Concordia res Parvae Crescunt
by Michael Boldin
The framers of the Constitution attempted to balance the power of the President as commander-in-chief with that of Congress, the representatives of the People.
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives to the Executive Branch the command of the nation’s armed forces, while Article I, Section 8 gives to the Legislative Branch the power to decide when the United States goes to war.
Presidential candidate, Bob Barr has taken a strong stand in support of the Constitution in a recent post on his website:
“Former Secretaries of State James Baker and Warren Christopher have proposed a new statute to encourage the president and Congress to cooperate in going to war. But the Constitution already sets forth a clear rule: Congress, and only Congress, is tasked with declaring war,” explains Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party presidential candidate. “Absent exigent circumstances, like defending against a surprise attack, only Congress has the authority to take America into a conflict.”
When crafting the Constitution, the founders weighed the individual will of the Executive against the deliberative function of the Legislature, whose constituents would bear the full costs of any war.
Thus, the framers deliberately separated the powers of declaring and waging war; they confined these powers in such a way so as to thwart the tyranny of kings.
Despite being known as one of the greatest champions of centralized power of the times, even Alexander Hamilton felt that the President must generally bow to Congressional directions in times of peace and also in times of war. He stated this clearly in Federalist #69:
“The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States. In this respect, his authority would be nominally the same with that of the king of Great Britain, but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces.; while that of the British king extends to the declaring of war and to the raising and regulating of fleets and armies – all which, by the Constitution under consideration, would appertain to the legislature.”
Our nation’s founders were far from perfect, and at times, inconsistent and unjust; but, on the powers of war, they were unwavering, and their principles were sound.
Barr again shines in his recognition of the separation of war-declaring vs war-making powers:
“presidents must acknowledge that being military commander-in-chief does not entitle them to take the nation into war. Rather, they are to fight only conflicts authorized by Congress,” Barr observes. “At the same time, Congresses must be willing to confront tough issues, rather than leave them for the president. Legislators have no higher responsibility under the Constitution and to the voters than to decide when Americans must fight abroad.”
One obvious reason for dividing the war powers was to prevent such massive powers from being placed in the hands of one person, the President.
The framers understood that, throughout history, rulers of nations worldwide had begun wars strictly on the basis of international politics or personal desires.
They clearly understood that rulers would often get the urge to remove foreign public officials, or dictate the policies of foreign nations, and that such urges are dangerous to liberty, no matter what the reason.
The reason for entrusting the Legislature with the power to declare war was to ensure that the People would be involved in the decision as much as was physically possible.
What the Framers did not imagine was a weak and ineffectual Congress that failed to claim its rightful authority in deciding when the nation would go to war, or a power-hungry President that wouldn’t refuse an extra-constitutional transfer of such power from Congress.
By rejecting the advice and the rules laid down by the founders and early Presidents, our recent leaders have gone so far astray from warnings against entangling alliances, that the founders would hardly recognize the government they created.
Policing the world and “spreading democracy” is not our calling. Additionally, no such action is permitted by the Constitution.
Michael Boldin [send him email] is the founder of the Tenth Amendment Center
Copyright © 2008 by TenthAmendmentCenter.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
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It seems worth repeating:
What the Framers did not imagine was a weak and ineffectual Congress that failed to claim its rightful authority in deciding when the nation would go to war, or a power-hungry President that wouldn’t refuse an extra-constitutional transfer of such power from Congress.
Congress is either - totally complicit and criminal - or - weak and criminal.
Period.
The Congress needs to have a vote to declare a war.
The president is the commander in chief when there is a war declared.
If the war on terror isn't a declared war, then what is it?
can the president declare war on a STATE?
I respectfully request that those reading the information on the website ; www.usavsus.info, please ignore the links and references to the Masons and Illuminati, I personally don't know what to make of that. But, the other information listed on the website is taken from actual UNITED STATES CODE, court cases, and Congressional Sessions.
This is the most important information to all of us about our rights and the powers that the current government structure has. Please don't let this discourage you from evaluating the information yourselves. If the information and references aren't enough to convince you, the website's author gives the links to where he go the information. Go to the Government Archives website and request the information and request transcripts, copies or PDFs of the documents reference in the website and validate the information for yourselves.
I urge those posting on this thread to go to the website, www.usavsus.info. On that website you will learn the real reason that the office of the president can declare war against what is written in the Constitution.
To paraphrase, our current government is the Corporation know as the USA, not the Republic of the United States of America. The office of the president is the CEO, giving him the power to declare war against the wishes of the Congress. Please don't take my word for this, the researchers of this website and those of you posting this should research the above website. You'll find out why Congress has been so ineffectual not only in the issue of war declaration, but on many other things that are happening today. Become a Sovereign of the Republic, not a Citizen of the Corporation. This website lists the actual USC (United States Code), Statutes, and Executive Orders, done by previous sessions of Congress and past Presidents.
You might not like what you learn, but it can be undone, by this information circulating amongst the American people and "We the people" taking responsibility and voting members of Congress out of office who will not do their sworn duty to themselves and the Republic the founding fathers built.
In closing I leave you this; Under the original Constitution we have a set of Unalienable rights, under the current government, the is was changed to "Inalienable" rights, meaning that the current government CAN TAKE AWAY THOSE RIGHTS!! Again, please if you truly love our nation, and want to change what is wrong, look into this, discuss it here, and on any other political websites, blogs and forums. Take it to you city, county and state legislatures.
This affects them along with everyone else in this country. ONLY the PEOPLE OF THE 50 STATES UNITED, OF The Republic of the United States of America can change this country, no president, presidential candidate, or the current Congress can do this.
The framers feared a king like president, so denied him the prerogative of kings to make war, and placed the power in congress to deny it to the president. Since the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964, congress has not declared war, but let Lyndon, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II do it. The violation of the constitution comes in a package called the AUMF (authorization for use of military force)
It seems worth repeating:
What the Framers did not imagine was a weak and ineffectual Congress that failed to claim its rightful authority in deciding when the nation would go to war, or a power-hungry President that wouldn’t refuse an extra-constitutional transfer of such power from Congress.
Congress is either - totally complicit and criminal - or - weak and criminal.
Period.
Sunday, at 12:30 and 5:30 pm Atlanta radio's 920 WGKA is interviewing some soldiers who were in Iraq, two have turned against the war, one still thinks the war is just.
I'm just letting interested parties know.
Here's the link:
http://920wgka.townhall.com/
there is a listen live button in the upper left corner of the web page.
Cheers !!
"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."
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