President Donald Trump continues to use “The Swamp” as a reference to Washington D.C. His calls to drain the swamp have yet to cease. There are decades of buildup and muck produced by the long-term malfeasance. The task of extracting this is not one that any single man can complete overnight. However, we can use the Constitution as a guiding light.
There has been well over two centuries of putting the American experiment to the test. Those seeking to undermine the obvious, plain intentions of our Founding Fathers have had a great deal of time to find ways to justify their machinations. This is often through entirely legal approaches.
The intentions of the Founding Fathers are the light. This light guides the President and his supporters through the darkness of our modern politics. This starts with the principles that gave us the Bill of Rights.
The Constitution As a Living Document
The Declaration of Independence in 1776 is a marvelous document. It inspired people around the world to follow the example set by the eloquent, inspiring words within. Soon after, the Constitution that would set the mandate for the functions of a new Constitutional Republic would be established.
The convention where that constitution was hammered out in 1787 gave us an immortal document that not only outlined rigid principles by which to govern a union of states, but the toolset to create new, fair legislation that would properly represent the people of our newly-established nation.
And those processes were quickly put to test in a magnificent way soon after. The 1791 ratification of The Bill of Rights used the bedrock of the Constitution to create a remarkable first addendum to the core document of the U.S. Government.
The ten amendments to the constitution therein are to this day used as the standard by which new laws are enacted. It is also bad faith readings of the intentions of these amendments that are often abused by bad actors within the modern U.S. government. This creates the need for popular movements. This includes the one built by President Trump to work together to drain the swamp. He also wants to make Constitutionally-sound changes to laws to keep the muck from emerging ever again.
Life In the Swamp
U.S. Code Title 4, Chapter 3, Section 72 — hereafter referred to as “Rule 72” — states: All offices attached to the seat of government shall be exercised in the District of Columbia, and not elsewhere, except as otherwise expressly provided by law.
This was clearly the result of good intentions, intended to ensure the U.S. Legislative and Executive branches could work quickly and efficiently. They were able to be face-to-face while doing the daily grind of working out political differences.
The intent of Rule 72 has, in the modern era, been wholly subverted. Washington D.C. is not the intended working core of a functional U.S. government. It is a place almost entirely devoted to the bleak comings and goings of a cadre of cronies, criminals, and hangers-on looking for an angle.
What’s life like in the midst of the swamp itself? Currently, a generation of lawmakers like Representatives Paul Ryan and Raul Labrador are fleeing the place, noting that it has become far too difficult to get much positive work done in the core of corrupt government.
In a recent interview, Labrador said, “This is a place that just sucks your soul. It takes everything from you.” He is not running for re-election, opting instead of serve his constituents more directly by running for Governor of Idaho. Trump has the power of the seat of the Executive Branch to do greater work to dismantle the corrupt processes. Members of Congress often find themselves utterly subsumed by the corroded culture of the place and not enough tools to cope with it.
Repeal 72 to Protect the Intentions of the Constitution
Our modern communications technologies nullify the primary reason to require government to meet physically in one city to work efficiently. In order to definitively drain the swamp, Rule 72 must be repealed. State legislators should no longer find themselves thrown into the deep end of a corrupt pool.
Lawmakers should be closer to their constituents. They should not be thrust into a place where lobbyists, fixers, and other shady elements exist. These people have easy access to the whole of the lawmaking branches of U.S. government. Cut down on the excess, the smoky rooms where deals are made outside the bounds of the Constitution.
To Make American Great Again, to give President Trump and the (increasingly less) rare decent members of Congress who grind day in, day out to keep lawmakers focused on the true intentions of the Founding Fathers, we must do whatever we can to repeal Rule 72.
Want to help? Learn more at Rule 72 Initiative, where we have targeted a simple, efficient solution that will better match the intended functionality of American lawmakers. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to join the conversation. With your help, the swamp will drain.
The Rule 72 Initiative is hard at work to repeal the law (Rule 72) that prohibits moving functions of the federal government away from Washington, D.C. If these ideas sound like a positive step towards truly draining the swamp, here are some ways to get involved:
