Posts Tagged ‘United States Constitution’
The Supreme Court – omnipotent and divine?
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments to decide if the Second Amendment right of the individual to “keep and bear Arms” applies to the states in addition to federal enclaves such as Washington, D.C. Can the court please point to the section of the United States Constitution granting it the power to choose which parts […]
It’s our Constitution
Contrary to the wishes of Congress, the Supreme Court and the lower courts, “we the people” in our capacity as jurors and state legislators have the power to nullify laws we find unconstitutional. Did the founding fathers opine on this power? In 1790, James Wilson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and […]
Supreme Court – Constitutional guardian or Guardian Council?
Does the Supreme Court submit to the authority of the United States Constitution, as it should? Or, is it complicit with Congress, functioning beyond its constitutional powers? In 1803, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall, trying to preserve the checks and balances in the Constitution said, “To what purpose are powers limited, and […]
The Consitution v. the federal government
The Declaration of Independence states, “. . . these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.” This sentiment was reaffirmed in 1781 in the Articles of Confederation which states, “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation […]
The Bill of Prvileges
The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, was ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1791. The Constitution was ratified four years earlier in 1787. Our Bill of Rights came into existence amid debate and deliberation. Many anti-federalists who supported it previously opposed ratification of the Constitution because that […]
Guns, the Constitution and Switzerland
A fact regularly ignored in much of the gun debate – the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. In 2008, the Supreme Court revisited the constitutional meaning of the right of the individual to “keep and bear arms,” and unequivocally affirmed our constitutional right of individual gun ownership. That should end the debate because […]
The damnpolitician and the farmer
Last week, I proponed the Founding Fathers had only two requirements to be president of the United States because they wanted to protect the people’s power to choose the president. They did not want those writing the Constitution and those later “interpreting” it to be able to limit our choices. They assumed people like you […]
To be President of the United States
There are only two constitutional requirements to be president of the United States of America. You must be a natural born citizen of the United States and at least 35 years of age. That is all that is needed for the most important job in the world. Although considered enough in 1787, is that enough […]
Robert Gibbs is a verb
The most entertaining moments of this presidency are watching Robert Gibbs explain the ramblings of Vice President Biden. With a straight face, a feigned sincerity and accompanied by the laughter of the press corps Gibbs says, “I understand what he said and I’m telling you what he meant to say.” He invented a new verb […]
Who really has the power?
“The United States Constitution has proved itself the most marvelously elastic compilation of rules of government ever written.” –President Franklin Roosevelt Did the founding fathers create a “marvelously elastic” Constitution as Roosevelt suggested? No, they created the antithesis, granting their new government limited powers, enumerated to prevent it from evolving into another all […]
Who has the power – government or “we the people”
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” –James Madison, 4th U.S. President father of the United States Constitution How does Congress constitutionally justify spending money on anything it chooses? […]
Spending the people’s money
“Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.” − Ronald Reagan Is it an appropriate use of taxpayer money to fund a “tattoo removal violence prevention program,” a Sparta Teapot museum, a program to communicate with extra-terrestrials, the Pleasure […]
The healthcare agenda
Why is the government continuing to push healthcare reform, ignoring, dismissing and disparaging anyone who disagrees? Why have so many members of Congress refused to have town hall meetings during the August recess? Why are they afraid to face us, their employers? Even if we ignore the United States Constitution and agree that healthcare is […]
Is it too late?
Is it too late for the United States of America? Are we doomed to follow the timetable Sir John Glubb outlined in “The Fate of Empires,” surviving about 250 years? Or, are we different from the failed empires he studied? The outcome is our choice. We are unique among the nations of history. We designed […]
How to finance the U.S.S.A.
What did the Founding Fathers design our government to provide? Did they design a limited federal government to provide safety, freedom and opportunity? Or did they design a socialist welfare government to take care of our every need with unending entitlement programs? The Constitution of the United States calls for a limited, subservient federal government, […]
The czars of the U.S.S.A.
In his inaugural address of 1801, Thomas Jefferson near-prophetically described our current government saying, “Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this […]
Is the government the new “company store?”
How well does the government manage our money? Do our elected leaders spend it responsibly and frugally, as they should? Sen. Charles Schumer answered these questions saying, “Let me say this to all the chattering class that so much focuses on those little, tiny, yes, porky amendments: ‘the American people really don’t care.’” He was […]
“…equal protection of the laws”
New Haven, Connecticut, discarded a fire department promotion exam when white firefighters outscored minority firefighters. The city did so because it feared lawsuits, not because the exam was unfair. The United States Supreme Court ruled against the city, with Chief Justice John Roberts suggesting that had the scores been reversed the city would not have […]
Role of the Supreme Court?
A Justice of the United States Supreme Court is retiring. A chance to re-shape the court. A chance to change history. Wait a minute. Don’t the above statements suggest the United States Constitution is flexible, open to interpretation, no need to amend it? Dare I suggest the primary role of the United States Supreme Court […]
Religion, politics, and the First Amendment
How do we reconcile religion, politics and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which says in part, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…?” Did they only mean that government cannot get involved in religion or did they also mean that religion cannot get involved in […]