Courts Abbreviate US Constitution’s Preamble?
19th Century USA set an example for the world, but today US politicians seldom work for the common good. The media blackout regarding Puerto Rico which has a population that exceeds that of at least 21 states and has more people than the smallest five states combined, makes it obvious that corporate media pundits share this ethos.
While corporate media occasionally runs stories about the work of individual citizens who have gone to Puerto Rico to help our fellow Americans, the present Republican government’s failure to take robust action to support our people in Puerto Rico has been swept under the rug. This is why so many Americans are losing faith in the 4th Estate.
While the preamble of the US Constitution states:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.”
politicians, corporate media and the courts have replaced the comma after “defence” with a period tossing out the remainder of the sentence.
Some Americans share the belief that the preamble is simply an appendage and no court has ever used the preamble as a deciding factor in case law. While “orginalists” might point to the preamble as providing a mandate for the government to “promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,” they seldom do.
The main argument used to dismiss “the general Welfare” of the people is rooted in profit, more specifically in the Commerce Clause.
The opening of the preamble: “We the People of the United States” is likewise discounted through the understanding that “the people” means ‘citizens’, and for the moment even corporations are “citizens.”
This view was highlighted when an almost forgotten Abrahamic politician once stated: “Corporations are people, my friend.” This was one of the reasons, along with his belief that 47 percent of Americans are lazy and don’t pay taxes, that he lost.
Questions rising in the minds of many Americans are:
“Since Puerto Rican’s are citizens, why are they being forgotten?”
and
“Why hasn’t congress acted to grant statehood to Puerto Rico?”
It is apparent that while the preamble sums up the intentions of America’s founders, the principles which come after “defence” are apparently irrelevant. Thus while it is a brief summary of the Founders’ fundamental purposes and guiding principles, most Americans no longer share the belief in common good. Recent polls reveal that Americans think of their fellow citizens as lazy and selfish and politicians as stupid and corrupt. Many politicians agree.
After the Great Recession of 2008, some Americans shared Jon Stewart’s opinion that the government should use the bailout money to support Americans to pay off their mortgages and thereby provide banks with profits while at the same time providing homeowners with the means to boost the economy through spending. This would have boosted the entire nation as regular home owners are more likely to use such gains to improve their lives by spending the money on new home improvements. Instead the government took the “trickle down” approach which simply enriched corporations and big bucks investors at the expense of taxpayers while creating an economic debacle of massive foreclosures fueled by “robosigners.”
Some folks feel this was due to the fact that most Democrats today are politically to the right of Richard Nixon, but perhaps this was because Obama studied constitutional law instead of history.
Since Americans who do not own homes generally share the philosophy of FUism (Fu** You ism) which teaches “I want what is good for me, I don’t care about you,” people who did not have a mortgage opposed the idea of infusing the nation with wealth; by default they preferred another government giveaway to corporations rather than supporting their neighbors.
FUism is the same philosophy which fuels the American race to the bottom for the bulk of the population. If some folk have higher wages because of union jobs, FUists believe that ‘instead of raising the minimum wage, union jobs should be eliminated.’ If this means destroying unions to achieve a universal low wage, FUists unite to achieve this goal. The US minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, or $15,080 per year.
In June 8, 2016, Andrew LaSane reported on rents for a one room apartment in 50 different American cities, monthly rent ranged from $470 (5640 per year) in Wichita, Kansas to $3600 ($43,200 annually) in San Francisco, California. New York was $2200 monthly ($26,400). Austin was $1100 per month ($13,200). FUism teaches that instead of creating affordable housing, or mandating higher wages, government should provide tax breaks for big corporations.
FUism is the dominant philosophy among Conservative Christians who generally oppose a living wage. Even prior to the 2017 Republican Tax Deform Bill, “the US spent $60bn in 2015 on the mortgage interest deduction for wealthy homeowners” while generally ignoring the need for affordable housing, thus contributing to a burgeoning homeless population.
Is FUism the result of an ongoing destruction of the foundation of Civil Society, or is the destruction of Civil Society the result of FUism?
