Are These Truths Self-Evident?

As I sit here on Sunday afternoon, March 21, 2010 I don’t know if the House of Representatives has voted on the Health Care Reform Bill or not; and if they have voted what the outcome was. The much larger matter is that they should not be voting on a measure like this at all. It is simply far beyond the constitutional constraints of the federal government to be contemplating the complete takeover and control of the nation’s health care system. The Constitution and Amendments do not authorize such power. The only thing that Congress could rightfully be debating about health care would be a constitutional amendment to grant such authority to the federal government. Short of that, the matter resides exclusively with the States and the People. At least that’s how the Framer’s saw the role of the federal government, the States and the People within the framework of the Constitution they ratified in 1789.

Across two centuries I hear the Founder’s cries of alarm, warning us that to ignore the clear and absolute wording and intent of the Constitution is worse than folly, it would be the first step on the path to tyranny and despotism. They knew something about that subject, having just freed themselves from the dictatorial fist of a capricious king in England after a protracted and very bloody war. The horrible price of freedom was forefront in their minds as they began to lay the foundation for a new governmental order to be enshrined in the Constitution. Their words and meanings were unambiguous as they carefully crafted each section. They did not intend to put forth a vague outline to be filled in over time by the whims of this man or that, this group or that, this political party or that. No, they knew the fallen state of mankind, the avarice of people and the nature of power. Men are made lower than the angels and no man is immune to temptation and corruption. If men were angels no government would be necessary. Thus they set out to frame a government not of great power over the people, but one constrained from usurping the rights and freedoms of the people; who were to hold power over the government. Government by the consent of the governed. Of the People, by the People and for the People. Government with a very limited, proscribed list of duties, powers and responsibilities; chief of them to protect the rights of the people which are given by God, not the government. No legislation ever passed by the government has given or granted people a right; that is something that can only be granted by God. The only thing granted by government legislation is an entitlement, giving one group of people power and authority to take the money, time, effort or property of another group of people.

Clearly then, those people whom we place in positions of public service within the government must possess a genuine, healthy fear and respect for the Constitution, an absolute understanding of their role, their authority and their constraints according to the text of the document. This is why our Founders were so insistent that only a moral, religious populous was fit to govern itself in this manner.

The Constitution is meant to be a pillar of marble not a lump of clay on a potter’s wheel. It is the Supreme Law of the Land. To violate its precepts is the highest form of lawlessness, if not outright treason. For if we have no deference to the Constitution we have no country; we have anarchy and tyranny. This idea that the Constitution is merely an outline, a malleable lump of clay to be molded by each generation to suit its fancy is dangerous and subversive. The Constitution can be changed for necessities of the current age, but only by the laborious task of amendment. This is by design. A document so fundamental to the inter-generational structure of our government should not be changed easily or quickly for passing whims of the day.

The Constitution belongs to the People, not the federal government. It was written by the People to create the government. That which is created cannot be greater than the creator. It is not the proper role of government to tell the people what the Constitution means and what it empowers the federal government to do for and to the People. Rather, it is the role of the People to tell the federal government what the Constitution authorizes and empowers the federal government to do on behalf of the People, and, more importantly, what the federal government may not do. The Constitution codifies some of the more important rights conferred by God upon the People and charges the federal government to protect those rights. Furthermore, it recognizes in the Ninth Amendment that the list of God-given rights in the Constitution is incomplete, but that other rights given by God are still maintained by the People and in the Tenth Amendment clarifies that those powers and authorities not expressly awarded to the federal government are awarded to the States and the People. And be clear, the authority of the Congress is limited to Article 1, Section 8. The preamble is only a statement of intent; it is an explanation of why Congress is granted those powers in Article 1, Section 8. There are no powers granted in the preamble. In addition, the Necessary and Proper Clause merely empowers Congress to enact legislation to carry out its enumerated duties in Article 1, Section 8. If the Founders, wary of government to begin with, intended to give the federal government unlimited power and authority, why list a few specifics in Article 1, Section 8? That simply makes no sense. The idea that the Framers on the one hand would take the time to list the specific enumerated powers of Congress in Article 1, Section 8 and then on the other hand would grant unlimited power elsewhere in the Constitution is ludicrous. The words mean what they mean. For instance, the infamous Interstate Commerce Clause was intended to empower the federal government to prevent states from erecting unreasonable barriers to commerce between the various states. It was not intended as a carte blanche for the federal government to regulate, tax and direct every manner of business in the nation. Yet today it does just that. I don’t believe that the Framers ever envisioned a concept of penumbras and emanations.

Those men and women that we place in public office who seek to subvert the true original text and meaning of the Constitution, who trot out complex and subtle twists and turns of interpretation to hold it up as a living, changing document are little different that tyrants of old that our Founding Fathers were well acquainted with. They are the same today as then. Human nature has not changed in the last 100 or 1000 or 2000 years. Thus we must be just as vigilant today as 200 years ago for those who seek to bend the rules for personal gain and aggrandizement by trampling on our freedoms and liberties and eating out the very marrow of our nation’s sustenance.

So what are the People to do when an elected President, an elected Congress and even Supreme Court justices appointed by Presidents ignore the Constitution and impose their will upon the People? The Founders must have thought this eventuality beyond the realm of possibility. Given what they had just come through the idea that a public servant, entrusted with the maintenance of our Republic would ignore the very foundation and origin of that Republic must have seemed unfathomable. Once again we must return to the idea that only a moral people can govern themselves within a system such as this. Our public servants must possess a healthy fear and respect for the Constitution, the States and the People. Lacking this, all sorts and manner of mischief are possible and nearly inevitable. The most obvious solution is to vote the tyrants out and elect better servants. One problem with this method is that there are those politicians who run under false pretenses and become something quite contrary to what people thought they were voting for once in office. This seems to be happening with great regularity. In addition, people elected with good intentions sometimes become twisted by the bureaucratic establishment once they get to Washington and become drunk with power and the lust for money, the mother’s milk of politics. On the far other end of the spectrum is armed resistance which is what our Founders had to resort to in the Revolutionary War to ultimately throw off the yoke of tyranny under King George. We also fought a bloody civil war to try to resolve some of our differences. I pray God that we don’t ever get to that point again. In between these two extremes would be an approach that utilizes established remedies that reside mostly with the People acting through their State governments. It is, after all the People acting through the States who wrote the Constitution and established the federal government. It would seem logical that when the federal government will not right itself or yield to the desires of the People the State governments should step in. They can assert their power through the amendment and convention process. This can be a very dangerous procedure if unfriendly factions gain control of a Constitutional Convention and take it off in directions that would be disastrous for the good of the nation. However, given what is happening now inside the government, this might be worth the risk. Could things really get any worse? Perhaps and perhaps not. But I believe that we have arrived at a crossroads in the history of our nation. These are desperate times and may call for desperate measures if we are to preserve our freedoms and liberties; if we are to preserve our Republic and Constitution and pass on something to our children that resembles the nation that we inherited. Our health care system certainly needs some improvement. Given that, though, it is still the best on the face of the earth. And the fixes should be done at the State level with targeted solutions that preserve our freedoms, liberties and the free market system--which is the best hope for providing the most benefit for the most people without bankrupting the nation.

I pray that this will be our finest hour, that we will act in a manner deserving of the trust placed upon us by the Founders and Framers to guard the Republic and Constitution. They have given us a great gift. The question is can we keep it? We cannot afford to lose it.