Constitutional Conservatism is the belief that our founding fathers "got it right" when they wrote the Constitution.
The United States Constitution was written to restrain the federal government from excessive growth and abuse of the rights retained by the people. It is a list of enumerated powers that the federal government has been granted by the people. It does not allow for the government to "reinterpret" those powers so that it can do more than it is allowed to do.
One of the favorite arguments of those who want to reinterprit the Constitution is to call it a "living" document, but the founders never intended the constitution to be a "living" document.
If the federal government desires to expand the powers granted to it there is a process by which they can do so. Article Five of the United States Constitution describes the process whereby the Constitution may be altered:
"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."
The framers made that a difficult process because they knew it would the more difficult they made it the less likely mistakes would be made. Also, because this process is difficult to do, the people running the government have been trying to "reinterpret" things to allow the federal government to do more. They have been doing this since the founding of our nation, but it has been especially egregious in the last 100 years.
This must stop. It is time the federal government stopped obfuscating and/or ignoring the limits imposed upon the federal government by the constitution.
Natural Rights
Our founding fathers spoke of "natural" rights--ones that we as human beings have from birth, and which it is not the government's place to give or take away. Jefferson specifically wrote about this in the Declaration of Independence.
People have been discussing the idea of natural rights since the time of the ancient Greeks. The first theorist to write forcefully about the idea of natural rights was John Locke. His ideas and writings had a profound influence on our founding fathers. Locke believed that man was originally born into a state of nature where he was rational, tolerant, and happy and in this original existence man was entitled to enjoy the rights of life, liberty and property. To Locke the only reason for the existence of government was to preserve natural rights and, by extension, man’s happiness and security. Our founding fathers agreed and they penned the Declaration of Independence and later the United States Constitution.
Today those serving the people in the federal government seem to have forgotten where our rights come from. They forget that while we may allow them to deny our rights through the various laws & regulations they pass (unconstitutionally). It is time that they remember that the US Constitution is not the giver of our rights. It is merely a document designed to protect our rights from an over encroaching federal government.
Our elected officials seem to have forgotten that while the people may suffer these excesses for a time, they also will wake up and put a stop to this behavior.
Since the last national election the people have awakened; the Tea Party movement and the growth of pro-liberty organizations across the country stand as evidence of this.
It is my belief that our rights are granted to us by God & I think of them as "God given rights." I believe that our founding fathers held the same belief. I also believe that they referred to them as natural rights in an effort to avoid arguments about religion. I shall refer to our God given rights as natural rights in deference to their wisdom.
~Jim McKelvey
