The Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles
For the Independent Journal.
MADISON

Federalist Paper #39

"we may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on, a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior."

During good behavior and for a limited period are two things mentioned.  I have often wondered why our founders did not put a term limit on the offices.  They went through example after example of how power corrupts humans.  Could they not see that if a person is in the senate for 40 years, that they become disconnected with their people?  This problem had not arisen until recently where many in the senate have been there for over 30 years, and previously very few had made it that far.  Funny how at the moment when we have all these, "5th year seniors" Ill call them, in office, we are suddenly in a world of hurt.  Im pretty sure that corruption had a major part to play in our recent economic downturn and I believe a majority of it came within the congress.  The time is long past when these congressmen represented their people.  They are now only there to represent themselves and nothing else. 

"It is ESSENTIAL to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the honorable title of republic."

And the very next sentence gives another blow!  A favored class?  Tyrannical nobles?  Oppression by delegation of their powers?  Well, lets walk through them.  The favored class of lawyers has been gone over in here recently.  Has trouble written all over it when a single profession holds so much power over the country.  Especially a profession for the silky smooth liars.  Our leaders have turned into tyrannical nobles in a sense that many have been in power their whole lives.  Over 40 years of a senate seat and you will begin to think you are invincible.  They have no sense of responsibility left after being away from it for so long.  When a first term senator comes in, he is usually trying to prove to his constituents that he is there to represent THEM, not himself(Obama apparently excluded with his shenanigans he pulled).  Somebody like McCain doesn't have that sense anymore and believes their opinion trumps the peoples opinions.  Such a shame.  And Oppression by delegation.  Does anyone think that the founders had in mind the social engineering by taxation that the democrats are gunning for?(Clydes terms in comments past)  I hear Massachusetts is now planning on trying to tax people per mile they drive.  A chip in their car and a bill comes in the mail.  Let alone all the workarounds people could come up with, this is an insane idea, not to mention the legal ramifications.  What about out of state?  If I am driving out of state, I shouldn't have to pay for my mile tax, if that state does not have the law.  I don't pay Minnesota sales tax in Wisconsin do I?  Well, for them to handle that problem, they would have to add a GPS signal to your chip and would therefore be tracking your every move.  Invasion of privacy?  To top it off, they will probably start handing out speeding tickets using this chip.  And I wouldn't doubt that they could find a way to receive a signal if a phone dialed in, from a certain portion of the car (which BrianR had in his blog a while back about tickets for talking on the phone while driving).  So many legal problems, I hope for the sake of our government that this measure is not voted through.  A workaround would probably be powering up the chip in your house.  Its powered and giving a signal, but it isn't moving anytime soon.

"The tenure by which the judges are to hold their places, is, as it unquestionably ought to be, that of good behavior."

Many saw a problem in Obama electing judges.  I think there could be loopholes if this is the exact sort of wording in the constitution(I didn't check for writing this).  Good behavior is very...relative.  If conservatives make a major comeback, we will have popularity much like Reagan did.  Democrats can almost never get that because common sense will not allow it.  Conservatism is common sense, so when we finally get a good speaker, we will win over the voters in droves.  Once in power, we could go over the clearly unconstitutional rulings of the liberal judges.  Gun banning rulings for starters.  2nd Amendment protects our rights, yet some voted against that and chose gun control.  Could anything be more clearly unconstitutional?  That is not good behavior, they are gone. 

"They ought, with equal care, to have preserved the FEDERAL form, which regards the Union as a CONFEDERACY of sovereign states; instead of which, they have framed a NATIONAL government, which regards the Union as a CONSOLIDATION of the States.''

I just thought this a bit humorous.  Madison disproves it being a national government and says we have a federal to mixed government.  Now, back in that day, even the founders did not want a national government.  They wanted the states to keep their powers, but knew a federal government to control certain duties would be necessary.  Today we have liberals pushing for everything national, from healthcare to welfare, from social laws(abortion) to drilling permits.  Yesteryear they didn't even want the government to be considered a national government, and today we are national everything.  And republicans are the ones stomping on the constitution. lol *rolls eyes*

"since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects."

A specific argument Madison uses to prove our this government is federal is that the constitution binds the federal government to enumerated objects.  The states were supposed to retain most of their power, but clearly they do not anymore.  The states are at the mercy of the, now, national government.

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" Edmund Burke