Lord Long Rod
Diamond Member
- Jan 17, 2023
- 7,706
- 8,122
- 2,138
- Banned
- #1
MYTH 1 - Government is Here to Help People
No. The federal government has a role in our republic that is defined by the Constitution. It should foster things like economic prosperity by assisting The People exercise their civil rights and liberties. Fostering prosperity and providing national defense, for example, does “help” people in that it gives them opportunity to find work and generate wealth. But that is the extent the government exists to “help people”. “Helping people” generally is far too broad of an objective for any government to be charged with. Moreover, it is not in the constitution.
MYTH 2 - “Negative Rights”
The powers of our federal government are enumerated, meaning that unless the constitution grants a particular branch of government a particular power, they DO NOT have that power. Period. This is the whole reason we have enumerated rights in the first place.
Some misguided people claim that if the constitution does not prohibit government from doing some thing, then it is authorized to do it. Thereby, government can create non(un-) constitutional rights so long as not prohibited by the constitution. This is not true. This flies in the face of the stated intent of the Framers of creating a charter that limits government powers and the very reason government powers are enumerated. The constitution is a limiting document. Things like welfare payments and subsidizing select industries are extra-constitutional and, therefore, unconstitutional.
MYTH 3 - The Federal Government Can Choose Which Laws to Enforce and Which Laws They Will Not Enforce
This is directed at the executive branch, and is best demonstrated by the express delegation of immigration enforcement. Obama started our current unconstitutional downward spiral with the DACA program whereby he unilaterally decided that he would not enforce federal immigration law for a certain group of illegal immigrants. Today, the non-enforcement of federal immigration law had expanded to all illegal immigrants, Border regulation and national security are expressly made the duty of the federal government. They must do these things. Otherwise, they are committing nonfeasance.
MYTH 4 - America is a Democracy
We are a constitutional republic that employs a limited form of democracy. Our founding document clearly evidences an intent to protect minority rights from the tyranny of the majority. In fact, it goes to great lengths to do this. One such example is the electoral college. Another example is the Bill of Rights. These limitations are intended to prevent majority rule, which is tyranny by mob rule. These limitations run contra “democracy”.
Many people are crying about democracy these days without really understanding what that means. American democracy is defined by the constitution. Period. What YOU otherwise think “democracy” means is irrelevant.
MYTH 5 - The President Can Use Executive Orders to Make Policy
No. Anything done by the president must be in furtherance of (1) his constitutional duties, or (2) a law passed by Congress and signed by him. Let’s take Obama’s illegal DACA order. The President does not have the power to unilaterally effect a change in the substance of immigration law. That requires Congress. In this vein, prosecutorial discretion is not a basis for making a substantive change in law either. For a man who calls himself a constitutional scholar, Obama’s DACA EO suggests that he has never studied the American constitution.
Public policy is set by Congress, except for certain limited areas where a president has express authorities and duties to do so as set forth in his constitutional duties (e.g., military action, foreign affairs, etc…). The “I gots me a pen and a phone” theory of presidential authority is not constitutional. It is tribal nonsense.
No. The federal government has a role in our republic that is defined by the Constitution. It should foster things like economic prosperity by assisting The People exercise their civil rights and liberties. Fostering prosperity and providing national defense, for example, does “help” people in that it gives them opportunity to find work and generate wealth. But that is the extent the government exists to “help people”. “Helping people” generally is far too broad of an objective for any government to be charged with. Moreover, it is not in the constitution.
MYTH 2 - “Negative Rights”
The powers of our federal government are enumerated, meaning that unless the constitution grants a particular branch of government a particular power, they DO NOT have that power. Period. This is the whole reason we have enumerated rights in the first place.
Some misguided people claim that if the constitution does not prohibit government from doing some thing, then it is authorized to do it. Thereby, government can create non(un-) constitutional rights so long as not prohibited by the constitution. This is not true. This flies in the face of the stated intent of the Framers of creating a charter that limits government powers and the very reason government powers are enumerated. The constitution is a limiting document. Things like welfare payments and subsidizing select industries are extra-constitutional and, therefore, unconstitutional.
MYTH 3 - The Federal Government Can Choose Which Laws to Enforce and Which Laws They Will Not Enforce
This is directed at the executive branch, and is best demonstrated by the express delegation of immigration enforcement. Obama started our current unconstitutional downward spiral with the DACA program whereby he unilaterally decided that he would not enforce federal immigration law for a certain group of illegal immigrants. Today, the non-enforcement of federal immigration law had expanded to all illegal immigrants, Border regulation and national security are expressly made the duty of the federal government. They must do these things. Otherwise, they are committing nonfeasance.
MYTH 4 - America is a Democracy
We are a constitutional republic that employs a limited form of democracy. Our founding document clearly evidences an intent to protect minority rights from the tyranny of the majority. In fact, it goes to great lengths to do this. One such example is the electoral college. Another example is the Bill of Rights. These limitations are intended to prevent majority rule, which is tyranny by mob rule. These limitations run contra “democracy”.
Many people are crying about democracy these days without really understanding what that means. American democracy is defined by the constitution. Period. What YOU otherwise think “democracy” means is irrelevant.
MYTH 5 - The President Can Use Executive Orders to Make Policy
No. Anything done by the president must be in furtherance of (1) his constitutional duties, or (2) a law passed by Congress and signed by him. Let’s take Obama’s illegal DACA order. The President does not have the power to unilaterally effect a change in the substance of immigration law. That requires Congress. In this vein, prosecutorial discretion is not a basis for making a substantive change in law either. For a man who calls himself a constitutional scholar, Obama’s DACA EO suggests that he has never studied the American constitution.
Public policy is set by Congress, except for certain limited areas where a president has express authorities and duties to do so as set forth in his constitutional duties (e.g., military action, foreign affairs, etc…). The “I gots me a pen and a phone” theory of presidential authority is not constitutional. It is tribal nonsense.
