Does our Federal System today meet the expectations that the founding fathers intended?

Answer 1

Yes, the US IS what the people make of it, that is the whole point, the founding fathers intended to create a system sufficiently stable, yet surprisingly flexible fully understanding that time brings change.

Answer 2

The short answer is NO. The Federal System as envisioned by The Framers does not exist today, and the Balloon-Heads in Congress have an unholy alliance with The Supremes to subvert the republic into a Kritarchy. You see, rule by judges insulates the Balloon-Heads of public retribution for the leftist swing of the nation. The deal among the lawyers who largely comprise Congress and entirely comprise the judiciary is this: private allies; public whipping boys.

Federal power was to have been divided among the three branches with Congress being the dominent. Notice that Congress has a specific power to re-define the appellate jurisdiction of the federal courts and that their decisions hare nowhere mentioned in the Supremacy Clause. The overall power of government was otherwise divided between the general government and the States with the latter having a modicum of control through the legislative appointment of U.S. Senators. In the words of James Madison, ...the federal government['s] ...jurisdiction is limited to specific objectives of the whole republic. The subordinate governments [the states] will retain their authority to care for all other concerns." Federalist 14.

The very heart of the "federal system" was cut out with the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment which deprived the States themselves of representation in Congress. In the wake of that amendment, the Court excellerated the expansion of its jurisdiction so to rival Congress as the legislator, and invasions of the powers retained to the States under the Tenth Amendment have routinely been approved by the Supremes.

This has been allowed to take place even though Congress has among its specifically enumerated powers that to make "Exceptions" to and "Regulate" the appellate jurisdiction of the supreme Court. See Article III, paragraph 2.

The failure of the Congressional Balloon-Heads, inflated by the flatulence of their own self-importance, to act to save the republic and the federal system from the jurists demonstrates that they are in league, supine or stupid.

But you, dear voter, have the last word. The one thing the Balloons care about so you can get their attention is their retirement benefits which exceed what the average American earns each year. Not only to you get to pay for that "fringe benefit," but you get to pay for the enormous staffs which do all their real work.

And what is that last word you have for the Balloons? "You're fired."

The short answer is NO. Today, the federal system envisioned by the Founding Fathers does not exist. In the words of James Madison, Father of The Constitution, "... the federal government['s] ...jurisdiction is limited to specific objectives of the whole republic. The Subordinate governments [the States] will retain their authority to care for all other concerns." Federalist 14. Later in Federalist 45, Madison said, "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite."

Madison managed to put in a nutshell the uniquely American concept of enumerated and, thus, restricted powers of the general government. He was not alone among the authors of the Federalist Papers in so doing. Alexander Hamilton said, "The Constitution declares that the power of Congress ... shall extend to certain enumerated cases [subjects]. This list [of enumerated powers] ...clearly excludes a general legislative authority [General Welfarfe] because an affirmative grant of special powers would be absurd and useless if a general authority was intended."

Inasmuch as there were other ["indefinite" in Madison's view] powers to be exercised by the States, it is clear that the "federal system" as conceived by The Framers saw the States as separate centers of sovereign powers, separate from each other, separate from the general government. This particular "separation of powers" was to have played a significant role in American federalism in protecting the parochial interests of the smaller societies. And it might have worked but for the jealousy of the federal "team" and the special lust for power among lawyers.

Congress has usurped almost all of the powers retained to the States by the Tenth Amendment; the federal Courts have usurped almost all the subject-matter jurisdiction also reserved thereby. Why "also reserved" by the Tenth Amendment? Because, Congress is the only branch with law-making authority and that is confined to specific subject matter. Neither of the other branches [the Executive and the Judiciary]can act outside the powers which define Congressional authority. Otherwise the limitation would be pointless just as Hamilton pointed out in an only slightly different context.

The Supremes, moreover, have given Congress powers just shy of carte blanche despite their lack of authority to do so. Again, in the words of Hamilton, " ...it doesn't follow from [the supremacy clause] that acts of the larger society [the general government's three branches], acts that are not among its constitutional powers, acts that invade the authority of the smaller society [the States], will become the supreme law of the land. [Such] will be acts of usurpation and deserve to be treated as such." Federalist 33.

The real problem is two-fold. Power, to quote Mao's Little Red Book, "comes from the muzzle of a gun." And, The Constitution is just a scrap of paper. The term "federal system" is no more than a mask to deceive The People into thinking they are still governed by a constitution that is alive and well and recognizable as the work of We The People. This is something very different from the so-called "Living Constitution" which is nothing bu the "love child" of judicial prostitution. The magnificent charter left to us by The Framers is in reality a dead letter.

It will remain a dead letter until The People care enough to learn about its original intent, to learn about the real Rights that the shysters have been stealing from them. But time is running out. When Congress and the President, yes the Republican Congress [led by the posturing POW from Arizona]and the Republican President [who doesn't know how to veto a Bill], deprive us of our freedom of [political] speech during the period it most counts -just prior to elections- and the Supremes uphold and defend such constitutional abuse, you know the barbarians are at the gate.