It’s not really surprising that few people read the Constitution of the United States today. But it should be shocking that many members of Congress — who swear to defend and uphold the Constitution — regularly vote for things that are clearly in violation of it.
And we let them get away with it.
Where, for example, does it say in the Constitution that the American taxpayers should bail out failing private businesses?
And where does it say in the Constitution that there should be federal corporations such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that are currently big losers?
And where in the Constitution does it say … — well, the list of obviously unconstitutional things that the federal government is involved in at great expense could go on and on.
There are so many unconstitutional things that our federal government is engaging in, and is getting away with, that we can’t accurately count them!
The Constitution says in the 10th Amendment, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, shall be reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
What if every action by Congress — and every action by the president — were honestly measured strictly by the Constitution, with any and all actions not specifically delegated to the legislative or executive branches by the Constitution being eliminated?
There would be a great reduction in action by the federal government!
And there would be a great reduction in the many billions of dollars that the executive and legislative branches of the federal government spend at the expense of the taxpayers — or add to the federal debt.
Ours is a nation that loves sports. They abound in many forms, with millions of fans in the stands and watching on television. But what would the fans say if, for example, the Super Bowl were played with total disregard for the rules of professional football?
What if one of the teams got a first down by gaining only five yards, instead of 10?
What if one team demanded that it get five points, instead of three, for kicking a field goal?
What if one team had 12 players on the field, instead of 11?
Wouldn’t the fellows in the black-and-white-striped shirts call the fouls and impose penalties?
We have sports officials and players who are familiar with the football rules, and insist they should apply equally to all players. But in the far more important “game” of government in our country, we permit the federal government to tax and spend money in ways that are clearly not specifically provided for or approved by the Constitution — and thus are clearly in violation of the 10th Amendment of the Constitution.
Sports officials blow whistles and impose penalties when they see infractions of the rules of games. But tragically, too many of our officials are the unpenalized violators of our Constitution of the United States.
Every time the president and members of Congress propose anything, shouldn’t we ask, “Where does the Constitution authorize that?”
If they can’t find a specific delegation of power, if they answer honestly and factually, many things the federal government does would not be tolerated.
That not only would uphold our Constitution, but would also save billions and billions of our tax dollars.