The Government Was Great

Until We Broke it

Welcome, my dear readers, once again into the asylum. There has been much talk in support of and against all these tariffs, all the deportations, and everything else that Trump is doing. In all honesty, the biggest surprise should be that he could do almost any of these things by executive order. Just looking at the creation of a tariff or tax without Congress passing a law should be impossible (Since they are supposed to be the ones to do that. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1). Then, I read this (here). The ability to wage war, make criminal law, and other things, Congress has essentially delegated its power to the executive branch. While I am sure it is more efficient, it is also totally un-American and makes a farce out of the Constitution. It is truly terrifying how much power the executive branch wields just because Congress wanted to offload the work.

Long-time readers will know that I attribute most of America’s major issues to fiat currency and its debasement (all fiat has been debased every time it has been tried throughout history), and that remains true. The thing is, if we hadn’t broken the nearly perfect Republic our founders gave us, we probably wouldn’t have ended up with a fiat currency, or at least not in the way we did. There are several points in history where one might say this is where we started breaking the republic. I like the Civil War period because prior to that and the 14^th amendment that followed it, most people were of the belief that state membership in the Union (United States of America) was voluntary, and they could leave if they so choose. However, some argue that even after the Union became involuntary, the original balance of power that maintained freedom was still intact until 1913 and has just gotten worse since then. I think the solution is a little Civics 101 lesson to see if we can read our founding document and sus out for ourselves how our nation was intended to run and how it has been broken.

The Constitution is very clear as to the duties of each branch of the government and even the purpose of the separate chambers of Congress, but in the last 249 years we have seriously fucked it up. So, first let us read what Congress has the power to do from Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution (here):

Section 8: 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 Defence 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 Offences 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, dock-Yards 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.

These few things alone are all Congress is supposed to be able to do, these few things should only be Congresses to do. Congress has written so many open-ended laws directing agencies full of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to make laws along with criminal punishments that administrative law (laws made by unelected bureaucrats) outnumber by orders of magnitude. In 2020, there were almost 20

administrative laws created (by executive branch bureaucrats) to every law passed by the Congress (here). Some will argue that there are just too many things to manage for Congress to actually handle all the details, so they have to pass it off to the executive branch departments to handle the details. My answer is: Then, they are trying to manage far too many things.

Another major area where Congress has been totally remiss in its obligation and allowed the executive branch to hold power it should not is in regard to money. After having just suffered through the failure of the Continental currency, an early experiment with paper fiat currency (here), I cannot believe the wording of Clauses 6 and 7 are accidental. Congress is given the power to coin money and set the values of money in Clause 6, and it is linked directly to the power to set uniform weights and measures. Then in Clause 7, Congress is tasked with punishing counterfeiters of the securities and coins of the United States. This was understood for over a hundred years to mean that American money was denominated by fixed weights of metal. The value of American currency was set at $1 is an ounce of silver and $20 an ounce of

gold from the establishment of American currency until 1933. In 1933, FDR betrayed the American people by first forcing them to sell all their gold coins back to the federal government at $20 an ounce and once that was largely complete, by executive order (setting the value of money is a Congress thing), redefined an ounce of gold to $35 devaluing the paper notes he had just forced onto the American people by 75% overnight (here). What makes this bad on several levels is that the President doesn’t have the power to set the value of money. Congress does, but yet again, Congress decided to give the executive vastly more power with the Emergency Banking Act (here), allowing the President to take yet more power from Congress. Nixon would take great advantage of this usurped power of setting the value of the dollar just 38 years later when he effectively set the value of the dollar at zero, backing it only by faith and credit rather than gold.

While Congress did authorize military action in both Korea and Vietnam, in neither case did it declare war, as seems to be required by the Constitution. Then in 1973, they all but fully ceded yet another ability to the executive branch in the War Powers Act. This was passed because Congress felt like the office of the President had committed forces to Vietnam without appropriate Congressional approval. The answer was to formalize a process for the President to do this rather than impeach the ones who did it). This requires the President to tell Congress he has committed US forces into a conflict within two days of having done so and allows him to wage war for two months without congressional approval (It is stupid because having boots on the ground for 60 days essentially forces Congress to approve.) (here).

So, Congress has allowed the executive branch to set tariffs, control the currency, and make laws, as well as enforce them. There are other things as well, but these are the big ones. Now, let’s see what a President is supposed to do.

The executive branch, primarily the President, also has specific authority outlined in the Constitution in Article 2, Section 1 and 2 (here).

Section 1

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America….

Section 2

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

The President has executive power, meaning the power to execute laws passed by Congress. The President also has the ability to appoint heads of departments and other officers in the executive branch. This also allows him to direct their execution of congressionally passed laws because all of the executive authority is ultimately his. The President is commander of the Armed forces. There are some who interpret the “when called into actual service of the United States” to mean when war is declared and others who say this only pertains to the militia when called up. The President can give pardons, he can appoint people so long as the Senate agrees or has passed a resolution saying he can for lesser offices, and he can negotiate treaties as long as the Senate agrees. That is it. If we followed the Constitution, it wouldn’t matter much who the President was. Unfortunately, we don’t and haven’t for a long time. Since the Congress has granted executive offices the power to make law, levy taxes, and control the currency, unfortunately we have the king our founders feared. Seriously think about all the executive departments, from the environment, banking, military, investment, and scores of others all with the ability to make laws in narrow bands. The problem is, combined these bands become almost unlimited power to govern, invested in an office that was supposed to be little more than an administrator.

The only branch that hasn’t overstepped in any real way is the judicial. I know we are bombarded by accusations of Judges legislating from the bench and in most cases all that means is they ruled against the party making the accusation. The powers of the judiciary are as follows:

Section 2

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;--between a State and Citizens of another State;--between Citizens of different States;--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment; shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

The primary problem with the modern courts, especially at the Federal level, is partisanship where judges rule as their party wishes rather than by how the law dictates. This has been on full display during this era of Trump. In any case as it goes before a lower court, before any argument is heard, you know the outcome most of the time if you know the judge’s politics. If the judge is liberal, then the case will go against Trump, and if the judge is republican, then it will probably go in favor of Trump. Ultimately, these rulings are irrelevant because all or most of these cases are going to end up in the Supreme Court. I have been pleasantly surprised in that the Supreme Court has so far been ruling by law, with and against Trump depending. It is a small thing but gives one hope.

Like anything else bad the government has done, our slide into what could amount to a dictatorship (with all the power bestowed on the executive) has been gradual. It started when Lincoln, with no more pure motive than not letting the South leave, made the Constitution a suicide pact. I have pointed out before that early in the Civil War, writing to Horace Greeley in response to his letter demanding that abolition of slaves be made a paramount issue (this is a solid indication that abolition of slavery wasn’t an original goal of the Civil War), Lincoln responded stating that his goal was to reunite the union, and he was willing to do anything needed regarding slavery if it kept the South from going their own way. You can read his words yourself (here). There is much debate over if states could succeed prior to the Civil War and the 14^th Amendment and you can find quotes from founders supporting either position. I look at it a different way, our nation was founded by secession and the declaration (here) of that secession states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

In an interview with a Revolutionary War soldier, Captain Levi Preston, in 1843 who was 91 at the time (here), when asked why he fought his answer was this “What we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we always had governed ourselves, and we always meant to govern ourselves. They didn’t mean we should.” As such I cannot believe the founders intended any state be forced to remain in union with the others if they were no longer inclined to do so when the very officers who fought the war fought for self-determination. I think Lincoln was wrong even if his actions accidentally brought about some positive results, namely an end to slavery. His actions set the stage making it essentially impossible for states to resist federal power.

The second great error was the 17^th Amendment ratified in 1913 (possibly the worst year in American history). Prior to the 17^th Amendment there was a balance to federal authority. The interests of the people were represented by the House of Representatives in Congress, and the interests of the States were represented by the Senate because until 1913 senators were not elected by the people, but by the state governments. This is why representatives are apportioned by the population of a state, but senators are only granted two to a state. The idea was to give larger populations more representation while keeping all the states equal. The office of the President, with his veto power, was to represent the federal interest and the Courts were essentially the arbitrators and referees. Sadly, with the 17^th Amendment, the states were cut completely out of the federal government, reducing the Senate to the level of the house. It is really at this point where the Senate becomes beholden to the people rather than to their state that we see federal power being concentrated in the executive branch and state’s rights truly trampled under the federal heel. This is also the beginning of the government’s intrusion into every aspect of our daily lives. Largely because laws like Real ID, The Patriot Act, and others became impossible for states to oppose or prevent. It is also because regular people are stupid and vote for pretty lies so they don’t have to accept hard truths. We had a great system of government until we broke it.

2 Corinthians 3:17

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

God bless you

-Sam