The Constitution is Read in the House

In one of the most meaningless, feel-good measures ever, those who have betrayed our trust and violated their oath, read the Constitution from beginning to end on the floor of the House this morning to kick off the 112th Congress.

You may ask, "What's wrong with reading the Constitution? Shouldn't our elected officials be reminded of what the document says?" The problem with reading the Constitution is most of the Congressmen, this isn't their first term in office. They should already know what the document says. Also, even though they should know the entire document, they should try to abide by Article I which deals with Congress (both House and Senate) and not pay lip service to it. In another worthless gesture, Speaker Boehner put in place some rules concerning the filing of bills. Each bill must include where in the Constitution they get the authority for the bill. Why am I skeptical? Whether it is a bill offered by a Democrat or Republican, they will cite one of three clauses; a) Commerce clause b) Welfare clause or c) Necessary and Proper clause. They will use the Commerce clause the most because they have been able to justify to the Supreme Court in any abstract way that almost all laws impact interstate commerce. The only ruling in recent years that I can think of was the domestic violence law that was passed in the '90s. Shockingly, the Supreme Court did actually strike that law down and said that it did not fall under the stated reasoning that was given why it fell under the Commerce clause.

Ever wonder why the federal government is involved in education? The abstract reasoning is that educated children will be able to get a job and will then be able to participate in interstate commerce. This is also why the federal ban on firearms in schools was passed. Congress claimed that if children worried about someone bringing a firearm (or any weapon) to school, they would have a harder time learning and would therefore not get as good of a job and would be less likely to participate fully in interstate commerce. In Dr. Kevin Gutzman's book "Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution" there are many examples of abuses that have been perpetrated on the document by the tyrants in D.C. Another great book is one that Dr. Gutzman co-authored with Dr. Thomas Woods called "Who Killed the Constitution." I have read both books as well as a number of other books on the founding and the founders. If you don't have time to do a lot of reading, Mike Church has made a few documentaries on the Declaration of Independence, the time between the Declaration and the Constitution, and the writing and ratifying of the Constitution. All three are audio documentaries and the last one also comes as a DVD.

If we could get Congress to do more than pay lip service to the Constitution, we would be on the road to restoring our liberties.

Thomas Paine said in "Common Sense" in 1776, "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one;..."

You be the judge as to what point we are at in regards to government and evil. Are we closer to the necessary evil or the intolerable evil? The answer to that question depends on whether you are comfortable with a larger or smaller government. My answer to my own question may be obvious to those who know me but for those who don't know me very well, I am of the opinion that we are dangerously close to government being an intolerable evil. In some respects, the federal government has passed the point of being an intolerable evil and some of the State governments are toeing the line of being an intolerable evil too. Until more people start to view the government as oppressive, people like me will have to do all we can to educate those around us to come to our side.