Debate - Should We Track All Vehicles?

Self | 12-15-02 | doosee

[Ken H]

Yes, everything the Federal government does in education, welfare, health care, electoral process, and so forth absolutely must be faithful to the Constitution as it is written.

The Constitution provides for Congress to declare War, call forth the Miltia, supress insurrections, repel invasions and to quarter soldiers in private homes in time of War (Third Amendment).

It is a flawed argument to mix a domestic issue such as tracking vehicles, with a war or domestic insurrection, both of which are explicitly addressed in the Constitution.

[B4Ranch]

"The federal Gov't may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command State' officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program. It matters not whether policy making is involved, and no case by case weighing of the burdens or benefits is necessary; such commands are fundamentally incompatible with our constitutional system of dual sovereignty."

Justice Antonin Scalia, Mack vs US., June 27, 1997

Unless the feds want to give the money to the States to fulfill the costs of such a program, the State legislators would be able to deny action in their States.

[doosee]

Ken, does everything explicitly have to be laid out in the constitution before it can be enacted? We are at war and I'm sure as a good Freeper you heard the rumor (and that is all it is) about the 20 backpack nukes.

The following is from a press release about how drones are now being deployed over the USA to monitor any ground activity. I think this relates to the discussion on this thread directly and actually expands the nature of the monitoring. The drones monitor everything, not just vehicles. On the one hand I don't like the Feds implementing this expanded reach, yet we cannot sit back and let terrorists hide under the veil of our desire to be entirely free and open. The drones can be used for crime prevention and detection also. Here is the excerpt:

Officials say details of where and how the drones would be deployed have yet to be finalized. Likely assignments include monitoring offshore waters for the smuggling of narcotics, individuals and weapons.

"UAVs will be the over-the-horizon eyes for the cutters," said Chief Petty Officer Phyllis Gamache-Jensen of Coast Guard District One in Boston, which covers the Northeast. "Homeland security is really about situational awareness. The more technology we have, the more capability we have."