GUEST COMMENTARY
TOBY HILL, CHAIRMAN INDIAN RIVER TEA PARTY
The Indian River Tea Party has three founding principles, as do most other Tea Parties: Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility, and Free Market System. We believe these are the critical issues that face our Nation and dealing with these issues is our only path back to true liberty and prosperity. We would like to share our beliefs on our founding principles starting with Limited Government.
“The government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects [limited powers]. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general.” ― James Madison
Today’s federal government is bloated, out of control, overreaching and virtually unrecognizable compared to the government created by our Constitution. It was never intended this way.
Our Constitution created a federal government with very limited powers. Drafted and approved by the states, it prohibits the federal government from infringing upon the peoples’ “unalienable Rights” that are “endowed by their Creator.” Limited powers confines the federal government to attend only to interests of the nation that are exclusively national in scope. These limited powers are clearly enumerated in the 18 clauses of Article I, Section 8, and remain the foundation of our Constitution.
Seven of the 18 powers relate directly to the defense of our nation or its citizens. The remaining 11 powers deal with a variety of issues of national scope, ranging from establishment of a uniform currency to making treaties with foreign nations.
History taught our founders that to preserve a nation dedicated to the liberty of its citizens, it is necessary to severely restrict the authority of national government. No clearer statement of this concern is needed than the words of the tenth amendment: “… 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.”
That is the design of a “constitutionally limited government.”
How has the constitutionally limited government of our founders become today’s massively intrusive federal government?
Governing beyond the clear scope of their constitutional authority, for more than a century members of Congress and Presidents have enacted laws and promoted regulations that violate their oath to adhere to our Constitution. A nation whose government becomes unhinged from the constraints of its constitution is subject to the whims of leaders who claim a “living” constitution empowers them to fulfill any perceived public need.
“General Welfare” and “Commerce” clauses are the most abused powers. The “General Welfare” clause does not empower Congress to legislate for anything supporting the “general Welfare” of the nation. Were that the intent, there would be no purpose served by enumerating the remaining 17 specific powers!
The much-abused “Commerce Clause” was designed only to assure a regular flow of commerce between the states and other nations. This power was created to facilitate commerce, not to restrict or mandate it.
To comprehend the magnitude of the cost of unconstitutional governance, consider its impact on the past three federal fiscal years (FY 2009-2011). Average spending for programs outside the scope of constitutional authority amounted to $2.22 trillion per year! With average annual revenues of $2.19 trillion, there has been virtually nothing left for constitutionally-authorized spending! While it would be imprudent to simply “cut off” federal spending beyond the scope of constitutional authority in one stroke, average deficits of $1.34 trillion per year cannot be sustained without the financial ruin of our nation.
The greatest threat to our nation today is not from foreign powers or international terrorists. It is from the inattention of the American people to their federal government acting well beyond its constitutional authority. The abuse of constitutional constraint has created a fiscal crisis which threatens the very existence of our nation.
If it is to survive, our nation must begin to reassert its commitment to legitimate federal governance within the limited confines of the authority established by our Constitution.
As government grows, our liberty shrinks. Whether local, state or federal, the principle of limited government must be vigilantly protected by the people to preserve their liberty.
God Bless America!
Toby Hill
Chair, Indian River Tea Party
Indian River Guardian 
“average deficits of $1.34 trillion per year cannot be sustained without the financial ruin of our nation”.
Fact Check:
The CBO said that by the time the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, the final deficit should clock in at less than the $642 billion level the CBO forecast in May. – The Hill, Aug 7.
The deficit has declined every year since 2009 and will continue to do so. Mr Hill’s deficit average is double the current reality and can only be substantiated by including deficits prior to 2009.
We should be weary of an individual who goes by a pseudonym rather than his real name, James Patrick Hill.
Toby Hill is obviously not aware that all governments exist to do that which the individual is not able to do for themselves. The government has expanded since the days of our Founding Fathers because of the changing dynamics in global society. Thus, the “limited government” is a theme of an era that has long past. The limited government policy is what brought the Great Depression to this nation. Most people have learned from experience which is precisely why the “limited government” advocates can only gain minority support at the local, State and Federal level.
There is ZERO evidence that any American in the 21st century has experienced any loss of liberty.
The biggest threat to American society is the selfishness that is at the core of the limited government advocates. If we as a society are not able to take care of one another, then there is no reason for our existence. This nation will not survive if the “limited government” advocates are able to abandon the moral imperative that we do unto others as we would have others do unto us.
IF THE TEA PARTYS CONCERN IS LIMITING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS ROLE, THEN WHY ARE THEY SO ACTIVE IN LOCAL POLITICS. I’M CONFUSED.
I would have agreed with you, until CW tracked down an Inside Vero commenter through Facebook. It seemed like harassment, if not stalking, but CW insisted he was just “communicating.” Since that happened, I have let commenters use a pseudonym. It wasn’t my first preference, but I can now understand why some people who have meaningful contributions to make to the conversation just cannot do so under their real name. Inside Vero’s comments are still moderated. We are not going to allow mean spiritedness and idiocy, as is commonly found on TCPalm.com.
Teddy Roosevelt on limited government:
‘There once was a time in history when the limitation of governmental power meant increasing liberty for the people. In the present day the limitation of governmental power, of governmental action, means the enslavement of the people by the great corporations, who can only be held in check through the extension of governmental power.’
– Theodore Roosevelt, ‘Limitation of Governmental Power’ address at the Coliseum, San Francisco, September 14, 1912