Joe Miller sees the world in black and white

It must be nice not to see a gray area. Issues that Senators are supposed to take a stand on are now much easier to understand! Right? For instance, it's easier to say abortion is wrong. Period. End of story.

But what about-

Nope, it's wrong. Next question.

Do you think gays should have the right-

Gay marriage is wrong. End of story.

But what about-

Bup bup bup, wrong. Moving on-

Do you think semi-automatic weapons is-

We all have the right to bear arms.

Well, sure, but I'm talking about-

Next question!


See how easy it is to appear as a leader with confidence when you don't have to analyze the pros and cons to an argument? In some ways, I envy Joe Miller. It must be so much easier going through life KNOWING that he is right and no argument can persuade him otherwise. For instance, in a report today he was asked if there should be a minimum wage...

"There should not be. That is not within the scope of the powers that are given to the federal government."

Uhh, well, yeah. That's kind of correct.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 created a federal minimum wage as well as set child labor laws. So, since the New Deal we've had a minimum wage which means your employer is legally obligated to pay you a certain wage.

So, here's my beef with Joe Miller and every other "constitutional conservative" who claim that the Constitution is a flawless document and if we just follow it to the letter everything will work out fine...

It's NOT! Look, I love the Constitution as much as the next guy, but it's a living document. It must evolve as our country evolves. That's why our legal system was created in such a way that the Constitution could be altered and to claim that as Senator his legislative strategy would be to rely on whatever the Constitution says is a terrifying simple outlook of what a Senator's job entails.

Since 1776 we have made some of the following changes to the Constitution:

The 15th Amendment gave blacks the right to vote. (1870)

The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. (1920)

The 22nd Amendment set term limits to the Presidency. (1951)

The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age. (1971)

We've amended the Constitution over and over again over the course of our history. The Fair Labor Standards of Act is NOT an amendment, so Mr. Miller has a point. It's not a constitutional right, but that doesn't mean it's not a law. It also doesn't mean it shouldn't even be debated. How many politicians in 1870 tried to say that giving blacks the right to vote was unconstitutional? Plenty. It doesn't mean it wasn't debated. So, to see the world in such black and white terms is true folly.

Our founders wrote the document in the late 1700s. It's currently 2010. The world isn't the same anymore and to use the phrase "it's unconstitutional" is practically akin to saying "I have no argument."