The Patriot Post® · Beyond Politics

When politicians attempt “fundamental transformation” of our society, it is not politics. It is social engineering. Furthermore, it is sometimes illegal.

“Political sociologists concern themselves with questions of power and authority, often with a particular emphasis on the relationship between the state and civil society.” –Columbia University webpage.

In my view, Barack Obama may have exercised the power, far too many times, but he does not have the authority. His actions to transform America have violated fundamental elements of Constitutional law, repeatedly.

There is a near total absence of patriots in Congress. Otherwise, Obama would be gone, impeached.

This civil society, the United States of America, has a Constitution. In my view, the entire content is a body of law that limits the Federal Government to two mandates and gives all other authority to the states and the people. Decide for yourself. Read it. It is free and freely available.

My readers do not need a civics lesson, but some might want to pass this on. So, please allow me to expound on this again, to be clear.

Here are those two mandates:

1) National defense: A state may have the ability to defend itself, but it does not have the ability to defend the nation, or the whole of the separate, but United States.

2) Regulation of interstate and international commerce: No one state can make uniform regulations of commerce that serve all the states fairly.

According to the Constitution, the United States is not a nation governed by a national government. It is a nation made up of (at present) 50 sovereign states. The people of those states and their elected state governments have all authority to govern themselves as they see fit. The Federal Government only has constitutional authority necessary to manage the two mandates. All other authority that it exercises it has assumed, beginning nearly 100 years ago.

Barack Obama may well be the worst of the offenders, but he is not the first. U.S. Presidents with majorities in Congress have been running roughshod over our liberty for a long, long time.

The actions of national political powers affecting our civil society in ways that disrupt, or place at risk our social order are not just political issues. They are legal issues. They are sometimes constitutionally illegal. And oftentimes morally wrong.

This is not about Obamacare. However, it is a recent example of my subject. Let us briefly examine Obamacare.

If fully enacted, the ACA is a law that will transform America. It will illegally affect a massive redistribution of wealth. If fully enacted, it will be the last straw, bankrupting America. It is a law passed by a liberal majority Congress, collaborating with a chief executive who had an agenda calling for actions beyond the scope of his authority.

In short, Obamacare is the most far-reaching, indeed over-reaching, act of an out-of-control Federal Government imaginable. I cannot fathom anything worse, or occurring at a worse time. Changes to Medicare and Medicaid could solve the problem of the uninsured. That cost would be much lower than an ill-conceived, entirely new national healthcare system run by even more federal bureaucrats.

The federal government has no authority to tell you or me that we must have healthcare insurance. There is nothing in the Constitution that allows that authority. Agenda-born misinterpretations are invalid. It is not a federal matter, period. If any government would have that authority, it would be my state. It is a blatant assumption of power, and one that may seriously affect the social order.

The President and slightly over half of the voting power of Congress made Obamacare law. Congress had to pass it to find out what was in it. Wow. Do the American people have to see jack-booted SS troops at their door to realize we are losing our liberty?

The theft of our liberty actually began nearly 100 years ago. It just gets worse each year. What gets worse each year? The things that steal our liberty, such as these:

1) Wasteful and deficit spending. 2) Budget deficits and enough debt to saddle generations. 3) Expansion of currency, inflationary monetary policy. 4) Corporate and individual tax rates that suffocate the economy. 5) Increasing federal intrusion into private lives and corporate business that add layers of complexity to everything. These increase the cost of government. They rob us of our natural will to prosper. They limit our natural abilities and efficiencies.

Given those examples, it is clear that the theft of liberty did not start with Barack Obama. Moreover, any honest review of history will show that the thieves have always been in both political parties.

Once ensconced in Washington, even our bravest politicians learn to embrace the power and forget the people. Sometimes they forget the law, too.

Many astute readers just thought, “We need term limits.”

We do need term limits. Politically conscious citizens and a few honest politicians know this.

In “Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders,” Tom Coburn tells the story and shares the examples of how close we once came to term limits. He explains how the movement failed. Moreover, the book explains why the political system is not working. It has been many years since I read it. I will never forget the impact it had on my perspectives. It still affects my thinking and decisions.

By now, some readers may be asking, “What must we do? How can we change things?” These are valid questions. Without some comment on them, this is just another rant about politics. In my view, the citizens of America must also go beyond politics.

Washington sponsored “bread and circuses,” self-interested and corrupt politicians, people knowingly selling their votes for empty promises and trinkets, corporate officers lining their pockets while bankrupting their companies and defaulting on retirement funds: These are not political issues. They are moral issues.

America needs a moral-spiritual revival. How can we overcome so many fearsome, liberty-killing problems without the help of the Lord? Why would we even want to try?

With spiritual renewal comes honesty, strength of character, love of all of your fellow man, courage born of hope, a trust in the Lord instead of your favorite political party, and the recognition that sometimes sacrifices are the only way.

Yes, we need to fix the political issues. To do so, we first need the clarity of purpose, charitable heart, and warrior courage that only come from God. Saving liberty requires good conscience founded on moral principles.

If we desire our Constitution to protect our special American liberty, first we must be the people it intends to protect.

“Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” -John Adams