By: Dale Weckbacher
Numbers 14:4
So they said to one
another,"Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."
NKJV
We all feel comfortable with a sure thing. For many of the Israelites, the sure thing
was returning to what they had in Egypt.
Of course this sure thing came at the cost of their liberty and meant
returning to the oppression of slavery.
However, as Numbers 14:4 tells us, many preferred the sure thing of
slavery in Egypt with its goodies to the uncertainty of placing their faith in
God to take them into the Promised Land.
The law making function in the United States
constitutionally resides in the legislative branch. This means that for any bill to become law it
must earn a majority of votes in the House of Representatives and due to the
cloture rules in the U.S. Senate, 60 percent of the votes in the Senate. (1) History has demonstrated the difficulty of
success in this process that often results in gridlock. However, gridlock is not necessarily bad for
it forces debate on the issues with all sides having a chance to present their
side of the issue. This safeguard is
precisely what the founders desired as a means of preventing the nation they
risked their lives to form from devolving into a tyranny similar to that in
England.
The judicial branch is another safeguard put in place as a
means of nullifying unconstitutional legislation that could make it through the
rigorous legislative process and be signed by the President. However, when judges have a political agenda
and rule based upon advancing that agenda instead of using the Constitution,
the result is rulings like Roe v. Wade, which went beyond judicial review (2) and in effect
created legislation that has resulted in the death of many unborn citizens (3) who never had an opportunity to contribute to
our society.
Unfortunately, an incremental executive power grab by
presidents through history has weakened and even removed many of these
safeguards. It seems that the fear of
the United States going down the road to tyranny is occurring. To stop the nation’s slide down this slippery
slope we must,
1)
Take power away from unelected agencies working
under the direction of the President – through the years Congress formed and
continues to fund agencies like OSHA and the EPA and gives them the power to
issue regulations with no accountability to voters. These numerous agencies answer only to the
President who often uses them to issue regulations advancing the president’s
agenda. These agencies start with a
noble mission such as promoting safer working conditions or a cleaner environment
but as they continue to grow, they lose sight of their original mission and
instead issue regulations in order to continue their existence. To disempower this bureaucracy we need
congressional oversight that requires the heads of each of these departments to
appear before the Congress each year to request continued funding. If they have accomplished their original
mission and are no longer necessary, Congress should disband the agency.
2)
Term limits for judges – The theory of giving
judges lifetime appointments was to prevent them from having to answer to
changing political agendas and instead rule based upon the constitutional rule
of law. (4) However, through history we have observed
that judges, especially Supreme Court Justices, begin to advance a political
agenda of their own knowing they are virtually immune to removal from
office. Term limits will insure new
blood routinely comes into the judicial process that must go through the rigorous
appointment and confirmation process.
3)
Using the Article 5 lifeboat when government is
out of control – Article 5 of the U.S. constitution is the article outlining
how to amend the Constitution. (5) Through the history of the United States,
Congress and the states have amended the constitution 27 times. All 27 of these amendments occurred using the
legislative process outlined in the first part of Article 5. However, the founders knew that a time might
come when the Federal Government became so large and out of control that the
United States Congress would never propose amendments curtailing its
power. As a safeguard against this
tyranny they also provided a means of amending the Constitution bypassing the
United States Congress through state legislatures calling for a convention of
states. Many mistakenly call this option
a constitutional convention but as we read Article 5, it is only an alternative
means of amending the already existing constitution and not the writing of a
new one. Constitutional conservative
author Mark Levin wrote a book entitled “The Liberty Amendments” in which he
explains the Article 5 convention of states process and proposes amendments
designed to reduce the intrusive power and scope of the Federal
Government. I strongly recommend
securing a copy of this great book and consider the need to utilize this option
at this moment in our nation’s history.
The definition of the Presidency of the United States has
changed from the head of one of the three co-equal branches of the government
to an all-powerful executive bordering on a tyrannical dictator and must be
reversed for failure to do this will mean the end of Constitutional
government. As we face another
presidential election, we have the sure thing of Hillary Clinton guaranteeing
the continued slide towards socialism and ever more powerful and intrusive
government. On the other side, we have
the uncertainty of Donald Trump. Granted,
as a Cruz supporter I would have preferred the sure thing of Constitutional
conservatism, which has worked whenever tried but with Cruz suspending his
campaign, we the voters will not have a viable conservative from which to
choose.
I therefore urge voters to go against the human nature of
the sure thing this election for that will only result in the loss of our
constitutional republic and instead take a chance on the uncertain prospect of
a Trump presidency for Trump, a professed dealmaker, is someone we as
conservatives will have an opportunity to deal with. The last thing the United States needs is a
return to the Egypt of tyranny from which the nation fought for its
freedom.
1. U.S. Senate. Cloture. www.senate.gov. [Online]
United States Senate_vrd.htm. [Cited: May 21, 2016.]
www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Cloture_vrd.htm.
2. UShistory.org.
9e. The Power of the Federal Courts. www.ushistory.org. [Online]
UShistory.org. [Cited: May 21, 2016.] www.ushistory.org/gov/9e.asp.
3. Ertelt, Steven.
58,586,256 Abortions in America Since Roe v. Wade in 1973. www.lifenews.com.
[Online] Lifenews.com, January 14, 2016. [Cited: May 21, 2016.]
www.lifenews.com/2016/01/14/58586256-abortions-in-america-since-roe-v-wade-in-1973/.
4. Laws. Purpose
of Lifetime Appointment and Pros and Cons. constitution.laws.com. [Online]
Laws. [Cited: May 21, 2016.]
constitution.laws.com/supreme-court-justices/purpose-of-lifetime-appointment-and-pros-and-cons.
5. Legal Information
Institute. U.S. Constitution. www.law.cornell.edu/constitution. [Online]
Cornell University Law School. [Cited: June 19, 2012.]
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution.
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