Today is Constitution Day. It is a day to pause and consider the importance of our Constitution. In fact, the sheer miracle of our Constitution. If you have not read “The 5,000 Year Leap; The Miracle of our Constitution”, I highly recommend it as a must read.
I have been passing out pocket Constitutions all day. Many folks have commented on how small a document it is.
Indeed, such a small document in comparison to the 1,000+ page Health Care bill; or 1,000+ page Cap & Trade; or 1,000+ page Bail out bill. Job security for all the lawyers in our legislatures. Our fore fathers would be in total dismay to see where we are today in comparison to the Republic that 56 brave people originally formed.
Today, let us celebrate our Constitution and let us also realize how important a role our STATE Delegates play in protecting OUR rights from the infringement of overbearing government regulations, permits and taxes.
Please VOTE Melody Scalley for Delegate on November 3rd.!
Thomas Jefferson said: “Every generation needs a new revolution”.
The following is from Jamie Radtke, Board Member of Restore the Founders’ Vision:
Role of States in Reviving Constitutional Authority
Founding Father James Madison, in his defense of the newly drafted Constitution and in an attempt to assuage the fears of many who feared “this [new] government is to possess absolute and uncontrollable powers, legislative, executive and judicial, with respect to every object to which it extends” and “that the power retained by individual States, small as it is, will be a clog upon the wheels of the government of the United States; the latter, therefore, will be naturally inclined to remove it out of the way,” [Anti-Federalist No. 17, Brutus] responded with the following:
Were it admitted, however, that the Federal government may feel an equal disposition with the State governments to extend its power beyond the due limits, the latter would still have the advantage in the means of defeating such encroachments… Should an unwarrantable measure of the federal government be unpopular in particular States, which would seldom fail to be the case, or even a warrantable measure be so, which may sometimes be the case, the means of opposition to it are powerful and at hand. The disquietude of the people; their repugnance and, perhaps, refusal to co-operate with the officers of the Union; the frowns of the executive magistracy of the State; the embarrassments created by legislative devices, which would often be added on such occasions, would oppose, in any State, difficulties not to be despised; would form, in a large State, very serious impediments; and where the sentiments of several adjoining States happened to be in unison, would present obstructions which the federal government would hardly be willing to encounter. [Federalist No. 46]
One thing is clear from all the Founders, they argued that the Constitution afforded the prerogative to the state governments to maintain proper checks and balances on the newly formed federal government. However, it is easy to see that Madison’s optimism of a self-restrained federal government and his assurance that states would have the fortitude to constrain federal government has been a dismal failure to date.
Both sides of the partisan aisle hail the genius of our Founding Fathers and their groundbreaking construction of a Republic that not only created horizontal checks and balances with the judiciary, executive and legislative branch (which is what is frequently discussed), but also created the more important vertical checks and balances between the federal government and the states. This check and balance was the key to safeguarding the liberties of the people against a tyrannical government. If there is any hope of re-establishing the balance of power, bringing government back within reach and influence of the average citizen, and restoring the Founders’ vision of a government subservient to the people, states must reclaim the authority they delegated themselves in the Constitution.
Madison outlined in the aforementioned quote the means by which states could assert their authority and voice. It can only be done through “legislative devices” and political pressure. Moreover, its impact will be more wholeheartedly felt “where the sentiments of several adjoining States happened to be in unison.” It is time for we the people to redirect our fury from the federal government and White House to our state governments.
Our state representatives are the only formidable weapon left against the “absolute and uncontrollable powers” of the federal government. We should expect and demand that our state representatives exercise their constitutional authority and political capital for their constituents. Our states must disentangle themselves from the dependent relationship with the federal government and reassert their role as the leaders of the Union. We all have limited time and energy we can exert. We should focus it where we know we can make a difference. We should demand that states reassert their position and authority in the national landscape. When the states assume their natural role in the political sphere and start working together to achieve this goal, the balance of power will naturally return and the spirit and effectiveness of our Constitution will be restored.
Jamie Radtke Board Member Restore the Founders’ Vision http://rtfv.net
