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U.S. Constitution is no ordinary piece of paper
A 'living' U.S. Constitution is a dead U.S. Constitution; loose interpretation is what got us in this mess.
By: Andrew Cagle
Issue date: 2/3/09 Section: Opinion
I could not disagree more with the statements made by Kenny Ryan regarding the need for a loose interpretation of our nation's Constitution. The disregard for the Constitution within the government is not the solution for, but the cause of, many of the nation's current problems. The practice of nation building and policing the world has resulted in our foreign policy of interventionism and unconstitutional wars in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq, all of which have resulted in less security for our country and a loss of civil liberties because of government expansion and control over citizens' lives.
The economic crisis is a perfect example of the slippery slope of a living Constitution. The founders granted the federal government the right to "coin" money and said nothing about a central bank. After the first central bank was established by Alexander Hamilton, ultimately setting the precedent for the creation of the Federal Reserve created in 1913, the institution was given the exclusive power to control the interest rate and money supply.
The creation of economic bubbles by the Fed results in an unavoidable boom-bust cycle. Because we have strayed from the guidance of our Founding Fathers, the market no longer controls our economy and we are paying the price of government intervention.
Like Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Constitution's primary murderer, President Barack Obama is likely to follow suit and expedite our nation's decline. The expansion of an empire, destruction of the dollar and reduction of your liberties and mine is in store if we do not bind government within its constitutional bounds. In all cases, when we do not heed the Constitution's provisions for limited government, the result is the loss of the ideas and beliefs our nation was founded upon.
The founders were not perfect, but they were truly revolutionaries of their time who fought for the rights of man. Our Constitution is not a perfect Constitution, as no document is, but it is a good one and I would like to believe it allows for the greatest prosperity and freedom among the people of our nation. If our government can twist our founding document to what they feel is best fit, our Constitution is no longer living, but dead. It is at this point that the people must realize it is time to restore the Republic. For if we were to return to our constitutional roots, this nation would truly be one of peace, prosperity and freedom. Not in spite of, but because of the document we ought to hold so dear.
The economic crisis is a perfect example of the slippery slope of a living Constitution. The founders granted the federal government the right to "coin" money and said nothing about a central bank. After the first central bank was established by Alexander Hamilton, ultimately setting the precedent for the creation of the Federal Reserve created in 1913, the institution was given the exclusive power to control the interest rate and money supply.
The creation of economic bubbles by the Fed results in an unavoidable boom-bust cycle. Because we have strayed from the guidance of our Founding Fathers, the market no longer controls our economy and we are paying the price of government intervention.
Like Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Constitution's primary murderer, President Barack Obama is likely to follow suit and expedite our nation's decline. The expansion of an empire, destruction of the dollar and reduction of your liberties and mine is in store if we do not bind government within its constitutional bounds. In all cases, when we do not heed the Constitution's provisions for limited government, the result is the loss of the ideas and beliefs our nation was founded upon.
The founders were not perfect, but they were truly revolutionaries of their time who fought for the rights of man. Our Constitution is not a perfect Constitution, as no document is, but it is a good one and I would like to believe it allows for the greatest prosperity and freedom among the people of our nation. If our government can twist our founding document to what they feel is best fit, our Constitution is no longer living, but dead. It is at this point that the people must realize it is time to restore the Republic. For if we were to return to our constitutional roots, this nation would truly be one of peace, prosperity and freedom. Not in spite of, but because of the document we ought to hold so dear.
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