May 11, 2009

After my sister returned from a Tea Party rally in her small town on April 15th, she phoned and asked my opinion of the nation wide events. My first response was absolute shock because I never thought nearly one million Americans would rally against government and the reprobates masquerading as public servants. Seeing my fellow citizens with signs demanding constitutional government was even more shocking. At the end of our conversation, she asked what should the Tea Party movement do next to keep the momentum moving forward. I told her it was too early to answer her question because I needed time to see how politicians on the left and their apologists in the media responded to the Tea Party rallies. Now that three weeks have passed and the leftists on the jury returned the insanity verdict I expected, I can answer my sister's question.

In my opinion, the Tea Party rallies were similar to the opening battles of a long war. Several weeks ago, I watched an episode in the History Channel's excellent series entitled: "Battles BC: Judgment Day at Marathon." In 490 BC, a massive Persian fleet sailed across the Aegean Sea for Greece. A small Athenian army, aided by troops from an ally, adopted a brilliant defensive strategy to defeat a numerically superior Persian military force at the Battle of Marathon. In the prelude leading up to the battle, the Athenians probed the Persian lines in an attempt to get the Persian commander to reveal his plan of battle. The Athenian general refused to launch a direct attack on the Persian force. Frustrated by this tactic, the Persian commander decided to attack and ordered his archers to launch a hail of arrows at the Greek forces. The Greek soldiers possessed the most advanced shield of the day and used it to deflect most of the arrows. This shield was unique because it was also designed to be used as an offensive weapon. Modifying tactics and using their shields to deflect the arrows at the beginning of the battle paved the way for victory.

This is exactly what happened after the Tea Party events. Politicians in Washington D.C., who think our money is their money, aided by their willing accomplices in the media, launched a massive volley of verbal arrows at the Tea Party movement and the individuals who attended the April 15 th events. To the casual observer, many of the arrows struck home because the Tea Party movement did not have a shield to deflect the incoming barrage of barbs and criticism.

Since the next skirmish is scheduled for July 4th, the Tea Party movement had better adopt a shield and some tactics because this time the arrows will be more numerous and much sharper.

In my mind, the choice of a shield that can be used offensively and defensively is a no brainier. That shield is called the Constitution for the United States of America and the strategy is simple; use the shield of constitutional government to deflect the arrows back at those who launched them.

If I were one of the strategists for the Tea Party movement, my plan for the next phase would be structured to nullify the tactics used by the opposition following the April 15th events. The critics of the Tea Party events used a classic tactic; vilify the creditability and the motives of the messengers. This tactic was similar to the shield example I referenced earlier because the shield they crafted deflected the focus away from the message and put many Tea Partiers in the position of the defending the spurious attacks on their intentions and character.

By making the Constitution the issue and the shield, the Tea Party movement can ensure that they never fall victim to this tactic again because basing their position on the Constitution deflects every attack and moves the discussion back to the Constitution. This tactic would force the opposition into an awkward position because attacking calls for constitutional government would mean they support unconstitutional government. By using the Constitution in this manner, the Tea Partiers could turn the tables on their critics and force them to defend an untenable position.

Since the original Tea Party revolt focused on taxes and they are a component of the present day Tea Party movement, the focus of the July 4th rallies, in my opinion, should be the taxing and spending clause of the Constitution because Congress has been blatantly violating this provision for decades. Here are 10 reasons why I would target the taxing and spending clause first:

1-The taxing and spending clause is the jugular vein of federal power.

2-The taxing and spending clause affects every American.

3-Exposing the violations of the taxing and spending clause would make the Constitution front page news and help educate all the victims of the public school system.

4-Exposing the violations of the taxing and spending clause would force the President and every member of Congress to prove a negative (e.g., when did you stop beating your wife) by attempting to justify their past usurpations of power.

5-Exposing the violations of the taxing and spending clause would make every elected representative in the federal government a target for defeat in the next election; either stop usurping power or perish at the ballot box.

6-Exposing the violations of the taxing and spending clause would give creditability to the intentions of Tea Party movement and help nullify media criticism.

7-Exposing the violations of the taxing and spending clause would help galvanize a large segment of the American people and bring in new recruits.

8-Nullifying the abuse of power under the taxing and spending clause would help reform the corruption in Washington D.C. because it would wipe out many of the lobbyists and special interest groups that exchange campaign contributions for federal tax dollars to spend on things not authorized in the Constitution.

9-Nullifying the abuse of power under the taxing and spending clause would be an immediate and continuous stimulus package because it would leave the people with more of their money to spend.

10-Nullifying the abuse of power under the taxing and spending clause would be a huge victory for constitutional government.

Since the next series of rallies are less than 60 days away, it would be impossible to launch a full-scale attack on all the abuse of power under the taxing and spending clause. However, there is a component of federal spending under this clause that can be successfully targeted for the July 4th events. And as an added bonus, simply exposing it would be big slap in the face for every member of Congress. The target should be all the unconstitutional spending known as earmarks and pork-barrel spending.

Contrary to popular belief, Congress' power to tax and spend is extremely limited and is found in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the Constitution. This Clause grants Congress the power:

"To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States."

Pursuant to this Clause, Congress can ONLY impose taxes for three purposes. First, to "pay the debts...of the United States." This provision was inserted, primarily, to give the federal government the ability to extinguish the existing debts of the United States (pre Constitution) and was not intended to grant Congress the discretionary power to incur new debts. Second, to "provide for the common Defense...of the United States." This provision enumerates the primary purpose of the federal government and grants Congress the power to raise the needed revenue. Third, to "provide.for the general Welfare of the United States." Note: the phrase "United States" means the States collectively.

The majority of all federal spending, including appropriations for pork-barrel projects, flows through the third provision commonly known as the "General Welfare Clause."

The constitutional rules for spending for the general welfare, as confirmed by the United States Supreme Court in 1937 are:

1-Congress cannot use the power of appropriation to do things not authorized in the Constitution.

2-the appropriation must be general (apply to the whole); it cannot be for local or particular projects.

Every dollar contained in every spending bill passed by Congress for the general welfare MUST meet both of these requirements to be constitutional. If an appropriation fails either one of these rules the spending is unconstitutional.

Earmarks and pork-barrel spending programs are usually confined to an individual State or congressional district for some special project unrelated to the operating costs of government. Thus, the appropriation to fund the project is unconstitutional because the spending is "local" or "particular." The Constitution prohibits Congress from imposing general taxes throughout the United States and then spending the money for local or particular projects within an individual State.

Every year, Citizens Against Government Waste [http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2009] publishes a "Pig Book" that documents all the pork and earmarks. Here are a few examples from their 2009 publication:

$9,452,500 for14 bike path and trail projects in several States.

$3,800.000 for the preservation of the old Tigers baseball stadium in Detroit, Michigan.

$1,900,000 for a water taxi service project near the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

$1,791,000 for swine odor and manure management research in Ames, Iowa.

$856,000 for after school programs in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

$380,000 for construction of a recreation and fairgrounds area in Kotzebue, Alaska.

$200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Southern California.

$150,000 to restore a barn in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

All of these appropriations were unconstitutional because they violated the rules under the taxing and spending clause. NONE of the appropriations were for things authorized in the Constitution. NONE of the appropriations were for the welfare (well-being) of the States collectively. NONE of the appropriations were general; each and every appropriation was for a local or particular project designed to buy votes in the next election.

Since there are only 535 members of Congress, the Tea Partiers should start "naming and shaming" them at the July 4th rallies. They should construct a rally sign for every member of Congress who has received an unconstitutional appropriation of taxpayer money for a local pork project. Here is an example for a sign:

"$3,800.000 for the preservation of a baseball stadium is unconstitutional Senator Levin."

Seeing the plain folk "naming and shaming" them at rallies across the country would be the ultimate insult for the thieving egotistical bastards in Congress.

And for their next act of insanity, the Tea Party movement should follow-up the July 4th events with a class action lawsuit against Congress for violating the rules under the taxing and spending clause of the Constitution. I wonder if members of Congress and the media would still call them crazy then?

Your comments and feedback are welcome!
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Some other, related reading:

The Flawed Second Amendment Debate

The Second Amendment and the Preamble to the Bill of Rights

Another Look at the Wording of the Second Amendment

Would the Repeal of the Second Amendment Empower the Federal Government and Negate the Right to Own a Firearm?

Tell me why the States needed the so-called "Collective Right" Second Amendment?

The Second Amendment is an Individual Right

A Question For The Supreme Court

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Robert Greenslade focuses his writing on issues surrounding the federal government and the Constitution. He believes politicians at the federal level, through ignorance or design, are systematically dismantling the Constitution in an effort to expand their power and consolidate control over the American people. He has dedicated himself to resurrecting the true intent of the Constitution in the hope that the information will contribute, in some small way, to restoring the system of limited government established by the Constitution.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Constitution, take a look at this book. I use it in many of my articles and it is the best book I've found on this subject. Bob

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