Happy Cost of Government Day to all

[digitalpoetry]

Today, July 16th, is Cost of Government Day - for the average american worker, all the work you've done up until today has gone to pay your share of government spending for the year. The next two months, you'll be working to pay off the cost of government regulation of markets

Comments

[digitalpoetry]

The issue of federal vs. state is an important one because our country is set up as a federal republic - a collection of states under a single central government. You're exactly right that the writers of the Constitution wanted to grant as little power as possible at the federal level because they were only recently out from under the heel of an authoritarian state, but also because of the lessons of history. They specifically designed the Constitution to strictly limit the powers of that government because they'd read of countless examples throughout history of governments gathering more and more power to themselves until the people had no freedom left. They wanted the citizens of this new country to have the power of self-determination - the federal government is important to hold the states together and provide for common defense, but government at the state and local levels is important precisely because the moral standards in Texas aren't the same as those in Massachusetts. Instead of forcing our values on them, or vice-versa, our system allows us to live in a society that best reflects the views of the people in each area.

As for interpreting the Constitution, it's pretty straightforward. There's not a whole lot of room for contention about the meaning - people generally speak of the Constitution as if it's a complex document full of arcane legalese, but it's really pretty clearly laid out. Some of the highlights include Article 1 Section 8, which enumerates the powers granted to Congress, Article 4 Section 4 which is a "guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government", and especially the 10th Amendment, which I will include in its entirety:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

That's pretty plain - any power the Constitution doesn't explicitly grant to the federal government is reserved for the states or the people. If you read Article 1 Section 8, you'll see how limited a set of powers are explicitly granted.

If times have changed, and the Constitution is no longer relevant, then we have a mechanism to change it - and if it's that clear cut, then that amendment should be ratified with no trouble. If, instead, (as we're doing now) we just wave aside the Constitution by saying that it was written in a different era, then what limits are left on the power of our government? None - and look at what happens when that's the case: a government that continually nibbles away at the edges of the rights of its citizens. The more accustomed that that we become, the faster they can remove those rights, until soon enough we don't even have the right to stand up and complain about it.

And it's not a one-party problem - getting a Democrat into the white house won't change things as much as we'd all like, because both parties are primarily interested in maintaining the status quo.

[lmpshd]

This has all gotten rather abstract, and I'm confused. In what specific ways would you say the federal government has expanded its powers beyond what the constitution allows? I can certainly think of some things -- Bush's tendency to tell Congress to fuck off and put things through by executive order is a good example -- but what's it all got to do with income tax and corporate regulation?

[digitalpoetry]

Didn't notice this comment when I was replying yesterday - I agree with you that using executive orders the way this administration has (and I'd include signing statements and line-item vetos as well) is pretty clearly outside the Constitutional boundaries for the executive branch. As for the legislative branch, Article 1 Section 8 enumerates the powers granted to Congress. A large number of the bills passed by Congress deal with issues not on that list. A bill called the Enumeration of Powers Act has been put before Congress every session for over 10 years now, and it's never even made it out of committee - all the bill says is that any bill coming before Congress needs to include a clause explaining where in the Constitution Congress derives the authority to pass that bill. I'd say that's a pretty clear indication that even the members of Congress are fully aware that they're working outside their limits, and don't want to have to deal with being restrained.

That's related to corporate regulation, but not to income tax. Despite some people arguing to the contrary, I do think that a federal income tax is perfectly legal, thanks to the 16th amendment - I just don't think it's necessary or right.