I will try.
There were only 4 approved agencies under the exec. branch under the constitution. Secretary of State, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Treasury, and Attorney General. Those functions are authorized by our Constitution.
Levin wormed around this by adding a clause that puts limits on any new agency that the exec wants to create.
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All federal departments and agencies shall expire if said departments and agencies are not individually reauthorized in stand-alone reauthorization bills every three years by a majority vote of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
As long as Congress periodically reauthorizes the agencies they remain."
Levin further justified them by giving them a budget when they were not constitutional to begin with.
"Now look at Section 2 of Levins amendment to limit the federal bureaucracy. It says:
All Executive Branch regulations exceeding an economic burden of $100 million, as determined jointly by the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office, shall be submitted to a permanent Joint Committee of Congress, hereafter the Congressional Delegation Oversight Committee, for review and approval prior to their implementation.
Article I, §1, of our Constitution says only Congress may make laws. "
Section 2 of his amendment legalizes all existing regulations and the rule making process. Levins fix is merely to form a congressional committee to review certain regulations before they are imposed on the American People.
It is the inumerated powers that the feds are allowed to include in a budget that controlled government spending and not whatever they decided to include in a budget. Levin hands them an iopen check book by this.
Section 1 of his amendment legalizes all the spending which is now unconstitutional as outside the enumerated powers. It says:
Congress shall adopt a preliminary fiscal year budget no later than the first Monday in May for the following fiscal year, and submit said budget to the President for consideration.
Levins amendment thus legalizes the unconstitutional status quo where the President and Congress adopt a budget and spend money on whatever they put in the budget! Levin would permit Congress and the President to lawfully spend money on whatever they want spending which is now unlawful because our Constitution doesnt authorize it.
Levin did the same thing with taxes and should be limited to the inumerated powers of the constitution and not just whatever tax they feel like putting on the people,
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common defense and general Welfare of the United States
[and] To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
Immediately after clauses 1 & 2 follows the list of enumerated powers we delegated to Congress for the Country at Large. 6
Add to this short list of enumerated powers, the housekeeping powers itemized elsewhere in the Constitution (e.g., the census); the salaries authorized by Art. I, §6, cl. 1; Art. II, §1, next to last clause; Art. III, §1, cl. 1, and others on the civil list; and you see the purposes for which Congress is authorized to levy and collect taxes, borrow money, and spend money, for the Country at Large. 7
So! Congress should not be levying taxes except to generate revenue for its constitutional functions."
He did the same thing with land and now as we can see Reid claims that the feds own 89% of Nevada. That is completely unconstitutional.
"The federal government has no lawful authority to own land for any purpose other than those enumerated in the Constitution: Article I, §8, next to last clause, permits the federal government to own the District of Columbia [which was not to exceed ten Miles square], and Places purchased with the Consent of the State legislatures for the erection of forts, dock-Yards, and other needful buildings (e.g., federal courthouses, post offices) to carry out the enumerated powers.
The federal government has no lawful authority to own national parks, grazing areas, forests, and such. " Other than DC and forts and ports the land belongs to the people to be controlled by the states.
Levin changed this here .
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When any governmental entity acts not to secure a private property right against actions that injure property owners, but to take property for a public use from a property owner by actual seizure or through regulation, which taking results in a market value reduction of the property, interference with the use of the property, or a financial loss to the property owner exceeding $10,000, the government shall compensate fully said property owner for such losses.
Levins amendment:
Changes the constitutional standard for federal ownership of lands from carrying out an enumerated power to whatever someone in the federal government deems a public use [which can be anything];
Legalizes what are now unconstitutional holdings of lands by the federal government such as grazing lands;
Legalizes takings by regulation restrictions via regulations on the use of private lands by all levels of government;
Takes from the States and The People their retained powers over eminent domain and regulatory takings, and makes it a federal issue under the control of the federal government; "
faithistheword wrote:
When I read Levin's book, I sure didn't get the same impression as this writer got! I don't understand legaleze very well, but I was sure he was for clarifying the original document, not 'modifying' it. This paper 'sounds' like the writer is putting spin on the meaning Levin had in mind. My copy is not available right now, so can you clarify for me?