Trashing the Constitution: More “Change” from DC
Another informative and historical accurate article from the Tenth Amendment Center
The nature of government is to constantly grow and assume more and more power. What we have to realize is the more power the central government takes, the less we have. The Constitution is meant to “chain down” and slow the growth of government…but of course it can’t enforce it’s self.
This article goes on to point out how the various branches of government usurp power…by illegally amending the Constitution. Illegally? Yes.
"Article V of the US Constitution set out the manner in which the document is to be changed for societal/cultural/justice serving reasons. The text of this article reads:
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."
The Constitution lays out how it is to be changed and any other way is unconstitutional and barred. The article goes on to show how each branch has changed the Constitution.
Executive
The Executive Branch of the Federal Government has two ways in which it breaks the law, first is the “signing statement.” In this amendment the President signs a constitutional bill duly passed by both houses of Congress, and simply makes a statement as to how he plans on interpreting it to mean something completely different. This method has a long history of precedents, let me stress that even if the President’s plans would otherwise be in full compliance with the Constitution, it flies in the face of the Supremacy Clause for the President not to enforce legal statutes in the exact vein that they are passed (so long as they are legal). Another way the President violates the Constitution is though his cabinet. When the multitudes of cabinets make laws in the form of regulations, this is in violation of the separation of powers (Congress makes all laws).
Again it does not matter if the laws are otherwise in compliance with the Constitution or not, the very fact that the Executive Branch is legislating is the violation (amendment). While I am sure there are many other ways the Executive Branch changes the Constitution, this is a good example of what I am talking about.
Legislative
The legislative bodies change the Constitution whenever they pass laws which are direct contraventions of the Constitution. Alarmingly, I recently heard some federal legislators mention that you cannot make a constitutional argument in Congress anymore. That is to say when a bill is debated, there is no longer any consideration or mention of the legality or constitutionality of the bill. They also change the Constitution when they delegate their constitutionally mandated roles outside the legislative branch (think coining money and declaring war).
Judicial
The Judicial branch may be the most profligate abuser of the Constitution in that the concept of “Judicial review” established with Marbury Vs Madison is unconstitutional. Remember, changing the way the Constitution is interpreted from original intent is an amendment (and requires an action under Article V of the Constitution). Let me justify that for a minute. Any contract such as the Constitution is binding on all parties involved. No reasonable legislative body (such as the ratification councils of the states prior to the ratification) would sign a contract (especially one of such import) in which the meaning of words could change significantly over time- thus, textual-ism and legal precedent are both illegal means of interpretation of the Constitution, and for actions justified under such regimes to be legal, amendments would have to be passed for each “change.”
So what to do?
There are a couple of ways in a federalist system to stop the three branches of the government from changing the Constitution. The most effective is nullification. With this method, the state governments simply pass a law that states the federal law in question is unconstitutional, and makes its enforcement within the state limits a crime...The state must stand firm, as the Supreme Court will undoubtedly rule against them. But as Madison said- The Federal Government was not made the final arbiter of their own power, as that would make their judgment, and not the constitution, the law of the land. There is a common-law concept which states; In a contest between two laws that are equal, the one passed most recently takes priority.
Thus, the Tenth Amendment takes priority in these cases the powers not enumerated to the federal government, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states and the people. This puts the law on the side of the state government in most cases.
We as sovereign citizens of each state have a very powerful and constitutional way to check the growth of the central government...we just need to reclaim it.
NULLIFICATION
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