Constitutional Powers: What happened to the 25?

"What powers does the government have under the Constitution?" 

   When we first see this question we may think of the many fingers of government that have reached into ever facet of our lives. If you thought of those thousands of "powers" being exercised by our government, I commend you, at least you know what is going on in America. But you're wrong. There're only 25 powers even implied in the original Constitution. This is a drastic difference from what we see today. What powers was the government given originally? How have those changed? What happened to cause those changes? Our government has reached far beyond it's bounds, and as a result, we are losing our freedoms. 

   Initially, our government was very limited. They were only given 25 powers, some of which are only implied and may not have been purposefully included. To counter that already minimal list, there also placed nine regulations upon them. When we look into our governmental processes it can be difficult to imagine what these powers may have been. 

1. To lay and collect import duties.
2. To pay the debts of the U.S. Government.
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and Indian Tribes.
4. To regulate commerce among the States.
5. To regulate immigration.
6. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization.
7. To establish uniform laws on bankruptcy throughout the United States.
8. To coin money and regulate its value and that of foreign coin, and to issue bills of credit.
9. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.
10. To fix the standard of weights and measures.
11. To provide and regulate postal services.
12. To establish protection for intellectual property, including patent, copyright, and trademark rights.
13. To constitute lower national courts.
14. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the laws of nations.
15. To declare war, authorize warlike activities by other than the armed forces, and make rules concerning captures.
16. To raise, support and regulate the armed forces.
17. To govern what part of the Militia shall be employed in the service of the United States.
18. To exercise general Legislation over federal ground, which is limited to federal territories and districts, land purchased from states with the consent of their legislatures, U.S. flag vessels on the high seas, and the grounds of U.S. embassies abroad.
19. To guarantee a republican form of government to the States.
20. To enter into a treaty, alliance, or confederation with a foreign state.
21. To declare the punishment for treason.
22. To prescribe the manner in which the acts, records, and judicial proceedings of each state shall be proved to other states and what should be done about them.
23. To admit new states into the Union.
24. To dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.
25. To make laws necessary and proper for executing the powers delegated to the U.S. government.

These are the basic necessities of a good, sound, strong government. A government needs to be kept to it's bounds, or it will grow and, in the end, will turn on it's creators and consume their freedom. 

   To help to stop the government from consolidating itself and expanding, consequentially becoming a more tyrannical one, the founders placed restrictions on what the national government could do. 

1. No exercise of powers not delegated to it by the Constitution.
2. No payment from the Treasury except under appropriations made by law.
3. Excises and duties must be uniform throughout the United States.
4. [The government] Shall pass no tax or duty on articles exported from any state.
5. No appointment of a senator or representative to any civil office which was created while he was a member of Congress or for which the amount of compensation was increased during that period.
6. No preferences to the ports of one state over another in regulation or tax collection.
7. No titles of nobility shall be granted by the U.S. government, or permitted to be granted to government officials by foreign states.
8. [The government] May not protect a State against domestic violence without the request of its legislature, unless it cannot be convened, in which case, without the consent of its executive.
9. U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction over suits against a state by citizens of another state or foreign country.

There are other negatives on the power of government, but they can be boiled down to these nine. As we look at both of these lists we see first, that this government is far larger than it was ever meant to be, and second, that the government has directly violated the Constitution many times. As a result of those changes, we are seeing an ever more tyrannical government. 

   The changes that plague our nation are countless. One need only hunt down a list of bills being processed to see how terrible the plague really is. We see laws regulating and over regulating business. We watch as taxes are taken from us at ever greater amounts; by a government that isn't even allowed to tax you directly. We tremble in fear of massive laws that no human being has ever read that drastically change our very lifestyle. And among many other things, we now have a president that has publicly told us that he intends to use executive action (not a power given by the government) to move his socialist agenda along, with or without the consent of the congress. 

   These are just a few of the countless things that our government is doing that overreach their constitutional bounds. But what are some of the major events that rocked those foundations? Over the four major waves that have hit America, the waves have crushed our freedoms, and opened large rifts that allowed the government to overstep it's bounds. 

   The first "wave" came from 1803 to 1824. During this wave, the Judicial Branch ruled that they had power to determine the Constitutionality of any and all laws. This is second nature to us now, but the implications of that ruling are exponential in allowing the government to overstep it's rules. In allowing the government to decide what the government could do, it basically negates the Constitution entirely. The only thing that was really kept the Constitution alive was the check and balances of government. That kept itself from overreaching and throwing off the Constitution.

   The second wave hit just after the Civil War. In the aftermath of such a horrific event, the government vastly overstepped it's bounds. Though, I find that many of the decisions were good, they were went about in the wrong way. From this point on, everyone accepted that the government was the power, not the states. This was not very wrong at the time, but it opened the door wide for the next wave.

   The third came in and around the year 1913. The 17th Amendment was passed. This took away one of the biggest protections of the Constitution, ever. This was the states appointing the Senators. The door that was opened by Lincoln now took the power from the states. 

   The fourth started in 2008 with the Wall Street fiasco and huge government bailouts. Following that we saw many things explicitly outlined in the Constitution being violated. Ex post facto laws have been passed left and right. Bills of Attainder are also. Everything is in chaos.

   Everything we've seen so far has shown how our government has corrupted the Constitution. It is sickening to think about all the breaches that have happened. And it makes us wonder, as we look at all the freedoms and rights we have lost, and are losing, if they have taken those things away, can they not take away more? Can they keep expanding? This requires a call to action. Will we stand for our rights? There are specific things we need to approach as a nation. The biggest thing we can do now is push the congress to repeal the 17th. This is the first step. Once we do that, we can start bringing power back to the States and take power from the President. We need to do that. 

   The Constitution in an inspired document. It is the standard by which our government should abide. It is not. As a result we have lost, and our losing many freedoms. We need to promote change. If we can shift the power center back to the states, we can have a rebirth of freedom. If we do not stand for our liberties and for our Constitution, we will be forced to kneel to the government that was once our own. The time is near. We have a decision to make. I echo the admonition made by our beloved president George Washington, "The time is near at hard which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves". This stands as true today as it was at the time of the revolution. Will we stand 4 the Constitution?