The title of this commentary is probably not shocking to you, nor is it revelatory. We know that much of our government works at the federal, state, and local levels without our input or any need for us to be involved. The real problem is that we have come to accept it as normal and even for many, appropriate.
As we are now in full swing into this year’s legislative session in Tennessee, I want to pull out a few examples that show clearly where the problem lies.
We quickly became aware of House Bill 56 filed by Rep. William Lamberth which would have allowed permanent residents (non-citizens) to hold positions as law enforcement officers in the state of Tennessee. Current law allows permanent residents to hold these positions but with a requirement of prior military service in a branch of the United States Armed Forces. This new law would have removed that secondary requirement and simply allowed any permanent resident who might never pursue becoming a United States citizen to become law enforcement officers in Tennessee.
To most of you reading this, I do not have to go into detail as to why this is a really bad idea. When the Tennessee Conservative News broke the story, people across Tennessee naturally responded with great concern and voiced opposition to the bill. And the bill is now withdrawn.
In an email response, Rep. William Lamberth said, “This bill was filed as a part of my responsibilities as Majority Leader on behalf of the Commerce and Insurance Department.”
So, herein lies the problem. Did you catch that? It was not voters, citizens, or constituents of Rep. Lamberth that requested action. It was the Commerce and Insurance Department of our state, an administrative department of the executive branch. And based on the requests of members of the executive branch, a leader in our legislative branch filed legislation to change the laws of this state. And you were never a part of that process.
This happens on a consistent basis. Your government runs without you.
There are many places we can look to find how this process ought to work. But the first example that comes to mind is right in the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.
“That the citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble together for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by address of remonstrance.” (emphasis added)
– Article I, Section 23
I would argue that we are doing this all wrong. Ideally, in a proper form of constitutional order, we are instructing our elected representatives in such a way that demands a response by legislation that would in turn then direct administrative departments in the executive branch how they are to function.
PEOPLE > ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES > ADMINISTRATION
But, oftentimes, it is the administrative departments that are actually running the show, the bureaucracy.
In seeking the ability to manage their own processes and efficiencies, the executive works contrary to serving the people, working with legislators to develop their own methods as to how they might further bring regulatory order over the people. And this is the growth of government.
ADMINISTRATION > ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES > REGULATION > PEOPLE
You can quickly see in these different examples that in one, the people are at the top of the process. And in the other, they are at the bottom.
Here is another example. Illustrious RINO hacks, Rep. Sam Whitson and Sen. Richard Briggs are at it again to censor free speech in the state of Tennessee all in the name of transparency. Of course, the transparency they speak of is not the transparency of the government. No, it is the required transparency of the people, corporations, nonprofits, and private organizations.
The truth is, when the government asks for the transparency of the governed, that is more appropriately called, surveillance.
And the question we need to be asking ourselves is, “Did the people ask for more transparency?”
See, Senate Bill 160 was not filed at the request of citizens and voters desiring more transparency in campaign finance or anything of the sort. No, SB 160, according to the words of Sen. Richard Briggs himself, was filed because, “…this bill was brought to the legislature by the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Finance over concerns of ‘dark out-of-state money’ of undisclosed financing for candidates campaigns and policy issues.”
Again, this bill was not requested of the legislature by the people who elect them to office. It was requested by the administrative regulatory agency itself.
How does this work, exactly? Should we expect that it is the people who demand transparency from our government? Or, do we accept that the government demands the transparency of the people?
If you ask me, the latter sounds more like China, and most certainly not the United States of America, much less Tennessee. But this is how things work in Nashville.
One final example. If you have been following along, then you have heard me talk about what I believe to be the most dangerous bill currently making its way through the General Assembly. This proposed constitutional amendment would now give the state of Tennessee the ability to invest your tax dollars in such a way that the state itself would now become stockholders (owners) of private corporations and banks.
If you would like more information on why that is a really bad idea, you can read my commentary on that subject here.
But again, what I would like to point out is that citizens never asked for this constitutional amendment. For a long time, we have been advocating for liberty and asking our government to secure our rights to make our own medical decisions, secure our elections, and a host of other issues. But never petitioned our government to see if perhaps it would get a great return on investment with our tax dollars.
This proposed constitutional amendment was brought directly to the legislature by the Department of the Treasury. Since 1870, our state constitution has kept our government from comingling state funds with private corporations, and for the sake of liberty, I believe that to be wholly appropriate. For those of us who advocate for policy, we already know the hardships of working against the money of lobbyists and corporate special interests. But imagine a scenario where the interests of the state and special interests are now the same. Why? Because the state is now the corporation.
And how did we get here? Not because these initiatives were pushed by voters through our elected representatives. No. We face these challenges because of the continued practice of administrative departments, I believe unconstitutionally, lobbying our state legislature (the people’s House) to implement policies contrary to the common good and security of the liberty of the citizens of this state.
Article II, Section 2 of our state constitution is clear.
“No person or persons belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the others, except in the cases herein directed or permitted.”
The executive departments of this state should not be meddling in legislative affairs. Yet, it happens on a consistent basis. It is incredibly dangerous to the promotion of constitutional order and contrary to the defense of liberty.
Tennessee Stands advocates for the end of lobbying efforts from the executive department of this state and a firm return to a respect for the separation of powers.
Your government doesn’t need you anymore. It is working without you.
The title of this commentary is probably not shocking to you, nor is it revelatory. We know that much of our government works at the federal, state, and local levels without our input or any need for us to be involved. The real problem is that we have come to accept it as normal and even for many, appropriate.
As we are now in full swing into this year’s legislative session in Tennessee, I want to pull out a few examples that show clearly where the problem lies.
We quickly became aware of House Bill 56 filed by Rep. William Lamberth which would have allowed permanent residents (non-citizens) to hold positions as law enforcement officers in the state of Tennessee. Current law allows permanent residents to hold these positions but with a requirement of prior military service in a branch of the United States Armed Forces. This new law would have removed that secondary requirement and simply allowed any permanent resident who might never pursue becoming a United States citizen to become law enforcement officers in Tennessee.
To most of you reading this, I do not have to go into detail as to why this is a really bad idea. When the Tennessee Conservative News broke the story, people across Tennessee naturally responded with great concern and voiced opposition to the bill. And the bill is now withdrawn.
In an email response, Rep. William Lamberth said, “This bill was filed as a part of my responsibilities as Majority Leader on behalf of the Commerce and Insurance Department.”
So, herein lies the problem. Did you catch that? It was not voters, citizens, or constituents of Rep. Lamberth that requested action. It was the Commerce and Insurance Department of our state, an administrative department of the executive branch. And based on the requests of members of the executive branch, a leader in our legislative branch filed legislation to change the laws of this state. And you were never a part of that process.
This happens on a consistent basis. Your government runs without you.
There are many places we can look to find how this process ought to work. But the first example that comes to mind is right in the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.
I would argue that we are doing this all wrong. Ideally, in a proper form of constitutional order, we are instructing our elected representatives in such a way that demands a response by legislation that would in turn then direct administrative departments in the executive branch how they are to function.
But, oftentimes, it is the administrative departments that are actually running the show, the bureaucracy.
In seeking the ability to manage their own processes and efficiencies, the executive works contrary to serving the people, working with legislators to develop their own methods as to how they might further bring regulatory order over the people. And this is the growth of government.
You can quickly see in these different examples that in one, the people are at the top of the process. And in the other, they are at the bottom.
Here is another example. Illustrious RINO hacks, Rep. Sam Whitson and Sen. Richard Briggs are at it again to censor free speech in the state of Tennessee all in the name of transparency. Of course, the transparency they speak of is not the transparency of the government. No, it is the required transparency of the people, corporations, nonprofits, and private organizations.
The truth is, when the government asks for the transparency of the governed, that is more appropriately called, surveillance.
And the question we need to be asking ourselves is, “Did the people ask for more transparency?”
See, Senate Bill 160 was not filed at the request of citizens and voters desiring more transparency in campaign finance or anything of the sort. No, SB 160, according to the words of Sen. Richard Briggs himself, was filed because, “…this bill was brought to the legislature by the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Finance over concerns of ‘dark out-of-state money’ of undisclosed financing for candidates campaigns and policy issues.”
Again, this bill was not requested of the legislature by the people who elect them to office. It was requested by the administrative regulatory agency itself.
How does this work, exactly? Should we expect that it is the people who demand transparency from our government? Or, do we accept that the government demands the transparency of the people?
If you ask me, the latter sounds more like China, and most certainly not the United States of America, much less Tennessee. But this is how things work in Nashville.
One final example. If you have been following along, then you have heard me talk about what I believe to be the most dangerous bill currently making its way through the General Assembly. This proposed constitutional amendment would now give the state of Tennessee the ability to invest your tax dollars in such a way that the state itself would now become stockholders (owners) of private corporations and banks.
If you would like more information on why that is a really bad idea, you can read my commentary on that subject here.
But again, what I would like to point out is that citizens never asked for this constitutional amendment. For a long time, we have been advocating for liberty and asking our government to secure our rights to make our own medical decisions, secure our elections, and a host of other issues. But never petitioned our government to see if perhaps it would get a great return on investment with our tax dollars.
This proposed constitutional amendment was brought directly to the legislature by the Department of the Treasury. Since 1870, our state constitution has kept our government from comingling state funds with private corporations, and for the sake of liberty, I believe that to be wholly appropriate. For those of us who advocate for policy, we already know the hardships of working against the money of lobbyists and corporate special interests. But imagine a scenario where the interests of the state and special interests are now the same. Why? Because the state is now the corporation.
And how did we get here? Not because these initiatives were pushed by voters through our elected representatives. No. We face these challenges because of the continued practice of administrative departments, I believe unconstitutionally, lobbying our state legislature (the people’s House) to implement policies contrary to the common good and security of the liberty of the citizens of this state.
Article II, Section 2 of our state constitution is clear.
The executive departments of this state should not be meddling in legislative affairs. Yet, it happens on a consistent basis. It is incredibly dangerous to the promotion of constitutional order and contrary to the defense of liberty.
Tennessee Stands advocates for the end of lobbying efforts from the executive department of this state and a firm return to a respect for the separation of powers.
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Gary Humble
Gary Humble