Republican Party Ninth District
Steven Ellis

As we progress into the campaign season, I have noticed that a disturbing trend is continuing in our political process. When discussing the issues, it seems that no one is asking the question, "is this a legitimate function of government."

There are two levels on which this question should be asked. The first is whether the action contemplated is a legitimate function of government at all. The second is whether the action contemplated is a legitimate function of the particular government that is considering it.

There are some issues that are not legitimate functions of civil government at all. A good example of this is that no government has the right to establish a state religion. This is true not just because our Federal Constitution says so, it is simply the truth. Our Constitution just recognizes this fact; it does not establish the fact.

There are many issues for which the answer to this question is not so clear, but the question should be asked and debated. For example, when debating tax policy, the question should be asked, "Is it proper for a civil government to collect taxes, with the backing of the full power of that government to criminally punish those who don't pay the taxes or to forcefully confiscate their personal property, and redistribute those funds to other people or entities for the purpose of effecting public policy?" The point here is not to argue one side or the other, but to point out that the question is not being asked nor debated.

Further, this issue of legitimate functions of civil government is one of right and wrong. It is not an issue of what the majority thinks. We must have representatives in government who are willing to ask the question and make a determination based upon what is right, not what the majority thinks. For example, if the majority of people were to decide that it is a good idea to execute all people with the last name Smith, it would be up to our government representatives to declare that the taking of innocent life is not a legitimate function of civil government. I know this is extreme, but it illustrates the point that the question must be asked and our government must make decisions based upon right and wrong, not the will of the majority.

Next, the question must be asked whether the contemplated action is a legitimate function of the particular governments. In this county, we have the federal, state, local and municipal governments. We have a system where the states have given the federal government limited powers in the Federal Constitution. The state constitutions normally set forth the powers of the local and municipal governments.

It seems that no one ever asks the question of whether an action contemplated by the Federal Government is within the bounds of the Constitution. Everyone just assumes that if the Federal Government is considering it, it must be constitutional.

The question must be asked of all federal action, even the hard questions. For example, again regarding tax policy, no one is asking, "is it a legitimate function of the Federal Government to tax the citizens of Georgia directly, and then dictate to the State of Georgia how it will run its foster care system by attaching strings to return the tax money back to the State of Georgia for the foster care system?" Some would call this illegal coercion, and others would call it proper over site of the federal government. Again, the purpose here is not to debate the right answer, but to point out that no one is asking the question and there seems to be no debate of what is the right answer.

Our government representatives must ask and debate the hard Constitutional questions and make decisions based upon constitutional right and wrong, not on the opinion polls.

What can you do? You can ask the questions and demand answers from your government representatives and candidates. We must hold politicians accountable for keeping our governments within the legitimate governmental functions.

Steven M. Ellis is the Chairman of the Walker County Republican Party. He is an attorney practicing law in Chickamauga. He received a B.B.A from the University of Georgia in 1989 and a J.D. from the Georgia State University College of Law in 1992.