Celebrating an Extinct Document

September 17 is Constitution Day. The law requires public schools and government offices to provide educational programs every year on that date to promote a better understanding of the Constitution.

Constitution Day commemorates the day in 1787 when our delegates signed that first document in the history of the world to broadly limit the sort of government power England’s businessmen used to rip off their colonists.

Real capitalism should not be confused with the crony-capitalism we have today where the government interferes with business through subsidies, mandates, and protectionist tariffs. It is supposedly justified by the myth that consumer choice is flawed so the government needs to intervene to “level the playing field”.

Ordinary people don’t make the laws and their influence is often overshadowed by the rich and powerful. Having the government there to protect us from unfair labor and trade practices sounds good until we realize that without rules limiting government power, monied interests will use that power to take advantage of consumers. The limiting power of the Constitution has eroded over time. Our own Senator Charles Grassley admits the government largely ignores the Constitution today, enabled by court decisions, he says.

I often point to ethanol subsidies as an example of crony-capitalism. But oil companies get massive subsidies as well. An example of crony-capitalism as theft is the oil industry’s transfer of wealth from consumers via environmental regulations. They have, by default, eliminated diesel cars in the U.S. Diesel is 30% more efficient than gasoline and even more efficient than ethanol. Just think how much more fuel oil-companies sell (and we buy) because all the cars burn 30% more fuel. Lobbyists are a good buy when they yield a 30% increase in sales due to restriction of fuel choice through environmental regulations. And those regulations were enacted by unelected bureaucrats, not our elected lawmakers.

These sorts of shenanigans were recognized by England's colonials in the New World and were a basis for how our Constitution was written.

A few years ago we saw an announcement for a Constitution Day event at NIACC (North Iowa Area Community College). The teacher in charge talked about the general welfare clause.  It is part of the Preamble, describing the purpose of the document. We were just getting into a discussion of how the general welfare clause is used as an excuse to circumvent the specific limitations in the Constitution when the clock struck three and the teacher closed his notebook and walked out.

The United States Senate website says this: “Strengthened by amendments, it continues to guide our public officials and the people they serve." To say the Constitution guides public officials is a lie.

There is nothing about the actions of public officials that would indicate any sort of guidance from the Constitution. When I first conceived this column I imagined I could simply copy and paste Article I, Section 8, and Amendment 10 and let knowledgeable readers have a good laugh.

The excessive importance put on voting should reinforce that idea because it’s anything goes when it comes to the U.S. government granting favors to business. Convincing voters of the importance of legislation in spite of its illegality has become easy because the people have been convinced that the Constitution stands in the way of the general welfare.  But the cost to the people of the transfer of economic activity from market regulation to government regulation is immense.

If voters read and understand the Constitution, of which I have a 19 page pocket version, things might be different. But we are comfortable with massive and blatant violations of it and the remains of our capitalist system makes us so wealthy that we are happy to live with not only high taxes but the graft and corruption of representatives who have obviously been purchased by foreign governments and domestic industries.

Please comment on my column with a letter to the editor or directly to me at 4selfgovernment@gmail.com