Lawless Legislators: The Federal Rupture of the Rule of Law
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.
James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 51 (1788)
The Rule of Lawlessness
In the American system the legislature is tasked with making laws, and the executive with executing them. For those rules to be just laws they have to be comprehensible and apply equally to all. Following them must entail reasonably predictable results. To be valid they must not contradict the Constitution; they must not violate the basic rights it outlines.
Lately, Congress and the Obama administration alike fail on all those criteria. While that’s been a problem in the U.S. for generations now, that trend has worsened since the 2006 elections, and accelerated in the past 20 months. The Democratic majority that came to power in 2006 has violated the rule of law at every turn. The administration has upped the ante: from the petty to the critical, their actions have often been lawless in a very literal sense of the term.
In a dozen small ways, the ruling class expresses its contempt for the law and its intended function of protecting the rights of citizens.
Obama’s aunt flagrantly violates immigration law for years but is not deported, thanks to her family connection. Timothy Geithner neglects to pay his taxes and is still appointed Treasury secretary. Chris Dodd gets a sweetheart real estate loan from Countrywide and remains in office years afterward to retire with a comfy pension.
There is, unfortunately, a treasure trove of major examples from which to choose.
ObamaCare violates the Constitution in at least three different ways, and still passed. The financial reform bill lets regulators force any bank in the country out of business whenever they decide it represents an undue risk to “the system.” Obama himself violated long-standing bankruptcy laws by giving preference to union interests during GM’s reorganization. He appointed Ken Feinberg to hand out billions of BP’s dollars according to that petty dictator’s personal sense of fair play.
Maybe most worrisome of all is the half-complete CyberSpace National Asset Act, which would allow the president to shut down the Internet whenever deemed necessary for “national security.” (As it stands, the bill would limit the shutdown period to 120 days, but that can be extended by Congress. Cold comfort.) A more dangerous affront to free speech and the property rights of hundreds of millions of users would be hard to imagine.
This is the rule of men — and not good men at that — run amok.
Blending the Separation of Powers
One of the prime ways this has happened is the accelerated deterioration of the separation of powers in recent years.
As the examples above show, the executive has undertaken to decide issues intended to be left to the courts. In inserting himself into the discussion of which creditors get paid how much and in what order, Obama willfully ignored long-established precedents in bankruptcy law.
Likewise, Congress has significantly delegated its role to federal agencies who not only define details, but basic rules that serve as de facto laws. Those agencies have in turn usurped the role of courts by enforcing their own rulings. The Supreme Court sealed the deal by allowing the EPA to set acceptable standards of air quality, overriding the legislature’s role.
Undermining Compliance
To make laws that man can not and will not obey serves to bring all law into contempt. It is very important in a republic that the people should respect the laws, for if we throw them to the winds, what becomes of civil government?
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1860)
Worse still for the morality and practicality of the rule of law, Congress has been busy passing laws no one will or can obey.
It seems that we are helpless against lawless legislators.
Have we no knights in shining armor who will face the dragons?
Are we lost?
The legislators are NOT the problem. Instead, look to “Law Enforcement” who will actually show up at your door to arrest or shoot you. THEY are the evil.
I’ve been on this earth for more than half a century, Mark, and no law officers have come to my door to arrest or shoot me. What country do you live in may I ask?
Then I can assure you that you have NOTHING to worry about, because NONE of those maligned “Lawless Legislators” is going to come anywhere near you to do anything no matter WHAT you do.
Phew, thanks, Mark, that’s a relief. You really had me worried for a moment.
That is why the Tea Party movement has gained so much attention over the past year. Americans know that the basic document that keeps this country together, the Constitution, is in danger. Tea Party members think that we should be doing everyting in our power to go back to the basic laws that are listed in the Constitution. The far left, Mr. Obama and his minions, think the Constitution is a “distraction,” that it is list of “Negative rights.” To Obama the Constitution is a quaint document that should be ignored in this day and age. To Tea Party members, it is the document that will enable us to throw bums like Obama out of office. November is coming, ladies and gentlemen, and we will take our first step in putting an end to the ruling class of people who have insulted, violated, and shredded this document we hold so dear to us.
Many politicians have said that the Tea Party members want to “Take back” this country. I don’t see it that way. What we need to do is PROTECT this country and this Constitution. We need to protect this incredible document from those who not only want to abuse it, but, worse, from those who want to ignore it. Because once you ignore the Constituion, all is really lost. Men simply become servants of the Federal Government and individual Freedom will have vanished.
Don’t let that happen. Please don’t let that happen. Stand up, talk to your friends, convince them to vote and stop this madness in November. The Founding Fathers gave us an incredibly important task in defending the Constitution so that its rights could be handed down from generation to generation. Don’t let them down. We do not have the right to let them down, because these rights were bought and paid for by the lives of others. We need to stand together and meet this threat and, by doing so, insure that future generations of Americans will have the same rights that we do.
This is a noble task. All Americans, regardless of their lot in life, are capable of noble tasks and this is one of them. Seize this challenge and show that this generation of Americans is worthy of what past generations have given us. Freedom.
Right. The US Constitution documents THE SYSTEM TO FURTHER AND PROTECT THE intent in the Declaration of Independence. A set of principles BASED IN LAW in the belief that all men are CREATED equal, and have UNALIENABLE RIGHTS…
The assumption that compatriots and their progeny agreed with the principles AND would protect them as long as necessary.
That supposed the “representatives” of the people appreciated the HONOUR in election to representation. NOT that many would be predators,gangsters, power-obsessive,thugs and sundry with no principle but “what’s in it for me”. Using their experience that people buy anything if the package and advertising persuades them it’s what they want.
These men infected the population with the disease “what’s in it for me”. The citizenry able to withstand the infection in the early stages ONLY
because of the strength of the marrow, the immune system of their body politic, that very document, the Constitution.
Complacency in getting “what’s in it for me” the population neglected to count the costs. UNTIL the disease became body devouring.
SOME of the progeny of the Founders realised drastic treatment was the only means, and that still iffy, to return to the health that made their nation the most robust, the richest, fairest, free-est, and most powerful in the history of the world. THE NATION ON WHICH strength and generosity,MANY OTHERS DEPEND FOR FREEDOM, HOPE AND DEFENCE. Therefore the most desirable prey for jackals/hyenas.
Others mortally damaged, wouldn’t take the medicine, but nourished/fed the disease and accepted their fate, that without the drastic treatment would CHANGE the Founding Fathers’ Dream into Nightmare. For the nation AND the world.
It’s a real shame that so many in this country have no other option than to go to the government schools, where they learn to write like this guy.
The rule of law is supposed to support peaceful social integration. That’s hampered when Congress divides citizens into favored and disfavored groups, violating a basic principle of good law: that they should apply equally to all citizens.
So true. And that principle of good law is in our Constitution. The Preamble puts it “to Promote the General Welfare”.
As Terence P. Jeffrey wrote in Human Events:
You say “They must be eliminated.”
I ask “Why?” Just EXACTLY what have ANY of these marxists done to you? Has even ONE of them showed up at your door and threatened to arrest or kill you for violating their dictats? When will you FINALLY understand WHO are the evil that must be eliminated?
Say blotto, save comments about eliminating people for Weasel Zippers, Kos, and Muffpo will you? I hope PJM cuts this comment of yours out right out.
Thanks, PJM, you did yourselves and all of us a favor. Now if Weasel would follow your example…
We live in an age of lawlessness. A generation ago people were told to do something because “it’s the law”. Now the law only matters “if it benefits me”. If you want a ready example, just watch the nearest intersection to your house and watch how many people ignore stop signs if there is no visible cross-traffic (or police car). The current administration is just a reflection of this cultural trend.
I have really come to wonder what the point of the oath of office is any more? All of our leaders have taken an oath to “protect and defend the constitution”. Other than giving people nice feelings, is there a point to this? Take these examples:
1: Nancy Pelosi replies “are you serious?” when asked how Obamacare can be justified under the powers given her by the constitution.
2: The congressman (forget his name) who recently just said “I don’t really care about the constitution”.
3: Locally, we have leaders who write their own laws by disobeying the current laws they don’t like (like the CA administrator in the bay area who started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples a couple of years ago because *he* wanted to, starting the whole mess in CA).
There are so many examples it is scary.
If a congressperson like Pelosi can just admit in a major piece of legislation that they don’t even care if the constitution allows it, can we sue them for breach of contract based on their oath? She did not even pretend to care. Isn’t this grounds for impeachment or at least censure? Aaaarrgh!!
Sounds like we’re well on our way to the Atlas Shrugged scenario, where laws have become so random, contradictory, and ambiguous that it is impossible for a citizen to obey the law, or even know what laws he may be violating at any moment– and thus an insidious tyranny where anyone is subject to arrest at any time for obscure reasons.
O please mark enlighten us. To whom or what do you refer? The Illuminati? The Jews? The Mob? The Black Panthers?
It seems that we are helpless against lawless legislators.
Have we no knights in shining armor who will face the dragons?
Are we lost?
The Republic only works if each person is willing to rise and take up the role of knight in shining armor, which basically means sacrificing a few hours to vote every election.
The Nation is in this situation because we have not questioned, we accept what we are told, and don’t put our leaders feet to the fire.
And we have done this for the last 60 years.
It’s rather amazing just how much they have done to this country in a relatively short amount of time, if you think about it 40 yrs isn’t all that long to tear down a country, and the Cherry on Top was BO and his minions who have done the most damage in just 18 months !! BUt we must stay ever vigilant and turn back the clock in time and restore the honor of being a member of Congress and take everything away from those Bastards in congress now that are the most undeserving and shouldn’t get so much as a Dime of Tax Payer money to retire peacefully while we the Working Middle Class have to work for 60 yrs just to get by, no more America the wheels are in motion and were going to steam roll Pennsylvania Avenue like it’s never been steamed rolled before !!!
Thank you, Jeff, for making this important point. If Tea Party supporters (and other defenders of freedom) want reforms to stick, we must articulate and defend the importance of principles such as the rule of law and limited government.
I especially liked this quote from Ayn Rand’s, “The Nature of Government”:
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=arc_ayn_rand_the_nature_of_government
“Under a proper social system, a private individual is legally free to take any action he pleases (so long as he does not violate the rights of others), while a government official is bound by law in his every official act. A private individual may do anything except that which is legally forbidden; a government official may do nothing except that which is legally permitted.”
Too many of our elected officials have forgotten that they work for us (and not the other way around). It will be up to us to remind them of that fact in November.
I believe there is some confusion about “rule of law” which must refer to legality and principle, which rules our decisions. In all cases principle precedes law. The Declaration of independence set out our principles and the Constitution set out our methods of implementing those principles. In that sense our Constitution is not law and should be abundantly clear at this time. The revolution was not a product of either the Declaration of Independence or our Constitution, both using few words to state their case Legalisms has canceled principles and the existing double standard has set at naught the “No Respect of Persons” that makes us all equal before this law.
We have turned our backs on these principles and put our trust in legalities to provide that equality before the law. It does not work now, nor has it ever worked in the past. Instead, it confirsm what we read in Daniel.
~ Da 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.~
~ Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?~
It does not need many words to identify principles yet our most oppressive current laws contain more words than any one mind can grasp and concur with.
~ Pr 10:19 ¶ In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.~
Without these directions we lose our way and wind up in boggy country yet when we look at these true signs pointing to that desired destination we say the way is to hard and it is not necessary to comply. How many shipwrecks to we need to tell us to follow the rules of navigation?
What scares me to no end is the Orwellian “CyberSpace National Asset Act”. That it is even conceivable given the first amendment is incredible. Are we supposed to believe that the way to protect the internet is to shut it down for four months? The sole purpose of this law is to prevent resistance against an authoritarian crackdown. God save us if Chris Matthews becomes the guarantor of our liberties. Where are the small government conservatives and the civil libertarians on this abomination?
How much you want to bet this law comes to a vote during the lame duck session?