Letter: Candidate Reminds us to Remember Constitution Day
*Editor’s Note: Constitution Day is Wednesday, Sept. 17.
To the Editor-
Consider the following:
- Today the official federal debt stands at more than $17.6 Trillion or about $55,650 dollars per man, woman and child. Even this understates the true financial picture, as unfunded liabilities amount to around $400,000 per person.
- The real cost of governments state, federal and local, that is, all taxes, fees and licenses plus the cost of regulations is about 55% of our economy, and rising. This presents a serious drag on our economy.
- Washington DC is almost literally for sale, as lobbyists are able to return more than $200 in federal money for every dollar their clients invest in influencing legislation.
- To be sure, we have many honorable law enforcement officers, including some who have endorsed me in my race for Congress, but now we see no knock raids, warrant-less searches, no financial privacy, NSA spying on citizens, the possibility of indefinite detentions for those arrested, and a president who uses the federal bureaucracy as a political weapon.
- The president and members of his administration believe they can make law by decree, without regard to Congress or the people. There is a word for someone who unilaterally makes the law, but please be aware that benevolent dictators are scarce as hen’s teeth. (Note that these things have also happened under Republican administrations as well, only the boldness with which this president abuses power is different.)
I see a common thread in all of the above, and it is that many of our elected officials have no respect for the US Constitution that they took an oath to protect and defend. Most of the money spent by the federal government is for programs and purposes not constitutionally authorized. There is no constitutional authority for anyone but Congress to make laws, as stated in Article I Section 1. Congress only has those powers described in Article I Section 8, and this is further reinforced by the 10th Amendment, that states, “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.”
The path we are on puts our descendants at risk of living in poverty in a police state, but I do see reason for optimism. While the limits of the constitution have been tested almost from day one, we more-or-less abided by it for over 150 years, and it was during that time that the US became the richest, most free nation on earth. I believe we can continue in this success by returning to the formula that got us here. But if liberty, opportunity and prosperity are to be there for our children, it is more important now than ever that we elect representatives who will work to limit government to those powers granted in the constitution.
Ken Van Doren
Independent Write-In Candidate
Wisconsin Congressional District 3