Obama versus Madison: Place Your Bets

“Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure.” Thomas Jefferson (Letter to William Johnson, 1823)

Although President Obama promised in his State of the Union Address to take a “laser-like focus” on the economy and job creation, his focus is obviously still on the passage of his signature legislative agenda item, health care reform.

The debate over health care reform has been long and heated, often devolving into personal attacks. Democrats favor some form of single-payer plan with universal coverage, heavy penalties and taxes on “Cadillac” plans, heavy regulations and management by the government. Republicans prefer a more free market approach, including tort reform, purchasing across state lines, elimination of government mandates, and so forth.

Unfortunately, the question that needs to be asked most often but which has been largely forgotten by both parties is “Does the Constitution allow it?” That is a question that needs to be asked with every law passed, no matter how large or small. Yet through our collective ignorance of the clear meaning and intent of the Constitution, coupled with the erroneous belief that America is a democracy (it is actually a republic), we’ve reached a point where we think that whatever the majority wants the majority gets. We’ve reached a point where government at all levels dictate large swaths of the economy and our lives. Congress now thinks it can do anything as long as it is for our “good”.

The most commonly used justification for a government takeover of healthcare is the general welfare clause of the Constitution. That, however, is an egregious mistake, one that opens Pandora’s Box to allow government to do anything it wants as long as it can come up proof that it will do good, no matter how fragile and tangential that reason may be.  In 1792, James Madison, the “father of the Constitution”, wrote that “If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.” He knew that government could not resist the temptation to increase its power, which is why the Constitution gave primacy to the federal government, but only within a strictly circumscribed sphere of influence.

Today the chains that once bound the federal government have been cast off, and it has become an insatiable monster devouring everything around it. We have reached record deficits and unsustainable debt levels. Obama’s 2010 budget deficit will be close to $1.5 trillion (depending on how actual revenues pan out, which is looking bleak), more than the combine debt of all previous administrations combined. Yet this not a Democrat problem alone, because his predecessor, George W. Bush, racked up close to a trillion in debt himself (although it took him eight years). We act as if we have an unlimited credit limit and someone will always loan money to us. Unfortunately, that is not the way the world works.

The vast majority of the problems we face today take root in a lack of understanding of our federal system of government with its enumerated powers. We have failed to control our government, becoming a nation of Gullivers struggling helplessly against 536 Lilliputians in Washington, D.C. Yet knowledge of the Constitution and a willingness to enforce it are all that stands between freedom and servitude.

In a previous interview, Obama said that the Constitution is “an imperfect document … a document that reflects some deep flaws … (and) an enormous blind spot.” He also said, “The Framers had that same blind spot.” His 2008 campaign rival, Republican John McCain, was co-author of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill, which sought to muzzle political speech as elections drew near. The framers of the Constitution made clear that it was unpopular political speech that was being protected by the First Amendment., yet McCain helped pass what may be the most disgraceful violation of free speech since the Alien and Sedition Acts. How have we reached a point in this nation where criticism of a political candidate or the display of the Ten Commandments is not protected by the First Amendment, but pornography and strippers are? Have we lost all sense of rationality?

With both McCain and Obama, and every other politician that feel themselves the bearer of superior wisdom over the proletariat derelicts which they so graciously represent, the common thread is that they feel that they should be able to impose their will upon us for our own good. If only we were as intelligent as they are then we would understand and cease our incessant whining and tantrums. Obama has repeatedly said that health care reform has failed to date because he has not been able to amply convey the wisdom of it to the masses. In other words, America is the slow kid sitting in the corner, eating his boogers and getting paste in his hair, and Obama is the wise and patient teacher trying hard to impart a little light into the dark corners of our minds.

Obama may think that the framers of the Constitution were “flawed”, but in response I would offer this rebuttal. The U.S. Constitution is basically a thick pamphlet, yet has managed to effectively govern a nation that grew from 4 million in 1790 to over 300 million today. The health care bill is about 2500 pages long, will cause costs to go up (according to senior Democrat Dick Durbin last week), will fail to cover about half the uninsured, and will create a nightmare of bureaucratic red tape. Obama is a Constitutional scholar. The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution. Who do you want to take your chances with?