As evidenced by the video referenced below, it takes just three minutes to read Congress’s Article I, Section 8-limited powers.
Judge Napolitano & the Constitution
And while Judge Napolitano read Section 8 to argue against constitutionally indefensible Obamacare, he could have just as well been discussing federal immigration policy imo.
I don’t know why Levin didn’t refer to Congres’s Section 8-limited powers in the video that you referenced, or why Ted Cruz didn’t read Section 8 in his filibuster of Obamacare. But I agree with the following excerpt from Thomas Jefferson’s writings.
“Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. If once they become inattentive [emphasis added] to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature.” - Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Edward Carrington January 16, 1787)
Sadly, the Jefferson and Madison excerpts regarding immigration along with Section 8 would probably fit on three or four pages. So I respectfully disagree with you about how hard it is to keep up with the federal government’s constitutionally limited powers with respect to life’s day-to-day struggles.
There are 435 Congressional Districts each representing about 700,000 people.
A study done only a recent few years back by the AFFT showed it takes an average of 3,000 activists to turn a member of Congress around to a NATIONAL issue of importance.
3,000/700,000 as a percentage = .43 percent; much less than 1%.
It takes much less than 1% to be attentive to matters at the federal level; the rest can go about their business.
It would however improve attentiveness if American History and American Government were once again required High School courses for earning an HS Diploma.
As to State Level attentiveness, this is more important these days, why? Follow the money, explained later.
State legislators number well above 7,000:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/number-of-legislators-and-length-of-terms.aspx
At the state level, the representation is less uniform among the states but still much closer.
On average, 5,413 state representatives serve 59,626 Americans as of the 2010 census, while each of the 1,971 state senators represents 156,339 Americans.
At the state representative level the same 3,000 activists for federal issues will average 3,000/59,626 or 5% attentiveness penetration capability, more than 10 times that of the federal level penetration. With respect to state senators, the same 3,000 activists garner more than 150% attentiveness penetration.
Now as for your assertion that the American People are to blame, it is specious to put it politely. The choices for FEDERAL candidates presented to the American people are all Hobbesian Choices. The slate of candidates are almost all pre-selected and it matters not to campaign financiers which candidate is elected as both are usually selected a priori (pre-selected).
The choice is crudely presented by French existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre “If you’re neck deep in a barrel of merde (sh*t) and someone is throwing a handful of snot at your head, would you duck?”.
So let’s not blame the American People. They are in a bind. Their required labor time limits their ability to get organized, their heavy taxation limits their ability to finance alternatives and when they do act they have few choices except those which in most cases that are pre-selected.
If you blame Americans for voting for the likes of McConnell, then what would you have them do? Vote for Grimes?
In 2012, the top of the ticket was Obama and Romney? Which was worse, the socialist Obama or the progressive liar Romney? You blame the American People for this menu of choices?
Still to their credit, Conservatives starting in 2008 made an effort to change their menu of choices and they are still at work at it and refining the skills, organization and communications necessary in placing their candidates on the ballot. So the American Conservatives who are the majority of Americans are doing the right thing.
Money is the Mother’s Milk of politics. The Oligarchs have it, the American People don’t unless they are organized to collect funds. There is a chance of that via the Article V movement. But money wins most races, not all but most. Occasionally a superstar emerges like Ted Cruz who can whip an opponent with ten times more money backing than he has. But it’s a rarity until the game becomes clear enough to convert a critical mass of at least 3,000 persons in each Congressional District to become activists.
It’s not an instantaneous process. It can take a decade or two but the benefits can be realized in less than a decade and then the movement snowballs. Since 2008 the necessary critical mass numbers are approaching. The surprise from the last primary season when Americans tried to change the menu, the surprise was the internecine warfare conducted by the national party against its own base. That is actually revealing. It reveals that the federales are scared and it now more than ever more clear that there not two parties in Washington DC, there is one ruling party backed by outside money. These are the facts and the American People are painfully waking up. It is not the time to be blaming them.
As for money, the federal government has all the money in the world, the states don’t. Federal budgets are practically obsolete. Funds are digitally created from central bank sources and are channeled via bond markets to monetize federal government debt as well as states that are submissive and favored industries. This is an offshoot of ‘Deep Capture’. The taxpayer is largely irrelevant. Elections are increasingly a sham.
Yet Americans are waking up and preparing to fight like hell. In my view the Beltway class has far overplayed their hands. I’m staying tuned.