Forum Post: abolish commerce clause

The commerce clause, which is a clause of article 1, section 8 in the constitution, which lists the powers of congress, gives congress the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. This is the ABSOLUTE power to regulate commerce. Over the years this power has been extended to cover even intrastate commerce. Since '95 it has been expanded to cover every aspect of human life by the Supreme Court's decision in United States Vs. Lopez Jr., 514 U.S. 549, which ruled that congress has the power to regulate 1) Channels of interstate commerce 2) The instrumentalities of interstate commerce, or persons or things in interstate commerce 3) Activities that substantially affect or substantially relate to interstate commerce

If you do not believe that this decision gives congress absolute power over every aspect of human life, try to find a single reference to a definition of what constitutes "channels of commerce", what limitations there are on "people and things" which "move" in those channels, and what the standard of "substantial effect" on commerce is.

The '95 decision aside, it is ONLY Congress' power over commerce that allowed the "banks" and other "big businesses" to be bailed out. Many people accuse the principles of Capitalism for allowing these businesses to be bailed out with taxpayer money. The people who say this are people who do not know what Capitalism is. To their credit, or rather, to the discredit of their opponents, neither do they. Capitalism is an economic system in which the economy and state are separate in the same way and for the same reason that the church and the state are separate. This is not all that there is to Capitalism but it will serve to distinguish it from the system that we do have in place in America.

What we have is a mixed economy. It incorporates some principles of Capitalism (Individual rights, for instance; which are a result of Capitalism and cannot stand without it) but also leaves power in the hands of the state. In the case of America, it is the absolute power over the economy (Commerce).

If we wish to build a free nation, the first of many steps will be the abolition of the commerce clause. We have the right to do it. It was guaranteed to us by the founding fathers. That right, too, is in the constitution. This is one of many steps we must take in order to rid the constitution of its contradictions. If you do not understand what I am referring to by "contradictions" in the constitution, I suggest you do the following:

Read the Declaration of Independence. Then carefully consider the principles it enumerates concerning human rights and the role of government. Then read the constitution.

Discovering the solution to the problems of today necessitates creating a system of government in coherence with the principles of the Declaration of Independence.