Most of us know that the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was deemed Constitutional by the SCOTUS when Chief Justice John Roberts determined that the penalty for not having health insurance functioned more like a tax and was therefore constitutional under the legislatures powers of taxation.
I understand that recently President Trump signed the tax cuts that effectively neutered the individual mandate by setting the penalty at $0. My question is this. Is asking the question on an individuals tax return asking them to violate their 5th Amendment right to not incriminate themselves? Income tax forms don't ask "are you hiding any income that you don't want to report?" In the same light, can the government ask an individual to provide information on an official document that may incriminate him/her? And if enough individuals simply opted to not answer that question, wouldn't the burden of proof be on the government to prove they did not have health insurance to begin with? Technically, in order for someone to be forced to pay the penalty, wouldn't that order come from the court, as it would if you violated income tax law?
Eat it up!
https://warontherocks.com/2019/03/sir-who-am-i-an-open-letter-to-the-incoming-commandant-of-the-marine-corps/
Maj Spaedor is spot on. The Marine Corps needs to be focused one thing. Forcible entry operations from sea to shore. We need to shed any capability that doesn't directly contribute to that mission. That means deep strike, Cyber, and yes...even MARSOC are duplicated capabilities that can be accomplished by other services. The Marine Corps needs to provide a unique capability in order to justify its existence, none of those capabilities are unique. Truthfully, there are only 7 amphibious units in the Marine Corps, the 7 MEU/ARGs. In execution everyone else is a soldier that uses funny Navy words.
The Marine Corps also needs to examine disbanding the Marine Logistics Group. Roll CLR 1/2/3 underneath Division, roll CLR 15/25/35 underneath the MHG (get rid of the MIG). Get all the MEF support architecture under 2 DCGs (DCG Log and DCG Ops). Put the MEU CLBs directly underneath the MEU, the MLG doesn't have a say in how they are used anyways. and get rid of CLR 17/27/37 and turn those commands into boatspaces that can plus up logistics capabilities, perhaps a motor transportation company? Its time for the GCE to start advocating for the guys/gals who give them food, fuel, medical care, and ammunition (amongst other things).
Title X states:
"(a) The Marine Corps, within the Department of the Navy, shall be so organized as to include not less than three combat divisions and three air wings, and such other land combat, aviation, and other services as may be organic therein. The Marine Corps shall be organized, trained, and equipped to provide fleet marine forces of combined arms, together with supporting air components, for service with the fleet in the seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and for the conduct of such land operations as may be essential to the prosecution of a naval campaign. In addition, the Marine Corps shall provide detachments and organizations for service on armed vessels of the Navy, shall provide security detachments for the protection of naval property at naval stations and bases, and shall perform such other duties as the President may direct. However, these additional duties may not detract from or interfere with the operations for which the Marine Corps is primarily organized (emphasis added) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/5063)."
No longer can the MLG be the geriatric ward for logisticians, either embrace adaptation and change, or get out. Get lighter and faster so Marines can once again claim to be a force in readiness.
I suppose I jumped the gun a bit. Let me introduce myself. I am new to blogging, but have been interested in geo-politics and its intersection with culture my entire adult life. I have a military background but prefer to keep it just there....the background.
I started this blog because I deleted Facebook/Instagram, and got rid of my smartphone. I went low tech, and needed a place where I could put my ideas and thoughts out in the open. Feel free to discuss and tell me where I am wrong. I do not tolerate racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, or random hate on my blog. If you have a disagreement, that is fine, but be somewhat civilized in voicing that disagreement.
Thanks!
Chaos
Finally, the Marine Corps is starting the process to get rid of the RCO/ACOG. The optic is 10 year old tech and better optics have been available for years. Lets get on it and get it to the fleet. Testing should be minimal because SOCOM has been running better optics for years. There should be very little "discovery learning" going on with this.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/05/14/us-marine-corps-release-rfi-for-new-infantry-rifle-optic/
