A Case for the Constitution

(Please refer to this link for the Constitution http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html)

Article 1 Section 8 of the US Constitution outlines the very specific areas in which Congress can legislate. These cover things like taxing, borrowing money, regulating naturalization and bankruptcy, trade with other countries, that sort of thing. Many people do not quite understand what the government can and cannot do. ALWAYS because they take someone else’s word for it, rather than study for themselves.  

People think that the Bill of Rights is THE list of our rights, but it is not.  The Bill of Rights was meant to be a “guideline” for which to prohibit government from regulating. The 9^th and 10^th Amendments were meant to be a “catch all” for anything NOT covered by the Constitution and the previous Amendments.  Again, Americans, whose rights are impacted, do not even know about these Amendments. There has been a lot of talk lately about the 10^th Amendment, mostly by governors wanting to ensure they have the power they crave.

The initial framing of the Constitution was a very contentious process waged by two camps, the Federalists (Alexander Hamilton,) who wanted to have a more powerful central government and the Democratic-Republicans (Thomas Jefferson,) who wanted a very limited and very small central government. They finally developed a Constitution that would be “prohibitive” in to the government. In other words, it spells out specifically what the government CAN do, anything else, it may not touch. This posed a problem for some people, because they thought (rightly) that this approach could cause problems of ambiguity in the future, i.e. “it doesn’t say we can’t”. This is where the Bill of Rights came in, an effort to cover everything that could possibly be conceived (and thereby not need much revision, therefore NOT be a “living, breathing document”) to spell out things that the government COULD NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES VIOLATE.

Take a look at the 9^th Amendment “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” What does that mean? It means just because some rights are specifically listed in the Constitution, other things aren’t protected, or whether it’s there or not there, they can’t touch it.

How about the 10^th Amendment “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.” Huh? The
Constitution again outlines what things the government can do (that’s Article 1 section 8 again.) It also lays out how the government will be constructed, a Legislative Brand, Executive Branch and Judicial Branch. It also says how the people in these branches are to be appointed, elected etc.. as well as how many how they are to be paid, all of that. It also says how the States are supposed to work with each other and limitations on what a state can do. This is all covered in Article 4. So what the 10^th Amendment says is, if the Constitution doesn’t say anything about it, then the states and the people have the right.  What most of these governors who are talking about the 10^th Amendment do so in the context of what power this gives the states, and they don’t really talk about the last part, “or to the people.” This gives way to the states limiting rights, so the states were put in check with the 14^th Amendment “Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

You have heard a lot of talk lately about legalizing marijuana. Many people think it is a good idea, many don’t.  Politicians like Ron Paul, Gary Johnson and locally, Beto O’Rourke believe it would be a good idea. But why do they? Do they just want to be able to get high? Do they want to appeal to the ever critical stoner vote? Or is it more?  You might be asking yourself “How did this essay start talking about the Constitution and now talking about Marijuana?” It’s very simple. I’m not talking about marijuana. I am still talking about the Constitution (and no, I am not high.)

I am using marijuana as an example of what the government CANNOT do, but has done. As we have examined, the Constitution is very clear about what the government CAN do. Unfortunately, over time, people have misrepresented what certain phrases mean. In this example, the phrase misrepresented has been “general welfare”. The government has thought that general welfare means “individual well being.” It does not. General welfare encompasses things like roads and sewers, and even these are debatable.

It was understood by the Founding Fathers that there was such a thing as Natural Law or Natural Rights. This is where the phrase in the Declaration of Independence came from “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” No government has the ability to separate an individual’s rights from the individual, UNLESS that individual has been convicted of a crime perpetrated against someone else. Does a person have a right to hurt themselves? YES. Does a government have a moral obligation to prevent them from hurting themselves? NO. Government is NOT a moral entity. It is an entity of justice. It does not care what a person does, as long as that person does not violate ANOTHER PERSON. I could set myself on fire, but I cannot set you on fire. I can shoot up mayonnaise if I want, but I cannot force you to.  

The point I am trying to make is this; We must know what our Constitution says, how it protects our rights and what our rights are, or more precisely, what the government can do. No one will protect our rights for us, we have to be constantly vigilante to protect them ourselves.  Can the government tell us how big of a soda we can buy? NO. Can the government MAKE us get shots? NO. Can the government in the form of our school system tell us what to do with our children? NO! Just think about everything that the government says you can and cannot do. Is it listed in the Constitution? Stand up for your rights. Live Free!

A message to the world from the American people.

We, the American People, would like to let you know that we have no issue with any country on this planet. We are aware that our governments foreign policy is what is making our enemies by meddling in your countries business and bringing war on your people. We regret the action of our own government on you very much. We love our Country and despise our Government giving our Country a bad reputation around the world.

Unfortunately, many of our fellow countrymen have fallen victim of the propaganda fed to us by our news outlets, like Fox News and CNN and still think that our "National Defense" means going to other countries and fighting our "enemies" on their land. Those of us who see clearly know this is a lie and we are getting the message out (actually, I should say that Ron Paul is getting the message out and we are supporting him in his effort.) It is very difficult to separate truth from lies.

We wish you well. We the people, would desire to be partners in our mutual prosperity, peace and Liberty.

Our hope for you is that people will rise up in your Countries and be a art of the Liberty movement by running for political office and changing the policies for you country to give you maximum Liberty.

May God Bless all of us. We are brothers and sisters.

Thoughts on the Texas 16th District

Reyes is a crony. Plain and simple. On his list of accomplishments, EVERYTHING has to do with WASTING OUR MONEY! Remember taxes are how the government gets money to do anything (well, that and borrowing it from the Federal Reserve, which is a private bank.) He is counting on the fact that most people in America don't connect the dots between taxes and government spending, or they don't care because they don't pay taxes.
Also it is mentioned that race plays a part? Do you mean to tell me the Latinos in El Paso are that racist that it makes a difference?
On the other hand, the mention that O'Rourke pushed the Smart Growth and downtown revitalization worries me. These are two parts of UN Agenda 21. Everyone look it up. That really disappoints me in him if it is true.
Corey Roen is just a soldier who just got back from Afghanistan? He is a Colonel. I have spoke with him a little bit and feel that he would defend our rights and the Constitution well. If the information about O'Rourke is true, then in my opinion, Roen is really the only good choice we have for representation. I know that is not too popular in El Paso which is a Democrat stronghold, but we really need to put aside this Democrat v. Republican illusion. Neither party currently has OUR best interests in mind. They are both subverting our RIGHTS and FREEDOM. I mean really, why should we have to ask the government for permission to marry whomever we choose? Or why can the government make a medicine that could help millions of people illegal (yes I am talking about marijuana.)
Please people, since you are paying attention to this, you obviously care, so care enough to do research and find the truth. The El Paso Times won't give it to you.