James Madison and Federal Power

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Founding Fathers wrote extensively and passionately about their deeply held beliefs on freedom and liberty in the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays that appeared in several New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788. These writings were a passionate appeal to persuade voters to ratify the proposed constitution.

The authors had very strong opinions on how the new government of the United States of America should be constructed, using the constitution as a guide, so as to properly serve its people. Among these ideas was the notion that the primary role of the federal government was to provide for the national defense and the greater good of the country. James Madison was concerned about the extent of federal powers that would be bestowed on congress and the President when he wrote in Federalist 41:

"It cannot have escaped those who have attended with candor to the arguments employed against the extensive powers of the government, that the authors of them have very little considered how far these powers were necessary means of attaining a necessary end. They have chosen rather to dwell on the inconveniences which must be unavoidably blended with all political advantages; and on the possible abuses which must be incident to every power or trust, of which a beneficial use can be made. This method of handling the subject cannot impose on the good sense of the people of America. It may display the subtlety of the writer; it may open a boundless field for rhetoric and declamation; it may inflame the passions of the unthinking, and may confirm the prejudices of the misthinking: but cool and candid people will at once reflect, that the purest of human blessings must have a portion of alloy in them; that the choice must always be made, if not of the lesser evil, at least of the GREATER, not the PERFECT, good; and that in every political institution, a power to advance the public happiness involves a discretion which may be misapplied and abused. They will see, therefore, that in all cases where power is to be conferred, the point first to be decided is, whether such a power be necessary to the public good; as the next will be, in case of an affirmative decision, to guard as effectually as possible against a perversion of the power to the public detriment. "

Madison was clearly troubled by the potential for abuse of power in the necessary conduct of the people's business and was cautioning against the perversion of power based on necessity, inconvenience or crisis. If we even casually observe the actions of the President and congress today, it is clear that Madison had good cause for alarm in his analysis of conferring nearly unlimited power in government. It is also painfully clear that the concept of a limited government that was tasked with providing for the common defense and good of the country has expanded exponentially into areas not contemplated by the founding fathers.

For example, with regard to the exercise of power and the raising of taxes, Madison had this to say in Federalist 41:

It has been urged and echoed, that the power "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States," amounts to an unlimited commission to exercise every power which may be alleged to be necessary for the common defense or general welfare. No stronger proof could be given of the distress under which these writers labor for objections, than their stooping to such a misconstruction.

Madison's unmistakable disdain for those who would use the pretext of common defense and general welfare of the citizenry to abuse the use of taxation for their own purposes is quite evident in his writing.

We would be wise today to reconsider the wisdom of Madison and our founding fathers who had a clear and consistent vision of America. I fear we have lost our way in the atmosphere of "crisis management" that seems to have infected Washington D.C.. It is time to develop well thought out and achievable plans for essential functions of government and then get out of the way of the American People.