By
Michael LeMieux
December 8, 2012
NewsWithViews.com
Over the past decade I have seen an increase in the awareness of the American people that the central government has overstepped its constitutional authority. Elected officials have outright admitted that they do not consider constitutionality when creating laws and there are a myriad of government agencies that exist without constitutional authority but are invested with police-like powers under the color of law.
Ron Paul, arguably the most constitutionally minded representative, in his farewell address stated: “Our Constitution, which was intended to limit government power and abuse, has failed.” And as much as I believe and follow his sentiment I must interject – the Constitution has no power, in and of itself. It was designed to give US, we the people, the legal and moral right to reign in tyrannical government. The Constitution did not fail, we failed it!
Over the past decade I have been researching constitutional history, the proper role of government designed by our constitution and republican form of governance and can only come to one conclusion – the government, as currently constructed, is NOT controlled or limited by the Constitution nor do those that lead our country abide by it. In all but political gamesmanship the Constitution has become irrelevant.
Case in point: Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 states that “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand…” However today there are 435 representatives in the House of Representatives which equates, roughly, to one representative for each 689 thousand people. The problem was recognized that as American population grew the ability to effectively operate the House would become impossible. Under the original apportionment numbers the House of Representatives today would be closer to ten thousand representatives; which would be untenable.
At issue is not that Congress did not need to address the problem, what is at issue is that it chose to disregard, and dismiss, the Constitution and the mechanisms inherent in the constitutional system to do so. Instead, in 1911, Congress assumed the power to determine the size of the House of Representatives and ignored their constitutional duty to go through the Amendment process.
Article 5 of the Constitution provides Congress with the remedy of changing the Constitution via the amendment process and then that Amendment is appended to the Constitution and becomes the law of the land. And what did Congress learn by not following the Constitution? They learned that there is no consequence to not following the Constitution. And it continues…
For those that have studied the Constitution you know that the Bill of Rights was included based on the demands of a number of states that did not trust all this power going to a central government. After all they recall what an out of control central government can become and the hard fought war to get out from under it.
Although many of you may not know it the Bill of Rights also included a preamble which states:
“THE Conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution.”
The bill of rights was a barrier between the states, the people and the central government. These 10 Amendments stood to tell the government that you may not trespass against these rights. It was to tell Congress to leave these things alone; they are outside of your power to regulate. Recall the starting words of the Bill of Rights – “Congress shall make no law…” Do you think they have abided by those words? Let’s take a look-
The first Amendment deals with Religion, Freedom of Speech, the Press, Assembly, and Petition. Today there are hundreds of laws dealing with religion and just within the IRS laws they attack both in limiting what a preacher can say to his congregation. Most of you have heard of the so called “free speech zones” set up during the G8 summit. There are laws that require permits, taxes or fees, security requirements, notices, etc. just to hold a rally or event. Is that free assembly? The government and the Supreme Court has ruled on your right to petition the federal government – their response: you can petition all you want but the federal government has no responsibility to answer. Really? The whole ideas behind petitions are to demand a response; always has been, even under King George. Well, but he didn’t answer either and where did that get us?
The Second Amendment, dealing with the right to keep and bear arms specifically states Congress shall not “infringe” upon this right. Today we have thousands of gun laws infringing the rights of the American people and regulating and entire industry – all without Constitutional authority. And for those that want to argue commerce clause please see my article here, it does not apply. In fact much of today’s laws and machinations fly in the face of logic and the Supreme Court. In the case of US V Miller the Supreme Court’s logic for finding miller guilty of having an illegal sawed of shotgun was that it was not covered under the Second Amendment as it was NOT a weapon in common use by the military. Thus declaring that the weapons which ARE protected under the Second Amendment are military style weapons. But we can see how long that lasted.
I will not go through each and every amendment but I think you get the picture. In fact every amendment has hundreds, if not more, laws limiting, abridging, giving to some, taking from others. Why do they pass these unconstitutional laws? Because there are no ramifications for doing do so! As mentioned earlier; we have elected officials openly admit to ignore the Constitution and they get reelected. They pass unconstitutional laws and get reelected or at the very least retire with a full pension. There is simply no downside to ignoring the Constitution.
With the looming fiscal cliff and the largest central government in US history; we are told that we cannot operate at a smaller level. In fact more organizations are needed, hundreds just under Obamacare. So let’s take a look at a few of the organizations:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Anyone care to guess where the EPA gets it Constitutional authority? Look as you might you will not find it in the Constitution – it was created under an act of Congress and the EPA’s web site states the: “EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection.”
To ensure environmental protection – has a nice protective ring to it. And regardless of whether or not it is a good thing to do, it was not a legal thing to do under the Constitution. More correctly the central government, through meetings with the governors of the states of the Union could have worked out how to handle these issues and if one state felt harmed by another the central government would have the judicial power to hear the case. Short of this, without going to the process to amend the Constitution, any action by this organization against a state, company, or person is unconstitutional. So why do they persist? Because there are no negative consequences for not following the Constitution.
In fact all of the following organizations of the federal government have no constitutional authority for their existence:
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF): Although originally falling under the IRS and Treasury they played a slight of hand and quietly switched to law enforcement with a justification of assisting States and local law enforcement. But even under these pretenses there is NO constitutional authority for their actions within the states of the Union.
Department of Education came into existence in 1979 under Jimmy Carter, although prior to this there were federal offices of education but other than a very brief period in 1867 it was not a department or cabinet level organization. The stated purpose was "to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." A find a laudable goal only not one of the enumerated powers of Congress to enact. Again where there is no negative consequence to doing something what is to stop them?
Department of Energy – It is interesting that the Department of Energy was initially created to remove the US from dependence on foreign oil and having abject failure as its criteria went on to regulate every form of energy known to man. Only in government is failure rewarded with expansion.
Department of Interior (DOI), Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, etc.: Under the DOI are a number of organizations managing literally millions of square miles of US land. But there is zero constitutional authority for the central government to own anything beyond that enumerated within the Constitution which would be: “Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock Yards, and other needful Buildings” along with the 10 square miles as the seat of government. That is it, no other authority to take land for any purpose. Now if they wanted additional power to protect land there is a process for attaining that power through the Amendment process. So why didn’t they? Because there was no detrimental effect for not doing so. In fact the central government has learned that if they just pass a law in Congress and do it, most often, they are not challenged and if they are the judiciary, which is part of the federal government, more often than not supports them.
Many departments within the central government have legitimate internal or government functionality to support its numerated powers however that power should and was supposed to stop at the state borders. Other organizations that exceed the constitutional authority of the central government include:
•
Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Labor
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Homeland Security
Included within the governmental listing of organizations considered “independent” or government corporations also with limited or no constitutional authority but created under law and receive funding:
•
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• Federal Reserve System
• Federal Trade Commission
• Institute of Museum and Library Services
• Farm Credit Administration
• Federal Communications Commission
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• AMTRAK (National Railroad Passenger Corporation)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Corporation for National and Community Service
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Millennium Challenge Corporation
• National Council on Disability
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
• Overseas Private Investment Corporation
• Peace Corps
• Railroad Retirement Board
• Small Business Administration
• Social Security Administration
• Tennessee Valley Authority
• Ad infinitum
I have only listed a spattering of government organizations, and there are agencies within agencies, and federal corporations, etc. Our government has expanded beyond control or manageability with the vast majority of it outside the enumerated powers contained in Article 1, Section 8 and the only reason is because we have allowed it to happen. They do anything they want because we do not hold them accountable.
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We accuse them of breaching their oath of office and nothing happens. Elected officials write laws that exclude themselves and nothing happens. They take land from the people and the states by executive fiat to make a “monument” and we do nothing. They heap regulation after regulation stifling business and land use and we do nothing. They infringe on our rights, tax our property, tax our labor, regulate our toilets, showerheads, toothpaste, food, energy, medicine, and we do nothing. They legalize the mass extermination of millions of unborn children and we do nothing. They do all this because we do nothing.
My fellow patriots, we have all heard that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results – what we have been doing is insane. For all intent and purpose the Constitution lies dormant with barely a whisper of life but I hear the underpinnings of things to come – more tyranny – more regulation – more government control – more tax – and a still small voice that says no more, no further. No longer must we stand idly by and do nothing it is time to stop the charade of Constitutional Government and force them to comply with the law of the land, the Constitution, or demand they step down and if they do not then it is time for “We the People” to do something – let your heart and conscience be your guide.
� 2012 Michael LeMieux - All Rights Reserved
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This Article Michael
LeMieux was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma in 1956 and graduated from
Weber State University in Utah with a degree in Computer Science. He
served in both the US Navy and US Army (Active duty and National Guard)
and trained in multiple intelligence disciplines and was a qualified
paratrooper. He served with the 19th Special Forces Group, while in
the National Guard, as a Special Forces tactical intelligence team member.
He served tours to Kuwait and Afghanistan where he received the Purple
Heart for injuries received in combat.
Mr. LeMieux left military duty at the end of 2005 after being medically
discharged with over 19 years of combined military experience. He currently
works as an intelligence contractor to the US government.
Michael is a strict constitutionalist who believes in interpreting the constitution by the original intent of the founding fathers. His research has led him to the conclusion that the republic founded by the Constitution is no longer honored by our government. That those who rule America today are doing so with the interest of the federal government in mind and not the Citizens. Michael believes that all three branches of government have strayed far from the checks and balances built into the Constitution and they have failed the American people. A clear example is the Second Amendment, which the Supreme Court and the founders have all said was an individual right and could not be "infringed" upon, now has more than 20,000 state and federal laws regulating every aspect of the individuals right, a definite infringement. He has traveled around the world living in 14 States of the Union including Hawaii, and visited (for various lengths of time) in Spain, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Korea, Scotland, Pakistan, Mauritius, Somalia, Diego Garcia, Australia, Philippines, England, Italy, Germany, and Puerto Rico.
Michael now lives in Nebraska with his wife, two of his three children, Mother-in-Law and grandchild. His hobbies include shooting, wood-working, writing, amateur inventor and scuba diving when he can find the time.
Contact Michael through his Website: www.constitutiondenied.com
