Last week, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the constitutionality of the individual mandate. The mandate has been declared unconstitutional by federal courts in Virginia and Florida, and appeals are pending in those cases. The committee heard from three legal experts: Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Duke University law professor Walter Dellinger, and Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett. Testimony touched on several aspects of the individual mandate, which requires Americans to purchase a level of coverage deemed appropriate by the Department of Health and Human Services or …
In the wake of federal Judge Roger Vinson’s ruling that Obamacare’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to further examine the issue. The individual mandate forces Americans to purchase a level of insurance deemed appropriate by the federal government or else pay a fine. Heritage’s legal experts write that the individual mandate is both unprecedented and unconstitutional. Its proponents claim that Congress holds the authority to compel Americans to purchase private insurance under the Commerce Clause, which allows Congress to “regulate Commerce with foreign …
The sublime irony of having Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) not only participate in a reading of the Constitution, but be assigned Article I, Section 1, seems to have been lost on those who attended the first-ever reading of the august text in the House of Representatives this morning. This, after all, is the same Nancy Pelosi who gave us gave us the now infamous “Are you serious? Are you serious?” in response to a reporter who had the nerve to ask her which part of the Constitution authorized Congress to compel …
For over a hundred years, Progressives have been trying to persuade Americans that times have changed, and therefore our founding documents (especially the Declaration of Independence and Constitution) must evolve to meet the needs of a developing society. This notion of a “living constitution” is certainly predominant in intellectual circles, but has also seeped into our everyday discussion and way of thinking about the Constitution. If times have changed so much, then we must ask (especially on Constitution Day) why is the Constitution worth celebrating—or even preserving?
I have always been thankful that so many of our country’s greatest leaders and statesmen were able to be on this earth at the same time and place to draft the Constitution. As a lifelong student of history and government, we were blessed as a nation to have individuals that put self-interest and sectionalism aside to debate, argue, draft and sign the Constitution. Our Constitution has been that beacon upon the hill, that guiding star at night, and that shining city that millions of persons around the word have longed …
September 17 is Constitution Day, a day set aside to reflect on the ratification of the United States Constitution. Towards that goal, we have produced a short video honoring the Constitution and urging everyone to pause and reflect on how we can return our country to its First Principles. We hope you will share this video with friends and families and urge them to join you in that goal. This holiday, take a moment to reflect on the importance of this document. With an unsteady economy and a government growing …
In the mid 1960s, education policy took a wrong turn, away from America’s founding principles. That was when President Lyndon B. Johnson, as a part of his War on Poverty, created the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). It was the first major federal foray into local schools. But the Constitution doesn’t provide for a federal role in education, and public schools had traditionally been under the jurisdiction of local authorities. What’s more, Washington’s intervention seemed to bring out the worst in education governance: State officials became the …
Diane Macedo over at FoxNews.com points out that one publishing company–Wilder Publications–has put warning labels on their editions of the United States Constitution. The warning label on “Foundations of Freedom: Common Sense, The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, The Federalist Papers, The U.S. Constitution” reads: “This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and interpersonal relations have changed …
RICHMOND — Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said he will file a formal response as early as next week to the federal government’s attempt to dismiss Virginia’s legal challenge to Obamacare. In an exclusive interview with Heritage, Cuccinelli said the federal government’s motion to dismiss, released on Monday, was mostly predictable. He said the attorney general’s office had already anticipated the government’s arguments and will have its response ready on or before June 7. “What they filed on Monday was very much what we expected,” Cuccinelli said in an interview …
The administrative state is one of the biggest threats to our liberty and it is operating without consent of the people and under the radar of most people. This is a huge cause for concern and it is something that should be brought out into the open. The administrative state acts without consent of the governed and has little public accountability giving them power to interpret and enforce laws however it sees fit. This is causing a decline in our constitutional government. The administrative state are government bureaucracies that create …
