Imagine if you will, a new bill to be presented to congress. This bill, which we will call the Enumerated Powers Act, would require that every future piece of legislation presented before Congress include a statement detailing under which specific Constitutional authority the bill is being considered for enactment. Considering that Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution explicitly and finitely details the specific powers bestowed upon on our government, wouldn't it be fitting that every law brought forward for vote be made to show that it is within those Enumerated Powers?
Sounds like a wonderful idea to me, but unfortunately, I cannot take the credit for this common sense, extremely relevant idea. That praise belongs to Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), who has already introduced such a bill to Congress. In fact, Rep. Shadegg has introduced this piece of legislation to every meeting of Congress since the 104th. For those of you that may not understand the numbering, we are currently in the 111th Congress, with the 104th being called to order between 01/4/1995 - 11/4/1996. So each of the 15 years since 1995, this bill has been presented, but I'm guessing this is the first any of you have ever heard of it. Wonder why?
The answer is very simple. Our ruling class has been operating unconstitutionally and out of bounds of their specific powers for decades. This isn't just a Democrat or Republican fault, but a rapidly expanding government fault. Many of the things that we now accept as common, are in fact, unconstitutional per our founding documents. True, we've witnessed an explosion of governmental growth over the past 18 months unseen since the day's of FDR, but to steal a quote for our current president, "Let me be clear", this has happened under both Republican and Democrat congresses. Things such as Obamacare, the proposed Cap and Trade, bureaucratic expansions of the EPA, ATF, and other agencies, and even Social Security and Medicare are all outside the scope of the enumerated powers granted to our government by our Constitution.
That being said, it's no wonder that you've never heard of this bill. Our ruling class doesn't not want, I would even say, are desperate to avoid, having to base their legislation proposals upon {gasp} the specific powers they have been granted. We have allowed a ruling class to gain power that feels that they know better, and can govern better, than the people whom they've sworn themselves to serve. We have a ruling class that denies the states the authority to self govern, even though the states were granted that specific right to do so per the visions of our founding fathers. We have allowed a judicial class to become activists who bend, mold, and pervert the words of our Constitution to fit political ideologies rather than uphold it as the law of the land.
In short, we have brought our current troubles upon ourselves, the governed. We elected officials who have no understanding, or desire to understand, the importance and significance of the US Constitution. We the people have voted in career politicians whose only ambition is to expand their financial, political, and social authorities while desecrating our founding principles. Politicians who do not make the effort, or take the time, to fully understand the impact of the laws that they vote on. Politicians who care more about earmarks and political favors than the best direction for this country. Politicians who when asked about constitutionality respond with "Are you serious? Are you serious?" or "I don't worry about the Constitution".
We have allowed the media to be lax in their duties of vetting potential candidates and not asking the hard questions and looking for real answers. We allowed ourselves to be taken in by a Presidential candidate who had no leadership abilities, no experience, and worst of all, a destructive ideology that is driving our country to it's death. We, the people, have forgotten the words of the constitution, and the powered bestowed by it, ourselves. We have forgotten that this is a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. We have allowed this ruling class to ignore and abandon the very principals and documents that made this nation great and I believe that this bill would be the first step in taking back our nation. The first step in returning to the great vision that the men who founded this country believed in, enacted, and provided for the US to become the greatest nation in the history of man kind.
I urge each of you to contact your representative and urge them to vote for HR405: The Enumerated Powers Act (full text of bill here). We must ensure that this bill finally makes it out of committee and gets put forward for a vote. Let us all find out whom in our ruling class is scared of being required to declare the constitutionality of their legislation proposals. Let us find out who the patriots are and who are part of the problem. If you do not know the name of your Representative, then contact me and I will help you find them and their contact information.
Make no mistake, I am under no illusions that this one bill will solve the problems of the rampant, run away government that we are seeing now, but it is is a start. It will allow people to become better informed on legislation at a glance, it will reinstitute the premise of constitutionality in our process, and it will help us weed out those of the ruling class who wish to over reach their power. It will allow for us to recognize and address a government who has far too long stretched the meanings of the General Welfare and Interstate Commerce clauses for their own means. When every bill comes thru quoting either of the above, it won't be long before someone sees that they are being abused and demand reform and constraint. To borrow meaning from Neil Armstrong, passage of this bill would be "One small step for law, one giant leap for American freedom and constitutionality."
Remember in November!!!
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