Friday, March 19, 2010

Can we reset our federal government and start over?

I am talking about more than just healthcare when I say we need a “reset”. I am thinking more in the vein of; if we had to start from scratch, what government services would we need to support liberty and the free market system? We have the founding documents, and I would suggest as a country we read and debate what the enumerated powers of the federal government are, and implement them accordingly. The congress, the courts, and the executive would all get the go ahead. The Federal Reserve would be a debate we would need to have again because we have seen what happens when too much power is with too few people, trying to regulate and manipulate a free market. We would quickly come to the conclusion the military was an enumerated power, and from there most other issues become debatable.

The states would become the power players in this debate because after reviewing the constitution, I believe the biggest ah! Ha! moment to come out of a review of the constitution by the people would be the intention and power of the Tenth Amendment. People would again realize why so many of us support the Tenth Amendment, and why it keeps the federal government in check when adhered to by the state’s legislatures and governors.

Would we recreate a welfare state as implemented by FDR? Would we recreate a department of agriculture, education, commerce, and health and human services? Would we rehire the two million federal employees? Would we be able to conduct our lives without the USDA, FCC, FDA, AMTRACK, FHA, FCIC, FDIC, FERC, FICE, FLRA, FMC, FMS, FSIS, FAS, FS, DHS, BEA, BIA, BLM, BPD, BTS, CDC, CISB, USCERT, CBO, CPSC, CPB, and could we consolidate some of the DOD agencies like, DARPA, DCAA, DTRA, DSS, and the, DOE, DED, HHS, HUD, DOL, DOT, DNI, DEPO, EPA, EEOC, FAA, FEMA, GSA, USGS, GAO, GPO, IRS, IBB, ITA,NIST, NIH, OSHA, OMB, ONDCP, OSTI, OC, PWBA, PDR, PDPA, RFERL, RSA, RISC, SSA, SEC, SBA, USPS, VOA, to name just a few of the agencies “managed” by the current federal government. Basically would we reduce the current federal jobs program?

The light bulbs will go off in so many American’s heads when they start considering what they’re paying for and what they’re receiving. With a realization that the Tenth Amendment places the accountability and responsibility with the states, people will not be willing to recreate this bureaucracy all over again. By adhering to the Tenth Amendment and add in a Twenty Eighth Amendment to read; all federal legislation must be justified by referencing the enumerated power in the constitution that gives the federal government the right to create it. If the State’s are not satisfied with the reference, nullification of federal law would be the remedy to force a challenge of the law.

The closer government is to the people the more control the people have, the better our states and nation will be. The debate would be healthy if we rallied around our constitution as Americans. We need a rallying cry because we are being divided by the activities of both political parties. Right now in the healthcare debate the republicans are standing tall because the proposal is so radical. But don’t be fooled, if this was a more “moderate” proposal the republicans would be negotiating away our constitutional rights. There is no power in the constitution that can be referenced to have federal bureaucrats anywhere near our healthcare.

Let’s make the rallying cry a reset of our principles to the founding documents that have made this country so great; The Declaration of Independence and The U.S. Constitution…

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