Is Obama Violating the “Take Care” Clause?
The Constitution requires the President to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This “take Care” language came from 18th century commissions and formal instructions by which higher officials delineated what lower officials were to do. The premier examples were royal instructions to colonial governors, but the Continental and Confederation Congresses used the same […]
Resisting Federal Usurpation: Comments by Theophilus Parsons
Several years ago, I wrote on this site about the contributions to the American Founding of Josiah Quincy. Another little-known Founder who should be more widely celebrated today was Theophilus Parsons. Parsons was from the same Massachusetts circle that produced Quincy. He was an an outstanding lawyer and an eloquent spokesman for republican government and […]
Get the Latest Edition of Rob’s popular book: THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION!!
Get the latest edition of the popular work, The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant. You can buy it in either hard copy or Kindle form here.
More Evidence An Article V Convention is a “Convention of the States”
Earlier this year, I documented one of the reasons we know an Article V convention is a “convention of the states” rather than a mass popular gathering: Founding Era documents tell us so. I listed several such documents. (Subsequent to the Founding, in the case of Smith v. Union Bank, the Supreme Court also referred […]
Colorado Goes to the Supreme Court to Defend TABOR
Three years ago, a group of primarily government plaintiffs sued in federal district court to void Colorado’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). TABOR allows the people, not just the legislature, to vote on most tax increases, most debt increases, and some spending hikes. The plaintiffs argued that the 20-year old state constitutional provision violated the […]
More Evidence From Last Term That It’s Not a “Conservative Supreme Court”
Note: This article was first published at cns news. There is a common media myth that the current U.S. Supreme Court, or at least a majority of the current justices, is “conservative.” But if a “conservative” justice is one who consistently interprets the Constitution in accordance with traditional methods of judging—as the Founders intended for […]
Obama’s Ebola Order: Is it Constitutional to Send Troops to Hand out “Home Health Kits” in Africa?
The Constitution says that the president “shall be Commander in Chief of the Army . . . of the United States.” Does that give him authority to utilize our armed forces for a purely non-military purpose like addressing the Ebola outbreak in Africa? The Denver Post thinks so, editorializing that Obama’s decision is “fully justified.” […]
The Constitution on Latin TV (And by “Latin,” we don’t mean Latin American)
Institute Research Director Dave Kopel has long urged me to do a broadcast production on the Constitution in the Latin language, and now it’s here! Produced by II web monkey Justin Longo, the program features an interview of me by my daughter Sarah on the American Founding and the nature of the Constitution. Sarah, 23, […]
No, the Necessary and Proper Clause Does NOT Empower Congress to Control an Amendments Convention
A few days ago I heard a presentation by a spokesman for a group that claims to defend the Constitution and revere the Founders. Yet the spokesman trashed the Constitution’s framers for allegedly exceeding their authority and claimed they added a provision that largely rendered another provision useless. In other words, the spokesman charged the […]
Rob Discusses How He Researches the Constitution
Failure to Call Amendments Conventions Helps Explain Modern Federal Overreaching
This Article is a modified version of one appearing in the American Thinker. If President after President failed to veto bills, would it surprise you if congressional power grew at the expense of the presidency? If the Senate never blocked the President’s appointments, would it surprise you if presidential power expanded at the expense of […]
“Progressive” Misrepresentations of the Public Trust Doctrine
While hosting a Montana radio talk show in the late 1990s, I interviewed a prominent left-wing environmental activist. He was promoting an anti-mining ballot measure. During the interview, he read from a 16th-century book that (he said) had shown that mining had all sorts of evil effects. But something about the quote did not ring […]
