Federal Operating Assumptions

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The federal government operates under the assumption that if the federal government does not perform an activity, mandate an activity, or regulate an activity, nothing will get done, and our civil society is destined for ruin.  The illusion of federal salvation, and the wisdom of a wise ruling elite, drives these people to do more and more, expanding government infinitely, until finally the unsustainability of the whole operation finally catches up with the operating functionality, and everything collapses into chaos. . . until the next "ruling class" emerges to force their way into the royal seats of yet another emerging oligarchy.

The self-defined authority the federal government uses to support their theory that all things by the central government are necessary, good, and rules over all other things is the Supremacy Clause.  Statists have perpetuated the myth that all federal laws and all federal actions are the supreme law of the land, therefore placing all federal policies above all State and local policies, making the federal government the ultimate authority on all matters.  We see this misuse of federal power in play at all levels, and we, as Americans, have been taught this idiotic idea through the indoctrination system in place, since we could first comprehend the world around us.

But if an authority was not granted to the federal government, then how can any actions or laws regarding that unauthorized federal authority be the supreme law of the land?

In regards to the courts, we have been instructed that there is a particular hierarchy.  A step ladder to the top of ultimate authority.  A municipal court sits at the bottom.  If you don't like a ruling, you can appeal it to the next authority up the ladder at the county level.  Then the State courts, topped off by the State supreme court.  But what if you don't have satisfaction?  We are taught, then, if they are willing to lower themselves to hear your petty little case, that you can then appeal to the federal courts, moving up the appellate system, until finally the most powerful rulers of them all sit on their thrones, with their bodies draped in black robes, at the United States Supreme Court.

But, what if the case is regarding an issue that the federal government never received any authority regarding?  Should they even hear the case?  Should cases where the federal government has no authority regarding the issue ever go beyond the top of the ladder at the State level?

Again, the statists in the federal government operate under a premise of a structure of power, not authorities.  As far as they are concerned, there are no authorities that cannot be a part of the federal system, because the central government is the most powerful part of our tiered system of governments.  Besides, they will reason, even if some silly little citizen dared to challenge their dominance, there is always a judge's opinion somewhere to fall back on, or at worst, all they have to do is claim it is for the general welfare of the nation, and the authority, like a wish, is magically granted.

Except, that is not what the Founding Fathers originally intended.

Thomas Jefferson: “Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare but only those specifically enumerated.”

George Washington: “Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it.”

James Madison: “The Constitution of the United States was created by the people of the United States composing the respective states, who alone had the right.”

James Madison: “The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.”

James Madison: “You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

John Adams: “Power must never be trusted without a check.”

Thomas Jefferson: "In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

Samuel Adams: "The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it.  While, on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves."

George Washington: "Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of moral and religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice?

James Madison: "A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people."

James Madison: "The local or municipal authorities form distinct and independent portions of the supremacy, no more subject, within their respective spheres, to the general authority than the general authority is subject to them, within its own sphere."

James Madison: "We can safely rely on the disposition of state legislatures to erect barriers against the encroachment of the national authority."

Judge Henry Hudson: "But these regulatory powers, are triggered by some type of self-initiated action. Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market.  The unchecked expansion of congressional power to the limits suggested ...would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers" whereas "Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution confers upon Congress only discrete enumerated governmental powers."

In New York v. United States, the Court invalidated a provision in a bill that "coerced" states to comply with a federal radioactive waste-disposal regime, holding "[t]he Federal Government may not compel the States to enact or administer a federal regulatory program". New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144, 188 (1992).

James Madison: “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 in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.”

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary