law violated the Constitution.

“Texas cannot run its own immigration system. It’s efforts, through SB 4, intrude on the federal government’s exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens, frustrate the United States’ immigration operations and proceedings, and interfere with U.S. foreign relations.”

Here’s the catch. Texas isn’t running its own immigration system. It’s enforcing existing federal law.

Every officer in the United States, from the local governments to the President, takes an oath to uphold constitutional federal law. Biden did so in 2021. That is the primary language of his oath of office.

Biden has not claimed that immigration laws are unconstitutional. He has not claimed that these people are crossing the border legally.

He admits that they are entering Texas illegally, meaning his only job is enforcing the laws on the books, something his administration is clearly refusing to do.

Texas has done it for him.

But this raises several larger Constitutional questions.

The Founders unequivocally considered “invasion” to be one of the important reasons States maintained control of their own militia units.

That would be the modern misnamed “National Guard.”

Biden cannot “nationalize” the Guard in this instance because federal law would not allow it.

The Texas National Guard is already enforcing federal law, meaning that if Biden nationalized the Guard and told them to stand down, he would be in violation of the Constitution.

He would also violate federal law. The Insurrection Act of 1792 allows the President to nationalize the militia (National Guard) in three instances: to suppress insurrection, stop domestic violence, or enforce federal law.

Allowing invasion is not on the list. Nor is breaking the law.

That would be a dereliction of duty, an impeachable offense.

The parallels between Biden’s actions and other stand-offs between the States and the general government are impossible to find.

Texas wants to enforce federal law.

In 1798, Virginia and Kentucky nullified the Alien and Sedition Acts because they violated the Constitution. This wasn’t a case of neglect.

In 1815, several New England States refused to enforce laws in support of the War of 1812. Again, not a case of neglect.

In 1832, South Carolina nullified the federal tariff. Jackson threatened to send in the army to collect the tariff. He wasn’t refusing to enforce a federal law.

In the 1840s and 1850s, several Northern States refused to enforce the fugitive slave laws. The Supreme Court ruled that States did not have to use their own police powers to support federal law.

But in this case, Texas is supporting federal law. The Biden Administration has vacated its Constitutional responsibility.

The Justice Department’s claim that the general government has “exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens” would also be news to the founding generation.

States could determine residency and who could and could not be within their borders. Jefferson made this contention in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. After 1808, the general government could prohibit “persons” from entering the States, but this power was not denied to the States in Article I, Section 10, meaning the States could also allow or prohibit “persons” from entering their borders.

The “supremacy clause” only applies to laws made in “pursuance of the Constitution.”

Nor does the 14th Amendment cover illegal aliens. Only citizens of the States are entitled to due process and the privileges and immunities of citizens of the other States. Foreign nationals are not citizens of any State or the United States.

This is an open and shut case of dangerous abuse of power by the executive branch. If the Republicans in Congress had any spine, they would immediately impeach Biden for his action against Texas and inaction on immigration enforcement.

In the Philadelphia Convention, James Madison listed “negligence” and betraying “his trust to a foreign power” as the chief causes of impeachment, among others.

Attempting to coerce a State though economic boycotts would satisfy Gouverneur Morris’s definition of “treachery”, what he considered to be an impeachable offense.

In either case, Biden should be easily convicted and booted from power.

That is, if we had a real Constitutional government in the federal city.

That dream died in 1789 in the First Congress.

I discuss all of this on Episode 926 of The Brion McClanahan Show.

You can watch it here.

OR

You can listen to it and download it here.

If you want a real history education, check out McClanahan Academy. I've produced several courses on secession, the Constitution, the War, decentralization, and a host of other cool topics. I think it's the antidote to our current Lincolnian nightmare. Use the coupon code Podcast at checkout and get 25% off every class.

And if you want to get my show ad free, just head over to my Patreon account. For $10 you get no ads and one additional Podcast per month that is based on your questions. It's a win/win.

Copyright © 2024 Brion McClanahan, All rights reserved.

You are you receiving this email because you opted in at our website https://www.brionmcclanahan.com.

Our mailing address is:

Brion McClanahan

PO Box 3761

Auburn, AL 36831-3761

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?

You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp

[yinyuedijun]

so sorry if this is a stupid question but like... how do u age up characters, not like literally but like in a writing sence (cause ur suo fics were honestly amazing)

this isn't a stupid question at all, it's actually something I struggle a lot with LOL and I'm glad to hear that you liked how I handled it in my suo fics - thank you for reading 🥺!

here are the approaches I take to generally ageing people up:

think about their canon characterization - not just their traits and habits, but also their motivations/values and where their character arc is heading

think about what kind of path they'd be heading toward as an adulthood (in material, mundane terms - university, type of work, relationships, major life events, etc). sometimes the series will give you careers they're heading towards, but wherever that's not the case, I usually like to stick to very realistic career paths because it grounds them into a realistic kind of adult context that we would be able to relate to. if they're getting into some kind of exceptional career (like, for instance, yakuza membership lol, but even if I kept them in delinquent groups like shishitoren or roppo-ichiza), then I usually go out of my way to justify it.

now this is the tricky part - think about how the events of their adulthood would affect their motivations/values, traits, habits, and larger character arc. the motivations/values and character arc pieces are very important, because it basically defines the adult characterization. (that's why so much of the suo fic revolves around his master and the effect of losing him, and what it does to his values and character arc!)

I also like to think about how other, normal adults would perceive this new aged-up version of them - the typical salaryman, the typical convenience store worker, etc. I find it helps recontextualize the character away from the canon setting and toward a more realistic, adult context. this is mostly so I'm not viewing the character through rose coloured glasses as I'm writing them lol (eg, someone who may be charming to us because of our attachment to them in canon might in fact be a neurotic loser to the average well-adjusted adult).

sorry I yapped so much rip - hopefully this helps!!!!

[hoboblaidd]

I stg the meeting across the street from my office has a lava lamp or something on their conference table. It’s either that or a neon light cat. Why can’t we have that here we just have shitty vod.

[sugarchains]

Finna get into an argument on education Twitter bc rich ppl are complaining that they have to share the doe budget with lower performance schools

Meanwhile we are lower performance bc we have like mostly first generation immigrant children who don't speak English so they come in and they're usually leaning a whole new version of Spanish AND English, and depending on the year they're learning French too bc of their friends

Most of our kids have jobs. Not legally but they work for/ with their parents

AND they could have a learning disability! Bc charter schools don't take them and richer public schools don't care and do testing and regular private schools don't have to accommodate them, but you know who does!

Regular public school, please shut the fuck up if you're not teaching a class with 4 languages and at least 2 disabilities at once. You can't call yourself a student advocate if you're only advocating for the "good" kids from "good" families I should be allowed to fight them ok

[evenstarfalls]

need to kill the people who keep voting against a new elementary school

[syn-odics]

2 filing websites 6 TFA text codes 2 password changes 5 student information system logins 7 attempts at resizing the scan of my W2 1 trip in the car to look extremely sus pulling into a school parking lot and immediately getting on my laptop 4 tax q&a forums 3 completely random tax guides desperately ctrlF searched and 6.5 hours spent but ive DONE IT ive FILED MY TAXES

[yourheartinyourmouth]

work insisted everyone come in at 8 am, an HOUR early, for a meeting today. i said “fuck that, i’m not working a 9-hour day” and opted to take a FMLA day. i get a text from husband at 8:15: “well this was a massive waste of time”.

Yep.

[mitochondriaandbunnies]

I do genuinely wonder how much of this is related to students not actually reading (or not finishing) books that were assigned in school, too. Like, if you only read the first five chapters of Gatsby and then get behind on your reading because you have a history project or the big game or an after school job or you just don't want to read, yeah, the major themes of the book are going to fall really flat to you. Even if you learn what the ending is, not experiencing the build up to it and seeing how unhappy all those characters are really dampens its impact. As a former English teacher teaching literature in schools often feels like a damned-if-you-do damned-if-you-don't situation, because you literally don't have enough school hours to read most books out loud in class together (which I think is necessary for many students) but in assigning reading for homework (which you need to do in order to not, as a colleague of mine used to do, spend from November to April the same book until every child loathed it with the entirity of their souls) you're going to lose any kid who struggles with reading on their own (or who struggles with comprehension when reading without check-ins/discussion.)

I don't know what the solution is (only read short novels? Do more early reading intervention with all children so by the time they get to high school they actually know how to not just decode but fully understand the text the read? Make English class longer??-- I quit teaching largely because of the institutional refusal to ever make changes that benefit children, don't ask me) but, as with many things, it's hard not to place some of the blame on the continued defunding of education and all its knock-on effects.

[luulapants]

25 ways to be a little more punk in 2025

Cut fast fashion - buy used, learn to mend and/or make your own clothes, buy fewer clothes less often so you can save up for ethically made quality

Cancel subscriptions - relearn how to pirate media, spend $10/month buying a digital album from a small artist instead of on Spotify, stream on free services since the paid ones make you watch ads anyway

Green your community - there's lots of ways to do this, like seedbombing or joining a community garden or organizing neighborhood trash pickups

Be kind - stop to give directions, check on stopped cars, smile at kids, let people cut you in line, offer to get stuff off the high shelf, hold the door, ask people if they're okay

Intervene - learn bystander intervention techniques and be prepared to use them, even if it feels awkward

Get closer to your food - grow it yourself, can and preserve it, buy from a farmstand, learn where it's from, go fishing, make it from scratch, learn a new ingredient

Use opensource software - try LibreOffice, try Reaper, learn Linux, use a free Photoshop clone. The next time an app tries to force you to pay, look to see if there's an opensource alternative

Make less trash - start a compost, be mindful of packaging, find another use for that plastic, make it a challenge for yourself!

Get involved in local politics - show up at meetings for city council, the zoning commission, the park district, school boards; fight the NIMBYs that always show up and force them to focus on the things impacting the most vulnerable folks in your community

DIY > fashion - shake off the obsession with pristine presentation that you've been taught! Cut your own hair, use homemade cosmetics, exchange mani/pedis with friends, make your own jewelry, duct tape those broken headphones!

Ditch Google - Chromium browsers (which is almost all of them) are now bloated spyware, and Google search sucks now, so why not finally make the jump to Firefox and another search like DuckDuckGo? Or put the Wikipedia app on your phone and look things up there?

Forage - learn about local edible plants and how to safely and sustainably harvest them or go find fruit trees and such accessible to the public.

Volunteer - every week tutoring at the library or once a month at the humane society or twice a year serving food at the soup kitchen, you can find something that matches your availability

Help your neighbors - which means you have to meet them first and find out how you can help (including your unhoused neighbors), like elderly or disabled folks that might need help with yardwork or who that escape artist dog belongs to or whether the police have been hassling people sleeping rough

Fix stuff - the next time something breaks (a small appliance, an electronic, a piece of furniture, etc.), see if you can figure out what's wrong with it, if there are tutorials on fixing it, or if you can order a replacement part from the manufacturer instead of trashing the whole thing

Mix up your transit - find out what's walkable, try biking instead of driving, try public transit and complain to the city if it sucks, take a train instead of a plane, start a carpool at work

Engage in the arts - go see a local play, check out an art gallery or a small museum, buy art from the farmer's market

Go to the library - to check out a book or a movie or a CD, to use the computers or the printer, to find out if they have other weird rentals like a seed library or luggage, to use meeting space, to file your taxes, to take a class, to ask question

Listen local - see what's happening at local music venues or other events where local musicians will be performing, stop for buskers, find a favorite artist, and support them

Buy local - it's less convenient than online shopping or going to a big box store that sells everything, but try buying what you can from small local shops in your area

Become unmarketable - there are a lot of ways you can disrupt your online marketing surveillance, including buying less, using decoy emails, deleting or removing permissions from apps that spy on you, checking your privacy settings, not clicking advertising links, and...

Use cash - go to the bank and take out cash instead of using your credit card or e-payment for everything! It's better on small businesses and it's untraceable

Give what you can - as capitalism churns on, normal shmucks have less and less, so think about what you can give (time, money, skills, space, stuff) and how it will make the most impact

Talk about wages - with your coworkers, with your friends, while unionizing! Stop thinking about wages as a measure of your worth and talk about whether or not the bosses are paying fairly for the labor they receive

Think about wealthflow - there are a thousand little mechanisms that corporations and billionaires use to capture wealth from the lower class: fees for transactions, interest, vendor platforms, subscriptions, and more. Start thinking about where your money goes, how and where it's getting captured and removed from our class, and where you have the ability to cut off the flow and pass cash directly to your fellow working class people

[kramlabs]

[oconnor2024]

Can Hood CAD Lower Taxes?

Appealing to the Hood County Appraisal District can help lower your property taxes. Understand the protest process and tips to achieve successful outcomes on your property valuation.For more information click here Hood County Appraisal District

[cutmytaxes1]

Cook county | Appeal your property taxes - Cut my taxes

Each year, make use of your right to challenge both the market value and unequal appraisal in the Cook County Appraisal District, as the majority of such appeals prove successful. Visit https://www.cutmytaxes.com/illinois/cook-county-property-tax-reduction/

[minicy]

[ID. Tweet by @/JoshuaPotash that says, "The average rent in the US hit a new record high of $1,827 last month. On the federal minimum wage of $7.25 people take home $1256 a month. People aren't exaggerating when they say it's becoming unlivable here." End ID.]

I work as a classified employee at a public school right now (meaning I am paid hourly and do not require certification to work). I technically make $15 an hour, but I also only work 9 months a year. Way that works out, I get 12 paychecks a year, but my summer checks come from pay withheld during the school year. I am expected to provide for myself on about $1100 a month after income tax.

[instaviewpoint]

Recycling, A Foolers Paradise

December 3 2024 (originally posted on substack) Everyone questions why we must pay property taxes to send other children to school. It’s not a benefit to society when children grow up without being taught common sense but are allowed to overindulge in emotion through our schools paid thru taxation. Pay your own way. And the same goes for a recycling bill on Property taxes.Being a homeowner…

[whitesinhistory]

Dirty hallways and classrooms, fields left unmowed for so long that they become a danger to students in gym class practicing on them, custodians required to carry a punishing workload who are written up if they can't match the required pace.  All these reports and more have been straggling in for weeks about many schools in the Houston ISD.

Faced with a massive shortfall of funding after the federal pandemic monies came to a halt, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles and his administration began looking for areas to cut and one area of service  deemed less essential than teachers or lessons was determined to be the cleanup and maintenance crews.

[townpostin]

Adityapur Industrialists Protest Holding Tax Imposition

ASIA seeks DC intervention as water supply access denied over tax dispute Adityapur Small Industries Association challenges the legality of holding tax on industrial units in JIADA jurisdiction. JAMSHEDPUR – Inder Agarwal, President of Adityapur Small Industries Association (ASIA), contests the imposition of holding tax on industrial units, leading to water supply access denial by Adityapur…