A Focus on Ignorance in Nevada

During the recent primary debate between Democrat presidential hopefuls in Nevada, one of the more credible pollsters, Frank Luntz, convened a focus group of undecided Democrats. As the debate progressed each focus group member’s approval or disapproval – their “feelings” – on each of the candidate’s statements was noted. What Mr. Luntz’s focus group actually recorded was proof positive of the Left’s constitutional illiteracy.

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In all the years that I have been politically aware, I have never witnessed a group of people so completely ignorant of not only the issues and our nation’s geopolitical situation, but of how our government works. This became über-evident when the total of the group blamed the Executive Branch of our government – and President Bush in particular – for producing “tax-cuts for the rich” and for aiding “big oil” in their pursuit of corporate welfare. One of the most basic, the most elementary components in federal government is the assignment of powers and responsibilities among its three branches. The Executive Branch is charged with the execution of the day-to-day management of the country. Under the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers, the Executive Branch is neither supposed to make laws nor interpret them. These two roles are reserved for the Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch, respectively. This being understood, why did each and every one of the undecided Democrats in Frank Luntz’s Nevada focus group blame President Bush for things that only Congress has the authority to enact? The answer is simple. They are unschooled on the constitutional authorities of our government and the governmental process and they are reacting emotionally rather than in an educated manner. In a nutshell, they are looking at this most important civic responsibility, the business of electing the leader of the free world, emotionally instead of intellectually. Granted, it is the president who most often signs legislation into law, the veto and pocket-veto options aside. But it is the Legislative Branch – the Congress – that debates, crafts, compromises on, writes and passes the laws of our land, not the Executive Branch. Why is this important? It is important because every time you hear someone blaming George W. Bush for giving “tax-cuts to the rich,” they are demonstrating their ignorance, their constitutional illiteracy. The tax laws in the United States are crafted – with the limited influence the presidential bully pulpit provides – by Congress. The extent to which the president is responsible for US tax codes is minimal; it is limited to his lobbying efforts and his signing them into law or vetoing them. Congress is responsible for the creation of tax laws. More...