2/10 In Federalist 45, Madison wrote: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” He wasn’t being poetic He was drawing a line in the sand

3/10 “Few and defined” includes: • National defense • Foreign affairs • Interstate & foreign commerce • Coining money • Post offices & roads There are a few others, but that’s most of it Everything else? Left to the states—“or to the people” But today? The feds

4/10 When a shutdown hits, the panic isn’t just about the military going dark or borders being left unprotected It’s also about more fundamental questions like “how will we eat?” Why should the government be in charge of feeding Americans? This leads inevitably to extortion

5/10 Shutdowns tend to expose just how vast the federal government has become The “essential” vs. “non-essential” distinction is a joke—because so much of what Congress funds isn’t essential to our national government’s limited, constitutional role If a function can be paused

6/10 Madison warned that expanding federal power would: 1. Encroach on state sovereignty 2. Create dependency on the (intentionally limited) national government 3. Make crises out of routine political disputes Shutdown theater? That’s dependency in action

7/10 Perhaps in a sense, the biggest scandal isn’t that the federal government “shuts down”; it’s that it doesn’t Meanwhile, it’s doing too many things it can’t afford and was never designed to do

8/10 Imagine a government limited enough that a funding lapse would barely register with most people—because few would depend on it A Madisonian government would attract far less controversy and would therefore be far less likely to encourage “all or nothing”shutdown fights

8/10 A constitutionally limited government wouldn’t just cost less and be less controversial; it’d be better equipped to handle those tasks the Constitution designates as federal Such tasks get less attention than they should—because the federal government is spread too thin

9/10 Shutdowns aren’t failures They’re audits They show us what the feds shouldn’t be doing—and remind us that the Constitution isn’t a suggestion

10/10 Next time D.C. screams “shutdown crisis,” ask: Why is the federal government doing all of this? It should stick to the “few and defined” powers designated as federal by the Constitution Please share if you agree, and follow if you’d like to see more posts like this one

@BasedMikeLee This post needs to go viral.

@BasedMikeLee Make government small again

@BasedMikeLee We could’ve nuked the filibuster weeks ago. We are literally ALLOWING another dem obstruction of a Trump presidency, it’s being wasted. This is now what? 4-5wks of wasted time we could’ve slid papers across his desk to pass legislation??? What are we even doing here?! 🧐

@BasedMikeLee @DataRepublican 90% of the Federal government is unconstitutional or unnecessary

@BasedMikeLee Love these

@BasedMikeLee I’ve audited it and it needs to be cut by 80-90%. We will have to fight the equivalent of the civil war to fix this. That won’t happen so we get to watch you cave and keep buying citizens with other citizen’s money until the dollar collapses. Only then will we have the

@BasedMikeLee The bs ends when 'we the people' become WE THE PEOPLE... not sooner.

@BasedMikeLee The 17th amendment really collapsed the power of the states. The states have no representation now, only the people. That was the original intent of having two houses - One for the people and one for the states. Repeal the 17th amendment.

@BasedMikeLee Y’all should be working on all these federal tax burdens shifting to the states control.

@BasedMikeLee The failure is not the shutdown. The failure is the use of CRs, minibus, and omnibus bills which serve to continue funding at excessive levels rather than appropriations bills as a true budget demands. We’re sick of it and sick of watching y’all take extended vacations when

@BasedMikeLee Single only bills only would eliminate the majority of this problem.

@BasedMikeLee Overrule Wickard.

@BasedMikeLee But yet, you sat in and voted for spending without a balanced budget for how many years and during your tenure, the debt has ballooned by how much??? Time to stop playing politics and get the spending under control. Don't post about it, enact it.

@BasedMikeLee Dear campaign-conservative, I like what you say but not how you vote. You say drain the swamp, but you snorkel with its creatures. 1995 Bill Clinton has a more conservative voting record. You rail against a system but vote like its butler.

@BasedMikeLee Being in the government needs to be like serving for jury duty. You go in do your job and get out! No stock trades, kickbacks, forever pay, staff writes legislation, etc

@BasedMikeLee Is it possible to get back to this Mike

@BasedMikeLee Constitutional Reset! Let’s go!

@BasedMikeLee Exactly!

@BasedMikeLee Almost every state in the United States is the size of a "normal" country by global standards. We all ought to be able to take care of ourselves.

@BasedMikeLee Mike Lee nails it. We know there are rats, and the shutdown helps us count how many.

@BasedMikeLee So why do Senators like you vote to increase the federal budget every year? We’ve never had a decrease that I can recall.

@BasedMikeLee How do we get back to this—with the two parties in complete opposition and, quite frankly, many within our own party who are addicted to spending?

@BasedMikeLee @DataRepublican The whole entire problem with America is big govt and big bureaucracy. Which are deeply intertwined. If we solve that, everything else will fall in line.

@BasedMikeLee I absolutely wish we could get back to even half of what the federalist papers and anti-federalist papers said. The federal government as well as states have destroyed everything they worked, died and lost everything they had for. It really is sad.

@BasedMikeLee They also didn't count on a 4 million executive branch workforce.

@BasedMikeLee @threadreaderapp unroll