The Problem with the Journey to Constitution Restoration

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Good News: Americans are Demanding a return to the original principles of the United States Constitution.

Bad News: We really seem to have no idea how to do it.

In the image here's the plan presented:

1. No bill is to exceed 10 pages.

2. All bills are to be accompanied by the Constitutional Article authorizing said bill.

3. No content in the bill that does not pertain to the title of the bill.

4. All bills are to be written in laymen's terms and posted online for seven days prior to the introduction on the floor.

5. All bills requiring expenditures must disclose total costs, how the bill will be funded, who the beneficiaries are, who will pay, and a sunset date.

Let's go over this plan.

1. No bill is to exceed 10 pages. Very Jeffersonian. "It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood."  But, there are bills, unfortunately, to make sure all legal barriers are tended to, and all legal challenges are provided a protection regarding, that must be in excess of ten pages.  The desire behind the demand is valid, but the demand as presented is undoable.

2. All bills are to be accompanied by the Constitutional Article authorizing said bill.  The problem is that the top two constitutionality claims by those who propose bills is the Commerce Clause or the General Welfare Clause, both of which have been greatly misinterpreted and misapplied.  Before we get them to claim constitutionality, we better make sure their understanding of constitutionality is accurate in the first place.  A valid demand, but it requires educational upheaval regarding the Constitution, first.

3. No content in the bill that does not pertain to the title of the bill.  Valid, even though it would be sliced and diced by the lawyers in office, but a very valid demand.  And the title and summary not really being what a bill or proposal is about is not just a congressional word magic game played at the federal level, it happens at the State and local levels, as well.  I suppose another way of putting it is that we simply want truth in advertising when it comes to the proposals.  No more, "Save the Children Act" for heavier regulations regarding _______________ (fill in the blank) that government bodies have no authority to be messing with in the first place.  Valid, and it may be enforceable.  But, we would need a constitutional amendment, and there's no way Congress would propose that amendment, hence, the need for an Article V. Convention.

4. All bills are to be written in laymen's terms and posted online for seven days prior to the introduction on the floor.  Laymen's terms?  That alone is an item that can be debated for years.  Would not the definition of "laymen's terms" be relative?  The level of understanding among the various citizens of the United States varies, does it not?  I get it, we are tired of legalese, but I don't know if this one quite does the job as a demand.  As for posting, they are posted and available for a while before they reach the floor for a vote while they are working their way through the committees.  As for being available to be looked at prior to introduction on the floor, bills begin as a file, and are online and available typically for a while before completely in full form and ready for introduction to the floor.  Remember, bills begin as files, and in most cases files are published before become a full-fledged bill.

5. All bills requiring expenditures must disclose total costs, how the bill will be funded, who the beneficiaries are, who will pay, and a sunset date.  Again, while a valid demand, the word magic is easy to perform.  Interestingly, the Constitution demands transparency, but they ignore that.  The question is not what they need to be doing, it is figuring out how to make it come to be.  As for how something is to be funded, should we not first get back to the beginning and make sure the request is constitutional in the first place?  Do that, and #5 is not necessary.

The image of the sign on the back of the red truck is a good one, thank you to the emailer who sent it, but our situation cannot be resolved by a simple list of five items.  Before anything will work properly the first steps are:

• A full understanding of original constitutional principles.
• Adherence to the enumeration doctrine.
• A return of the various mechanisms that make us a republic (largely, State Legislature oversight over the operations of the federal government).

The last one would begin with repealing the Federal Reserve Act, and the 16th and 17th Amendments.  Until those things happen, nothing else will follow.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary