What is the most powerful elected position in the government established by our Constitution? Is Congress the most powerful elected body of our government?
Given the federal government’s current ubiquitous presence in our lives, it’s reasonable to conclude that Congress is today’s most powerful elected governmental body. In fact, everything from a vehicle’s miles per gallon efficiency to the wattage of a light bulb is ultimately the result of Congressional action. All federal appropriations bills originate in the House of Representatives so the ability to determine how our tax dollars are spent is quite important. This is something that should concern every tax-paying citizen because the prospects of personally meeting with their congressional representative is, well, not very good.
Within today’s federal government, there are two non-elected entities – one authorized by the Constitution; the other invented by politicians.
The first entity is the Supreme Court. It is the only court created by our Constitution. The Supreme Court is accountable to Congress, because Congress can limit its jurisdiction – as well as the jurisdiction of the lower courts, which Congress created.
The modern view of the Supreme Court is that it is the ‘ultimate arbiter’ of right and wrong. And yet, this was not The Framers’ view. The purpose of the Supreme Court was to decide issues between the states and to apply the Constitution to the laws passed by the Legislative Branch. Given this constitutional test, laws that violated the authority granted to government by the Constitution would be invalidated.
The second entity is the federal bureaucracy – the so-called fourth branch of the federal government, which Congress also created. The federal bureaucracy is largely unaccountable to individual citizens as anyone who has dealt with a federal department knows.
Congress has granted these bureaucratic agencies the ability to implement regulations – some of which, when violated, carry criminal penalties. (Note that these regulations have not gone through the legislative process to be approved by our elected officials.) Additionally, these federal bureaucratic agencies have given birth to parallel state bureaucracies that in similar ways also are unaccountable to the people. Most of these agencies act in areas where there is no constitutional authority for government involvement whatsoever. And ironically, these agencies are established by Congress and justified by the Courts – where Congress exerts minimal oversight, and states and individuals have little influence.
So, what is the most powerful elected position in our Constitutional republic?
The Framers said and the Constitution establishes state legislators as ‘holding the most authority in our system of government’. James Madison said, “the state legislatures” would be the “sure guardians of the people’s liberty.” In fact, state legislators have the ability to propose and ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution. There is no other government official, elected or otherwise, who has that authority. It is the duty of state legislatures to exercise their oversight of the federal government. Conveniently, state legislators are the most readily accessible government official to We the People. As a result, individual citizens have greater ability to influence and interact with our state legislators than any other entity acknowledged by our Constitution.
“...the State Legislatures will jealously and closely watch the operations of this Government, and be able to resist with more effect every assumption of power, than any other power on earth can do; and the greatest opponents to a Federal Government admit the State Legislatures to be sure guardians of the people's liberty. – James Madison
On January 5, the 2022 Missouri Assembly’s Regular Session begins. We will have a contingent of Convention of States volunteers present to commemorate this occasion and to work with our legislature. We are blessed in Missouri that our legislators are as accessible to us as they are. I have worked with volunteers in other states where it’s next to impossible to meet with a state representative or senator. This is a key part of being a self-governing citizen. Having an open dialogue with the officials your House and Senate District have selected to work for you is critically important. Seeing how our state government works (or doesn’t work) helps you make better decisions at the ballot box. This also helps you determine what actions need to be taken at a local government level in candidate recruitment, candidate support, running for office yourself, and volunteering in organizations like the Convention of States Project.
I invite you to be an active volunteer on the Convention of States Missouri Team. Whether it’s educating and building support in your House District, speaking to groups, meeting with your fellow citizens for coffee or visiting the State Capitol there are opportunities for you to make a difference.
The cavalry isn’t coming. We ARE the cavalry.
Stand up! Show up!! Speak up!!! The time to act is NOW!
In liberty,
Brett
The Missouri Information Page has the tools to help you get to work restoring our freedoms and our Constitution. Article V is the solution as big as the problem.
Past Blog Posts
Did you miss last week's blog post? No worries, we've got you covered!
Click here to access our archive and see the full history of the blog.
