James Madison: The subversion of the very foundations of limited government in America

TomHoefling.com ^ | 1792 | James Madison

[EternalVigilance]

"If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may assume the provision of the poor; they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads; in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress. Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited Government established by the people of America."

-- James Madison, Letter to Edmund Pendleton, 1792

[onyx]

BUMP that!

[onyx]

Beautiful rendering (and quote).

[onyx]

Beautiful rendering (and quote).

[onyx]

I’m so mad at those five.
Keep praying for a miracle in Tampa.

[Rumplemeyer]

bump

[katiedidit1]

Excellent post. Romney should have ripped Roberts to shreds and pointed out the intent of our founding fathers and the constitution.
From day one I knew that nominating a candidate that introduced socialized medicine to Mass. would be a huge mistake. It was one of the main issues that ignited the Tea Party folks. Have the republicans lost their minds? didn’t they get the message during the 2010 elections?

[Lady Jag]

[LibLieSlayer]

Praying hard sister!

LLS

[onyx]

Yes, Republicans have lost their convictions and no they didn’t get the 2010 message.

Don’t get me started on Romney. I continue to pray for a miracle in Tampa.

[vox_freedom]

Thanks for the ping. Ramirez is one of the very best. Quality messages and the best cartoonist drawings around.

[EternalVigilance]

Outstanding!

[gorush]

"Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." -- James Madison

"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." -- James Madison, Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention [June 16, 1788]

"If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one...." -- James Madison, letter to Edmund Pendleton, January 21, 1792

"As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights. Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions." -- James Madison, National Gazette essay, March 27, 1792

James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, elaborated upon this limitation in a letter to James Robertson: With respect to the two words "general welfare," I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators. If the words obtained so readily a place in the "Articles of Confederation," and received so little notice in their admission into the present Constitution, and retained for so long a time a silent place in both, the fairest explanation is, that the words, in the alternative of meaning nothing or meaning everything, had the former meaning taken for granted.

[RitaOK]

Bless you all for the ping to EG post. I am very grateful.

Heartbreaking reminder from where we are falling, how far, and how fast.

On the road to Santa Fe for the week end, on my itty bitty cell key board.

Love to all. Rita.

[Lady Jag]

[onyx]

I’ve missed you! Good to hear from you.
See you when you return. Best wishes for a great vacation!

Prayers, love and mega hugs!

[onyx]

B T T T ! ! ! ©

[campaignPete R-CT]

no miracles. the GOP made its choice.

Romney will win and many will cheer that it is good news! But by Jan 2014, Romney will be a failure, a loser Prez like Jerry Ford ... and we will get another DEM in ‘16. Freedom is still 9 years away.

[Lady Jag]

Madison was an outstanding man.

[Carry_Okie]

Thanks EV.

If anyone can post a link for the whole letter from an archival source, it would be greatly appreciated.