Civil Commitments: Necessary and Proper?
Las Monday the Supreme Court in United States v. Comstock, held that Congress has the power under the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution to enact 18 U.S.C. § 4248. Section 4248 authorizes court-ordered civil commitment by the federal government of two categories of “sexually dangerous” persons: (1) “sexually [...]
DC is Busy
But not on anything you would expect from a government adhering to the Constitution. Healthcare, financial markets, petroleum exploration and extraction, economic activity, immigration, national ID cards, cap and trade, smoking, transfats & salt, CAFE; gun control, taxes, price controls on labor, electricity, and banking. The list goes on. No matter how well intentioned, there [...]
“General Welfare” Does Not Include National Healthcare
Some good insight from Dr. Harold Pease of CA-TAC: here are many less well-known facts to keep in mind as you review Section 8. Convention delegates curiously placed every power in one sentence with 18 paragraphs. This strange construction was to make it even more difficult for future power grabbers to isolate and enhance a [...]
Immigration: Who Should Be In Charge?
In light of the Arizona immigration bill just signed into law, I’ve had some thoughts about this whole issue. And grant me this: I’m no lawyer, but I am a thinker…and I can read. Hang with me as I chew this over. Columnist Patrick J. Buchanan has a column in “Human Events” entitled Whose Country [...]
The Boehner Question
I’ve heard from a number of people this week what a great Constitutionalist John Boehner is. My first thought is my normal reaction – if they’re in D.C., odds are 434-1 against them being a strict supporter of the Constitution. So what’s the big deal about J.B.? Well, yesterday he held a press conference in [...]
A Living Document Discussion
a very level headed argument on why the actual powers listed in the constitution are all the federal government actually has.
Unconstitutional on its Face
Considering all of the legal ambiguity over national healthcare, not only is such a legal challenge necessary, it was fully expected by even Congress’s most ardent supporters of national healthcare because they knew they were wading into unchartered constitutional waters from the moment they pressed the yes button. Congress may be able to tax and [...]
More Commerce Clause Clownery
Several months ago, I wrote a blog post titled, “Commerce Clause Gives Federal Government the Power to do Everything.” Whenever politicians are questioned about their totalitarian actions and asked what gives them the power to commence such actions, they have one standard response: the interstate commerce clause. This is the established response of politicians and [...]
Down with the DOE!
There are no teachers in the Federal Department of Education. This bureaucracy only takes resources from the education process. In Oregon, as a state we spend $9257/year per student on education. In addition, the Federal Govt. taxes the citizens of Oregon $1500/year, per student, of which it returns $1000 in the form of block grants. [...]
Tenth Amendment vs Healthcare
While attending a recent “Town Hall” meeting with my congressional representative I was offered the opportunity to ask the following question: Where in the Constitution does it authorize the federal government to regulate HEALTHCARE? The answer that I received, which is also the correct one…IT DOES NOT. Perhaps if people nationwide would ask their respective [...]
Selective Reading Of The Constitution
One favored method of dismissing the sovereignty of state governments is to quote the Supremacy Clause, saying that since the Constitution is the supreme law of the land that state laws are necessarily subordinate to federal law. The only problem with this reading is that they fail to read the entire Supremacy Clause. To remedy [...]
Public Education and the 10th Amendment
A local (really good) blog, Holly on the Hill, ran a piece two days ago about Utah’s 10th Amendment rights. Among the replies were some progressive thinkers not entirely enthusiastic about the efforts under way to restore Utah sovereignty (shock). One, who goes by initials JBT, asked the following; I am asking the conservative readers of this [...]
Napolitano: Tenth Amendment Town Hall
Judge Andrew Napolitano Texas Conservative Coalition 10th Amendment Town Hall.
Scott Brown’s Scorecard: 0 for 1.
Off to an unconstitutional start. Not surprising, but I wonder how commonplace this is going to be for the new “maverick” in the Senate. A modest job-creation bill advanced in the U.S. Senate on Monday as the chamber’s newest Republican bucked his party and sided with Democrats on a $15 billion package of tax cuts [...]
Massachusetts Says Federal Marriage Law Unconstitutional
From the Associated Press: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman interferes with her state’s right to regulate the institution. Coakley’s office filed a lawsuit in July challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In papers filed late Thursday, Coakley asks [...]
An Open Letter To Nancy Pelosi
Representative Pelosi, I heard you on the news laugh at a reporter when he asked the question “Where in the constitution does the congress have the authority to control healthcare in America.” So I thought I should ask you: “What are the powers granted under the Constitution as you read it?” Better yet, (because I [...]
Control of schools should be in local hands, not federal
Virginia Foxx, who represents the 5th Congressional District of North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives, is on the right track on education and the 10th Amendment: The federal government’s involvement in education illustrates what happens when Washington gets too big. First, let’s have a show of hands. How many teachers and parents love [...]
Enumerated Powers Act: A Step in the Right Direction
EDITOR’S NOTE: To support the Enumerated Powers Act, please visit our friends over at DownsizeDC – click here My attention was recently drawn to some good news. Though it’s not the first time it has been proposed, I can’t remember seeing such support for the Enumerated Powers Act in the past. Today, the senate version [...]
Colossal Ignorance
This post is inspired by the continual misunderstanding of the “General Welfare” clause of the U.S. Constitution. This is one of the most misunderstood parts of the Constitution. Most statists think this phrase gives the Federal Government carte blanche to spend money on anything that may be good for anyone in the U.S. Stating it [...]
Jeff Perry on the 10th Amendment
Massachusetts State Legislator Jeff Perry on the principles of the Constitution as codified in law under the 10th Amendment.
Medical Marijuana and Constitutional Confusion in Virginia
From CBS affiliate WTVR.com in Richmond: Delegate Harvey Morgan, a Republican from the 98th district, is introducing legislation that would give more patients access to medical marijuana, as long as they had a doctor’s prescription. This could be another positive step toward ending decades of incredibly costly and embarrassingly futile prohibition efforts, at least in [...]
Reserved to the States or the People
Mike Lee is a candidate for Senate in Utah. While I don’t know if I could ever go along with his “hug a legislator” idea (jokingly, of course), he certainly does a pretty good job of explaining the basics of the 10th here.
