Lets be Frank, no really, lets all be like Frank!

For those of you who aren't lucky enough to get to listen to or read Frank Beckmann, I am publishing his editorial from today's Detroit News, word for word (I hope that is legal). It captures my fears about our how our Government (not just the Obama administration) is changing (and not for the better) beautifully. Anything in red does not belong to Frank, it is my "commentary".

Expanded powers seem to ignore constitutional limits

Americans have been promised that they will, at some point, be repaid for the loans our government gave to the banking and auto industries. If only the same assurances had been made about restoring our Constitution.

Our founding document seems to be ignored during the expansion of federal authority and programs that are not enumerated among the 18 powers granted to Congress under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

Former President George W. Bush (to quote the movie Scarface "I never like him, I never trusted him) pushed us further along this slippery path with his No Child Left Behind law that inserted the federal government into the operation of local schools, an individual state responsibility.

And Bush began the Troubled Asset Relief Program bailout for Wall Street, claiming U.S. investment banks were too big to fail as a reason for tapping American tax dollars.(too big to fail "clearly not)

Nowhere does the Constitution authorize federal government actions based on that premise.

The Constitution arguably has been ignored in a succession of Obama administration decisions as well, which is not surprising given the president's stated belief that the document is a "charter of negative liberties." (Is that our Constitution he is talking about? The document that people have fought and died for, the document that allowed a country to land a man on the moon and launch the Hubble telescope, the document that inspired Patrick Henry to utter "give me liberty or give me death", the document that guarantees us freedoms never seen before or since, that document is a "charter of negative liberties"??? That statement is bordering on treason.)

That's what our founders intended in the document's creation, freeing citizens to seek their own happiness by putting checks on what the government can do.

Instead, the White House has fired Rick Wagoner as CEO of General Motors; discarded bankruptcy and state franchise laws in the reorganization of GM and Chrysler, along with their dealer closings; appointed more than three dozen czars to oversee everything from cars to California water to domestic violence, without any clear oversight; sought to regulate the pay of private business executives; set new rules that will determine what cars American automakers will build and sell; and wants a new health care system that would require individual participation under threat of fines.

In addition, the Washington Post recently reported that almost all new mortgages are being processed through the federal government, and the U.S. House passed a bill that would allow the government to take over the entire student loan portfolio. This last move threatens to politicize how citizens get loan capital and reduces the freedom of individuals to find terms most favorable to them.

Supporters of expanding government powers try to justify their policies by citing Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, which states in part that Congress shall provide for "the general welfare" of the United States.(if we are not careful we will all wind up on welfare)

Thomas Jefferson wrote about just such a threat in 1791 when he said, "They are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare," according to documents housed at the University of Virginia.

To focus on "general welfare" without considering the rest of the constitution, explained Jefferson, "would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and, as they would be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please ... Certainly no such universal power was meant to be given them." (smart guy that Thomas Jefferson)

Our constitution was uniquely designed for the ages, as a document which would give every American generation a uniform basis for governance.

If the basis for our country is allowed to be discarded by any residing party in power, then they've become no better than the tyrannical rulers from whom our founders meant to distance themselves more than 230 years ago.

Frank Beckmann is host of "The Frank Beckmann Show" on WJR (760 AM) from 9 a.m. to noon Monday-Friday. His column appears on Friday. E-mail comments to letters@detnews.com.(smart guy that Frank Beckmann) .

I will not try to say it any better. I will add that when we start relying on the Government to insure our children get a proper education (no child left behind), to insure that failing businesses do not go under, to insure that everyone has health insurance whether they want it or not, to regulate what companies can pay their top officers, to determine what cars we have access to, and the biggest boondoggle of them all, to tax our carbon usage, it is no longer a slippery slope!

If we saw such behavior in Russia, we would cry out"they are back to their old Communist ways"! When we see such actions in France we declare them as being the reason for their faltering economy. We abhor such behavior from the Chinese. The only difference I see between Us and Them is that we have the freedom to speak out against such obvious stripping of our constitutional rights. Can the losing of that freedom be far behind? We are already nibbling at the edges of censorship by declaring any opposition to President Obama as being Racist.

How far does the government have to go before we say "enough is enough"? In my opinion we have already gone too far!

The worlds most precious commodity

Ask someone on the street what the worlds most precious commodity is and you are likely to get different answers.

Some may say oil, or its refined version gasoline. Certainly it is of great importance to developed countries, and even more so to developing countries like China, where access to oil may limit its growth.

Ask a 21 year old and you are likely to get the answer Alcohol (because of its ability to replace fossil fuels no doubt)

An investor may say gold or silver, a Florida farmer might answer orange juice.

Ask a person anywhere outside the North American continent, and the answer is most likely to be clean drinking water. What we take for granted here is of such vital importance elsewhere in the world that people routinely die due to the lack of it. I read an article that said 2.2 million deaths per annum occur from unsanitary water - ninety percent of these are children under the age of five.Sot

Even in the good ol' USA there isn't always the cleanest water (take Florida for instance). The water is always safe, but due to high sulfur content or other impurities, it doesn't smell or taste the best, but no one ever died from drinking it.

I take it for granted that when I turn on the faucet, clean disease free water is there for me to drink, cook with, bathe in, water my lawn with, or to simply watch it go down the drain if i choose. Since I read the article I started conserving water. I no longer wait for the hot water to fill the tea kettle. I catch the cold water before it warms for the shower, in a bottle (OK i don't catch it all) and use that to brush my teeth. I turn the water off after I am soaped and shampooed up, then turn it back on to rinse. I stopped running the water to clean the dishes and started filling a sink to rinse them all. I need to do more to be more water conscious, but at least its a start. This blog is not really about water. Its about all the things I take for granted. I made a list, and I will eventually share the whole list with you

Food: I take for granted the unprecedented access we have in America to safe, disease free food, and that I can get it 24/7/365 in a variety never before available to a population. Asian pears, Italian olive oil, Greek olives, wine cheese and champagne from France, Pistachios from Iran, fruits and vegetables that are not in season here are imported from Chile and other other South American Countries, Lamb from New Zealand, Ham from Poland, Crab from Alaska, Pineapple from Hawaii, and a thousand other things, just by going to COSTCO

Education: Both my girls were not just allowed to go to school, they were required to go (as was I). In many countries, education is only for the privileged. In some countries the sign on the education door says "no women", or "no poor". In poorer nations the children must go to work to help the family survive. Here EVERYONE has the same opportunity to get an education, and to better themselves as a result. Some people think our educational system is flawed. The fault lies not with the system of education in our country, but with the Parents, School Boards, Administrators, Union officials, and Teachers (in that order) of the failing school systems. The system itself is the best in the world, and attracts the best and the brightest from around the world. If your school system is failing you, the fault lies first with the Parents.

Freedom: We have unprecedented freedoms here. We have the freedom to vote, and to recall officials who do not serve us the way we elected them to. We have the freedom to believe in the God of our choice, without the fear of being killed for the way we believe. We have the freedom to speak, and although we may face harsh criticism for voicing our opinions (our detractors have the same freedom to speak as we do!) we do not get put in jail or threatened with a jihad for voicing our opinions. We have the freedom to travel without restrictions or special permissions. We have the freedom to congregate and protest against that which we believe is wrong. We have the freedom to keep and bear arms. We have way too many freedoms to list here. The Freedom commodity draws more people to America than any other. When people complain about limiting our freedoms (like making us get a background check before buying a handgun), I have to laugh. Send the whiners to China, or Russia, or Cuba, (pick any country without a representative democracy, and 1/2 the ones who do!), for a week to learn what real oppression is.

Family: Like most people I take my family for granted. Not that I don't love them, I do. I just don't tell them enough, and I assume way to much. They take me for granted as well (the whole circle of life thing). I don't have time to go into great detail, nor is it very interesting, Suffice it to say my kids think my wife and I were put here to pay their bills, bring them food and drink, and clean up after them (wow, I just realized my kids think they are the Pharaohs and my wife and I are the slaves!)

There are many more precious commodities I take for granted, way to many to write about in one sitting.

Today I am going to be grateful for all the things I take for granted. I am going to God for the gifts he has given me and my family. I am going to thank my mom for always being there when I most needed her. I am going to thank my dad for all the great training he gave me. I am going to thank my wife for standing by me when most women would have fled. I can't decide whether to be grateful to my girls for trying hard to live up to my high expectations, or to beat them with a stick for not being more grateful for all the opportunities we have given them (I'll probably skip the beating for now)

If we all took our gifts a little less for granted, it may not make the world a better place, but it will make us better people.

My opinion, and in America I can have it, speak openly about it (while drinking clean water, carrying a gun, eating a sandwich, protesting against the war in Iraq, and studying for an advanced degree) if I feel like it!