>"I despair of getting my point across, since apparently I'm going to have to spell it out on wooden blocks or something."

Please don't despair, the ability to articulate a non-point might indeed require something obviously not at hand.

>"I would bet that you have never worked for a profit-making company larger than a coffeehouse. Am I right?"

I wouldn't denegrate any honest work--a coffeehouse would certainly not be beneath me and I would be content with such a position. I am not defined by the job I have. FYI, I served as the CEO of a public utility and a director and executive secretary of a development company. I have probably had as much exposure as you to government interaction with business. I am familiar, and was responsible for all compliance reporting with various agencies, etc. So, once again--you are not right.

>"Through decades of Supreme Court decisions, executive decrees, and just plain rotten precedent, a commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution which was written to prevent individual states from interfering unduly in interstate commerce with tariffs and other obstructions, has been re-interpreted to give the Federal Government near-limitless and arbitrary control over almost every aspect of anything to do with any kind of economic activity."

Tom you must have missed the post where I went into detail explaining Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution that gives to the congress the power to regulate interstate and foreign trade. I also cited you the 1824 case of Gibbons v. Ogden that made interstate commerce an exclusive national power and determined how this should be defined. If you have arguments with the US Constitution I submit it is due to your inadequate background in this particular area. I don't expect you to be an expert in all things, but if you object to the rules of the road that have been in effect for nearly two hundred years if you include McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819, well then you better get out those wooden blocks and maybe some crayons too.

>"It's possible that you think that the Constitution as written does empower the Federal Government to dictate the size of holes in Swiss Cheese. If so, you can just skip this and go read about the space stuff. Maybe at least this can be helpful in informing some of the other readers here."

I think I have a pretty fair understanding and a tremendous admiration for the Constitution as written and as refined and defined by the Court decisions thereto. I hope that I can make a contribution in informing some of the other readers here.

>"This massive power over the production of individual citizens is what creates the corruptive environment where money must be pumped into the government to keep the government from crushing this productive activity, either deliberately or, more often, from some ham-handed ignorant attempt to "fix" something."

I feel truly sorry for anyone living and working in this country that has to suffer under such disdain and hatred for the institutions that serve this society and have made this the greatest nation on the planet. Perhaps your paranoia will dictate you share your position with some of the militia. This severe anti-government stance fits in perfectly with Robert Butler and his crew.

Most Americans have a "fix" for the problems of society v government and it's called the vote. (And I will refrain from making a big deal here about the group that don't want all the votes to be counted).

>"Now, for which "governments" have sufficient control over my actions that they may require some sort of political activity on my part."

It is noted you are talking about all 87,000 governments by which the US attempts to govern by the rule of law. I accept you oppose all of them and by extension, the rule of law.

>"And it depends on how far you want to extend the definition of cash for favors. To put a shed on my own property, I need to go down and pay for a "building permit." Is this a bribe? Or just a nice civic function?"

Actually we call this zoning and it solves a very public function. I bet you are a smoker, am I right? Smokers generally feel picked upon because their violation of other's air by their noxious exhalations is perceived by them as a violation of their rights. You want to turn reality on its head don't you. By the way, there is a solution for smokers in public places---just don't exhale.