The US Congress has become a House of Eunuchs

by Jim Moore

07/24/2003

Considering how powerful NON-ELECTED forces are at work destroying our republican form of government, I had to read the Constitution again to make sure I had read it right the first time. 

Turns out I did. The most important job (rather, obligation) that the House of Congress has is to keep the Executive branch of government from running roughshod over the people, and making a mockery (or at least a non-sequitur) of the Bill of Rights, which is happening in increasingly devious, slash-and-burn ways, day after day 

Stopping these kinds of destructive actions of government before they can take seed and grow into a freedom-eating plant is what Constitutional "checks and balances" is all about.

But how is Congress supposed to do this? By exercising specific duties assigned to it by the Constitution, which are spelled out in that document in language even this writer can understand.

Notice I said, Congress is SUPPOSED to do this. In reality, Congress is not only NOT doing its job, but in many cases is actually fueling the fire which is destroying the very nation they were elected to nurture and protect.

Am I being too hard on our Representatives and Senators? I don't think so. If you read just a few of the duties that the Constitution says are the obligations of the Congress, and you think they're meeting those obligations, I'll shut up and go home.


"All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…"

This one line in the Constitution sums it all up. Only Congress is authorized to make laws. But the Executive branch, instead of simply vetoing or accepting those laws; and the Judicial branch, instead of simply acting as a judge of those laws, both steal the powers of Congress by making up new laws as they go along---and Congress rolls over and lets them to get away with it 


"To establish a uniform rule of naturalization…"

Maybe there is a naturalization law buried in our political system somewhere, but no member of Congress is digging it out. Our immigration laws are either not working, or non-existent; so hundreds of thousands of foreigners who come here never go home---and never bother to apply for American citizenship.

We no longer need beard-combers, Ellis Island style, but we do need sensible, regulated immigration laws with established limitations and restrictions. Has the Congress done its job in this regard? Not that I know of.


"To coin money, regulate the value of…"
This is a laugh. It may be Congress's job to coin money, but that went out the window the day we scrubbed the gold standard and put America on a catch-as-catch-can paper system that will never be worth its weight in gold, or anything else of value for that matter.
Today, there is no standard at all by which to judge the worth of the paper we call money. The Fed prints more of it whenever there is a need to "manage" the money, completely ignoring how much less our dollars will buy. This seems to suit Congress just fine---maybe because it gets one more Constitutional obligation off their back.


"To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a period longer than two years."

With George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and their ilk, demanding more troops, more resources, more money, and more countries to democratize, the House of Congress has become a house of cards. With few exceptions, our representatives and senators are lukewarm in questioning why raising more money and calling up more troops is so imperative.

What's an even more glaring dereliction of duty, Congress totally ignores the second part of that mandate, which clearly puts a limit of time and money on military appropriations. The administration, by dictating when and what it wants, has taken Congress out of the loop.

Why is the House not screaming bloody murder at this illegal usurpation of its Constitutional rights?


"To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces."

Rumsfeld has ordered his high command to radically restructure the active/reserve mix of our armed forces. With the Conquer-the-World plan of this administration, things move fast. So it is imperative that they turn the Congress into a of house of eunuchs and take them out of the equation. 


Which is what has happened. If you doubt this, when was the last time you heard of Congress initiating the "regulation of the land and naval forces?" Congress has become the Rubber Stamp branch of service, rather than the Legislative branch. And it's no fault but their own, because they've allowed the neo-cons to neuter them into non-players.


"To provide for calling for the militia to execute the laws of the Union…"

To put the term in modern context, think of the militia as the National Guard, plus organized groups of concerned civilians protecting our borders, and repelling and returning illegal aliens. We have a crises. Illegal aliens are swarming into Arizona, California, Texas, Florida and some northeastern states, and our National Guard and Coast Guard are swamped.

What is the Congress doing about it, besides sitting on its duff? You tell me.


"To declare war…."

Unless the summer sun has addled my brain, I don't recall the Congress declaring war on Haiti, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, or Iraq. What I do recall is the Executive branch deciding arbitrarily to bypass the Congress and wage war all over the planet, at their own discretion.

Declaring war on another sovereign nation is becoming like a high-tech computer game. There are non-elected warlords who wave wands and people jump. There are be-medaled generals who view world maps but avoid any battlefield. There are grunts who fight hard and try not to get killed before they get home. And there are millions of innocent civilians who don't even know a war is on until their city gets blown up.

War, anywhere, anytime, is a damnable thing. That's why the Constitution put the responsibility for declaring war squarely on the Congress. And Congress doesn't have the guts to tell the administration, "With all due respect, Mister President, go to hell! America won't get into war until WE say so!"


There are many other Constitutional obligations that the Congress has reneged on to the American people. However, if they're ignoring these few important ones is there any reason to expect them to suddenly do their duty?

Yes, there is. But it's up to us to make them to get off their ass and do their job. 

Jim Moore
Jmoore1819@aol.com