Thursday, Sept. 17, is Constitution Day. It is a day specifically designated by an act of Congress for Americans to honor the remarkable document that created our system of government. The date was chosen because the Constitution was approved at the original Constitutional Convention on Sept. 17, 1787.
The act that created Constitution Day mandates that all publicly funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution on that day. Sadly, our schools have done a dreadful job teaching students about the Constitution. What else would you expect when most teachers have no idea what the Constitution says?
While every politician pays lip service to the Constitution (the President, Vice President and every member of Congress take an oath to "preserve and protect" it), the sad truth is that vast majority of actions taken by the Federal government today are not authorized by the Constitution.
I have heard it said that, if the Constitution were fully and honestly enforced today, the Federal government would be 20 percent of its present size and would cost 20 percent of its present budget. I think those numbers are an exaggeration; I suspect the truth would be closer to 10 percent.
Just imagine: No foreign aid, no Departments of Education, Housing, Health, Agriculture or Homeland Security. No commissions, bureaucratic monstrosities or other meddlesome agencies that "harass our people and eat out their substance." (That's an actual indictment of King George from the Declaration of Independence.)
What would this country be like if the Constitution were fully and honestly enforced? I hope some day we'll come a lot closer to finding out than we are today.
—Chip Wood
