Reason #22: Thwarting the Constitution

“The people make the Constitution and the people can unmake it.” - John Marshall

The U.S. Constitution is more than just words written on parchment. It’s actually one of the most important achievements in human history, because it lays out the blueprint for a radical new way of governing.

Ben Franklin and the rest of the framers had lived through the tyranny of King George and they were determined to prevent any one person or branch of government from grabbing all the authority. They knew that even elected officials will abuse their power and overstep their bounds if they are not restrained, so they crafted three branches of government to act as a kind of political trinity.

Each branch of the trinity, the Legislative, Executive and Judicial, has its own responsibilities and powers. And, most importantly, no branch can infringe on the prerogatives of the other two. This system of checks and balances was supposed to keep power-hungry leaders from letting ambition get in the way of their sacred duty, doing the people’s business.

The problem today is that the constitution’s three-part blueprint for government has become blurred, if not obliterated. The president acts more and more like a king. The legislative branch has abdicated its power to the executive and has stopped trying to solve tough problems. And the judicial branch has become infected with partisan politics. Each President salivates for a Supreme Court vacancy during his term so he can tip the scales of the court to his side.

The first chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall, once said “The people make the Constitution and the people can unmake it.” Unfortunately, the politicians in Washington have been unmaking our founding document for years now and the American people are suffering because of it.

NEXT: Reason #23: Presidential Overreach