E-Newsletter No. 71 November 2019
Last month we pondered the question about why the Left is fixated on the “non-issue” of income inequality. Is that fixation driven by envy, or by the Left’s sense of entitlement to other people’s wealth, or is it simply a desire for power and control? Here is another possible reason – – Maybe the Left thinks the political elites and their experts in Washington DC can spend our citizens’ money more wisely than we can.
The US Constitution says the federal government was being established to form a more perfect union and to promote the general welfare of the country. Unfortunately, Big Government Leftists have erroneously interpreted the General Welfare clause as a blank check to expand the federal government to whatever the political elites want it to be. The Left has a tendency to forget that Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution explicitly lays out the duties and responsibilities of the (limited) federal government, and the Tenth Amendment explicitly states that the powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the individual States or to the people themselves (aka civil society / not the federal government).
Today, there is a widening gap between conservatives and progressives regarding the role of the federal government. Half of us believe we live under the original Constitution, as it was written and understood by the country’s Founders, with its guarantee of liberty and its expectation of self-reliance. The other half believes in a “living constitution” that permits countless Administrative State agencies that make rules like a legislature, administer those rules like an executive, and adjudicate and punish infractions of those rules like a judiciary. The progressive agenda has become an agenda of tyranny.
Our Editorial Board doesn’t like to quibble about words, but words are important. The Left has altered the meaning of the word General to fit their narrative. We believe the word General (as put forward by the Founders) pertains to the country as a whole. Therefore, the federal government’s primary role is to militarily protect our country’s sovereignty and protect each and every citizen’s rights that are spelled out in the Bill of Rights. The federal government should promote the general welfare of the country by creating Opportunities for All and should show Favoritism to None.
The Left’s “identity politics” agenda, and the Democrat party’s innumerable attempts to try to fix each and every problem of each and every special interest group is a perversion of the General Welfare clause. Until we return to the concept of a limited federal government, we will continue to experience the damaging effects of the progressive agenda. Simply put, the Left’s agenda of Favoritism to Each and Every Special Interest Group will cause resentment in others who will not be similarly benefiting. While many might sympathize with a particular group’s issue(s), they might also be offended by the idea that the federal government needs to expand beyond its stated, limited role.
US Debt Clock – – October 1st – $68,652 per citizen / November 1st – $69,505