Holding Government Accountable (It's In the Constitution)

Gary discusses DOGE and USAID and government overspending in general.

The written Constitution “checks” the powers of the federal government by carefully delineating and specifying the powers of each branch. If the Constitution does not grant the federal government power to perform a particular activity, the government cannot legally perform it: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” (Amendment X of the Bill of Rights). This becomes an extremely important point when any discussion of taxation arises. The federal government’s authority to tax is only as great as its stated function. If the Constitution does not specify a particular function for the federal government to perform then the United States Congress has no Constitutional right to collect taxes from citizens for the proposed unconstitutional activity.

Obviously, all levels of civil government—federal, state, city, county—need money to operate. Every Christian should be willing to pay the governmental authorities the taxes “due them” (Romans 13:7). The question remains: What is due them? Constitutionally it is clear the federal government’s functions are limited in nearly every respect. There is no provision for the federal government to redistribute wealth from one group of people to another in order to satisfy the Marxist-Leninist objective “from each according to his ability; to each according to his need.” Our Constitutional fathers incorporated no such leveling device.

However, the tax-limiting effects of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution were effectively nullified with the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913. This Amendment gave the federal government unlimited taxing power. Moreover, by redefining “general Welfare” to mean wealth redistribution, “in time, the structure of the federal tax on personal incomes became steeply graduated exactly as advocated by Karl Marx as a prime means of making ‘despotic inroads on the rights of property.’”[1]

God and Government

With a fresh new look, more images, an extensive subject and scripture index, and an updated bibliography, God and Government is ready to prepare a whole new generation to take on the political and religious battles confronting Christians today. May it be used in a new awakening of Christians in America—not just to inform minds, but to stimulate action and secure a better tomorrow for our posterity.

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Gary discusses DOGE and USAID and government overspending in general. Just as most people manage their own household budgets and spending, so is the Federal Government responsible not to spend money it does not have. An ignored requirement from Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution is an accounting of where money is being spent.

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[1] Thomas O. McWhorter, Res Publica (Nutley, NJ: The Craig Press, 1966), 89.

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