Balance of Power

I dont claim to be anything more than self educated on the US Constitution. But by reading it, and the history of the folks that wrote it, I came to realize its 'spirit' and the myriad of law it has spawned have little to do with one another. The simple fact that the entire document is absolutely dependent on all of its parts.

For example, the right to bear arms is only needed if we dont have an army but for 2 year stints when needed and approved by congress, as the constitution states. The powers of the branches balancing each others. And perhaps the most important part, the 10th amendment:

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Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
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The reason it is not a complex document that has voluminous explanations for each article is clear if you dont look at each article as a separate entity, but an interconnected web of perfect balance. But there was a fundamental flaw in the logic of the founding fathers.

They wrote it assuming the states and individuals in the different branches would fight tooth and nail not to loose any of their powers derived from the constitution. They did not count on the current trend of humanity of safe absolution reflected in the consolidation of states powers to the Federal Government and the federal branches yielding powers to the Executive branch. Modern political figures are more concerned with their position and not the powers of governing it infers.

In recent decades we have seen the power to declare wars, regulate the presidents appointments and executive power acquisition and even stop a/any war being given away by the congress, the power to regulate our own economy by giving it to the Federal Reserve Bank, the power to investigate any member of the executive branch and the judicial branch is unchecked by the Attorney General (presidential appointment, congress approves... because they fear the alternatives and dont wanna stay in session to prevent the president from appointing one in their absence) are just a few of the easier to grasp and more recent constitutional "over-sites".

But maybe the most important problem we have is this standing, volunteer, professional army that mitigates the effect of war on the populace. The constitution states in article I, section 8:

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To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;
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If you think this would leave the whole of America open to invasion you would be correct, if you dont observer the second amendment: The Right to Bear Arms.

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Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
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The Idea of this right is not we may all own a gun. But that we may own arms capable of being taken into a modern battlefield and win. Thus all arms (RPGs included) should be legal. And as Afghanistan and Iraq show us, even a modern army (ours) has a hard time winning a fight against a well armed public. But after WWII our constitution was changed in response to the fear of war. An professional army was raised. This is, perhaps, our fatal flaw.

Rome had a professional army and a vast nation to spread it into. The cost became prohibited and ultimately left them militarily and economically weak and helped in no small way in its destruction. The US has a far greater empire. We use this standing army to occupy bases in over 130 nations and wage wars while insulating the public at home to the severity of the event by acting without a draft (mandated by the constitution to raise an army).

If we needed to have a draft to have a war we would not have attacked Iraq and we would not be getting ready for Iran now (I say we attack before July 10, 2008.) The congress would have a reason to insist on voting for or against a declaration of war issued by the executive branch. This power is fundamental to balancing the branches of the government.

Unfortunately it has become painfully apparent to me that congress is not acting on our behalf but on their own desire to maintain position. Given at this time the congress is split too closely to get anything done, this should not have stopped Democrats from stopping all the financing of the Bush, Cheney plan of empire.

Here is what it comes down to in my view. The Democrats and the Republicans are different faces to the same monster. They dont want to give us more freedoms or liberties. They dont have any real goals except feeding us the illusion of choice. They work together to consolidate power into a bigger government. The Republicans claim "small government" is their goal... but this leads to monopolies and then often price gouging.

When you throw Insurance companies into the mix, then the services they cover quickly become unavailable to any without the insurance due to the amount the insured industries can get from the insurance companies. Then we elect a Democrat and they tend to take over or regulate (bad for small business) the insured and/or over-costly private industry and call them 'the commons'.

The escalating cost of security and military budgets are quickly overshadowing all industries they come in contact with. But the government is right there to bail out airlines and banks and thus gain regulatory powers over them.

But now cost is no object to us due to our Federal Reserve Bank. When this private bank makes a loan to our government (charging interest) it doesnt just devalue the dollar in your pocket, but changes the balance of wealth from the citizens to the government and/or military. This is not sustainable. But in an effort to sustain our economic viability, our government gave regulatory powers over our economy to the Federal Reserve... once again A PRIVATE BANK.

I feel kinda off while writing this (scatterbraind) so I will edit and finish it!