Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has undertaken a vast scheme against Russian economic actors, which it characterizes as "sanctions." The scheme consists in seizing assets, freezing assets, and prohibiting lawful and constitutionally protected commercial transactions. All of this is aimed at dissuading Russian President Vladimir Putin from his determination to use extreme state violence to neutralize the government of Ukraine and install a government more favorable to the Kremlin. Yet, the targets of these sanctions are neither Putin nor the Russian state. Rather, his friends and political supporters, as well as Russian banks and commercial entities, and even American banks and commercial entities, have been targeted -- and hundreds of millions of consumers and investors have been harmed. By prohibiting the use of assets and international money transfers, the sanctions have severely harmed folks in Russia who have nothing to do with Putin's war by radically reducing their purchasing power and eliminating many everyday choices from their spending options. All of this was done by presidential edict. Can the president constitutionally prevent Americans and foreign persons from the lawful use of their own assets and from engaging freely in lawful commercial transactions? In a word: No. Here is the backstory. The Constitution was written to establish the federal government and to limit it. The same document that delegates to Congress the power to keep interstate and foreign commerce regular also prohibits the states in the Contracts Clause from interfering in private contracts. But there was originally no comparable prohibition restraining the federal government. In 1791, James Madison, the author of the Constitution, argued as a member of the House of Representatives against legislation establishing the First National Bank of the United States because he feared federal control of commerce. Of course, it became law, caused recessions and was sunset 20 years later. Yet in 1816, shortly before the end of his second term in the White House, Madison caved to corporatism and signed into law the Second National Bank of the United States. After its constitutionality was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1824, the feds insinuated themselves into all sorts of economic activity, none of it enhancing personal liberty, all of it favoring their patrons. While still a congressman, and fearing federal insinuation into commerce, Madison authored the Bill of Rights -- the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. He crafted the Fifth Amendment to protect life, liberty and property from the government. By requiring due process -- a trial at which the federal government must prove fault - The bill “upholds the American belief that all people are created equal with provisions to ensure that education materials and instruction in Florida’s schools and workplaces are consistent with this shared value,” Sprowls said. The bill revises requirements for required instruction on the history of African Americans in public schools and requires the state Department of Education to prepare and offer certain standards and curriculum, according to the bill summary. It includes a range of guidelines for instructional materials and requires the department to review school district professional development systems for compliance with certain provisions of law. It also states that subjecting individuals “to specified concepts under certain circumstances constitutes discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin.” Sprowls says the bill will ensure “we can have healthy instruction and conversation about race and diversity without losing sight that we are first and foremost individuals. Importantly, the bill provides assurance for parents that some of the most difficult lessons about our nation’s history and current events are taught without imputing false blame or guilt on their children.” The bill includes “a call to share the stories of Americans who overcame all odds, including racial barriers, to make history and to inspire the next generation of achievers.” Avila said the bill was designed “to address instruction and trainings that distort historical facts or push students to adopt the personal or political viewpoints of teachers or textbook authors, including divisive ideas that factors such as race or sex primarily determine a person’s character or potential.” Notably, the bill calls for a new “Stories of Inspiration” curriculum to be taught about influential African Americans who made invaluable contributions to the United States under incredibly difficult circumstances. Inspired by the New Hampshire video series produced in coordination with the Woodson Center, the bill directs the Department of Education to oversee the curriculum. The popular New Hampshire series has been profiled in local news outlets. During Black History Month, The Nashua Telegraph published a “Stories of Courage” series profiling notable African Americans in collaboration with the New Hampshire Department of Education and the Woodson Center. The Woodson Center’s K-12 Black history and character curriculum “tells the stories of black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures.” Its lessons are free and available to the public. The most recent profile was of Bridget "Biddy" Mason, an early American pioneer and philanthropist who won her freedom in court in 1856. She became one of the first prominent citizens and landowners in Los Angeles in the 1850s-1860s. Born in Mississippi, she would later walk 1,700 miles behind a 300wagon caravan to Salt Lake Valley in Utah in 1848. She eventually received her freedom in California. She founded the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles in 1872. Another profile is that of Booker T. Washington, who was born into a slave family on a Virginia plantation. After the Civil War, he pursued educational opportunities and later founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now Tuskegee University in Alabama, in 1881. He later hired George Washington Carver to teach agriculture at Tuskegee in 1896. Carver, an agricultural scientist who invented hundreds of products using peanuts, was also a freed slave. His educational pursuits led him to earn a master’s degree in agricultural science at Iowa State University. Washington also founded the National Negro Business League and advised Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. The legislature hopes the new curriculum will inspire Florida students. Senate Majority Leader Debbie Mayfield said Florida students “should be learning about important historical facts and movements, not divided by educators with a political agenda that blames young children for horrible historic events they had nothing to do with. “Likewise, required workplace training should include elements that focus on respect and celebrate diversity and inclusion. Employees should not be subjected to required training that tears down and divides people based on race. To reinforce these principles, we passed meaningful legislation to protect individual freedoms and prevent discrimination in schools and the workplace, while supporting factual educational instruction and materials for students.” Bethany Blankley The Center Square The Sun Bay Paper Page 5 March 18, 2022 - March 24, 2022 Cont. to pg 15 Individual Freedoms Bill Sanctions on Russia Violate the Constitution Cont from pg 1
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