Rep. Pete Stark, the out-there California Democrat who often has “Raving Mad” attached to his last name, told a public gathering this weekend that he sees no limits on the federal government:
“I think that there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life. The basis for that would be how would it affect other people.”
After the questioner asks what possible constitutional limits there are, then, if Obamacare can pass constitutional muster, Stark replies: “The federal government yes, can do most anything in this country.”
The questioner, outraged: “You, sir, and people like you are destroying this nation.”
Stark, smirking: “And I guess you’re here to save it. And that makes me very uncomfortable.”
Has Stark, who has been a member of Congress for 37 years, never heard of checks and balances, The Federalist Papers, the articles of the Constitution that reserve some powers and enumerate others?
If not, he should have signed up for an important event this weekend, “A Citizen’s Constitutional Workshop,” hosted by the John Locke Foundation. The JLF’s Dr. Troy Kickler, founding director of the NC History Project, and Dr. Michael Sanera, director of research and local government studies, will lead participants in the history and content of the U.S. Constitution.
The only problem for Rep. Stark is that this event is sold out. Seems that while he may be uninterested in the actual content of the Constitution, a lot of people aren’t.
