September 17 is Constitution Day in the United States. It is a day on which citizens, civil society groups, schools and government entities across the country organize events to celebrate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 and to promote understanding of its significance and meaning.
Today, our constitutional form of government is threatened by an overreaching executive and a meek and compliant legislative branch. It is therefore critical that the candidates who seek to serve as the next president of the United States clearly state what they would do in office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
For more than 200 years, the Constitution has provided the framework for our government and our laws. It was designed, through an intricate and inspiring system of checks and balances, to ensure that no single branch of government — especially the executive branch – would be able to acquire too much power.
Unfortunately, over the past few years, this system has been severely damaged.
President George W. Bush has thrown it out of balance through the use of signing statements, the defiance of congressional subpoenas by his administration’s officials, and the willful violation of laws adopted by Congress – such as FISA, which governs how executive agencies can conduct surveillance on American citizens.
In 1994, President William Clinton authorized himself to place American soldiers under United Nations control by a completely new set of rules. He signed Presidential Decision Directive 25 (PDD-25) that ordered submission of American troops to multilateral peace operations. This order was unlawful and unconstitutional. Specifically, U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 9 prohibits any person’s acceptance of any emolument from a foreign state without congressional consent.
After Obama’s Dream Act failed to pass Congress, he authored the DACA program, (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) as a way to not enforce existing immigration law by not deporting so-called “Dreamers”). In violation of Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, he’s created a new federal program, designating illegal aliens into four different categories and establishing new criteria for who can indefinitely stay in the United States and who cannot.
Biden’s mask mandates are also an unconstitutional power grab. Some say these mandates are an exercise of the federal government’s constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce. However, the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to regulate interstate commerce. The president does not have the authority to issue executive orders regulating interstate commerce absent authorization by a valid law passed by Congress. The Founders gave Congress sole law-making authority, and they would be horrified by the modern practice of presidents creating law with a “stroke of a pen.”.
Before the American people vote on November 4, they must know whether each candidate will continue these practices or commit to restoring our system of checks and balances. Will he treat Congress like a co-equal branch of government or will he continue to value executive power over the Constitution? If we do not know the answers to these questions ahead of time, we will literally be taking a chance on the future of our country.
