Is it constitutional?

I'm no attorney nor have I ever played one on TV but ..........

When the U.S. Constitution was written the authors, I'm sure, never imagined it would apply to a group of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Like it or not it does. And some of us out here have read it. Apparently that's not the case for many on the left side of the aisle in congress. And it's certainly not the case for the guy sitting in the oval office.

Article 1, Section 8 of our governing document, the constitution, defines the rules under which the congress must operate. It stipulates what the congress (the house and senate) may do. It does not dictate what they may not do. That was dealt with later and I'll get to that in a bit.

Section 8 begins with: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"

If you've been paying attention to what's going on right now under the guise of "health care reform" I'm sure you'll realize that the special deals (bribes) offered to select members of the congress to get a yes vote from them violate idea that all "duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States".

Section 8 goes on to lay down more rules for lawmaking by the congress such as:

"1. To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

2. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

3. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

4. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

5. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;"

6. To establish post offices and post roads;

7. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

8. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

9. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

10. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

11. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

12. To provide and maintain a navy;

13. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

14. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

15. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

16. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And

17. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof."

These 17 items are the duties of the United States government.

Following the ratification of the original constitution it soon became obvious some things had been missed. The document specifically laid down what the government was to do but not what it could not do. Ten amendments where therefore brought forth and ratified to place limits on the federal government.

These amendments became known as the "Bill of Rights" and are as follows:

"Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

Many of these "rights" are familiar to the people of this country. What is not so familiar, it would seem, is the tenth amendment. It is in this amendment that it is made completely clear what the federal government may not do. If a governmental duty is not specifically allowed in the constitution such duty, as deemed necessaary, shall be a duty of the states or the people. But not the federal government.

Why am I bothering with this? Simple. A crisis is occuring in our country. A far-left radical executive and legislative branch has been elected. These people are, for one, trying to take over one-sixth of the American economy by passing a radical (sorry for the overuse of the word radical but if it quacks like a duck ... ) "health care reform" bill. These people seem to feel that the citizens of this great country have a "right" to health insurance and are setting course for a disasterous government-run system.

So I ask you. Do you see anything in the 17 duties of the government spelled out so plainly in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution that can be construed to granting the federal government the power to do such a thing? Are they trying to create a Navy? Coin money? Establish a Post Office (heaven help us all)? No. They are not trying to do anything they have been granted the duty to do. It ain't in there.

There was a time when lawmakers understood their limits. Take for instance their desire to tax income. Was that allowed by the constitution or any subsequent amendment? No it was not. They did the right thing. At least legally. Many of us are not sure it was "right" but at least it was "legal". The 16th Amendment was therefore ratified making it legal to collect tax on incomes. It is interesting to note the proponents of this idea were talking about a 1% tax. Yeah and medicare is going to cost a few million dollars a year.

As the subsequent years passed things happened to our country that were very damaging and unexpected. An example would be the "Great Depression". During that time lawmakers and the chief executive thought it would be possible to legislate their way out of the economic downturn that had beset the country. They began to pass legislation aimed at that goal at a fast and furious pace. Initially there were constitutional challenges to much of it. The challengers eventually threw in the towel given the amount of work involved. It was just too hard.

The floodgates had been thrown open. Today we are faced with another regime who believe that it is possible to legislate our way out of a recession. Nothing could be further from the truth nor is it constitutional to do what they are doing. Bailing out banks, taking over car companies and other such activities cannot be justified when a complete examination of their rules of operation, the constitution, has been achieved. Yet they continue. They want to take money from our pockets and build cars, run banks, give away health insurance and a list of other things too long to list one by one.

On top of this I now find out as I write this the House of Representatives is inventing a way to pass "health care reform" without actually voting on it. Stay tuned. If they do this "Watergate" will pale by comparison.