The Constitution: The Limited Powers of Congress
The Framers of the United States Constitution wanted to give more power to the people and less power to the government. This was a radical new idea, and it started with the legislative branch: the House of Representatives and the Senate. John Yoo, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, explains.
#constitution #prageru #government
SUBSCRIBE 👉 https://www.prageru.com/join
Script:
“We the People of the United States.”
These are the words that open the American Constitution. We take them for granted now, but at the time they were written they were earth-shattering. If you think that sounds like an exaggeration, consider this:
No government had ever come into existence based on a document written for the people and approved by them.
It makes perfect sense, then that the most immediate and accountable branch of the government, the legislature, would be the first item on the Constitution’s agenda.
This is Article I.
It’s divided into ten sections.
Section 1 creates a bicameral legislature; that is, a legislature made up of two separate entities: a House of Representatives and a Senate. Thus, the theme of the Constitution is immediately suggested: this is going to be a government in which power is both limited and shared.
Section 2 describes how members of the House of Representatives are to be chosen. To run for office, you must be a citizen, reside in the state you’re representing and be at least 25 years of age.
It’s easy to miss, but at the time this was another startling feature of the Constitution: almost anyone could be a candidate for Congress. The citizen politician is an American innovation.
Section 2 also describes who could vote and how many people it takes to make up a Congressional district.
This “shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons…and…three fifths of all other Persons.”
This last phrase refers, of course, to slaves. It should be noted that the word “slave” does not occur in the Constitution. The Framers kept it out for two reasons. One, they recognized it would not play well in a document that was all about freedom. Two, they believed that slavery would fade away with time.
But it did exist in the Framers here and now, so it had to be dealt with.
The Northern abolitionists—those who were for abolishing slavery—didn’t think slaves should be counted at all. Why? Because if slaves were counted, the population of the Southern slave states would be increased, and consequently the political influence of the anti-slavery North would be decreased.
Of course, the Southern states wanted their slaves counted as five-fifths, that is, as whole persons so that the population of the slave states would be greater and give the South more power in the House of Representatives.
The three-fifths compromise came after much fierce debate. Neither side was fully satisfied. But the country stayed united and got a constitution—no small feat.
Section 3 concerns the second legislative body, the Senate. Whereas members of the House of Representatives are elected by the people directly and serve two-year terms, senators are to serve six-year terms and are chosen by each state government.
Populous states would have more representatives than less populous ones, but every state would have the same number of senators—two. This gave the states an equal share of legislative power. The minimum age requirement to be a Senator was set at 30.
Sections 4, 5, and 6 establish the basic operating rules: when Congress shall meet, what constitutes a quorum, what to do with disorderly members, and so on.
Section 7 sets out the process for enacting legislation. A bill must receive the consent of both the House and the Senate to become a law. The President is also involved in this process. He can veto legislation. His veto, however, can be overridden by a two-thirds vote by both houses of Congress.
Passing laws—which by definition are restrictions on freedom—is not meant to be easy. It’s meant—unless there is overwhelming support—to be hard.
Section 8 lists the legislature’s many responsibilities such as establishing and equipping the Armed Forces, coining money, and regulating interstate commerce. Perhaps the most important of these responsibilities is articulated in the Taxing and Spending Clause, which allows Congress to collect taxes and to spend for the national defense and general welfare.
For the full script, visit: https://www.prageru.com/video/the-constitution-the-limited-powers-of-congress
source
Just this guy talking about the government, as if they were some kind of authority, proves that they are not what they are supposed to be, our employees, not our authority, to be able to make laws above us, this is not we the people, this is they, the government.
The constitution was not approved by the people, that is a lie, the document was illegally written behind close doors.
Notice the image at :23, written for the people/slaves, but not by the people, and not approved by the people, approved by them. I have a bridge I want to sell you.
America fought England to be free, then they turned around and made us slaves again, by writing the constitution.
This is a lie, the constitution was not written by the people, but by a few criminal people.
This guy only believes in some limits. He justified torture while working for G.W. Bush. He can't be trusted.
"for the people and approved by them"
sure, save the hundreds of thousands of black slaves and indigenous people
The Constitution doesn’t limit jack, the government has been violating it from its beginning and we really don’t care about it. I think The Bible should replace "muh constitution"
And too bad the checks and balances theme was scuttled with the 17th Amendment, robbing the states of a great deal of their own power! Clever Leftists; Dark Treason!
Seems to me the sitting legislature needs to re-read this.
I am dumber for having watched this, I salute you for your efforts.
Nicely put. But our constitution depends on free and fair elections and cannot survive nationwide electronic election fraud with day-after-election ballot stuffing.
Wow. Imagine the guts it took to try this when every government prior was designed to SUCK
America is the 1st nation to use The Bible to write it's constitution, its laws & it's future
Our government has been overtaken by bureaucrats that instruct the politicians on what to do. Politicians are not representing "We The People" anymore.
The Constitution has been under assault by leftists and authoritarians (note, not classical liberals) for the last 150 years. Amending the Constitution to make Senators directly elected by the people instead of by the state legislatures, the Federal Reserve, using the commerce clause to justify bypassing the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, etc.
My view is that like a computer that has too much bloatware, viruses and malware, we should scrub the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. Of course that means rewriting the Constitution without the 3/5 clause, as all people are free but to also eliminate 90% of the federal government and it's overreach in the States issues. If it worked then, it will work again.
Repeal the 17th Amendment.
The forefathers were an inspiration from God.
This was amazing! This needs to be taught more in school!
🏆
how tf does anyone watch this channel it's retarded and wrong
Funny how the Republicans always bend this to their narrative
And give the executive branch more power. Um no.
in Chile we were shitting our pats because of this.
Very Interesting
Keep doing these Constitution ones please!
It all about the States- really the only point of the Constitution was to get the US state together as a country.
they should have asked john yoo his thoughts on torture lmao
Great job!
The threat of misuse of power are within non-elected officials such as the IRS 87,000 new IRS agents are not there to collect taxes they are there too so fear and intimidation and financial ruins to anybody who does not align with the deep state and the Democratic Party this is real and it’s coming it’s already here Obama has already use this tactic so has the DOJ so has the FBI they should make your blood run cold you may be the next target
Thank You!
One of the most despised people in California. A college professor who is conservative and knows and supports the Constitution of the United States of America and the limits it places on government. No doubt he had to obtain tenure at the university before coming out as pro-American.
Nearly 100% of people are convicted of a crime(s) without a trial. Oops.
The 17th amdenment was one of the worst things to happen to this country, and as usual, it was brought about by democrats. It changed how senators were elected, thereby stripping a tremendous power of the states to place a check on the federal government and have reprsentation in the halls of powers. It was a devestating blow to state's rights, and should be reversed if we want to undo the damage done to our nation in the last century by liberals.
Great job on this video John. Very well articulated!
Excellent and concise explanation of our political system.
in this channel a television station
Thank You 📜 so simply put that the average Middle School Student could understand and use as a foundation of further study. Unfortunately, not many schools feel that it’s necessary to even teach US Government anymore
How long until Professor Yoo loses his job because the woke Haters of Prager U?
So basically you want no accountability for criminal behavior from republican politicians
Regulatory agencies are UNCONSTITUTIONAL ‼️‼️
Rebellion…no wonder why Jan 6 folks are in prison without seeing a judge.
They should have made any sort of acceptence of outside money illegal too. Now we have a whole government just bought out by the rich despite any checks or balances. You have people praising Republicans and Democrats as if they aren't the exact same party just putting on a play to divide the people. It's a pretty good play because Prager U has completely bought it as well and now fosters young people to hate the other side.
Yea but we are witnessing that even as robust as the US system is it can be beaten when the government is corrupt and boy is our government corrupt!
And, by "it did" that means it did…in the past tense sense. James Madison warned, in 1794 – only 5 years after the Constitution was put into effect – that the Government was "no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to a particular exceptions." Since 1794, the exceptions have shrunk, the justifications for expanding government's power have grown, and our rights become less daily.
Well done on this video. The explanation of Article I was excellent – brief, but hitting all the key points.
What a Amazing document!! It had to be written with the Spirit if God over it!! What wisdom!!!
We must never forget who holds the actual power in this country. We must never let our government forget who they work for.
When people fear their government, there is tyranny.
When a government fears it's people, there is liberty.
God bless America
It's cute but it's irrelevant since the vast majority of laws, regulations, and mandates are passed by the administrative state; these people have far more impact on your everyday life than the constitution. See CDC as an example of unelected bureaucrats.
The US congress has the power to assign monopolies on violence to agencies of their choosing. Said agencies have the power to disregard my picture ID and my voter registration on election day. The Congress is all-powerful.
Democrats have no idea what this is.