Do members of Congress even pay attention to the words in the oath of office they take before each session? Rep. Phil Hare may just have been the most honest Congressman on this point when he told a constituent that he didn’t care about the Constitution. As Andrew Napolitano and Thomas Woods discuss, the Constitution has become an afterthought to Democrats in control of Congress now:
Let’s be honest, though; the Constitution has been an afterthought for Congresses controlled by both parties. Where in the Constitution does Congress derive the authority for No Child Left Behind, for instance, or Medicare Part D? In the first case, education is supposed to be under the control of local boards, as far away from Washington DC as it gets on the political spectrum. In the latter, the same Congress that passed Medicare Part D also refused to let private insurers sell policies across state lines for the same purpose.
It’s good to see us talking about the Constitution again, and how much of what the federal government does that falls outside of its boundaries of authority. But let’s not pretend that this is a new problem. It mainly started in the Great Depression, and we haven’t done much to enforce those limitations of power since.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member