About the Constitution

At Townhall.com Dr. Walter E. Williams has an excellent column titled "Political Loathsomeness" that has some thought-provoking comments about how well we Americans follow our Constitution.

It's very clear to me that politicians and judges have stretched the meaning of the Constitution out of all recognition. All the handouts and all the bureaucracy are so far from being authorized by the Constitution that it is ridiculous that we citizens have allowed this to happen. Now, of course, so many people get some sort of a handout (paid for by other people's hard-earned money) that they don't want government largesse to stop. As Dr. Williams says:

Most of what Congress is constitutionally authorized to spend for is listed in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and includes: coining money, establish Post Offices, to support Armies and a few other activities. Today's federal budget is over $3 trillion dollars. I challenge anyone to find specific constitutional authority for at least $2 trillion of it. That includes Social Security, Medicare, farm and business handouts, education, prescription drugs and a host of other federal expenditures. Americans who have become accustomed to living at the expense of another American would not want Congress to obey the Constitution, especially if it left out their favorite handout.

He also says:

At one time there were presidents who respected the Constitution. Grover Cleveland vetoed hundreds of spending measures during his two-term presidency, often saying, "I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution." Then there was Franklin Pierce who said, after vetoing an appropriation to assist the mentally ill, "I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for public charity," adding, "To approve such spending would be contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution and subversive to the whole theory upon which the Union of these States is founded."

Do you suppose we will ever again have a president or congressmen or judges who have such respect for the Constitution? I would certainly like to think so. A lot of it is up to the citizens of the United States of America. We vote. We contact our elected officials frequently. We educate our children (the schools aren't doing it) about the Constitution and what government is supposed to be.

Comments?