a nest of vipers

"here an observation forces itself upon me: that, in general, the further any measure is carried from the people, the less their interests are attended to."
"the journal of william maclay 1789-1791" 23 may 1789

twenty-nine days into the first congress and already it was becoming clear that "his littleness" and "that damned ass hamilton" had created a government by and for special interests that had no reason to take the interests of the public at large into account to justify its existence...what sparked this epiphany in my good friend bill was the "debate" over a tariff bill that was intended to afford the new federal government some income...its passage was being delayed by "those new england men" who had some reservations about the tariff proposed for molasses...john lawrence, elbridge gerry, and some guy bill only identifies as "williams form baltimore" were holding up the bill's final presentation to congress, allegedly hammering out a compromise between the house and senate versions...but, significantly, many of the proposed tariff rates had been leaked to the mercantile class and, " the merchants have already added the amount of the duties to the price of goods. in this point of view the impost is levied, but not a farthing goes to the treasury of the united states; and all the difference between the state duties levied and the proposed duties is clear gain to the merchants...and the devil of it is that the sum will actually be paid by the consumers."[entry for 21 may 1789]...so with the connivance of some allies in congress the mercantile class in the fledgling united states was bilking consumers out of ready cash for a tariff they were not yet obligated to pay...that folks is in the true spirit of the constitution and a pretty good example of the decision-making process over issues that impact them being taken out of the hands of the public at large and decided in a venue where they have little control and whose decisions they are forced to live with as fact...the subversion of "the interested and overbearing majority" made plain and a good indication of why things will never change with the constitution in force...old bill loathed these bastards and i can see why...fuck these people and all their generations