Archive for May, 2009
Tea Parties
By Dr. Harold Pease
The Tea Party concept with respect to freedom is not new. Imagine, once again, having to begin the process of resistance because this government, like the British government, no longer listens to its citizens. The Colonists argued, “No taxation Without Representation,” to which their British cousins retorted that they did have “virtual” representation. That meant that a member of parliament in England thought about them when they voted; to which the colonists said that such was not the same as “actual” representation. Or, in other words, they did not feel represented unless the representative actually lived among them most of the time.
Today your congressional representative and your two senators actually live in Washington DC and only occasionally travel to their states or district thus we have returned to “virtual” representation. Once again we do not feel represented and are “throwing tea into the harbor” in every major city in the land demanding that the “parliament” of the land listen to us. The simple answer is for them to live in their district most of the time so they can actually understand our concerns, otherwise, they mostly just listen to each other before voting.
Executive Orders
By Dr. Harold Pease
The Founding Fathers’ concept of separation of powers has been heavily altered the last fifty years. The Constitution allowed only the Legislative Branch to make law (Art. I, Sec. I, Clause I). A law’s review by 533 individuals (432 members of the House, 100 Senators and 1 President) served as a filter for bad law as only one bill in thirty survived the rigid scrutiny of both branches and the signature of the president.
Today the president makes half as many laws as does the Legislative Branch. Some few laws of Congress need a statement of implementation by the president. For example, President Washington was directed by Congress to create Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday. This he did by Executive Order, which was lawful. An executive order, if it simply implements a single, recently passed (within weeks), law of Congress is fine. But, when he instead takes multiple pieces of many laws passed by ancient congresses, he effectively creates new law without any review and unconstitutionally usurps the powers of Congress. This has happened through much of the 20th Century.