James Madison, by Gilbert Stuart, 1821. By Everett Collection @ Shutterstock.com
Former Congressman Ron Paul writes at LewRockwell.com (abridged):
The mainstream media has declared former Vice President Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. However, this does not mean the 2020 Presidential campaign has come to an end.
President Donald Trump is continuing his legal challenges to the vote counts in some key states.
The emotional investment of many Americans into the race between Trump and Biden would have shocked the drafters of the Constitution.
The Constitution’s authors intended the presidency to be an office of strictly limited powers that would not impact most Americans. [See The Swiss Way here.]
The Constitution authorizes the president to administer laws passed by Congress, not create laws via executive orders.
The president serves as Commander-in-Chief of the military following a Congressional declaration of war, with no authority to unilaterally send troops into foreign conflict.
The Founders did not intend for the president to set the “national agenda, “ and they would be horrified to see modern presidents assume the authority to order American citizens indefinitely detained and even killed without due process.
The idea that the president should exercise almost unlimited powers is a legacy of the progressive movement. Progressives, who are responsible for the rise of the American welfare-warfare state, have an affinity for a strong Presidency that is not surprising.
A government that aspires to run our lives, run the economy, and run the world requires a strong executive branch unfettered by the Constitution’s chains
The concentration of power in the executive branch does not mean presidents are all-powerful.
For example, even though presidents are judged by the state of the economy, the unelected, unaccountable Federal Reserve Board typically has greater influence over the economy then the president.
Presidents often must tailor their economic policies to deal with the consequences of the Fed’s actions. This is why presidents spend so much time and energy trying to influence the “non-political” Fed. Fed Chairs usually, but not always, reciprocate by attempting to tailor polices to be “useful” to the incumbent president.
Dr. Ron Paul is a former member of Congress and Distinguished Counselor to the Mises Institute.
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