More on Legislative Absolutism

In a landmark Supreme Court case involving legislation beyond what is Constitutionally authorized, Justice Harlan issued a powerful dissent. Below is a portion of it, taken from Downes v. Bidwell, 182 US 244 (1901).

"The idea prevails with some, indeed it has found expression in arguments at the bar, that we have in this country substantially two national governments; one to be maintained under the Constitution, with all of its restrictions; the other to be maintained by Congress outside and independent of that instrument, by exercising such power as other nations of the earth are accustomed to…I take leave to say that, if the principles thus announced should ever receive the sanction of a majority of this court, a radical and mischievous change in our system of government will result. We will, in that event, pass from the era of constitutional liberty, guarded and protected by a written constitution into an era of legislative absolutism…IT WILL BE AN EVIL DAY FOR AMERICAN LIBERTY IF THE THEORY OF A GOVERNMENT OUTSIDE THE SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND FINDS LODGEMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTIONAL JURISPRUDENCE. No higher duty rests upon this court than to exert its full authority to prevent all violations of the principles of the Constitution." [emphasis in original]

For the last 100 years it has been "an evil day for American liberty", just as Justice Harlan predicted. Legislative Absolutism intrudes into almost all aspects of our lives, via national laws involving powers not delegated to the central Government by the Constitution. For some odd reason, most Americans actually believe that Congress can pass any law it so desires; and that it is up to the Supreme Court to strike down laws that are unconstitutional. The second half of that last sentence is true, but the first half is not. Congress is limited by the Constitution.

Congress has no Constitutional authority to authorize funding for---just a few examples---items such as: education (billions of dollars); an indoor rainforest project in Iowa ($50 million); the International Fund for Ireland ($18.5 million); HUD (over $500 billion); or, the Food Stamp Program (billions of dollars). If the central government stayed within its Constitutional limits, then there would be no national debt imposing the hidden tax of inflation, and all government operations could be paid for with corporate taxes, excise taxes, duties, and imposts.

[NOTE: It is important for each individual to realize that consumers are the ones who pay Corporate taxes (in addition to the misapplied Individual Income Tax). The amount of the tax is proportionately built into the price of each product. How many times do you want to pay income taxes?!]

Legislative Absolutism

Our Constitutional Republic no longer exists. Almost 100 years ago, with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, an era of Legislative Absolutism took hold and has progressed to this very day. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution instructs Congress to regulate the value of our money, but in 1913 Congress abrogated the Constitution by passing the Fed Reserve Act. That changed the Constitution...without an Amendment or a Constitutional Convention.

Passing a bill into law requires only a simple majority, but changing the Constitution by Amendment requires approval of three-fourths of the States. Obviously, it is much easier to pass a law than to add an Amendment to the Constitution. Via Legislative Absolutism, Congress has vastly expanded the powers of the Fed Government in a completely unconstitutional manner into areas in which it has no delegated power. That alone is reason enough to throw off the chains of our present government through the peaceful means proclaimed at givemeliberty.org---join the movement.

From the Magna Carta to the Declaration of Independence, people have declared individual sovereignty and the concept of a servant government. Can anyone honestly say that we in the United States have a servant government today? Ever since its establishment, our government has expanded exponentially regardless of which major political party was in power. With that expansion has come more and more intrusion into our personal and professional lives. There is no end in sight.

What passes for a Republic in the U.S. today is actually a strange, sometimes mild form of fascism administered (for all practical purposes) by a cartel of corporatists, government elitists, and bankers. For an interesting account of this cartel, see "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3968544393356669182 . It is time for a radical, peaceful change.

Also of interest are: http://www.freedomtofascism.com/ and http://www.givemeliberty.org/ and http://www.originalintent.org/ .

It is time to re-establish We the People.