Dear Editor:
Some of our citizens who object to certain laws passed by Congress or to regulations from federal agencies are quick to cry unconstitutional. They shout this opinion without citing any facts to support it or any reference to the Constitution. These folks would be better informed by consulting the constitution, beginning with the prefatory statement of its purpose: We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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. The articles and amendments that follow provide the specifics for realizing these comprehensive principles, the fist of which, ...to form a more perfect union, stresses the need for a strong central government to replace the week and ineffective confederation. Some of our Republican governors, led by Perry of Texas are advocating a return to a confederation that would give states ascendant power over the federal government. This would be unconstitutional (see the Tenth Amendment). Even now there are governors and state legislatures that believe they can enact laws in opposition to federal laws. Current conditions in America cry out for a substantive application of the promote the general welfare clause, a principle never intended as an exclusive favor for megacorporations or or the super rich. Sadly, our government of the people, by the people, for the people has degenerated into government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations. Without a return to equal justice for all, our democracy may well perish from the earth.
Denton May
Cortez