Thomas Jefferson observed, "To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed...Our judges are as honest as other men and not more so. They have with others the same passions for party, for power, and the privilege of their corps." Yet many Americans still trust the..
Read moreLooking Through the Proper Constitutional Lens
Most Americans believe a Supreme Court opinion automatically makes a given federal action constitutional, even though they have no clue about the actual constitutional issues involved. They are looking through the wrong constitutional lens. For most, it’s not even that they read the court’s opinion and agree with the reasoning. No, they just automatically assume..
Read moreAmerica Embraces Tyranny it Fought to Reject
Americans fought a long, bloody war to free themselves from a tyrannical government, only to eventually embrace the very system they struggled to throw off. That may seem like a stinging indictment, but careful examination of U.S. governance today reveals that it rests on essentially the same philosophical foundation as the 18th century British system..
Read moreDoes Government Have Limits?
Does government have limits? (more…)
Read moreIs Insisting on Following the Constitution “Too Dogmatic?”
At the Tenth Amendment Center, we hold to the following mantra. "Follow the Constitution, every issue, every time, no exceptions, no excuses." Recently, I've had a couple of people tell me that's "too dogmatic." OK, let's consider this quote by Benjamin Franklin in an essay titled Morals of Chess. “If it is agreed to play..
Read moreConstitution 101: Executive Power
Article II of the Constitution defines the role and qualifications of the president. As it does for Congress, the Constitution delegates specific powers and responsibilities to the executive branch – the power of appointment, the power to make treaties with the advice and consent of Congress, veto power, etc. These specific powers are relatively clear..
Read moreAmerica Has Become What the Revolutionaries Sought to Destroy
Over the last 90 years or so, the United States has transformed into the very thing the founding generation fought to destroy. We learn in elementary history classes that American revolutionaries rejected the notion of a king. But it went beyond that. The founding generation also sought to eradicate the concept of a powerful magistrate..
Read morePlanned Parenthood Funding Unconstitutional; So is Republican Defunding Plan
One of the great debates over the last few weeks has centered around Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. The brouhaha started with the release of a series of undercover videos produced by anti-abortion activists that appeared to prove the organization sells fetal tissue. That prompted conservatives to call on Congress to defund Planned Parenthood...
Read moreMonopoly Government: The Power to Git-R-Done
Anyone wondering about my general antipathy toward the state need look no further than the circus surrounding gay marriage licenses in Kentucky. The two sides squared off against each other in the Great Kentucky County Clerk Gay Marriage License Debate seem diametrically opposed and impossibly divided by a yawning, unspannable chasm. But at their core,..
Read morePodcast: How to Limit the Federal Government
In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I tell you how we can limit federal power based on James Madison's blueprint. The federal government exercises seemingly unlimited authority and inserts itself into virtually every area of our lives. But the feds were never meant to have this kind of power. As James Madison asserted..
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