Posts Tagged ‘checks and balances’
Stop Presidential Line-item Veto Proposal
Liberty Alerts, JBS.org Freedom Campaign There was general debate on the floor of the House on a new line-item veto bill sponsored by Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Wednesday, Feb. 8, immediately preceding a vote. The Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011 would give the president the authority to [...]
Remonstration Against The Least Infringement of Our Rights
Liberty Letters, Samuel Adams, 1771 TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.1 June 29, 1771. SIR, Your letter of the 5th of February2 has been laid before the House: The contents are important and claim our fixed attention. We cannot think the doctrine of the right of Parliament to tax us is given up, while an act remains in force for that purpose, and [...]
Unbridled Executive Power: The Ruin of Free Constitutions
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Samuel Adams The charter of this province recognizes the natural Right of all men to dispose of their property: And the governor here, like all other governors, kings and potentates, is to be supported by the free grants of the Representatives of the people. Every one sees the necessity of this to preserve the [...]
If Men Were Angels: James Madison
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, James Madison If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government [...]
The Anti-Federalist Papers No. 51: Aristocrotis
Do Checks and Balances Really Secure the Rights of the People? Aristocrotis, 1788 This satire is from a pamphlet of "Aristocrotis," The Government of Nature Delineated; Or An Exact Picture of the New Federal Constitution (Carlisle, PA, 1788). The present is an active period. Europe is in a ferment breaking their constitutions; [...]
John Adams: A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 20
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 Monarchical Republics: ENGLAND My dear Sir, POLAND and England. The histories of these countries would confirm the general principle we contend for: the last especially. But who can think of writing upon this subject after De Lolme, whose book is the best defense of the political balance of three powers [...]
Daniel Defoe: That Tincture in the Blood
Daily Dabble in the Classics, Daniel Defoe Nature has left this tincture in the blood, that all men would be tyrants if they could. Source: Daniel Defoe (1661? - 1731): The Kentish Petition, addenda, 1. II. The Moral Liberal recommends: Works of Daniel Defoe. (30+ Works). Includes Robinson Crusoe, Dickory Cronke, Moll Flanders, [...]
John Adams: A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 14
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 Aristocratical Republics: SWISS CANTON OF LUCERNE My dear Sir, THE canton of Lucerne comprehends a country of sixteen leagues long and eight wide, containing fifteen bailiwicks, besides several cities, abbays, monasteries, seigniories, &c. The inhabitants are almost wholly engaged in agriculture, and [...]
John Adams: A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States of America, Letter 11
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 Aristocratical Republics: SWISS CANTON OF BERNE My dear Sir, IT is scarcely possible to believe that Mr. Turgot, by collecting all authority into one center, could have intended an aristocratical assembly. He must have meant, however, a simple form of government of some kind or other; and there are but [...]
James Madison: On a Just Partition of Power
Liberty Letters, James Madison It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the [...]
The Federalist Papers No. 51: James Madison
Liberty Letters, James Madison, Federalist No. 51 Wednesday, February 6, 1788 TO WHAT expedient, then, shall we finally resort, for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments, as laid down in the Constitution? The only answer that can be given is, that as all these exterior provisions are found to [...]
2011 Congress: Evidence of a Brilliantly Designed
By Sheryl Devereaux Founder Edmund Randolph, in the Constitutional Debates said: Will not the people choose men of integrity, and in similar circumstances with themselves, to represent them? What laws can they make that will not operate on themselves and friends, as well as on the rest of the people? Will the people reelect the same men to [...]
The Perfect Christmas Gift
By Henry Lamb To listen, click here Think of everything this nation needs, and begin listing them in order of importance. Regardless of how long your list may eventually be, or how different it may be from your neighbors,’ whatever you have listed can be rolled into one gift that supersedes all others in importance. The perfect gift will [...]
Democracy: A More Pure and Unmixed Tyranny
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, James Wilson Mr. Wilson, after viewing the subject with all the coolness and attention possible was most apprehensive of a dissolution of the Government from the legislature swallowing up all the other powers. He remarked that the prejudices against the Executive resulted from a misapplication of the adage [...]
Men With the Mentality of Gangsters — Lord Acton
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Lord Acton Where you have the concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. Source: Lord Acton as quoted in "Bringing America Home: How America Lost Her Way and How We Can Find Our Way Back" by Tom Pauken, p. 179. Liberty Letters are compiled and [...]
Term Limits and the Citizen Legislature Scam
by Steve Farrell Democrats In Drag, Part 8 In April of 1996, the traditionally liberal Democratic Party did something it is, in theory, never supposed to do. It out-conservatived the Republican Party, stood up for the U.S. Constitution, and threw out a radical proposal designed to transform the United States from a republic to a democracy. This [...]
Madison’s Notes — The Federal Convention of 1787 — June 20
Liberty Letters, June 20, 1787, James Madison WEDNESDAY JUNE 20, 1787. 1 IN CONVENTION Editors Overview: Edmund Randolph argues for the new plan to be ratified by the people. John Lansing Jr. understands that any representative, however elected, would have the natural duty of representing the state collectively. Col. Mason noted that in [...]
A Contemptible Congress and a Derelict Court — Walter Williams
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, Walter Williams What can Congress do that the Supreme Court would find unconstitutional? Or, what can Congress do that a president would veto as unconstitutional? It is not much exaggeration to say that Congress can do whatever it can muster a majority vote for, whether it is constitutional or not. The [...]
Madison’s Notes — The Federal Convention of 1787 — June 18
Liberty Letters, June 18, 1787, James Madison The Moral Liberal summary: Alexander Hamilton makes the case for republican government modeled after the British Constitution, it being the only one in the world uniting public strength with individual security. He praises its mixed representation, checks and balances, and the greater stability and [...]
Founder’s-styled election reform, by Steve Farrell
When it comes to limited government as defined by the Founding Fathers, the Latter-day Center for Moral Liberalism sides with the inspired electoral college process created in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, one which rather than making for a pure democracy (or something like unto it) gave us representative government - but more than that: [...]
