09-18-2010, 03:29 AM
P5se Camelback Wrote:Are you knowledgeable enough about the foremost governing document of the Land to realize that our Constitution is being ignored and, yes, trampled on by those that we have unfortunately elected to represent us in the Federal government? Are they ignoring the Constitution on purpose or are they ignorant in regard to the document they swore to uphold when they were sworn into office?
Bil - are you really sure you want to get into a political debate on a model railroad forum?
Constitutions are not holy scripture, handed down on stone tablets by a big hand from the sky. They are compromises, worked out by human beings, and changed as we go along - either formally changed, or de facto changed by the way we interpret them over time.
The first administration to go beyond "just foreign policy and common defense" was the George Washington administration.
Ever heard of the "whiskey rebellion" of the 1790s?
How about the "national road"?
Heard about the civil war in the 1860s?
The homestead act?
Putting American citizens of Japanese descent in concentration camps?
The Interstate highways?
Having a central government taking a larger part than initially envisioned by the people who signed the constitution while representing the separate states is not a recent and radical development. It is the way things are and have been for a long time.
Grin,
Stein, who probably knows more about American history than a lot of Americans :-)