Below is today’s column in the Washington Post’s Outlook Section on the dangers of America’s growing administrative state. Ask any elementary student and you will hear how the Framers carefully designed a tripartite, or three-branch, system to govern the United States. This separation of powers was meant to protect citizens from tyranny by making every branch dependent on each other to carry out the functions of government. These three branches held together through a type of outward pressure – each holding the other in place through their countervailing forces. Add a fourth branch and the structure begins to collapse. That is precisely what is happening as federal agencies grow beyond the traditional controls and oversight of the legislative and executive branches. The question is how a tripartite system can function as a quadripartite system. The answer, as demonstrated by the last two decades, is not well. The shift from a tripartite to a quadripartite system is not the result of simply the growth in the size of the government. Rather, it is a concern with the degree of independence and autonomy in the fourth branch that led me to write this column.
There were times this past week when it seemed like the 19th-century Know-Nothing Party had returned to Washington. President Obama insisted he knew nothing about major decisions in the State Department, or the Justice Department, or the Internal Revenue Service. The heads of those agencies, in turn, insisted they knew nothing about major decisions by their subordinates. It was as if the government functioned by some hidden hand.
Clearly, there was a degree of willful blindness in these claims. However, the suggestion that someone, even the president, is in control of today’s government may be an illusion.
The growing dominance of the federal government over the states has obscured more fundamental changes within the federal government itself: It is not just bigger, it is dangerously off kilter. Our carefully constructed system of checks and balances is being negated by the rise of a fourth branch, an administrative state of sprawling departments and agencies that govern with increasing autonomy and decreasing transparency.
When James Madison and the other Framers fashioned a new constitutional structure in the wake of the failure of the Articles of Confederation they envisioned a vastly different government. Under the federalism model, states would be the dominant system with most of the revenue and responsibilities of governance. The federal government was virtually microsoptic by today’s standards. In 1790, it had just 1,000 nonmilitary workers. In 1962, there were 2,515,000 federal employees. Today, we have 2,840,000 federal workers in 15 departments, 69 agencies and 383 nonmilitary sub-agencies. [These numbers can be themselves misleading since much federal work is now done by contractors as part of "downsizing" but the work of the agencies has continued to expand. Moreover, technological advances have increased the reach of this workforce].
This growth since the founding has led to increasing power and independence for agencies. The shift of authority has been staggering. The fourth branch now has a larger practical impact on the lives of citizens than all the other branches combined.
Tags:
Hello John, Were you part of the initial or early days of the America Again Project?
Irregardless I will be contacting you about NYCommitteemen.org
Russ Jensen
Isn't it the Mainstream Media?
Hello Nathan, Interesting post, however, the Framers carefully designed a "One Branch" form of Government, and did so under the false appearance of creating a three branch system consisting of the Legislative (Article 1), the Executive (Article 2) and the Judicial (Article 3).
However, if that particular document known as the Constitution for the united States of America, is read correctly, applying correct definitions to words, and more importantly, to legal actions and processes, it is easy to verify my statement, a One Branch form of Government.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested
1: The executive Power shall be vested
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested
Gee, looks like Article 2 and Article 3 are missing something, aren't they? A little thing called POWERS HEREIN GRANTED!
Everything that the Federal Government aka Congress does is authorized by Article 1, Section 8 Clause 10,
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
The Law of Nations-Emmerich Vattel, every member of the Constitutional Convention had a copy of this book THE LAW OF NATIONS when writing and carefully designing the Constitution, hiding away the true source of authority inside article 1, in the Enumerated Powers section and then letting everyone believe that Article 2 and 3 were valid, knowing that most could not read in those days and those that could probably would not grasp the significance of a few missing words.
Boy were they right about that!
I have made a few short videos explaining this simple information. And then a few other short videos explaining at least the initial steps we are authorized to do by the Constitution and the Law of Nations in order to regain control of our Public Authorities.
You people are all looking to the wrong place which is why they continue to violate what you think is the Constitution, when in fact, most of that which they do is authorized by YOU for them to do, by your faithfulness to the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land, which it is, which also makes the Law of Nations by Emmerich Vattel Supreme Law of the Land, by its direct incorporation in the Constitution at Article 1, Section 8, Clause 10.
It is the book Law of Nations which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to have granted power to Article 2 or Article 3 because of the conflict which would naturally occur between the Authority of the Law of Nations and those two offices, and would have also limited then, the full use of the Law of Nations.
Now I am including a link to the book and also some of my videos, so please at least read the book Law of Nations before commenting about this post, because if you do read the Law of Nations with some attention, you will know the truth of my words here.
Finally, at least check the definitions of the words GRANTED and VESTED, and do a simple search for the legal process known as Vesting and see if perhaps maybe, GRANTING and VESTING of anything including power, are 2 distinct legal activities, both of which must be completed in a specific manner, and both must be completed in order for the ACTUAL TRANSFER to have any effect.
http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/vattel/
http://vimeo.com/channels/lawofnations
http://12160.info/video/video/listForContributor?screenName=0a1xa21...
I Remain As Always In Your Service
Russ Jensen Salt Lake City
Good post Russ, sorry for the premature comentation on my part.
"You people are all looking to the wrong place which is why they continue to violate what you think is the Constitution"
Funny stuff!
ASSUME ???
De Facto is a legal term meaning "in fact" or "in reality", which is used to qualify many legal terms. For example, de fact segregation refers to segregation which occurs without any official action by government officials, but results from social, psycholological, or economic conditions.
De facto may mean existing in fact whether with lawful authority or not. In another example, a corporation may be said to have de facto corporate status by inadvertently failing to fully satisfy all legal requirements for the creation of corporate existence, but has exercised corporate powers in good faith. Other applications include de facto authority, de facto court, de facto officers, and others.
BY FORCE OF:
GOVERNMENT SOVEREIGN
HERE IS ANY LAW (THEY) WROTE
"Destroying the New World Order"
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!
© 2024 Created by truth. Powered by