Constitutional Conservatives and other Humbug

last week Keith Olbermann laughed at Christine O'Donnell's statement that her short course in the Constitution at the Claremont Institute qualified her for the Senate. Chuck DeVore, the defated tabagger candidate in California, agreed with Christine about it providing a "deep study" of the constitution. Since we have seen almost two years of so-called constitutional conservatives claimed that social security, Medicare, healthcare,unemployment benefits are unconstitutional, maybe it's time to actually find out what the Claremont Institute teaches.

The Claremont Institute's course on the constitution,as far as I know, consists of three parts. The first you learn that the Declaration of Independence is America's Mission statement and "the Creator" is the Genesis-God, not John Locke or the Deists' deity. Then you learn the "original intent" of the Constitution, a political fundamentalism that now is in its third generation. There is a second part of Abraham Lincoln perfecting the union through the abolition of slavery .

Finally, you learn about the progressives' interpretation of the Constitution. Here you learn that people like Woodrow Wilson (see Glenn Beck) and his aides believed in Hegel's view of the State--I thought that was Frank Fukuyama-- where there is a political state and an administrative state. The elected politicians make the basic decisions but the administrative state make the regulations.

And the progressives sought to make the administrative state dominant, which is of course against the Claremont "Constitution". Therefore all those things like unemployment insurance , child labor laws, etc. are unconstitutional. That's why you hear Sharron Angle. Ken Buck and Joe Miller call for things like the abolition of the Department of Education and the elimination of the EPA. Or that the federal government should not have a role in determining the minimum wage. This course emphasizes--without historical justification the Tenth Amendment. This interpretation of the Constitution takes one further right than Fat Tony Scalia and Torture King Johnny Yoo.

This accounts for the baseline understanding of the teabaggers about the American Constitution. Whenever you hear their insanity you now can walk back where they come from. What they really support but don't say it are The Articles of Confederation. If there is a direct line from the Declaration of Independence ,it goes next to the Articles before the Constitution.

One slight irony this year about the Tenth Amendment folks, historically they have been behind the legalization of marijuana in California. Sci-fi writer Robert Anton Wilson and San Francisco activists since the 1970s advocated legalization of dope based on the Tenth Amendment and the "original" practices of the Founding Fathers. By the way, Founding Fathers was never used until President Warren Harding coined the phrase in the 1920s.

By the way, the Supreme Court, when it acted like one, ruled unanimously about the minimum wage and unemployment benefits as well as Social Security and Medicare. But it also ruled that Congress could put limits on corporate donations to political campaigns. A century of precedents was thrown out the window by Judge Roberts and his gang of Five. So any challenges to the social welfare network is open for grabs now.

I know you think the United States is a modern economy moving ahead in the 21st Century. But never fear the past is always with us. Peter Diamond from M.I.T. has been nominated to the Federal Reserve Board by Barack Obama but is being held up by Senator Shelby of Alabama, who has doubts about his qualifications. Yesterday, Mr. Diamond shared the Nobel Prize for Economy. That probably disqualifies him.

Two decades ago I sat on a committee which urged the modernization of our nation's infrastructure. The U.S. infrastructure has routinely been given a grade of D- by those who study these things and rate them every year. Besides the infrastructure projects in the stimulus bill, President Obama is pushing for an additional $50 billion to modernize the rest of our infrastructure so that we can be economically competitive in the world. Showing how visionary he is, the Governor of New Jersey cancelled his state's involvement in the new tunnel between New Jersey and New York, which would be vital for high-speed rails.

And piling on the good news, the United States now ranks 49th in the world for life expectancy for both men and women. When I was born, we were 5th for women. And yet we spend almost 3 times as much in our GDP for healthcare as Europe. U.S.A! U.S.A.! Rick Santorum, starting his presidential campaign in Iowa, said that healthcare in the United States will take away from our defense budget. So he wants it further reduced.

Realclearpolitics.com came out with its Senate race preductions. The Republican-leaning website predicts a 50-50 tie. Besides the states everyone predicts Democrats will lose, they pick Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, West Virginia and Wisconsin. I'm inclined to agree with Wisconsin. But I still hang with a 52-54 Democratic edge. The lower number then bring out the temptation of Joe Lieberman (I-Knesset and Aetna Insurance) going across the aisle and Ben Nelson. I am also leaning to a possible Conway victory in Kentucky.

But everyone should be concerned about Ron Johnson, the millionaire candidate in Wisconsin. First, I've already documented he is not a "self-made millionaire" as he advertises, having married wealth and been given a job in the family firm. Second, he protected pedophile priests in the lawsuits against the Catholic Church. Thirdly, he received fat federal subsidies for his business. Fourth, he increased the profit margins by using prison labor. And, today's latest, he employed pedophiles knowingly in the 1990s. This is the guy going to beat Russ Feingold, who is toughing it out by not taking out-of-state funds.

We also can look forward to the ethics case and possible criminal charges against sitting Nevada Senator John Ensign. We will recall that Ensign paid his chief of staff from government funds to be silent over Ensign's affair with his wife. Also, it looks like Ensign paid off the couple and even their kids with gift checks, which may have come from campaign funds. Look for this to blow up again next Congress.

Nate "the Great "Silver is wrestling with his election model. Apparently, PPP has demonstrated that the "real Republican" in House races is running behind the generic brand. This has made more house races more competitive this year than the past and it's driving Nate and everyone else nuts. Nate now has it even odds that the Republicans will pick up 50 House seats. But generally his averages are 47-48. If we remember our magic 44 number, that means with only a few weeks out, Democrats only have to pick up 4-5 seats to retain control of the House.

As Bill Clinto said. "Don't be hoodwinked."