A re-declaration of constitutional government

By Dan Popp

Many Americans feel powerless to stop the outrageous and ongoing abuses by the federal government. They see as their only two choices: "write your congressman" (an exercise in futility when your congressman is corrupt), and armed revolt. This false choice is based on a misunderstanding.

Under the Constitution, the governing power of the nation is divided among the states and the various branches of the federal authorities. ALL of these government bodies — state legislatures with their separate houses, state executive and judicial powers, and similar elements in the federal government — were intended to provide "checks and balances" against each other. The Supreme Court is not the only body in the land that may interpret the Constitution. Each legislative, executive, and judicial body in the states, as well as in the federal government, is not only allowed, but morally required, to interpret and apply the safeguards of the Constitution against other authorities attempting to assume powers not granted by that document.

But the final authority on the limits of government power rests with the still- sovereign People. When all else fails, as it seems to have failed now, the People have full rights to protect themselves from tyranny. They may refuse to obey unconstitutional laws; they may refuse to accept government "help"; they may refuse to give up their private property when demanded by an unjust authority; they may determine that the federal government is in breach of our national contract and re-assert the sovereignty of their particular state or states. They may take such measures as they see fit to maintain their rights, and to restore constitutional government.

These were the explicit views of the Founders.

In the spirit of these sentiments, consider the following "Re-Declaration of Constitutional Government."

WE THE PEOPLE of the United States of America, agreeing with Thomas Jefferson that "Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force," declare the following:

Whereas the Constitution of the United States is the binding legal contract by which the sovereign people, acting through the states, create a federal government and grant its "few and limited" powers;

Whereas the current members of the United States House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Executive branch have taken a sacred oath to uphold the Constitution;

Whereas many of them have intentionally, beyond all doubt and in full view of the world, broken that oath —

To wit, among other examples,

• Initiating a revenue bill (the Emergency Economic Security Act) in the Senate instead of in the House of Representatives;
  
  
• Creating and sustaining unauthorized "Government-Sponsored Enterprises" that have preyed on citizens;
  
  
• Interfering with lawful businesses by loaning money, guaranteeing loans and making demands concerning the methods of operation of private enterprises;
  
  
• Passing laws that merely transfer money from some Americans to others;
  
  
• Giving extra-constitutional powers to the Secretary of the Treasury and other unelected officials;
  
  
• Taking over, and designing to take over, private businesses, such as those in the health care and banking industries; and
  
  
• Loading generations of Americans with debt (thus taxing future generations without representation and undermining the country's ability to defend itself) under the name of "Economic Stimulus" —
  
  
• In short, attempting to destroy the free economic system of this republic, and replace it with totalitarian socialism;
  
  

We hereby declare that all unconstitutional and anti-constitutional laws, orders and judgments are "unauthoritative, void, and of no force."

We assert that all debts incurred by legislators acting outside their delegated authority are not binding on the people of the United States.

We call on our fellow citizens to refuse to accept these laws, and to refuse government "gifts" of illegally confiscated or distributed money.

We call on them to rise up in peaceful protest of unconstitutional actions by their so-called representatives, and to initiate recall proceedings and other appropriate measures against the betrayers of the public trust.

We call on all businesses which might gain from government largesse to decline its offers, however urgent their need might seem, and to reject any government control or ownership.

We call on state and municipal governments to reject unconstitutional laws, to refuse to enforce them, to turn down all funds offered by the federal government, and to assert their sovereignty.

We call on those Senators and Congressmen who have broken their oath of office to resign. We call on the faithful few to impeach fellow members who should resign but will not. We demand that the United States Treasury not only obey constitutional limits itself, but refuse to pay the salaries, retirement compensation, and any other benefits to Senators and Representatives who have broken their oath.

We call on any non-corrupt members in the Executive and Judicial Branches to refuse to enforce unconstitutional edicts of any kind, and to use their power and influence to restore constitutional governance to the United States.

Without legitimizing the false theory that only the Supreme Court of the United States can declare an act unconstitutional, we call on public and private legal groups to bring suits to the high Court. We call on judges in all state and federal courts to strike down and reverse these laws.

We call on foreign governments, companies, and citizens to do business with the United States government only as and when its actions are legal — that is, in accordance with the Constitution. As friends, we advise them that agreements made outside the enumerated powers of that document are invalid.

And we call on the highest authority, our Creator, who has granted our rights and who has blessed this republic so bountifully in the past, to give to our people and leaders a spirit of repentance and humility — that He might forgive our sins against His just laws, and restore the United States of America as "one nation under God," with a government defined and limited by the Constitution.

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© Dan Popp