{"id":6544,"date":"2013-09-24T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T17:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=6544"},"modified":"2013-09-24T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2013-09-24T17:02:00","slug":"what-would-the-founders-think-of-defunding-obamacare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/what-would-the-founders-think-of-defunding-obamacare\/","title":{"rendered":"What Would the Founders Think of Defunding Obamacare?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/ FrontPage Magazine<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"800px-Constitution_We_the_People\"A few days ago CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin, speaking about the Republican House bill defunding Obamacare, commented, \u201cCertainly not the way the Founding Fathers maybe drew this thing up.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s certainly a surprise to hear an anchor on CNN, an organization biased in favor of progressives, appealing to the authority of the Constitution. For a century the progressives have been telling us that the Constitution is an outmoded document from a different age, and needs to be \u201cmodernized\u201d to meet the challenges of a new world.<\/p>\n

Listen to Woodrow Wilson in his 1913 book\u00a0The New Freedom<\/i>. \u201cI am . . . forced to be a progressive, if for no other reason, because we have not kept up with our changes of conditions, either in the economic or the political field.\u201d A bit later he is more specific about the \u201cpolitical field,\u201d arguing against the Constitution\u2019s central mechanism of checks and balances. \u201cThe trouble with the theory is that government is not a machine, but a living thing. It falls, not under the theory of the universe, but under the theory of organic life. It is accountable to Darwin, not to Newton. It is modified by its environment, necessitated by its tasks, shaped to its functions by the sheer pressure of life . . . Living political constitutions must be Darwinian in structure and in practice. Society is a living organism and must obey the laws of life, not of mechanics; it must develop . . . All that progressives ask or desire is permission . . . to interpret the Constitution according to the Darwinian principle.\u201d<\/p>\n

This view of the Constitution has been consistent among progressives, and explains much of Barack Obama\u2019s behavior as President. And it directly contradicts the philosophical assumptions behind the Constitution, which are that the defects of human nature, the peoples\u2019 \u201cpassions and interests,\u201d as James Madison said, are as constant over space and time as the laws of gravity or motion. Since they can never be eliminated, they can only be balanced and checked by other passions and interests through the institutional structures of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

If we probe Baldwin\u2019s appeal to constitutional authority to buttress her attack on the House bill, then, we can see that she knows little or nothing about why the Founders \u201cdrew this thing up\u201d the way they did. The key issue is Article1.7.1.<\/a>: \u201cAll Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.\u201d We need to understand the reasons why the Framers gave the House this responsibility.<\/p>\n

To do that, we have to remember that the Constitution is in many ways an antidemocratic document. For many Framers, the example of ancient Athenian democracy and its excesses, and the disorder caused by the overly democratic state governments in the decade between the Revolution and the Constitutional Convention, made them wary of giving too much direct power to the volatile, uninformed masses. This fear is explicit in the convention debates. Typical are the comments of Virginia governor Edmund Randolph: \u201cOur chief danger arises from the democratic parts of our [state] constitutions. It is a maxim which I hold incontrovertible, that the power of government exercised by the people swallows up the other branches. None of the [state] constitutions have provided sufficient checks against the democracy.\u201d The Framers\u2019 solution would be the \u201cmixed government\u201d in which the branch directly elected by the people, the House of Representatives, would be balanced and checked by the Senate, indirectly elected through the state legislatures; the President, indirectly elected through the Electoral College chosen by the states; and the federal judiciary, appointed by the President with the Senate\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

Many of the delegates, however, feared the greater powers of the other branches, and their lack of direct accountability to the people. In compensation, they proposed among other powers that money bills should originate in the House, which as Elbridge Gerry said, \u201cwas more immediately the representatives of the people, and it was a maxim that the people ought to hold the purse-strings.\u201d The House Representatives, as James Madison would say later, \u201cwere chosen by the people, and supposed to be best acquainted with their interests, and ability.\u201d This idea, moreover, was not just compensation for the \u201cdemocracy deficit\u201d in the rest of the Constitution. Giving the House the \u201cpower of the purse\u201d would act as a check on the more powerful Senate. George Mason, arguing against the idea that the Senate should originate money bills, said, \u201cShould the [Senate] have the power of giving away the people\u2019s money, they might soon forget the Source from whence they received it. We might soon have an aristocracy.\u201d Benjamin Franklin agreed: \u201cIt was always of importance that the people should know who had disposed of their money, and how it was disposed of.\u201d<\/p>\n

We should remember that the Founders\u2019\u00a0distrust of human nature extended also to elites that monopolized power, as well as to the masses. Hence \u201celites\u201d in the government had to be \u201cchecked and balanced\u201d as much as the masses. Against those continuing to argue for giving the Senate the power of the purse, George Mason countered, \u201cAn aristocratic body, like the screw in mechanics, working its way by slow degrees, and holding fast whatever it gains, should ever be suspected of an encroaching tendency. \u2013\u2013The purse strings should never be put into its hands.\u201d As a compromise to placate the smaller states, the Senate was given the power to add amendments to the money bills originating in the House.<\/p>\n

More important are the comments made in\u00a0The Federalist<\/i>\u00a0essays, as these were public, in contrast to the minutes of the debates, and so were meant to convince the average voter. On the issue of originating money bills, James Madison in 58 argued for that power as being a necessary check on the less democratic branches of the government. \u201cThe house of representatives can not only refuse, but they alone can propose the supplies requisite for the support of government. They in a word hold the purse, that powerful instrument . . . This power over the purse, may in fact be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure.\u201d Clearly, for the Framers the \u201cpower of the purse\u201d was intended to be the peoples\u2019 constitutional WMD for checking the other branches when they passed laws or instituted policies contrary to the will of the people.<\/p>\n

Contrary to Baldwin, then, the House bill to defund Obamacare is consistent with the intent of the Founders. The law is unpopular, with\u00a052% of the people opposing it<\/a>. Its exceptions and exemptions doled out to political favorites are unjust, its constitutional violations blatant, and its incompetent construction, confused rollout, and unforeseen future costs dangerous for the public fisc and our exploding debt. If ever there was a \u201cgrievance\u201d needing \u201credress,\u201d Obamacare is it. Defunding Obamacare may or not be a wise tactic politically for Republicans, but its consistency with the Constitution and the intentions of the Founders is not in question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/ FrontPage Magazine\u00a0 A few days ago CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin, speaking about the Republican House bill defunding Obamacare, commented, \u201cCertainly not the way the Founding Fathers maybe drew this thing up.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s certainly a surprise to hear an anchor on CNN, an organization biased in favor of progressives, appealing to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[22,117],"tags":[12,66,218,624,40,693,263],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1Hy","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8005,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamacare-architect-exposes-progressive-totalitarianism\/","url_meta":{"origin":6544,"position":0},"title":"Obamacare Architect Exposes Progressive Totalitarianism","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/ FrontPage Magazine Professor Jonathan Gruber of MIT, who designed the Affordable Care Act, used to be the symbol of the Democrats\u2019 technocratic bona\u00a0fides, and an example of how big government with its \u201cscientific\u201d experts can solve social and economic problems from health care to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Our Contributors"","block_context":{"text":"Our Contributors","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jonathan Gruber-MSNBC","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Jonathan-Gruber-MSNBC-interview.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6636,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/barack-obama-and-the-bad-ideas-of-progressivism\/","url_meta":{"origin":6544,"position":1},"title":"Barack Obama and the Bad Ideas of Progressivism","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/\u00a0FrontPage Magazine\u00a0 Barack Obama\u2019s serial gross incompetence has elicited all sorts of explanatory theories. He\u2019s a closet socialist, an Alinskyite radical, a secret Muslim, or an anti-American internationalist. Though some of Obama\u2019s words and deeds give support to all these speculations, I prefer a simpler explanation.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6677,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamacare-and-the-techocratic-abyss\/","url_meta":{"origin":6544,"position":2},"title":"ObamaCare and the Techocratic Abyss","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/ FrontPage Magazine The continuing disaster of the Obamacare website, like the law itself, illustrates one of the biggest bad ideas of the Progressive movement, one that reflects a central assumption of modernity: that new knowledge is now available that will allow an elite of technicians\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6721,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-political-debate-we-need-to-have\/","url_meta":{"origin":6544,"position":3},"title":"The Political Debate We Need to Have","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, we treat politics as a sport, but it's really a conflict of ideologies between federalists and technocrats. by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/\u00a0Defining Ideas\u00a0 The media and pundits treat politics like a sport. The significance of the recent agreement to postpone the debt crisis until January, for instance, is really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6966,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/executive-tyranny-the-problems-bigger-than-obama\/","url_meta":{"origin":6544,"position":4},"title":"Executive Tyranny: The Problem’s Bigger Than Obama","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/\u00a0FrontPage Magazine\u00a0 Barack Obama is threatening to bypass Congress and use executive orders to achieve the policy changes he can\u2019t get through legislation. \u201cWe are not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we\u2019re providing Americans the kind of help\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6886,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-inequality-smokescreen\/","url_meta":{"origin":6544,"position":5},"title":"The Inequality Smokescreen","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton \/\/\u00a0FrontPage Magazine\u00a0 Desperate for a diversion from the disasters of Obamacare, the president has conjured up the old leftist \u201cincome inequality\u201d clich\u00e9. His court-pundits complain that \u201cthe richest nation on earth is starting to resemble a banana republic,\u201d according toThe New Republic, while Berkeley Professor Robert\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. 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