The Heritage Foundation president Ed Feulner ran a handful of passages in his column from Matthew Spalding’s latest book “We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future.”
It looks like a good read. Here are the quotes.
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We don’t need to remake America, or discover new and untested principles. The change we need is not the rejection of America’s principles but a great renewal of these permanent truths about humanity, politics, and liberty — the foundational principles and constitutional wisdom that are the true roots of our country’s greatness.
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The meaning and power of these ideas will be lost in the course of a lifetime if they are not taught to each generation of students. The public mission of our schools in the past was to transmit this knowledge to young Americans as the most important requisite for democracy. This must be the mission of our schools again.
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One small step in this direction would be to require all legislation to contain an explanation of its constitutional authority, compelling at least a consideration of each proposal’s constitutional legitimacy.
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Too many programs, once started, are automatically reauthorized and become part of the permanent bureaucracy. [Congress should] periodically review and authorize anew every major program, creating an ongoing mechanism that would work against the steady, automatic expansion of government. Rather than assuming their permanence, Congress should subject government programs to regular reevaluation of their authority, purpose, and effectiveness.
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Although the Constitution vests legislative powers in Congress, the majority of ‘laws’ are promulgated by administrative agencies in the guise of ‘regulations’ –a form of rule by bureaucrats who are mostly unaccountable and invisible to the public.
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It is generally supposed that judges have the final say concerning every constitutional question. These arguments need to be challenged and overcome in the public view, both as a matter of historical accuracy and a necessary condition for reinvigorating limited government, constitutionalism, and the rule of law. By allowing the Constitution to be treated as a malleable document, we should not be surprised that the ‘living’ Constitution has deadened the political mind of many Americans.
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Ed Feulner reacts to that last quote: “Sad but true. In the years ahead, let’s hope that Spalding’s book becomes a textbook to reopen our students’ political minds.”
I’d add – that we desperately need to elect men and women who already understand all of the above.
