THE FABRIC OF AMERICA: THE CONSTITUTION – A MISUNDERSTOOD DOCUMENT

On the first Sunday of each month, our church has a testimony meeting where people can stand and express their religious convictions. On July 4th, many people expressed their appreciation of the Constitution. The only problem was that no one seemed to know what the constitution was about.

I have a very large illustrated version of the constitution on the wall of my office where I can
see it often. So let me tell you a few things you may not know about the Constitution.

The Constitution is not a document to govern us. It is not a document that tells us what the government should do. Rather, it tells us what the government can’t do. Its main purpose was to
express limitations of government.

The Founders had King George in mind, so they set up the Constitution to be limitations on the government by dividing it into three separate branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Each
had limitations on the power of the other divisions.

If you really support the Constitution, you will support the limitations. The thing that bothers me about the Obama Administration is that they are breaking down the limitations and the Executive branch is assuming many of the functions of the Legislative and Judicial sections of government.

Actually, they are ignoring many of the provisions of the Constitution and assuming power that doesn’t belong to them. I understand that Obama taught Constitutional Law when he was a professor, but it is obvious that he doesn’t really understand it, or doesn’t care.

If we are going to defend the Constitution, we need to defend the tendency of each branch of government to expand its functions and maintain the protections that the Founders wisely put into it.

If we are supporting the Constitution, we should very much reduce the vast expansion of power that is being sought by the Executive Branch of government. It is assuming that it can do almost
anything without official limitations.

The Constitution is a precious document, but it can’t assume the limitations on government unless the people understand what it’s about. I’m afraid that for the most part, they don’t know.

My political battle is not against Republicans or Democrats. My battle would be against any party that is trying to expand their power by expanding the powers of whatever branch of the government they tend to dominate. Right now, it is the White House and the Legislature (the Congress).
My concern is that the Obama Administration doesn’t seem to understand those limitations, or doesn’t care, and is assuming powers that the Constitution has not granted.

 It has taken power away from the states, and court decisions have been made which became law which said that the Federal Government has power over the state governments. Actually, except when it comes to the Bill of Rights or rights granted to all people, that is not the case. The function of government is clearly defined, and most power is to reside in the states.

The most flagrant example of violation is when the government sued Arizona when it passed the legislation on immigration which imitated the federal legislation. It was a simple power struggle between the federal government and the state.

Whether you believe in that particular piece of legislation or not, it is clearly a power struggle
between the state and the federal government. We have to stand up for the states.

The struggle is in the courts which are supposedly going to decide this issue. Even that is just plain wrong because the courts cannot decide these battles. Of course I want them to favor the states, not because I approve of the legislation (which I do), but because the states have to win this power struggle.

When the national holiday celebrates the constitution, let’s be sure we defend the power and rights of the states and don’t allow the government to usurp these powers like King George did.