When what became known as the Constitutional Convention ended, the resulting document was an astounding piece of work. The experiment of self-governance, not via family nobility, nor military might, began. The US Constitution describes the structure of our government—three co-equal branches (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial)—and most of the details of those branches. How many of each Legislative office, length of terms, and so on. But, IMHO, the most amazing aspect of that document is the attempt to limit the scope of the Federal government. Let’s dig.
Article 1 of the Constitution defines the Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—and the rules under which each house operates. Section 8 of Article 1 specifically delineates the powers of Congress:
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;–And
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.”
Now, several of these clauses have been ‘adjusted’ over time: we now have standing Army, Navy, and other military branches, rather than calling forth a new militia as needed.
The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. Every one of those Amendments limits what Congress can do—not the States, not the People. Notice the form of each: “Congress shall make no law…”, “shall not be infringed’, “shall not be violated”. That is specific language, expressly limiting what laws Congress can pass.
The Constitutional Convention happened because of the complete failure of the Articles of Confederation, which allowed for a VERY weak Federal government. So the balancing act was between State autonomy and a Federal governing presence. The Federalist vs Anti-Federalist battle was a real conflict. It slept a bit during Washington’s term as President, but re-ignited during the 1800 election. And it really hasn’t gone away, although the Civil War seemed to cement the Federalist position.
Note that I am not mentioning the States at all. States should be free to experiment with whatever level of taxation and benefits that the citizens of that State wish to pursue. If I live in a State that does not align with my values, I am free to decide for myself if I stay or leave. But the size and scope of the FEDERAL government has exploded exponentially, since 1913 (Income Tax), thru 1930s (New Deal), thru 1964 (Medicare/Medicaid), all the way thru 2010 (Obamacare). Don’t like it? You’d need to leave the entire country. And I think a legal case could be made for ALL of these programs exceed Congressional authority.
Now for the direct question of this writing: how much power do we WANT Congress to have? By everything referenced above, Congress was to be limited to writing laws within the specific ‘enumerated powers’. Yet today, Congress routinely writes laws far outside of that original scope. Social Security, Welfare (part of the Social Security Act), Obamacare, minimum wage laws, any law regarding commerce within a State, are all laws written by Congress that exceed the original limits of Article 1. And most of the Bill of Rights is under stress by current or proposed legislation, be it ‘hate speech’, restrictions on gun ownership, or stretching ‘search and seizure’ rules. But is this what the People want? Be careful here. As the famous quote states, “Any government that can give you anything you want can take anything you have.”
