Posted by Nebelwerfer on 09/15/09

Here is an article I wrote up for the "K-State Collegian." I wanted to share it with you guys.

Link: http://www.kstatecollegian.com/opinion/constitution-day-will-be-a-bit
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Constitution Day: A Bittersweet Holiday

There are many issues Democrats and Republicans disagree on. Debates over health care and cap-and-trade have revealed the rift that can easily develop between the two sides of the aisle. Yet among these disagreements, there is one ideal that can bridge the gap between the parties and unite them into one harsh voice of disgust. This is their collective ignorance of and abhorrence for the U.S. Constitution.

On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitutional Convention signed the contract that developed the form of government we have now. Sept. 17 is celebrated as Constitution Day. The founders created a limited government that had only 18 specific and enumerated powers that are listed in Article I, Section 8.

These powers included the power to tax, create post offices and declare war. Along with these powers were the General Welfare and Necessary and Proper clauses, both found in Article 1, Section 8. Unfortunately, these clauses have been construed to be grants of power when, in fact, they were to most a restriction on power.

For Congress to pass a law, it has to help the general welfare, be both necessary and proper and specifically allowed by one of the listed powers. According to the 10th Amendment, all powers that were not specifically listed were granted to the states or the people.

Unfortunately, this simple scheme has been forgotten, and constitutional abuses abound on both sides of the aisle. The “chains of the Constitution,” as Jefferson called them, have unfortunately been loosened by Congress frequently since Washington’s presidency.

President Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, allowing the government to arrest and detain those who disagreed with the Federalists in power. President Lincoln arrested a congressman who disagreed with him and destroyed the foundation of our republic, federalism and states’ rights.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt stole the people’s gold and forced farmers to burn their crops and plow over perfectly good fields as others starved. President Truman sent troops to Korea with no formal declaration of war from Congress.

President George W. Bush allowed federal officers to search people’s private property without a warrant and even without informing the subject of the search. Today, the chains have no effect, and the oath that all public servants must take has become more a tradition than a call to duty.

Both Republicans and Democrats have torn apart the Constitution. Republicans have allowed the government to intrude into our private lives. Democrats have restricted free choice and imposed more and more regulations over the economy that are not allowed anywhere in the Constitution.

Worst of all are the issues on which the two sides agree to throw the Constitution out. Both Republicans and Democrats supported the unconstitutional wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and though Obama and the Democrats in power said they would end these wars, they have only sent more troops to Afghanistan. Both parties support unconstitutional programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and bloated bureaucracies like the Department of Education, the Securities Exchange Commission and the Department of Energy, to list a few.

The most disgusting offense is the support by both parties of the coercive bank cartel that has been given a monopoly over creating dollars, the Federal Reserve.

The founders of this country had a simple idea: freedom works. This idea is as true now as it was then. The chains must be reattached. Power-hungry politicians now have no restriction upon their power, and if this doesn’t change, the system will collapse.

Fortunately, there are groups who have held true to the Constitution no matter which party is in power. Campaign for Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty, which has a chapter on campus that will be celebrating Constitution Day on Thursday, have consistently defended liberty, freedom and the essence of our fine republic: the Constitution.