By Michael LeMieux
December 23, 2009
NewsWithViews.com
There have been many commentaries on the constitutional oaths taken by our political leaders. There have even been organizations created around constitutional oaths of which I am a proud member (Oath Keepers). To me, and to every other person sworn to protect and defend the Constitution, it is and should be a solemn duty to ensure that our actions live up to that oath. But is that what is actually happening or has the oath and by extension the Constitution been relegated to mere politics.
I would say that for the vast majority of the rank and file in the military it is a solemn vow. I have come to the conclusion that for the vast majority of politicians, regardless of party, it has become a mere ceremony of attaining office and nothing more. I have drawn this conclusion from the actions of those in political positions and not from their words.
So where in the Constitution does Congress derive its power to interject itself into every facet of our lives? For those that have read the Constitution it cannot be found in the words of the Constitution but only based on inference and conjecture and then only if you have not studied the writings of those who penned the document.
Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution enumerates the powers given to Congress upon which they may act. Within this section you will not find any mention of the power to regulate education, energy, parks and recreation, how much water your toilet can consume per flush, healthcare, or even firearm laws. So where do they get this power?
They extract, falsely, from section 8 which states: “…provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States…” and “…regulate commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States…”
From this they have derived the “interstate commerce” and welfare powers terminology upon which every infringement, by the federal government, has been made against the citizens of this land. But is the federal government, Congress in particular, following the true intent of the founders and are they maintaining the balance of powers that was so crucial in maintaining our freedom and liberty?
What did the founders mean when they coined the term “general welfare?” On March 3, 1817, President James Madison, one of our founding fathers, vetoed a bill for the appropriation of funds on a federal public works initiative, which deals with the general welfare clause. Excerpts from this letter are as follows:
" I am constrained by the insuperable difficulty I feel in reconciling the bill with the Constitution of the United States… The legislative powers vested in Congress are specified and enumerated… and … To refer the power in question to the clause "to provide for common defense and general welfare" would be contrary to the established and consistent rules of interpretation… Such a view of the Constitution would have the effect of giving to Congress a general power of legislation instead of the defined and limited one hitherto understood to belong to them. But seeing that such a power is not expressly given by the Constitution, and believing that it can not be deduced from any part of it without an inadmissible latitude of construction and reliance on insufficient precedents; believing also that the permanent success of the Constitution depends on a definite partition of powers between the General and the State Governments, and that no adequate landmarks would be left by the constructive extension of the powers of Congress as proposed in the bill, I have no option but to withhold my signature from it…”
President Madison, throughout this admonition to the House, refers to specified and enumerated powers of Congress. He went on to state that this was the established and consistent rule of interpretation for the powers of congress, and to give a broad interpretation would give Congress a general power of legislation, which it did not have. Within the context of “general welfare” the congress must stay within the enumerated boundaries set by the Constitution. He concluded by stating that if the Congress did not have these defined and limited powers they would be able to legislate anything using the common defense and general welfare clauses, and this was wrong. If it was wrong then, then it is wrong now. READ MORE
http://www.newswithviews.com/LeMieux/michael100.htm
