Overcoming Federal Overreach
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How to Stop Federal Overreach
By Gunner Steele
Many conservatives mistakenly think that an Article V Convention of States is the silver-bullet solution that will end federal tyranny and overreach in our country. However, they neglect to recognize that our current federal overreach is a consequence of a failed morality in our nation and culture. And that failure comes as a result of failure in churches, families, and all levels of government. As John Adams famously quotes: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
So while the idea of reining in federal powers through additional prohibitionary legal measures (i.e. Constitutional amendments that limit federal power) is sound, it is simply insufficient to get the job done. Moral revival and a restoration of Judeo-Christian values in our culture must likewise take place or any legal successes will only serve to delay the inevitable.
Additionally, not only is it insufficient, but in our modern context an Article V Convention of States as is popularly promoted—where delegates are sent to vote on proposed amendments—is likewise a flawed mechanism, containing too many inherent dangers to be seriously considered by those who want liberty to be preserved, not only in our founding document, but in reality.
Here we offer a more complete, though not exhaustive, list of legal and social action we could and should take in order to stop federal overreach—which effectively serves as an alternative solution to the standard Convention of States proposal by many misled, yet well-intentioned conservatives:
Many conservatives mistakenly think that an Article V Convention of States is the silver-bullet solution that will end federal tyranny and overreach in our country. However, they neglect to recognize that our current federal overreach is a consequence of a failed morality in our nation and culture. And that failure comes as a result of failure in churches, families, and all levels of government. As John Adams famously quotes: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
So while the idea of reining in federal powers through additional prohibitionary legal measures (i.e. Constitutional amendments that limit federal power) is sound, it is simply insufficient to get the job done. Moral revival and a restoration of Judeo-Christian values in our culture must likewise take place or any legal successes will only serve to delay the inevitable.
Additionally, not only is it insufficient, but in our modern context an Article V Convention of States as is popularly promoted—where delegates are sent to vote on proposed amendments—is likewise a flawed mechanism, containing too many inherent dangers to be seriously considered by those who want liberty to be preserved, not only in our founding document, but in reality.
Here we offer a more complete, though not exhaustive, list of legal and social action we could and should take in order to stop federal overreach—which effectively serves as an alternative solution to the standard Convention of States proposal by many misled, yet well-intentioned conservatives:
1. Individual states with Constitutional Governors should stand on the 10th Amendment and reject federal laws that are unconstitutional.
This is already being done by liberals but not by conservatives. Liberals, for example, have rejected immigration laws and drug enforcement laws in liberal states like California, Washington, and others for years. Conservative states should likewise reject unconstitutional federal laws and attacks like Obamacare and medical tyranny from bureaucracies like the CDC.
2. States should pass laws making all chiefs of police departments elected offices with a two term limit (8 years max).
- This is in alignment with the principles of the Declaration of Independence which states that governments get their power from the “consent of the governed.” Any and all law enforcement agency who has the power to take away people’s rights, is likewise able to abuse such power, and should be accountable to the people through the ballot box. In essence, this simply converts a City Chief of Police to a "City Sheriff" and the Chief of a State Police agency to a "State Sheriff."
- This prevents abuse against citizens when any police agency is tasked with the duty of violating people’s rights since currently heads of law enforcement must obey orders from politicians and bureaucrats without facing consequences from the people.
3. Citizens should be trained in the fundamental principle of freedom preservation through the process of jury nullification (the final protection against unjust laws or laws unjustly applied).
This has always been the last line of defense against tyranny (having its American roots going back to the Magna Carta) and it is the original purpose of a jury in the first place. Click here to read more about jury nullification.
4. End government financed education.
State sponsored education is one of the 10 pillars of the Communist Manifesto and it has proven itself to be the number one source of society's ills today. Every ill we face in America today can be directly or indirectly traced back to having an ignorant populace. And the only way to maintain an ignorant populace in a "free market" is through government mandated attendance at government schools.
What citizens should do individually:
5. Support freedom based candidates at all levels.
6. Completely abandon all support to political parties—in other words, don't send another dime to a political party, ever! Only directly support candidates you know, like, and trust.
7. Take their children out of government schools.
8. Leave any church that refuses to teach the truth or that supports socialism (any church that shut down during COVID is a perfect example of a church that should never be supported with membership or tithes/offerings ever again).
9. Boycott any company, media, or movement that undermines the institution of the family while supporting all institutions, companies, and media that promote historical American values and the classical Judeo-Christian nuclear family.
6. Completely abandon all support to political parties—in other words, don't send another dime to a political party, ever! Only directly support candidates you know, like, and trust.
7. Take their children out of government schools.
8. Leave any church that refuses to teach the truth or that supports socialism (any church that shut down during COVID is a perfect example of a church that should never be supported with membership or tithes/offerings ever again).
9. Boycott any company, media, or movement that undermines the institution of the family while supporting all institutions, companies, and media that promote historical American values and the classical Judeo-Christian nuclear family.
What about Amending the Constitution?
Amending the Constitution by adding amendments which would restrict judiciary and congressional powers, with specific language that is hard to re-interpret, is certainly not a bad idea. While the current Constitution is an excellent document and one that should be wholeheartedly supported, it is not a perfect document. Even the founders recognized this fact, and that is why they included a provision for amending it.
However, amendments alone will not stop abuse from our Federal Government. Even now, the Constitution's few and minor flaws are not the REASON for our problems—rather it is the lack of enforcement and respect for the existing Constitution that is the problem.
This is the consequences of having an immoral nation, led by feckless and corrupt men, who have arisen out of consecutive generations of public education and the wholesale abandonment of government involvement by Christians. If these things don't change, Amending our Constitution with additional clarifications and specific changes to prohibit federal overreach, will likewise not change. Perhaps they will be slowed, but they inevitably will continue.
However, based on the current makeup of our legislatures, Congress, media, and political parties, a Convention of States is too risky to endorse. Risks are inherent in progress, but risks must be weighed in light of their potential consequences. In this case, we are risking the possibility of having full-fledged Communism ensconced in our US Constitution, which would ultimately destroy the foundation of our country as we know it. That is a risk that is too high to consider taking.
However, if Constitutional Amendments could be passed by standard means, we would offer the following 3 amendments for consideration and discussion:
However, amendments alone will not stop abuse from our Federal Government. Even now, the Constitution's few and minor flaws are not the REASON for our problems—rather it is the lack of enforcement and respect for the existing Constitution that is the problem.
This is the consequences of having an immoral nation, led by feckless and corrupt men, who have arisen out of consecutive generations of public education and the wholesale abandonment of government involvement by Christians. If these things don't change, Amending our Constitution with additional clarifications and specific changes to prohibit federal overreach, will likewise not change. Perhaps they will be slowed, but they inevitably will continue.
However, based on the current makeup of our legislatures, Congress, media, and political parties, a Convention of States is too risky to endorse. Risks are inherent in progress, but risks must be weighed in light of their potential consequences. In this case, we are risking the possibility of having full-fledged Communism ensconced in our US Constitution, which would ultimately destroy the foundation of our country as we know it. That is a risk that is too high to consider taking.
However, if Constitutional Amendments could be passed by standard means, we would offer the following 3 amendments for consideration and discussion:
3 Amendments to Consider:
The Constitution should never be amended for light and transient causes, and we therefore offer a short list of three functional, valuable, and historically consistent suggestions for amendments:
A. The Congressional Anti-Corruption Act:
- Change the term for members of the House of Representatives to 4 years.
- Limit both House and Senate terms to 2 terms total (meaning one could not serve 2 terms in the House and then 2 terms in the Senate—it is 2 terms in total).
- Prevents members of Congress from receiving any compensation from the government outside of the timeframe in which they actually serve in Congress (i.e. eliminates pension plans, retirement funds, and all other publicly financed perks for Congress).
- Prohibits Congress from exempting themselves from any legislation they pass on the American people.
B. The Constitutional Modernization Act:
- Time limit on Supreme Court Justices (suggested 12 years).
- Elimination of the foreign treaty clause in the Constitution.
- Line-item veto power for the President.
- Restoration of Commerce Clause to its original meaning.
- Repealing of the 17th amendment.
C. The Federal Financial Integrity Act:
- Repeals the 16th amendment and requires a supermajority for all federal taxes.
- National prohibition against any and all property taxes.
- Eliminates national welfare, corporate welfare, Social Security, and any and all payments from the federal government to individuals or other legal entities.
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