Posted on 03/20/2015 5:10:59 AM PDT by cotton1706
Everything you really need to know about the Constitution (and that’s barely an exaggeration) -- why it is structured the way it is, what led to it, its purposes -- is found in pages 2 – 12 of the March 9 concurring opinion by Justice Thomas in the Dept of Transportation v Assn of American Railroads case. Although it received little media attention, Justice Thomas has provided us a masterpiece of constitutional thinking, explaining why “administrative law” -- the practice of delegating to bureaucrats the making and enforcement of rules with the force of law – is so profoundly unconstitutional.
You could spend years reading history books, the Federalist Papers, and case law, but you won’t find a better explanation of the essence of our Constitution. If you understand what’s in these few pages, you understand why we have the Constitution, why it is structured the way it is, and why it is essential to the American experiment.
Pay attention to his words and the words of others he cites -- arbitrary, unilateral, etc. Justice Thomas describes the dangers that the Constitution was written to prohibit, and he traces the roots of those dangers to abuses of the English “rule of law” on which the Constitution was based, but perfected in America to address those abuses. The Constitution corrected several flaws of the English system including limiting the authority of the legislative branch by placing the Constitution – this written law of the land – over all three branches of government.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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“For example, Congress improperly “delegates” legislative power when it authorizes an entity other than itself to make a determination that requires an exercise of legislative power.”
Such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure prescribed by court order by the Supreme Court and delivered to the Speaker by CJ Roberts.
Judge Thomas stopped just short of calling out Obama for the tyrant he is, for the administrative apparatus serves at the pleasure of El Presidente. Every ministerial outrage is made with his implicit consent.
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4L8R
By far my favorite Justice.
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One of the problems we have now is that all of Congress, and the President are essentially elected by the same group. This has led to the growth of power of the political party, as they can sway that group into selecting their slate of candidates.
There is no longer any sort of adversarial role between Congress and the Executive branch.
Prior to the 17th Amendment, the Senate was selected by the state legislatures, and while they were also elected by the people, there was a layer of independence, and so the Senate could act to preserve their own power, their own authority, and would be better advocates for their own state.
As it is now, the President, the Senate, and the House are all primarily devoted to serving their party, and the people and the states are secondary.
And since the Judiciary is selected by the President and Senate, they have become also devoted to party first.
Thus, the entire government is effectively run by the political parties. And if you’re not part of the party, you don’t have much of a voice.
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