Mark Levin in his latest most excellent work “The Liberty Amendments” addresses the dangers of the political class and a ruling oligarchy epitomized in what is called the ‘beltway culture’, those he call ‘statists’. One of eleven suggested Amendments in his book is to require terms limits for Congressional seats. In January of 2010 I made the case not for term limits but for raising the age requirements as being more in the spirit of our founding fathers. You can read that here, but I will further advance the idea in relation to Mark Levin’s arguments to the contrary. In today’s culture, the idea that raising age requirements is being ignored as an alternative to term limits can be taken as speaking to its merits.
First of all, if term limits is the only acceptable alternative considered by those of a conservative nature and necessary political prowess to get the amendment ratified Mark Levin’s suggestion of twelve years is simply too long. Twelve years is more than long enough for any individual to be indoctrinated into the political class or beltway culture. Then these individuals will return to their respective States to become lobbyists, and to populate our State Houses and City Halls in elected positions. Would this be beneficial? In Milwaukee our current Mayor is a former member of The House of Representatives. The kindest description I can give to his term as Mayor is reality challenged.
Mark Levin makes the case for raising the age requirements himself. He highlights in great detail the popularity and practice of term limits at the time of the Constitution. Then Mr. Levin explains how, with age requirements, for the first hundred years of this country the majority of elected officials in both the Senate and House held only two terms or even a single term of office.
Further, term limits do not break the power of the political class where the party, people whose entire life experience has been not in the private sector but confined to the world of politics, decides from their own ranks who will run, or in other words who will receive the financial backing. If the age requirements were raised twenty years across the board for Congress and the Presidency people will be presented a clear choice. Though the effect on Presidential candidates may be slight, in Congressional races an open seat may very well be contended between a profession politician versus the likes of Wisconsin’s standing Senator Ron Johnson, a manufacturer highly accomplished in the private sector who stands for true reform and a return to traditional values in our government. The public must decide between a professional politician with a life’s work and practice of decades that could be clearly scrutinized versus highly accomplished private sector individuals with their own finances; the likes of Donald Trump or even Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs. Though the politics of the fore mentioned private sector giants may not all be conservative, even far from the fact, would such men tolerate an inefficient, irresponsible and dishonest system that crushes the American Dream?
Another suggested Amendment is term limits for the Supreme Court. It appears to me this would create large and continuous swings in the political makeup of the Court. Included in the Amendment is the ability of three-fifths of Congress or State Legislatures to expunge any Supreme Court decision. With these political swings caused by term limits I can imagine that our Congress and State Legislatures will become continuously involved in the decisions of the Court. I would question; Is this a separation of powers? The ability of State Legislatures to expunge a Supreme Court decision is sufficient as I perceive the issue. In light of the Obamacare ruling it may be the easiest of the amendments to be approved.
What Mark Levin has done, with great ability, knowledge and persuasion, is to present to the reader the dangers of tyranny under politics as usual and then present viable solutions. The dangers stem from statists who despise the Constitution to the point where it has been ignored and the avenues to rectify the problem, to demand the Constitution be upheld, have become intimidating and the processes deconstructed. He addresses all these problems with specific Constitutional Amendments. Some may argue, perhaps rightly, that you cannot legislate morality, that some of these Amendments are far too specific. I could easily be swayed to that opinion myself.
The reality is many of the issues Mark Levin addresses could be resolved if a few of the most critical amendments he proposes were ratified. The repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment that would designate that State Legislatures choose Senators, along with an amendment giving the States the ability to expunge a Supreme Court decision would be a drastic shift of power back to the States, in opposition to an overpowering tyrannical federal government. Senators assigned by their State Legislators could also resolve the issue of term limits (or raising age requirements) as the House is already characterized by powerful swings in relation to the will of the people.
A Balanced Budget Amendment limiting the taxing power of the government proposed by the Mr. Levin, though I find his limits too generous, would strike deep against an overbearing bureaucracy. In the allocation of funds, so important to a politician, the limits would put the parties at odds with each other rather than sharing in an unspoken agreement to run up an unlimited budget for mutual political and financial gain. Further, tying the budget to the GNP creates the dynamic where more economic prosperity equates to more money for the politician to allocate. This discourages the creation of overbearing laws and regulations that hinder economic growth.
These three amendments, the repeal of the seventeenth, a State override of Supreme Court decisions and for a balanced budget with limits to taxation, in something more than a decade may resolve up to ninety-percent of the dangers Mark Levin presented.
Mark Levin’s book is ultimately a call to action. It is the final warning to a nation swiftly declining into tyranny, a tyranny that is and will bring a new dark ages to the entire world. Mark Levin’s call for a ‘Convention to Amend the Constitution’ to be held by the States is the final opportunity for this country to be saved without reverting to more drastic measures such as States declaring the federal government illegitimate and/or secession; the final steps before taking up arms, if it should come to that, against a domestic tyranny as provided for in our Constitution.
Mark Levin has completed all the ground work for this convention to be held. He has presented all of the citizen’s grievances and proposed every possible solution in the form of amendments. He has put forth ever consideration such a convention should address. Now it is up to us and our representatives of common values to demand that the States of our great Union gather and convene A Convention to Amend the Constitution.
No comments:
Post a Comment