Trent Liseo 6/16/2013
The government is gaining too much power. The three reasons are because of George Bush’s police action, how they can control our individualized lives, and how the government can overwrite an amendment to the constitution in the bill of rights. The first reason the government is gaining too much power is because of George Bush’s police action. He put us through a war that started in 2002, and that was declared as a police action. This was to stop a threat, namely Saddam Hussein who was believed to be holding weapons of mass destruction. Others say it was a call to war after 911 when the
“Give me liberty, or give me death.” We must diminish tyranny among our government. How did the United States accomplish this? After the Revolutionary War, the Founding Fathers decided to construct a government that was of the people, by the people, and for the people. By doing so, they needed to prevent the more than likely possibility of overbearing power falling into the hands of one or a few people, in other words a prevention of tyranny was needed (1769). This structure was stated in the Constitution, a written document that framed our American government, and so the Constitution declared four ways to prevent tyranny: Federalism, Separation of Power, Checks and Balances, and the Great compromise.
We often wonder about the importance of government. Is it necessary? Does it really benefit society? The answer is yes. Many countries have diverse forms of government such as totalitarian, monarchy, theocracy, and much more. The United States of America specifically runs a democratic type of government. A democratic government gives power to the people. Citizens over the age of eighteen are allowed to elect leaders based on their individual opinions through voting rights. The main purpose of the American government is, to protect people’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness as our Founding Fathers intended.
George Mason explains that when a man has power, he does not use that power with discernment. Once that power is in his hands, he will only crave for more. The nature of power to man is to utilize that power and gain more and more. Mankind are selfish and will only focus on their interests first and forget about the interests of people. A man will do whatever it takes to gain that power. Power is like an addiction, once you acquire a little bit of it, you will only want more. In summarization, man is currently power-hungry and has been power hungry from the beginning of time and will continue to be power-hungry till the end of ages. For this a government is needed and a constitution that all people will be able to comply with and this is the biggest safeguard. Everyone, regardless of their position will have to follow the constitution. The constitution keeps everything fair and is a good safeguard because with this no one will be oppressed and no one will be able to get too powerful either, so it's balanced and fair to everyone. Today this system is valid, because in the current news you can see that people are still very power-hungry and
In my opinion, the relationship between the Federal government and the States is unclear whether which institution has the authority to implement legislations. The vagueness of the American constitution particularly in the 10th Amendment of the Constitution that quote ” 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.” The ambiguous of the American Constitution may be the main cause of the over power of Federal government.
Contrary to what I believed in the past, the United States federal government retained and expanded their power and authority during the years of the Civil war along with the period of Reconstruction. Through drafts and monitored elections, they exercised this power during the Civil War. Then, as Reconstruction began, they initiated other methods of increasing their authority over the citizens. Military was placed in Southern states, by the federal government, in order to keep control over the rebellious people. Not only that, but, the idea of putting the federal government in charge of Reconstruction and rebuilding an entire nation gave them an enormous amount of power. Finally, the creation of the 14th and 15th Amendment were two more big achievements on the part of the government.
Power, is a small word with a strong meaning behind it. Being able to control anything and everything is what everyone seems to want in today’s society, everyone wants power. The government is the guiltiest of being power hungry. They want to be able to control everyone in the country, taking away the rights that our country was founded upon. This concept of the government wanting to take over its people is similar to that of Big Brother. Big Brother is the party that controlled the people, in George Orwell’s, Nineteen Eighty – Four. Nineteen Eighty – Four was published in 1949 where Orwell predicts what might come to Great Britain if the government, and surrounding governments, kept up with the way it was behaving. In 1949, World War
Thomas Jefferson once stated, "When the people fear the government you have tyranny... when the government fears the people you have liberty." (http://www.chvanilla.net/frogquotes.html)
Between 1787 and 1791 the Framers of the US Constitution established a system of government upon principles that had been discussed and partially implemented in many countries over the course of several centuries, but never before in such a pure and complete design, which we call a constitutional republic. Since then, the design has often been imitated, but important principles have often been ignored in those imitations, with the result that their governments fall short of being true republics or truly constitutional. The Framers of the Constitution tried very hard to design a system that would not allow any one person or group within the government to gain too much power. Personally, I think they succeeded. In order to guard against what one of the Founding Fathers called an "excess of democracy," the Constitution was built with many ways to limit the government's power. Among these methods were separating the three branches, splitting the legislature so laws are carefully considered, and requiring members of Congress to meet certain criteria to qualify for office. The Founders did leave a few problems along with their system.
The President of the United States is commonly referred to as the most powerful man in the world. The President is the head of the country which boasts the world’s largest economy, commander and chief of the most powerful military in the world, and has command authority over the largest active nuclear arsenal in the world. However, his power is not unlimited. Throughout the history of the United States, some presidents have attempted to go beyond the powers granted to them. Most of these attempts have ended in scandal. Regardless of whether these actions were for the good of the nation or for personal gain, laws must be obeyed. Otherwise the United States would become the same tyrannical government our forefathers fought to escape from.
The federalist circular in Massachusetts in 1808 was an example of the federal government being too powerful. It argues that Thomas Jefferson was too powerful, and he was denying the states of their power. There was a lot of propaganda surrounding this time period for this cause. People believed that they should overthrow the federal government. They also believed that they should get their state government rights back from the federal
The United States government is designed with checks and balances to ensure that no one branch can become more powerful than another. Though this may be the case, it is still possible that one branch of the our government can still be more powerful than the others. The equality of power in our government has constantly changed over the course of the life of the United States. Although these changes have occurred, we still have not made all of the branches equal and the inequality has been due to meet the demands of the time. For example, in 1938 our country was facing a depression and nothing was getting done. So, Roosevelt took it upon himself to give the Executive branch more power, to then in turn, help the country creep back out of the hole it had dug itself. After the country didn’t need the reform bills and the size of the government that Roosevelt had put it, things were then downsized and put into a more stable equilibrium. Though there were attempts to make everything equal, the Legislative Branch now holds the majority of the power, and is the most powerful branch that our government has.
Do you think that the American government is out of control? Cal Thomas thinks so, as he bluntly asserts:
Government effects my life everyday in a vast variety of ways. From the quality of the milk that I drink in the morning, to the license and Insurance I need to drive my vehicle to school and work. Government also effects the taxes that are deducted from my salary. The government uses this money to protect consumers and provide services for the public amongst many other things.
Too many times in history has the government thrown aside the rights of the individual in the pursuit of their own agenda. This subsequently often led to their downfall as well. This happens far too often, even in our modern world. You would think that by now, despite all of the horrible things that came about as a result of these instances, we would have learned our lesson. But we still haven’t been able to get the message. Why? Because the power of greed is far more powerful than that of humanity. This has been visible since the dawn of man. Even though humans have a natural desire to care for one another, greed still conquers all, and that’s the sad truth of the matter. Unfortunately, governments take the greedy road far too often than they should. They get caught up in the moment and forget about what it’s all really about, which is fulfilling their side of the mutualistic relationship between them and the people. The one thing that we have in common is also the most overlooked.
As citizens of the United States, and as people living under a democracy, the government has certain responsibilities to us. We are guaranteed union, justice, tranquility, defense, welfare, and liberty. These rights are all very important to the well being of our country and the states that exist in it. I feel that there are three that are a little more important than the others.