We The People, The Constitution And The Congress

It’s the accounting tricks used in the financial scoring of the healthcare bill by our supposed representatives that makes me wonder if I’m still living in America. It’s the total lack, by many, of acknowledging the founding document that has made our country, the country that all other nation’s look to for guidance and example. It’s using our money to buy votes to pass a bill that more than two-thirds of us don’t want. It’s spending money that we don’t have for a healthcare bill which will probably cost three times more than it’s estimate. And finally it’s the arrogance exhibited by the majority of our elected officials that they can take away our right to choose our own course through life that will seal their fate in November.

Why are these people working so hard to take away our individual liberty? They must think that they know better than us how we should run our lives. Interstingly enough, government run healthcare never works as can be seen in England and Canada yet they are going to do virtually the same thing as both of those countries expecting a different result.

For me we stand at a crossroads in history. There have been many lives before us that have given all to attain here in this country for a moment in time what had never been accomplished in the history of man. Freedom & liberty for all in spite of what they look like, what religion they practice and what traditions they bring with them. And now because of our complacency we stand to lose all that was gained. Not just for us but every human being on our planet now and in the future.

Too many of our people don’t even know the first thing about the only document that protects them from an oppressive, suppressive government: The Constitution. It is a great document. Simple, to the point and all laid out to protect the individual’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If only we knew it and followed it and were totally unreasonable with our politicians following it too.

What happened to get us to this point? Where the federal government grows day by day, ever larger, all knowing, all encompassing taking over every decision for us that the founders never intended and is not allowed under the constitution. Maybe social security was the start of it under Rooselvelt. Then there was Kennedy signing an executive order allowing federal workers to unionize. Johnson creates welfare under the Great Soceity in the late 60’s. Carter signs  the Community Redevopment Act to get low income families into their own houses. Bill Clinton allows drug companies  in 1995 to market directly to consumers and lowers standards for loans covered under the Community Redevelopment Act. And then there was George Bush spending, spending and more spending. We can’t really blame all of these guys too much because we elected all of them. But then that brings us back to the beginning. Did we know the constitution and were we applying it and paying attention to who we were electing?

We have allowed people to run our schools who did not and do not believe that the constitution protects the individual’s rights but rather is used to protect their rights and those who think as they do. A little group thinking goes a long way in turning a document written to give the individual liberty upside down so it now takes liberty away from him. What a trick! And now for an encore we will make you believe the founders intended it that way. If it wasn’t so deadly serious it would be hilarious.

How do we turn this around? I would be lying if I said it would be easy. Just look around and see the mess we are in. But if we find tools that work we can make it easier. When we are talking education look for methods that have high statistics and get good results. Same thing with tax policy, foreign policy, banking policy and any other policy you can think of. Look at what has been done in the past and if it hasn’t worked let’s not do the same thing again hoping for a different result. But if it has worked, as in the constitution, well why not try to duplicate our founders intentions more closely rather than changing it into something else. As a very wise person said, ” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” 

Getting more aligned with our Founders intentions concerning the constitution would not only be enlightening but also a heck of a lot of fun. Seeing people throw off the chains of dependence and cause good things to happen in their  lives and others is kind of like watching your kids grow into young men and women. It is rewarding. Watching people be successful is a real treat. And the things you can learn as you see what they create, well it’s fantastic!

Besides the right to choose our own destiny, another legacy the Founders left us with is the opportunity to improve ourselves through our interaction with each other, true education(not what we have in public schools),  and our churches. But in order to do that and actually become better men we cannot have government or elite politicians deciding for us and telling us what to do. Government fosters thinking alike and not looking to see what is actually there. It also punishes disagreement. So do universities and colleges. If everybody thinks alike and doesn’t look, where are the new ideas and the ideas that work going to come from? These ideas of course come from the individual not from a group of politicians or professors.

So shouldn’t we protect, defend and know the founding document that gives the individual the freedom to come up with new ideas and new ways of looking at the world: The Constitution. I say yes. I hope you do too.

Tom

Unconstitutional-Presidential Powers Now Include Legislating?

The presidents is now writing a healthcare bill that essentially will bypass the senate fillibuster rule. As you know in order for a bill to get to a final vote it must be able to overcome a fillibuster by the opposition, in this case from the Republicans. The president’s bill can be piggybacked onto a budget bill that requires only fifty-one votes in the senate to pass. Essentially the president is trying to bypass the American people who overwhelmingly do not want this healtcare bill. Sixty-one percent of voters say congress should scrap the  healthcare plans and start over. Besides being an underhanded method for passing a bill this rule was developed for budget bills only. It has never been used for policy changes and shouldn’t be.

The president is coming very close to violating the constitution if he hasn’t already. Article 1 and article 2 are very clear on which branch of government does what and the Executive branch clearly doesn’t write legislation. As a matter of fact there is nothing in article 2 that even comes slightly near what the  president is trying to do. Either there is a complete misunderstanding of the constitution by the administration or they are purposely trying to subvert the constitution. Maybe these politicians think that they know the constituiton but really have many words in it that they have a wrong definition for or no definition at all or maybe they really don’t know the first thing about the constitution. Should there be a test on the constitution before taking office?

We the people decide the course of our country not the administration or the special interests. Right now it is the labor unions, who have met with the president or his representatives, planned parenthood, psychiatry, lawyers, acorn  and drug companies. Most of these groups have donated massively to the president’s campaign in 08. Sign the petition at the American Center for Law and Justice to scrap the healthcare bill and start over. We need to force the administration and congress to follow the constitution. Petitions work especially now after the election in Massachusetts. Don’t stand by while our freedom’s are taken from us.(Another example of this is the president’s education plan.)  It only takes a few Democrats to vote no to stop this bill dead in its tracks.

 Control of over 300 million people hangs in the balance and they know it. We have to push back just as hard as they are to hang the whole process up. And to win we must push back harder. Another look at the ad that got us a senate seat in Massachusetts could help to inspire us all. A reminder it’s never too late to change direction. Remember November is right around the corner and the anti-constitutionalists are on the run. 

Let’s keep it that way!

Tom