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Democrats are raising an alarm about what they call a “constitutional crisis.” If there is one, they should know because they are to blame for it. That’s because their party, since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, have been violating the boundaries and restrictions on government set forth in our founding document.

The Founders wanted government to be limited so the people would be able to achieve their highest aspirations consistent with hard work and their talents.

Much of life has boundaries and rules that when violated bring consequences. Think of speed limits, boundaries in sports, even rules while playing cards and board games. Warnings on medications tell of what can happen if directions are violated and possible side effects ignored.

Only when it comes to government are constitutional limits violated with little concern from most politicians. One consequence that is finally receiving serious attention is the national debt. As The Wall Street Journal recently noted, servicing the debt now costs more than the entire Defense Department budget. This is unsustainable and as the Journal notes – and I wrote five years ago in a book called “America’s Expiration Date” – past nations have expired under the weight of massive debt.

Looking to the past for wisdom in how to deal with debt and so much else is ignored by many modern politicians in both parties. The Founders – and those presidents who paid attention to their wise words – conducted government in a responsible way that promoted the general welfare. It only takes a few seconds on Google to assess the wisdom of presidents who embraced their principles. Below are only three of many examples that show what they believed to be the consequences of big government and the scourge of debt.

Thomas Jefferson: “A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government…”.

Notice the inversion. Labor and what it produces for the person who earns from it is to be protected and encouraged. Government is to be restrained from causing injury to the person or business that profits from such industry. Today the attitude seems to be that government should be a major beneficiary of one’s labor and risk-taking. Consider the top federal tax rate of 37 percent and additional state, local and other taxes that go to government coffers.

Again, Mr. Jefferson put it succinctly: “The course of history shows that as government grows, liberty decreases.”

We are not the first to roam the Earth. Others who came before have figured things out so that we don’t have to, but too many act as if the past can teach us nothing.

Our 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, was wiser than the credit given him by many historians. A century ago, Coolidge said: “ Unless the people, through unified action, arise and take charge of their government, they will find that their government has taken charge of them. Independence and liberty will be gone, and the general public will find itself in a condition of servitude to an aggregation of organized and selfish interest.”

Need I say more? Donald Trump and Elon Musk seem to be listening. Will Congress?

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Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).

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