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Legal Powers of U.S.
Government From Article I, Section 8
U.S. Constitution

For The General Welfare:

1.   International and interstate commerce
(trade)
2.   Naturalization
3.   Bankruptcy
4.   Coin Money, establish value
5.   Weights and Measures
6.   Punish counterfeiting
7.   Postal Service
8.   Issue patents and copyrights
9.   Establish Federal Courts
10. Govern District of Columbia
11. Purchase real estate for necessary
buildings

For the Common Defense:

1. Define and punish Maritime and
international Crimes
2. Declare War
3. Make rules for, and fund Military
Services

This list represents the sum total of the
functions the federal government is
constitutionally authorized to perform.

“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 10, U.S. Constitution

Click HERE for commentary

Wisdom of the Founders

Selected Federalist Papers
No. 39 Makeup of Federal Government
No. 41, Standing Armies, taxes, powers

Selections from Jefferson's Papers
Abuse of Power by Supreme Court
Enumerated Powers-General Welfare
Public Debt and Banking
Final Draft, Declararation of Independence

Washington's Farewell Address
Page 1: Desire to retire
Page 2: On Unity
Page 3: On Constitution
Page 4: On Political Parties
Page 5: On religion and government, public
debt, and taxes
Page 6: International relations

Updates
Latest comments and notes
on founding documents
"Enumerated Powers"
Enumerated Powers II
Supreme Law of the Land

It is impossible to rightly govern a
nation without God and the Bible.
~George Washington

Updates
Latest comments and notes
on founding documents
"Enumerated Powers"
Enumerated Powers II
Supreme Law of the Land

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What can I do to help?

Join the Illinois Conservative Action
Network: There is strength in numbers.
Contribute articles to the Illinois Conservative
Beacon. Click HERE for details.
Participate in "patriot rallies" popularly
known as the Tea Party Movement.
Participate in Town Hall Meetings. Check
with your Representative to find out when they
are scheduled.
Do your homework: Know what candidates
appearing on your ballots stand for.
Write letters: When possible, hand deliver
them to your representative's office.
Participate in group e-mail campaigns
Participate in petition drives
Send personal e-mails to your
representatives.
Challenge your elected officials when they
violate the Constitution. Let them know you
are watching.
Learn all you can about the Constitution,
Declaration of Independence and our
founding principles.

Helpful Links:

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Illinois Conservative Action Network

Illinois
Conservative Action Network

An Argument for Term Limits

We have both the responsibility and opportunity of
living with the most incompetent government ever
to occupy the District of Columbia. I say
“responsibility” because, as a nation, we have
looked the other way for a full century while the
federal government abandoned the “American
Dream” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness” envisioned by the founders, settling
instead for a pipe-dream of, entertainment, toys
and ease. Too many of us are more interested in
our favorite sports team, the antics of the celebrity
of the day, and how we can acquire the latest
technological toy, than in what our government is
doing.
Read More

Getting Ready for the 2010 Elections

America, as a free nation of liberty and opportunity
is rapidly approaching the point of no return. If we
continue to allow our professional career
politicians to lead us in the direction we are now
going we will very soon find ourselves living in a
country where our personal freedoms and our
opportunity for personal success depends on the
whims of an elite ruling class rather than our own
abilities and ambitions.
Read More

An Idiots Guide To the Obama
Agenda

The first thing one has to face if they are to
understand the agenda of President Obama is
that he does not love America; at least, not as it
has existed for the past two centuries. That
does not mean he does not love his country. I
am sure he does, but he does not love its
history; its culture; its constitution; its economic
system; its political system; its military; its love
of liberty; or any of the institutions that has
defined America since its founding. These are
the things Obama has dedicated his life to
changing.
Read More

The Self-deception of America

If a suggestion is made to someone that a
dictatorship is possible in America, it is met with
derision and the assertion that “it could never
happen here, the American people would not
stand for it”. The average person clings to this
belief even as they continue to witness an
increase in the tyranny of government over their
lives with every passing news cycle.
Read More

Forgotten Patriots

Every schoolchild knows the names, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison but
few would recognize the names Arthur Fenner, Peleg Arnold or Aedanus Burke. Yet, it is more to the latter
than the former that we own a debt of gratitude for the remaining liberties we enjoy today.

The foundation of our liberties rest on three documents; the Declaration of Independence that proclaims
our status as a free and independent nation; the Constitution that established and empowered a new
government; and the Bill of Rights that protects certain unalienable rights and sets the bounds of
government beyond which it is not allowed to go.
Read More

Liberty or Bondage?

“…In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if

they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us,

and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the

people if well administered, … … and can only end in Despotism, as other

forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as

to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other”.

~ Ben Franklin on last day of Philadelphia Convention September 17,

1789

The nomination by the Republican Party of Mark Kirk, the liberal, big-government, pro-
abortion, anti-family candidate for the U.S. Senate is an insult to every patriotic
conservative in Illinois. His nomination was a repeat of the 2008 Presidential race when
the party establishment gave us John McCain as the Party’s choice and cannot be
expected to end any differently than that campaign did.

Read More...

Glenn Beck or Scott Brown?

C. Edmund Wright has an interesting article on American Thinker about Glen Beck’s
keynote speech at the CPAC convention Saturday night. His article and a lot of the
comments following show that many in the Republican Party have not yet caught on to
what all the uproar is about. They still think it is all about which Party is in charge.

It is probably true that most conservatives vote Republican in election after election. It is
equally true that conservatives are getting tired of candidates who sound conservative on
the campaign trail and then turn into progressive Republicans once they arrive in
Washington. Read More...

Looking Back to Our Future
For most of us, our concept of history begins with our own generation. Consequently, we
believe that the problems we face were invented by us and it is up to us to find new
solutions for them. That is not the case, however. Many generations have faced the
problems we are dealing with today. The reason we are having such a difficult time...
Read More...

Fundamentals of the
American System of
Government

An on-line Tutorial on the
United States Constitution

What every citizen should know about
our government.
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