Why a Republic?

by David L. Miner

In the last issue of the Republic Report, we discussed the differences between a democracy and a Constitutional Republic. We saw that America was created to be a republic and NOT a democracy. And we saw that so much of today's America is trying very hard to redefine this republic into a democracy.

In this issue, we are going to look a little more closely at the document that became the foundation of this Republic. We are going to discuss the Constitution for these United States.

Notice first that we said "for these United States," not "of the United States." The United States did not create the Constitution; the Constitution created the United States. Please read that again. The United States did not create the Constitution; the Constitution created the United States.

This is a terribly important concept that no one in Congress or the Administration ever want you to know. Our politicians like to interpret the Constitution any way they please, and expect you to accept that. If they can treat the Constitution like they have authority over it, then they can do just about anything they want to do.

But if the Constitution has the authority over the government, then the government is limited in what it can do!

So what is this great document that wields so much authority? Once upon a time, a long time ago, there were thirteen States. Each State was sovereign, and had its own currency, legislature, judicial system and made its own decisions. But it became evident that there were some issues which were better dealt with by a single common group, a sort of "collective bargaining unit." So these States got together and created a document that defined a central government. That document was carefully crafted to delegate only certain powers and authorities to the central government. It went even further, in case there was some sort of misunderstanding. The document contained two separate comments for clarification; one indicated that any right not explicitly listed as a right reserved to the people was indeed still a right of the people; the second went even further and stated that those powers not explicitly delegated to the central government were explicitly withheld from the central government.

Quite simply, the Constitution was designed to limit the federal government. It was never intended to limit or control We The People, only the government. All the authorities and responsibilities of the government are spelled out in detail within the Constitution. As stated above, it then goes on to state that any authority not delegated to the federal government is expressly reserved from the federal government. This means that the government can never grow or increase, can never take over a new area of political power, can never take control over We The People. Yet why has our government so vastly exceeded its limitations? Because We The People allow it!

This is not a discussion of conservative versus liberal politics, this is a discussion of Constitutional limitations. America will always have conservatives and liberals, but America should NEVER have unconstitutionals!

Let us clarify a little more what we mean. Take healthcare, for example. Liberals would create a large federal beauracracy to run things. Conservatives would create a small federal beauracracy and allow the states to run most of it. Those who look to the Constitution would say, "The Constitution gives the federal government absolutely no authority over healthcare at all. Why are they even debating the issue?"

The Constitution recognized that all authority rested in We The People. We The People delegated some of that authority to the various state governments. We The People delegated a very small amount of authority to the federal government. All authority not expressly delegated to the federal government is expressly reserved to the States or to the People! This is our Constitution.

So why do we have a federal government that sits around all day every day just looking for more issues to write laws about, with no regard for or discussion of any Constitutional authority for those laws?

Again, because We The People allow it. All authority rests with We The People. We are the owners and rulers and bosses of this great nation. Yet we don't keep up with our elected representatives, we don't vote, and we don't fulfill our great responsibilities to run this nation under our Constitution. Shame on us.

If we allow the federal government to evolve into whatever it wants to, then we are doomed to live in fear of the monster which results from that evolutionary process.

"The Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
- Amendment X to the Constitution

"We, the People, are the rightful masters of both the Congress and the Courts. Not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who have perverted it."
- Abraham Lincoln.