Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Did you know the ancient Athenian Democracy was a pure democracy in that citizens directly voted rather than through representatives?   However, only a few people, around 10,000, earned the title of "citizen."   The Founders of our country studied this and recognized the perils of the Athenian Democracy and other past regimes and democracies.   By studying history, they navigated these pitfalls in...

We all know of famous treaties that ended wars such as the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolution or the Treaty of Versailles which brought peace between Allied Powers and Germany at the end of World War I.   You've also heard of international agreements between sovereign countries like the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran Nuclear Deal.   Besides knowing tha...

War.  We've all seen footage from war zones on the nightly news and most recently the tragic images from Ukraine.  Did you know Congress has not actually declared war since World War II? How has the use of military force been authorized since then? What is the War Powers Act and how has it been applied?  What does the Constitution say about this?  What were the differing views from the Founders on...

Have you thought about the Declaration of Independence as a foreign policy document?   Or have you thought the same about Washington's Farewell Address?   Well they certainly are!   The Declaration outlined our case for independence from another country and in itself is a statement on universal principles that were the cornerstone for our new country.   Washington's Farewell Address cautioned agai...

How much do you actually know about bitcoin?   You've undoubtedly heard about it and people becoming wealthy because of it.   But what do you actually know about what it is and what gives it value?   Bitcoin is described as the world's first decentralized digital currency but it is neither the first digital currency nor the first decentralized currency.   Join our special guest, Brandon Vanderford...

Trade.   Trade Wars.   Economic Sanctions.   Tariffs.   These are terms you hear nightly on the evening news but what are they?   The Founding Fathers saw a need for our country to regulate international commerce–both leaving and coming into our country–as a tool to protect and advance our country's interests.   One of the tools they gave Congress is the power to levy a tariff, or a tax on an impo...

The deficit.   The debt.   What are they and aren't they the same thing?   To be concise, the debt is the total of the yearly deficit our country runs yearly between tax revenue and debt and no, they are not the same thing.   Did you know the President is supposed to submit a budget to congress to approve?   Instead, Congress tends to pass short-term spending bills that more often than not are pol...

What is our national debt?   How much is it and why does our government continue to spend money it does not have?   How is it different than our deficit?   Whatever our government spends has to be paid back, eventually, through either increased taxation or increasing our debt load.   Knowing that, in what way does debt misrepresent the size and price of our government?   These questions and many o...

Socialism does not work.   It never has.   It never will.   Case in point: Venezuela.   How does a country go from being one of the richest in the world and the most prosperous in Latin America just a few decades ago to one of the least prosperous countries in the world today? Think about this, in the 1970s, Venezuela was the 10th most economically free country worldwide (low taxes, low government...

Welcome to Constituting America's new weekly podcast: Janine Turner's Weekly Read! Join us every week as Constituting America Founder & Co-President actress Janine Turner shares with us readings from favorite founding documents! This week:  Amazing Descendants of the Mayflower! 

Has communism ever worked?   There are plenty of excuses as to why it has not worked but the fact of the matter is that it never has.   Why is that?   A "utopia" sounds great in theory but the Marxist framework behind communism ignores several key factors that prevents it from working as designed.   What are these fatal flaws?   Join our panel and Dr. Anne Rathbone Bradley with The Fund for Americ...

"...should I draw you the picture of my heart, it would be what I hope you still would love, though it contained nothing new…" Abigail Adams to John Adams. Get in the Valentine's spirit with Janine Turner and her Weekly Read featuring Love letters between Abigail and John Adams Constituting America's new weekly podcast: Janine Turner's Weekly Read! Join us every week as Constituting America Founde...

What is capitalism? Simply put, capitalism is a system of free-enterprise where the economy is directed by markets and not top-down by a central government. What does that mean? It means you and millions of other Americans direct our economy and not a handful of bureaucrats in the government. It means you get to decide how and when to lend or borrow and increase competition for the best financial...

Constituting America's new weekly podcast launches today: Janine Turner's Weekly Read! Join us every week as Constituting America Founder & Co-President actress Janine Turner shares with us readings from favorite founding documents! This week: Presidential Quotes!

While the idea of pulling out your phone and instantly buying or selling shares of a stock might be a new phenomenon, the practice of stock trading certainly is not.  Did you know stock markets have their roots in 1600s Holland? Companies learned they could fund expensive six-month long voyages to India to bring back spices by selling small ownership stakes to a lot of people.  If the voyage was p...

It's a name often in headlines and the evening news. But how much do you really know about what the Federal Reserve is and what it does?   Did you know it was not created by the Founders in the 18th century but was created in the 20th century?   How exactly does the Federal Reserve regulate our country's money supply and what role does it play in accomplishing two goals of sustained high growth an...

In creating the new country, our Founders were led by Alexander Hamilton in creating a financial system that would become the envy of the world.   In creating this system, Hamilton did four important and interrelated things-fund the national debt, assumption of state war debt, defined US dollar in terms of gold and silver and established the First Bank of the United States.   To accomplish this la...

Did you know much of our modern theories and thoughts on economics have roots with a 18th century Scotsman?   Adam Smith wrote "An Inquiry Into The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" in 1776 and we still are impacted by his work today.   He explored the ideas that we act out of our self-interest, the role of incentives, division of specialized labor and productivity.   All of these issues...

Have you ever thought about the role our government plays in our economy? Think about this: Does our constitution protect economic liberty? Do you have the right to buy and sell at the price and terms you set? Can you borrow and lend?   Do we have a right to transact anonymously, especially in the era of crypto?   All of these questions play a role in whether or not our country sustains long term...

We were all taught in school, or through Constituting America's programs, that the US Constitution is the supreme law of the land.   But how is that supreme law to be interpreted? For example, what view do we take when the Constitution says the president must be a "natural born citizen?" What's the difference between originalism and living constitutionalism? Join our panel and constitutional exper...

We have local courts.   We have state and federal courts.   Did you know we have another type of court most of us will never experience?   The military has its own court system and it follow the Uniform Code of Military Justice.   The UCMJ, since codified by congress, actually predates our country!   Some of the elements of the UCMJ are similar to civilian courts, like laws against murdering and s...

We have a myriad of local state and federal courts handling our judicial process.   Texas has 950 municipal courts, 800 justice courts, 528 county level courts, 483 state district courts, 14 court of appeals, one Texas Supreme Court and finally one Court of Criminal Appeals!   And that is just in Texas!   What does this all mean?   What are the differences in jurisdictions between these courts?  ...

When you think of the US court system, you probably first think of the US Supreme Court.   Did you know that while federal courts like the Supreme Court generate the most headlines, most judicial activity is found in state courts?   In 2018, 83.8 million cases were filed in state court while just 359,000 cases were filed in federal court.   We have over 30,000 state court judges across the country...

Imagine this. It's the early years of our country.  After a lengthy legal career and senate confirmation, you  become a Supreme Court Justice.  One of your duties?  Get on your horse and travel hundreds or thousands of miles around your "circuit" to hear appeals case.  Believe it or not, that was once the responsibility of our Supreme Court justices! What exactly are Federal District Courts, Circu...

Have you ever thought about how judges get their positions?   Some are elected, some are appointed and others go through lengthy, and often contentious, senate hearings broadcast on C-SPAN.   Why is that?   The Founders wanted federal judges to be insulated from political influences so they are given lifetime appointments and generous pensions for their service.   State judges rule on issues close...