Per NPR: “The COVID-19 relief bill working its way through Congress is full of big ideas to help people. But there’s one idea that’s so big, it was politically unthinkable not that long ago.”
Sometimes I wonder what the authors of these news articles are thinking, not to mention what the politicians are thinking. Do politicians simply come up with a random ideas to make laws about with no thought of the consequences, not to mention the Constitutionality of such ideas? In other words, politicians and those in government treat government as if government can make any law about anything simply because its government. This is so far from the truth and from a healthy reality that it almost doesn’t seem plausible to me that we’re living in a country that treats government as such.
Truly, the news reports don’t even have the Constitution on their radar.
This is what my fight is all about. I want to bring sobriety and urgency to this citizenry, a sobriety and urgency in this citizenry to need our government to follow the Constitution.
If you are unaware of what the Constitution says or the enumerated powers, I’ll briefly say this: there is nowhere in the Constitution that the federal government is Constitutionally given the power to give money out to its citizenry–or solve poverty for that matter. This means that if they write laws doing this, they are deriving their power to do so from nowhere–which means their power is limitless, unconfined and arbitrary (much like a King or dictator who has no higher authority to bow to).
James Madison expressed his concern about this: “…If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their Own hands; they may appoint teachers in every state, county, and parish, and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may assume the provision for the poor; they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads;…in short, everything, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress; for every object I have mentioned would admit of the application of money, and might be called, if Congress pleased, provisions for the general welfare.”
Was he not correct? Have we not seen this very thing happen? This is what arbitrary power looks like. And has it solved anything? Has the federal government growing in power solved anything?
So I ask: why isn’t it important to Americans for their government to follow the Constitution? Why isn’t it “politically unthinkable” for the government to act unconstitutionally?
The article continues: “President Biden and Democratic lawmakers want to fight child poverty by giving U.S. families a few hundred dollars every month for every child in their household — no strings attached. A kind of child allowance.”
Aside from the glaring issue of unconstitutionality, the logic that the federal government is capable of solving child poverty is incredibly flawed. Local communities, churches and the like should be the ones helping solve childhood poverty but we’re now conditioned to look to the federal government for that. When has the federal government been accused of being efficient and capable? Do we really want to leave child poverty to their care? Do we really think that the federal government knows the different and unique dynamics of child poverty that exist in each individual district, county, city and state? Is one broad, overarching law treating each of these unique and different localities truly our best solution for child poverty? Are we so incapable as fellow human beings to be able help, pull up, and support those in need that we must rely on the federal government to do it for us?
So, what happens when the federal government steps outside the Constitution and tries to take on tasks that they are not equipped nor legally warranted to do? They create more problems and more dependency on the federal government. The fallout is potentially devastating .
What happens when people are given free money simply because they have kids?
They have less incentive to work and more incentive to have more kids.
A dangerous and unhealthy combination for our country.
But, regardless of the logical flaws inherent in this provision, it’s simply unconstitutional and frankly, that should be enough.
The Liberty Belle
First off let me say that of course the money for children isn’t Constitutional. It did however pass by a partisan vote but has bi-partisan support where as I doubt anybody in either party will return those checks. I’ll explain this below.
I’m writing so many notes on this thought that is buzzing in my head I’ll try to keep it short and sweet so as not to sound like I’m stepping on Christine’s toes or taking over her site.
The purpose of this and other legislation isn’t to solve a problem but to build a dependency through an image. In the past we as a nation honored the family as the essential building block of civilization, the house of worship as the locus for forming culture and the community as the matrix for human interaction. But the ever increasing benevolent government intervention has displaced these social bulwarks. The left has taken this a step further however when they built their political party and it is a world the Republicans helped create. They built it from the bottom up, while the right built it from the top down. By that I mean the left builds up with unions, ethnic groups, woman and every other imaginable group which they keep involved. They also build local organizations for duel power. Think of how A.O.C. recently raised $4 million dollars for the victims of the Texas snow storm working through local relief and mutual aid groups already existing like “ActBlue”. Where was Ted Cruz? Getting caught on his way to Cancun. Heck the left just passed a huge $1.9 TRILLION Covid Relief Bill they can brag about all ALONE and what does the right have to raise a voice about? DR.SEUSS and MR.POTATOHEAD ! The right doesn’t build organizations nor do they think much about repurposing the ones they already have. Any and ALL power on the right comes from the RNC headquarters and it’s leaders in Congress without any input from the state or local levels. Talk about ELITES …..this is the essence of elite. It is also the reason the right is losing the election and cultural wars. But the Republican party has you right where they want you ………..by the nose and the pocketbook.