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As the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.
Consider, for example, the assertion by the Senate minority leader last week that the House could not take up a plan by Senate Democrats to extend tax cuts on households making $250,000 or less because the Constitution requires that revenue measures originate in the lower chamber. Why should anyone care? Why should a lame-duck House, 27 members of which were defeated for re-election, have a stranglehold on our economy? Why does a grotesquely malapportioned Senate get to decide the nation’s fate?
Our obsession with the Constitution has saddled us with a dysfunctional political system, kept us from debating the merits of divisive issues and inflamed our public discourse. Instead of arguing about what is to be done, we argue about what James Madison might have wanted done 225 years ago.
As someone who has taught constitutional law for almost 40 years, I am ashamed it took me so long to see how bizarre all this is. Imagine that after careful study a government official — say, the president or one of the party leaders in Congress — reaches a considered judgment that a particular course of action is best for the country. Suddenly, someone bursts into the room with new information: a group of white propertied men who have been dead for two centuries, knew nothing of our present situation, acted illegally under existing law and thought it was fine to own slaves might have disagreed with this course of action. Is it even remotely rational that the official should change his or her mind because of this divination?
Constitutional disobedience may seem radical, but it is as old as the Republic. In fact, the Constitution itself was born of constitutional disobedience. When George Washington and the other framers went to Philadelphia in 1787, they were instructed to suggest amendments to the Articles of Confederation, which would have had to be ratified by the legislatures of all 13 states. Instead, in violation of their mandate, they abandoned the Articles, wrote a new Constitution and provided that it would take effect after ratification by only nine states, and by conventions in those states rather than the state legislatures.
No sooner was the Constitution in place than our leaders began ignoring it. John Adams supported the Alien and Sedition Acts, which violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech. Thomas Jefferson thought every constitution should expire after a single generation. He believed the most consequential act of his presidency — the purchase of the Louisiana Territory — exceeded his constitutional powers.
"Doug Giles and his team over at ClashDaily.com cut through the crap to expose what have become modern day human slaughter houses: gun free zones. Their candid arguments about allowing teachers to protect themselves and the students in their care through concealed carry should be taken seriously. As a result maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to save some lives someday rather than call the cops to report the body count." - Katie Pavlich. News Editor,Townhall.com and NYT's Best-selling Author, Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and Its Shameless Cover-Up
"There were many lessons to draw from the horrific Newtown, CT school shooting. Unfortunately, most of the media and political Left came up with the wrong ones. But not Doug Giles and his writers over at ClashDaily.com. In the wake of this horror, they offered a robust defense of American citizens' right to bear arms and common sense answers to societal violence. The Sandy Hook Massacre: When Seconds Count, the Police are Minutes Away is a great resource for those interested in this vital, Constitutional issue." - S.E. Cupp, MSNBC Host and The Blaze Contributor
