JR Dieckmann
The U.S. government vs. the Constitution
By JR Dieckmann
I have seen many articles since November 3 that make the point that this election was not a win for the Republican Party, but rather a win for the people. The voters dislike the Republican Party almost as much as they now dislike the Democrat Party. This was an election to stop the Soros-Obama socialist agenda and begin to restore American values and constitutional principles to the nation.
Had the original 13 states been able to see where this federal government was headed, they would have never allowed it and the Constitution would have never been ratified. It is now up to the states and to the people to reject this growing beast in Washington D.C. and insist that our original contract with the establishment of the federal government be renewed, respected, and adhered to.
If the Republican Party in Washington does not heed this message and restore the conservative principles that founded the party, then they too will see their demise in 2012. This is the last chance for the GOP to show that it stands for something different from and better than the big government socialist and communist dominated Democrat party.
The first and foremost challenge facing the new 112th congress is the repeal if possible, or the defunding of the unconstitutional Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The federal government has crossed the line and gone way too far this time with unconstitutional mandates such as penalizing people for not purchasing health insurance policies that the bureaucrats approve of.
Additionally, the states are concerned that this law will bankrupt them by forcing them to pay more of the Medicare expenses that they cannot afford.
Twenty states are suing the federal government over this law and more are joining in. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia have already signed on the dotted line. By imposing these mandates on the states, the federal government is obliterating state sovereignty and trampling on individual and states rights guaranteed by the 10th Amendment.
The 10th Amendment explicitly states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Although it is the last amendment in the Bill of Rights, it is perhaps one of the most important. It assures that the federal government will be limited to those things specified within the Constitution, that the states will retain their individual rights to self-governance, and that the rights of a free people will be preserved.
Liberal Progressives in Congress will argue that "the commerce clause" gives them the power to govern and regulate in any area they choose. James Madison, who penned and was instrumental in the writing of the Constitution, strongly disagrees:
The other widely abused power of Congress is the "commerce clause" which states:
In other words, it was to make regular the exchange of goods and services as they cross state lines and to regulate the importation of goods and services from foreign countries.
The commerce clause is a regulation intended to apply to the states, not to private businesses. It does not grant Congress the power to impose rules and regulations on those businesses that provide the commerce, but only to regulate how those goods and services cross state lines.
Is a "one size fits all" government good for America? That is what we would have without the 10th Amendment and the other guarantees to the states, and it is what we are headed for now. The Founders knew that individual states had individual needs and differences. Only local and state governance can truly address the needs of their people.
That is why they included the 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights. An all-powerful federal government would be no different from a global government under the U.N. ruling the entire world. Only the communist cabal of global socialists thinks that would be a good idea.
The federal government knows that its powers over the states are constitutionally limited but it often gets around that by using appropriations, grants, entitlements, and federal benefits to the states to get what it wants. If states want autonomy from federal rule, they have to be prepared to stop taking federal money that always comes with strings attached.
At the same time, most of that money that is sent to the federal government by the states needs to remain within the states. Our system has evolved into one where state funds are being cycled through the federal government, filtered, and then returned to the states in the form of federal subsidies, grants and projects. Subsidies, grants and projects that always come with federal strings and regulations attached.
Why would any sane and fiscally responsible person agree to this? Would you give your money to a banker who then decides how much of it to return to you and what it is to be used for? That is what the federal government is imposing on the states and without any constitutional authorization to do it.
The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, and every year that date passes with hardly a mention from the White House or the media." Constitution Day should have been made a national holiday a long time ago, but there are those in our government and society that would prefer that we do not remember our Constitution or the words it contains.
It is the Founders' guarantee to the states and to the people that they shall remain free with inalienable rights and liberties endowed by our Creator that shall not be trespassed upon by a repressive federal government.
Without the expectation of this precious document, freedom-loving people would never have taken this important step in world history and America would never have been founded as the world's first truly free country. Do we still feel free? Do we even still know what freedom really means?
Article I, Section 8 assigns enumerated powers to the U.S. Congress and grants Congress the power to enact, oversee, and fund with tax money, the things enumerated. The 10th Amendment then reinforces the limits on government by saying that all other powers and privileges are to remain with the states and with the people.
Only local and regional governance can assure the people that the laws governing their lives will reflect the will of the people, yet today we have a federal government that attempts to create one-size-fits-all laws to assure that everyone in the country is subject to common law and is obedient to massive federal laws over state law.
The federal government now controls 60% of the American economy as the free market is rapidly being crushed. This alone violates everything the Constitution stands for and specifies as the founding laws of the land. Rep. Tom McClintock of California says, "If it's in the Yellow Pages, the government shouldn't be doing it." Tom understands the Constitution.
No wonder the majority of people in Washington D.C. do not want to celebrate Constitution Day. They are counting on the general population being ignorant of what that document really says and means — to impose and advance their own power.
The Constitution is the enemy of the people in power because it limits their power. The Constitution is the enemy of socialists because it leaves little room for socialism. Yet we have been seeing our country move further and further into socialism with every passing year.
The past two years have seen a vast and unprecedented acceleration in this movement, which is not sitting well with the majority of the American people. As a result, we now have the "Tea Party" movement, an ideology of constitutional conservatism that is sweeping the country and the elections.
All that the Tea Party people and other conservatives are asking is that we respect and live by the limited government principles defined in the Constitution. That is to say that we ask that the federal government respect the laws that apply to them, just as they expect us to respect the laws that they make for us to follow.
Conservatives are trying to preserve our rights and freedoms, as liberal socialists are trying to take them away by surrendering them to an ever expanding and controlling federal government.
The powers and responsibilities of the federal government are limited to those things that the individual states cannot do on their own, but must do as a united nation. Things such as border security, national defense, immigration, printing money, a postal system, foreign debt and currency exchange, interstate highways, patents and copyrights, and so on. All other rights, powers and responsibilities are left up to the states and to the people.
It would be interesting indeed to see what would happen if all federal laws that have been created outside of the Constitution were suddenly abolished with the powers they represent having been usurped, were returned to the states and to the people.
Of course, this couldn't happen save a total collapse of the federal government. Millions would be left with no Social Security and Medicare, and no means of support — which is why these government dependency programs should never have been created by the federal government in the first place. The states have the rights and responsibility for these types of programs, the federal government does not.
The transition to a constitutional federal government would have to be a gradual one, phased in over decades. The time to start is now.
© JR Dieckmann
January 3, 2011
I have seen many articles since November 3 that make the point that this election was not a win for the Republican Party, but rather a win for the people. The voters dislike the Republican Party almost as much as they now dislike the Democrat Party. This was an election to stop the Soros-Obama socialist agenda and begin to restore American values and constitutional principles to the nation.
Had the original 13 states been able to see where this federal government was headed, they would have never allowed it and the Constitution would have never been ratified. It is now up to the states and to the people to reject this growing beast in Washington D.C. and insist that our original contract with the establishment of the federal government be renewed, respected, and adhered to.
If the Republican Party in Washington does not heed this message and restore the conservative principles that founded the party, then they too will see their demise in 2012. This is the last chance for the GOP to show that it stands for something different from and better than the big government socialist and communist dominated Democrat party.
The first and foremost challenge facing the new 112th congress is the repeal if possible, or the defunding of the unconstitutional Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The federal government has crossed the line and gone way too far this time with unconstitutional mandates such as penalizing people for not purchasing health insurance policies that the bureaucrats approve of.
Additionally, the states are concerned that this law will bankrupt them by forcing them to pay more of the Medicare expenses that they cannot afford.
Twenty states are suing the federal government over this law and more are joining in. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia have already signed on the dotted line. By imposing these mandates on the states, the federal government is obliterating state sovereignty and trampling on individual and states rights guaranteed by the 10th Amendment.
The 10th Amendment explicitly states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Although it is the last amendment in the Bill of Rights, it is perhaps one of the most important. It assures that the federal government will be limited to those things specified within the Constitution, that the states will retain their individual rights to self-governance, and that the rights of a free people will be preserved.
Liberal Progressives in Congress will argue that "the commerce clause" gives them the power to govern and regulate in any area they choose. James Madison, who penned and was instrumental in the writing of the Constitution, strongly disagrees:
-
"With respect to the two words 'general welfare,' I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators."
The other widely abused power of Congress is the "commerce clause" which states:
-
[The Congress shall have power] To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.
In other words, it was to make regular the exchange of goods and services as they cross state lines and to regulate the importation of goods and services from foreign countries.
The commerce clause is a regulation intended to apply to the states, not to private businesses. It does not grant Congress the power to impose rules and regulations on those businesses that provide the commerce, but only to regulate how those goods and services cross state lines.
Is a "one size fits all" government good for America? That is what we would have without the 10th Amendment and the other guarantees to the states, and it is what we are headed for now. The Founders knew that individual states had individual needs and differences. Only local and state governance can truly address the needs of their people.
That is why they included the 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights. An all-powerful federal government would be no different from a global government under the U.N. ruling the entire world. Only the communist cabal of global socialists thinks that would be a good idea.
The federal government knows that its powers over the states are constitutionally limited but it often gets around that by using appropriations, grants, entitlements, and federal benefits to the states to get what it wants. If states want autonomy from federal rule, they have to be prepared to stop taking federal money that always comes with strings attached.
At the same time, most of that money that is sent to the federal government by the states needs to remain within the states. Our system has evolved into one where state funds are being cycled through the federal government, filtered, and then returned to the states in the form of federal subsidies, grants and projects. Subsidies, grants and projects that always come with federal strings and regulations attached.
Why would any sane and fiscally responsible person agree to this? Would you give your money to a banker who then decides how much of it to return to you and what it is to be used for? That is what the federal government is imposing on the states and without any constitutional authorization to do it.
The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, and every year that date passes with hardly a mention from the White House or the media." Constitution Day should have been made a national holiday a long time ago, but there are those in our government and society that would prefer that we do not remember our Constitution or the words it contains.
It is the Founders' guarantee to the states and to the people that they shall remain free with inalienable rights and liberties endowed by our Creator that shall not be trespassed upon by a repressive federal government.
Without the expectation of this precious document, freedom-loving people would never have taken this important step in world history and America would never have been founded as the world's first truly free country. Do we still feel free? Do we even still know what freedom really means?
Article I, Section 8 assigns enumerated powers to the U.S. Congress and grants Congress the power to enact, oversee, and fund with tax money, the things enumerated. The 10th Amendment then reinforces the limits on government by saying that all other powers and privileges are to remain with the states and with the people.
Only local and regional governance can assure the people that the laws governing their lives will reflect the will of the people, yet today we have a federal government that attempts to create one-size-fits-all laws to assure that everyone in the country is subject to common law and is obedient to massive federal laws over state law.
The federal government now controls 60% of the American economy as the free market is rapidly being crushed. This alone violates everything the Constitution stands for and specifies as the founding laws of the land. Rep. Tom McClintock of California says, "If it's in the Yellow Pages, the government shouldn't be doing it." Tom understands the Constitution.
No wonder the majority of people in Washington D.C. do not want to celebrate Constitution Day. They are counting on the general population being ignorant of what that document really says and means — to impose and advance their own power.
The Constitution is the enemy of the people in power because it limits their power. The Constitution is the enemy of socialists because it leaves little room for socialism. Yet we have been seeing our country move further and further into socialism with every passing year.
The past two years have seen a vast and unprecedented acceleration in this movement, which is not sitting well with the majority of the American people. As a result, we now have the "Tea Party" movement, an ideology of constitutional conservatism that is sweeping the country and the elections.
All that the Tea Party people and other conservatives are asking is that we respect and live by the limited government principles defined in the Constitution. That is to say that we ask that the federal government respect the laws that apply to them, just as they expect us to respect the laws that they make for us to follow.
Conservatives are trying to preserve our rights and freedoms, as liberal socialists are trying to take them away by surrendering them to an ever expanding and controlling federal government.
The powers and responsibilities of the federal government are limited to those things that the individual states cannot do on their own, but must do as a united nation. Things such as border security, national defense, immigration, printing money, a postal system, foreign debt and currency exchange, interstate highways, patents and copyrights, and so on. All other rights, powers and responsibilities are left up to the states and to the people.
It would be interesting indeed to see what would happen if all federal laws that have been created outside of the Constitution were suddenly abolished with the powers they represent having been usurped, were returned to the states and to the people.
Of course, this couldn't happen save a total collapse of the federal government. Millions would be left with no Social Security and Medicare, and no means of support — which is why these government dependency programs should never have been created by the federal government in the first place. The states have the rights and responsibility for these types of programs, the federal government does not.
The transition to a constitutional federal government would have to be a gradual one, phased in over decades. The time to start is now.
© JR Dieckmann
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