IT'S UP TO US: We Must READ & Enforce the Constitution

Though I know for some of you my focus on the Constitution today has been a bit tedious, for our own good I feel hopelessly compelled to inflict that tedium upon you. Once we all better understand the basics, void of modern lawyerly spin and misinterpretation, I believe we will more clearly understand how far afield we've strayed from our foundational principles. With knowledge comes power, but, of course, only if we exercise that power. OK. So, here's a chart kindly prepared by Huldah which you should copy and prominently scotch tape to your desk. Then, as legislative proposals or acts and judicial edicts are forthcoming, test the constitutionality of those acts and edicts against this chart. You can also photocopy Art I, Art II and Art III and do the same. This is really all you need to differentiate between that which is lawful and that which is not. The important thing is that we not stop at attacking the symptoms of our national sickness, but that we proceed to the cause itself which, in nearly all cases, stems from our ignorance of or deliberate faithlessness to our founding documents. So, here's the chart. Master this and you've completed Constitution 101 and probably 201 as well.. But, finally, read the Constitution!! Keep a pocket Constitution close at hand. (I carry 3, one in my car, one in my jacket, one in my briefcase.) The Constitution isn't rocket science, though lawyers, politicians and other obfuscators would want you to believe otherwise:

Our Declaration of Independence says Rights come
from God. To secure those Rights, we established
the Constitution for the United States of America
wherein we created the federal gov’t: an alliance of
sovereign States associated in a “federation” for the limited purposes expressly enumerated in the Constitution.

Fed gov’t of 3 branches: Legislative, Executive &
Judicial:

1. Has lawful power only over these Art II objects
(for the Country at large):
 International trade & diplomacy
 War – national defense
 Make Treaties, but only on objects authorized
by Constitution!
 Establish uniform commercial system:
o weights & measures
o patents & copyrights
o money system (gold & silver)
o bankruptcy laws
o mail delivery & some road building
 Laws on naturalization & immigration
 Certain civil rights (in the Amendments)
 Make & enforce only a few criminal laws
 Federal courts for specific purposes only
 Miscellaneous “housekeeping”: census, etc.
 May borrow money & levy taxes, but only for
purposes authorized by Constitution!

2. God given Rights secured by federal gov’t:
 Life: military, pirates, traitors, secure borders
 Property rights: honest money, weights &
measures, patents & copyrights, bankruptcy law
 Limited & enumerated powers secure right to
be left alone!
 Fair trials in federal courts: Dt 1:16-17; Dt
19:15-20 & Mt18:16; Ex 18:13-26; don’t bear
false witness; 5th- 8th Amendments

The States or the People:

1. Retain all powers except those delegated exclusively
to fed gov’t or prohibited to the States by Art. I, § 10:
 Federalist Paper No. 45 (3rd para from end) by
James Madison, Father of our Constitution:

(“The powers delegated by the proposed
Constitution to the federal government are few
and defined. Those which are to remain in the
State governments are numerous and indefinite.
The former will be exercised principally on
external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and
foreign commerce … the powers reserved to the
several States will extend to all the objects which
… concern the lives, liberties, and properties of
the people, and the internal order …and prosperity
of the State.”)

 Tenth Amendment.

2. State gov’ts secure rights God demands that gov’ts
honor (e.g., fair trials) & protect us from those who
seek to deprive us of God given rights. E.g.,
 Life: prosecute murderers, ban abortion,
euthanasia, drunk driving; quarantines for
dangerous diseases, etc.
 Sanctity of our persons: prosecute rapists,
muggers, kidnappers, child molesters, etc.
 Property rights: prosecute robbers; punish
negligence, fraud, & breach of contract; courts
available for dispute resolution; etc.

The fed gov’t. & State gov’ts. have different spheres of operation. The fed govt. is “supreme” only in those few &
enumerated powers delegated exclusively to it. The States or the People retain supremacy in all other matters, whether expressed or implied. When the fed gov’t. usurps powers retained by the States or the People, it becomes unlawful & illegitimate, in which case Nullification is the “rightful remedy”.