Defending American Freedom

THE CONSTITUTION

SPENDING & THE DEBT

I have a question for all you Patriots: What are the biggest concerns facing our country today?

How many feel the national debt, now over fourteen trillion dollars, is the biggest problem to our national security?

I agree. So let’s take a look at the Constitution, and those who wrote it, to see if they give us any direction on debt. I found two references in the seven Articles:

Article I, Section 7  of the Constitution gives us our first direction. It reads in part:

“All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives...”

Section 8 gives more direction in its first two paragraphs:

“The Congress shall have Power [first] To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay Debt; [second] To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;”

Since it would be good to understand the definitions of the various methods of raising revenue I looked them up:

Taxes – we all know what this means!

Duties – are a tax on goods.

Imposts – are a tax which is a duty on goods brought into the country.

Excises – are a tax on somebody or something, which must mean on anything or anybody.

Apparently the writers of the Constitution wanted to cover every possible way of getting revenue to pay debt!

But why was the House given the power to raise revenue? Why not the Senate? Any Ideas? Con't

THE CONSTITUTION – ARTICLES I, II & III

     With the optimistic results of the election fresh in our minds I’d like to take a close look at the Constitution we voted to protect and preserve. It contains only seven Articles. (God bless the wisdom of our Founding Fathers! No bloviating from them.) The first three Articles reestablished the government, changing the unicameral, one house Congress, the Articles of Confederation set up. So…let’s take a look at these first three Articles:

Article I established the Legislative Branch and contains ten sections:

1. Established a bicameral (two house) Congress.
2. Established the House of Representatives.
3. Established the Senate.
4. Established how members were elected. It also mandated Congress must convene at least once per year. (Come to think of it, because of the damage they can do, perhaps we should mandate they meet ONLY once a year! Just sayin.)
5. Allowed each house to set its own rules of order.
6. Allowed members to be paid.
7. Gave Congress the power to raise revenue. It also gave the president veto power while providing Congress a method to override.
8. Enumerated powers given to Congress.
9. Limited power Congress had over states and the people.
10. Established limits on states such as the ability to enter into treaties or mint money.

    CON'T

HOW IMPORTANT IS HONOR, CHARACTER, OR KEEPING ONE’S OATH?

     I want you to answer three questions: Is honor important? Is character important? Do those who break oaths lack honor and character? Think about that, and I’ll ask for answers in a minute. First, let’s look at the oaths those in government take:

      Everyone elected or appointed to any New Jersey state office; executive, legislative or judicial is required to take following oath of allegiance:

     "I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the Governments established in the United States and in this State, under the authority of the people; So help me God."

     Did you get that last part? – “under the authority of the people”. What do you suppose that means? It means no one in this state government has the power to do anything without our approval! Do you approved of what has, and is, being done in state government?  Con't

How do you interpret our Constitution?

     David Barton, founder and president of Wallbuilders, a conservative organization dedicated to preserving the values espoused by our Founders, wrote an article entitled “A Tale of Two Constitutions.”[i] Much of what is written here comes from that article.

     It directly relates to one of the primary principles of the Tea Party movement; supporting only political candidates that take their oath of office seriously:

     Oath of Office for the President as provided for in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution:

"I _______ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

     Oath of Office for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, all Federal Judges and Justices and all Federal Employees, as enacted by Congress in 1862:

“I_______ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.” (emphasis mine)

      All state employees take a similar oath to protect and defend the constitutions of both the United States and New Jersey .CON'T

[i] “A Tale of Two Constitutions” David Barton, February ‘05

We are happy to have Rich Matrisciano provide us a series on the US Constitution and other historical events.  

 THANKS

 RICH!