Limit Federal Spending through Nullification and State Escrow Accounts

by Diane Rufino

The government has no legitimate powers that were not initially granted to it under the Constitution. There is no provision anywhere, nor is there any implied right under the Declaration of Independence or any other social compact theory, which permits the government to assume any more powers than originally granted to it. There is, of course, only one way to legitimately alter the Constitution and hence alter the function and scope of government, and that is through Article V’s amendment process. But only the states can approve those amendments.

As we all know, the only amendments which fundamentally altered the federal government were the 16th Amendment and the 17th Amendment.

The US Constitution is a “compact” (a social compact) among the states. It was an agreement among the states, fortified by their ratification, on how they would be managed and served by a common government. The Constitution created a Union of states (“united” States) and NOT the “United States.”  The Civil War would change that.

In the Constitution, the States delegated certain powers to the federal government, reserving all others to itself. And even with respect to those enumerated powers, there was clarification and limitation (as discussed in the state ratifying conventions, as well as in the very words, phrasing, and limiting clauses in the documents.  For example, the “Necessary and Proper” clause, which was meant to breathe life into the powers vested in the government under the Constitution, mean just that… “NECESSARY.”  As it turns out, the Supreme Court would quickly re-define “necessary” to mean “convenient”). With respect to the taxing power, the states clearly and freely delegated to the government the power to tax and spend.  However, the intent was that Congress can only tax and spend with regard to the seventeen specifically enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8.  Additionally, the “General Welfare” clause was not meant as a separate grant of power as it is assumed today.  Yet, we’ve seen how the government, through independent-minded justices on the Supreme Court, has used all these “limiting clauses” (including the Commerce Clause and now the taxing power) to grow government and to provide justification for every type of policy, program, or legislation that it wanted to enact.  Nevermind that the Federalist Papers were absolutely clear on the limited nature of the federal government. And all along, the States have refused to stand up, question, challenge, or nullify improper federal spending or improper federal regulation.

At this point, with respect to the taxing power alone, the federal government has plenary power to tax and spend. It has the “Necessary and Proper” clause, which the Supreme Court interpreted in 1819 to be a blank check to the government to do pretty much anything it finds “convenient” to further its power or enable its powers to tax and spend. The healthcare decision enlarged the government’s taxing power further, allowing government to tell Americans what it must purchase and punishing them (by taxing them) for not conducting themselves as the government demands.  And so the result now is a government that taxes and spends for pretty much anything it wants. Most of the spending is for unconstitutional purposes which means that taxing for such spending is also unconstitutional.

Congressional Attacks on State Sovereignty

Continue reading →