We the People

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

With the start of the 112th Congress, Tea Partiers are brimming with pride over the fact that the new House Republican leadership will begin this legislative session with a reading of the U.S. Constitution on the House floor. As the quote from the Preamble of the Constitution above shows, when you actually read this document in its entirety, it is not representative of what the Tea Party claims it stands for. The irony is that the joke is really on them—turns out the U.S. Constitution is a very progressive document.

The distortions brought on this past year and a half by Tea Party rhetoric may have caused many of us to forget the progressive nature of our Constitution’s narrative. In a July 2010 post on their website, the Constitution Accountability Center wrote.....

“We think the Constitution should frame our political debates and should be followed by our leaders, whatever their political stripe. But if the Tea Party wants to be taken seriously—and if it wants the media to continue fawning over it for its purported love for the Constitution—it should at least be required to make plausible claims about the words and meaning of our Nation’s charter. A close look at the Tea Party’s version of the Constitution shows that it bears little resemblance to our actual Constitution and could in fact threaten the constitutional values Americans cherish most.”

Powers granted to the federal government by the Constitution are substantial and broad. And, since our country’s beginnings, the American people have amended the Constitution to ensure that Congress would always have the tools it needed to address national challenges and more importantly, to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans. Eight separate amendments have expanded the original powers of the central government, granting vast powers to the government in order to protect civil and voting rights, ensure liberty, and to raise funds through taxes on income. Many Tea Partiers “refudiate” (sic) these Amendments and some even want to repeal most if not all of them. Fortunately, for the rest of us, these Amendments are just as much a part of the Constitution as if they had been written in 1787. When the new members of Congress have been sworn in, they will be bound by their oath to uphold the entire Constitution, not just the parts they agree with.

Consequently, as House members comply with the new requirement of citing constitutional authority for all proposed legislation, the rest of us should remain cognizant of how these references to the Constitution manifest the progressive history of our Constitution. I hereby humbly offer these following constitutional grants of authority to Congress that could be used to support key progressive policies:

• The “Power to lay and collect Taxes” to provide for the “general welfare of the United States” (Article I, Section 8), which gives the federal government broad authority to further national policies such as ensuring healthcare for the poor (Medicaid) and provide security for older Americans (Social Security).

• The power to establish “a uniform rule of Naturalization” (Article I, § 8), which mandates that only Congress can enact immigration reform and also that state anti-immigration laws, like the one in Arizona (Arizona SB 1070), are an unconstitutional infringement of Congress’ exclusive power to regulate immigration.

• The power to “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations and among the several States” (Article I, § 8) which gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, for example, the national health care and banking industries.

• The crucial power to “make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper” (Article I, § 8) for carrying out all constitutional powers granted to the federal government, which means for example that Congress can, after all, require individuals who can afford it, to obtain health insurance in order to carry out its authority to regulate the interstate health insurance industry and ensure affordable, non-discriminatory health care.

Reading the U.S. Constitution in its entirety should leave the unmistakable impression that our constitutional story is, inherently progressive. Throughout the history of our country, “We the People” have taken a great but on some levels flawed document and made it even greater. We have, in effect, created an even “more perfect union” by writing into our Constitution, through the Amendment process, the abolition of slavery, expanded democracy and voting rights for women and all Americans of color as well as other notions of equality and liberty.

If those of us on the left can recognize, understand and accept the progressive nature of the Constitution, then we should feel no need to disagree with or make fun of Speaker Boehner’s requirement that all bills contain a citation to the constitutional grant of authority that allows whatever legislation is being proposed. Instead, we should welcome the new Republican-led House of Representatives embracing of the Constitution and then hold all members of Congress to their oath to be faithful to it and to support it—all of it.