“Congress shall have power …To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, Dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings…”
Article IV Section 4:
“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.”
Article IV Section 4 Clause 3:
“New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union.”
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (re-enacted under Constitutional authority in 1789) defined that all new states appropriately admitted will enter the nation on an equal footing with the original 13 states.
We oppose any effort to confer statehood on the District of Columbia or any representation in Congress comparable to that of an independent state in the federal union.
We oppose efforts to confer statehood upon the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or expand statehood beyond the current fifty states.
We acknowledge that each state’s membership in the Union is voluntary.
We support the equal footing doctrine, co-equal with the original thirteen states, for all states coming into and having entered the Union as states.
We call for a return to the states and to the people all lands which are held by the federal government without authorization by the Constitution.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Note: The Constitution delegated few, enumerated powers to the Federal Government, reserving all remaining powers to the States and the people. Thus, powers of the Federal were the exception.
Our federal republic was created by joint action of the several states. It has been gradually perverted into a socialist machine for federal control in the domestic affairs of the states.
The federal government has no authority to mandate policies relating to state education, natural resources, transportation, private business, housing, health care, ad infinitum.
The states are the sovereigns who possess supremacy over all things not delegated to the general (federal) government within the Constitution, and they possess the full authority of oversight over the Constitution.
The General Defense and Welfare, Commerce, Necessary and Proper, and Supremacy clauses are not ambiguous opportunities for the general government to assume new roles, responsibilities, powers, and properties (RRPP). These clauses only apply to the RRPPs enumerated in the Constitution and its ratified amendments, and treaties constitutionally ratified. All RRPPs being exercised that cannot be found within the Constitution and its ratified amendments are violations of the Constitution and usurpation of the states’ RRPPs and sovereignty.
Only the states possess the authority to audit the Constitution for compliance and enforcement. The states must validate all RRPPs that have been established in compliance with the Constitution.
If there is no amendment for the RRPPs being exercised (i.e., department, agency, office, or administrative entity) then these RRPPs and entities are direct violations of the Constitution.
We call upon the states of the Union to initiate this constitutional review process and provide clear directives to the general government requiring that they produce the necessary legislative measures to disband and dissolve all unconstitutional RRPPs. The review only requires one state to initiate and call for the Constitutional review.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
Note: Our Constitution grants no authority to the federal government either to grant or deny the religious expressions of the people in any place. Both the First and Tenth Amendments forbid such tyranny.
We call upon all branches of government to cease their attacks on the religious liberties of the people and the states, regardless of the forum in which these liberties are exercised.
We assert that any form of taxation on churches and other religious organizations is a direct and dangerous step toward state control of the church. Such intrusion is prohibited by the Constitution and must be halted.
We assert that private organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America can determine their membership, volunteers, and employment based on their oaths and creeds.
“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.”
U.S. Constitution, 10th Amendment
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
It is our responsibility to be prudent, productive, and efficient stewards of God’s natural resources.
In that role, we are commanded to be fruitful and multiply and to replenish the earth and develop it (e.g., to turn deserts into farms and wastelands into groves).
This requires a proper and continuing dynamic balance between development and conservation, between use and preservation.
We wholeheartedly support realistic efforts to preserve the environment and reduce pollution – air, water, and land.
We rejectthe argument of the perceived threat of man-made global warming which has been refuted by a large number of scientists. The globalists are using the global warming threat to gain more control via worldwide sustainable development.
We support protecting the environment from provable pollutions in high enough quantities to constitute a real threat.
We reject the claims of man-made Climate Change or that Carbon Dioxide is a pollutant.
We call for the repeal of federal wetlands legislation and portions of the Clean Water Act that claim control over water on private property.
We call for the repeal of the federal Endangered Species Act.
We call for the abolishing of the Environmental Protection Agency and all other unconstitutional agencies.
TheFifth Amendment of the United States Constitutionlimits the federal power of eminent domain solely to the purchase of private property with just compensation for public use, such as military reservations and government office buildings, not for public ownership, such as urban renewal, environmental protection, or historic preservation.
Under no circumstances may the federal government take private property by means of rules and regulations that preclude or substantially reduce the productive use of the property, even with just compensation.
We oppose any attempt to designate private or public property as United Nations World Heritage sites or Biosphere reserves.
We call for an end to United States participation in United Nations programs, including environmental treaties and conventions, which destroy our sovereignty and right to private property.
Since the Constitution grants the federal government NO authority over Education, the Tenth Amendment applies. It states:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
All teaching is related to basic assumptions about God and man. Education as a whole, therefore, cannot be separated from religious faith. The law of our Creator assigns the authority and responsibility of educating children to their parents.
Federal control of Education has long been championed by communists and humanists as a means of overtaking and corrupting our American way of life.
Karl Marx (10th Point of the Communist Manifesto):“Free education for all children in government schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc. etc.”
The Humanist Manifesto II:“We believe in the right to universal education.”
William Foster, former head of the US Communist Party (On Using Education to Destroy America): “…the schools, colleges and universities will be coordinated and grouped under the National Department of Education and its state and local branches. The studies will be revolutionized, being cleansed of religious, patriotic and other features of the bourgeois ideology. The students will be taught on the basis of Marxian dialectical materialism, internationalism and the general ethics of the new Socialist society. Present obsolete methods of teaching will be superseded by a scientific pedagogy.”
BASIC PRINCIPLES:
Education should be free from all federal government subsidies, including vouchers, tax incentives, and loans, except with respect to veterans.
We support the unimpeded right ofparentsto provide for the education of their children in the manner they deem best, including home, private or religious.
Alllegislation from any level of government that would interfere with or restrict that liberty should be opposed.
Equitable tax relief for families whose children do not attend government schools should be provided for. This could be in the form of tuition write-offs.
Compulsory attendance laws should be repealed. Parents need not defy the law by refusing to send their children to schools of which they disapprove.
We affirm the free market principles which drive improvement of education through non-traditional options such as internet-based schools, charter schools, Christian and private schools, as well as home schooling options.
WE CALL FOR THE ELIMINATION OF THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
There is NO Constitutional provision that empowers the federal government to provide for and regulate the education of our children.
All current federal legislation related to education should be repealed.
No new federal laws subsidizing or regulating education should be enacted.
WE OPPOSE ANY FEDERAL CONTROL OVER THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN:
Because control over education is now being relegated to departments other than the Department of Education, we clarify that NO federal agency, department, board, or other entity may exercise jurisdiction over any aspect of children’s upbringing. Education, training, and discipline of children are properly placed in the domain of their parents.
Under NO circumstances should the federal government be involved in national teacher certification, educational curricula, textbook selection, learning standards, comprehensive sex education, psychological and psychiatric research testing programs, and personnel.
WE CALL UPON THE LEGISLATURES OF THE STATES TO EXERCISE THEIR POWERS UNDER THE TENTH AMENDMENT:
Nullify the “No Child Left Behind” Act, and all other similar legislative actions.
Remove all regulations imposed by the Department of Education.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The Constitution assigns all powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people. Domestic federal “aid” not authorized by the Constitution is not only illegal, it is immoral.
We call upon the states, therefore, to decline to accept all monies from the federal government for any purpose not specifically and clearly articulated in the Constitution, and reject all federal mandates and regulations which are unconstitutional, thus restoring the intended balance of power between the states and their creation, the U.S. Government.
Congress must once again be accountable to the people and obedient to the Constitution, repealing all laws that delegate legislative powers to regulatory agencies, bureaucracies, private organizations, the Federal Reserve Board, international agencies, the president, and the judiciary.
THE PRINCIPLES
U.S. Constitution, Article 6, Clause 3:
“The Senators and Representatives… shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution . . .”
The Congress of these United States has become an overpaid, overstaffed, self-serving institution.
It confiscates taxpayer funds to finance exorbitant and unconstitutionally determined salaries, pensions, and perks. Most members of Congress have become more accountable to the Washington establishment than to their constituents. Both chambers of Congress are all too often unresponsive and irresponsible, arrogantly placing themselves above the very laws they enact, and beyond the control of the citizens they have sworn to represent and serve.
It is time for the American people to renew effective supervision of their public servants, to restore right standards, and to take back the government.
THE PROBLEM
The U.S. Constitution, as originally framed in Article I, Section 3, provided for U.S. Senators to be chosen by state legislators. This provided the states direct representation in the legislative branch so as to deter the usurpation of powers that are constitutionally reserved to the states or to the people.
The Seventeenth Amendment changed this by providing for the direct, popular election of U.S. Senators. This effectively removed state government representation in the federal legislative process, destroying a vital check and balance on federal power designed by the Framers of Constitution.
Since the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, Congress has usurped power relatively unchecked. Very few members of Congress make it through a single session without violating their oath of office to the Constitution.
THE SOLUTION
It is vital that Americans repeal the Seventeenth Amendment, if the U.S. Senate is to return to being a body which truly represents the legislatures of each individual state at the federal level.
This will return the function of electing the Senate back to the state legislatures and will restore the checks and balances of power, which our Constitution originally provided.
The result will be that all current powers, programs, and sources of revenue that the federal government has unconstitutionally appropriated will be returned to the states and the people of the states under the Tenth Amendment.
THE CONSTITUTION PARTY COMMITTMENT
The Constitution Party will:
We support legislation to prohibit the attachment of unrelated riders to bills. Any amendments must fit within the scope and object of the original bill.
We support legislation to require that the Congressional Record contain an accurate record of proceedings. Members of Congress are not to be permitted to rewrite the speeches delivered during the course of debates, or other remarks offered from the floors of their respective houses; nor may any additional materials be inserted in the Record, except those referred to in the speaker’s presentation and for which space is reserved.
Abolish Congressional Pensions and Benefits. We seek to abolish Congressional pensions and other benefits that extend beyond their term in office and favor a conflict-of-interest provision that prevents former congressmen from lobbying for two years after leaving office.
