THE GOP AND OUR CONSTITUTION

REPUBLICAN POSITIONS ON THE CONSTITUTION

Minimum Wage ~ Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, and many other prominent Republicans, believe that the minimum wage law is unconstitutional. This understanding of the Constitution is a throw-back to almost 100 years ago — pre-New Deal.

Whites Only-Lunch Counters ~ Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) claimed on The Rachael Maddow Show on MSNBC that the federal ban on whites-only lunch counters is unconstitutional. Justice Thomas supports this view.

Education ~ Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), and many other Republican members of Congress, say that federal education programs are unconstitutional. Pell Grants and student loan assistance included.

Gender Discrimination ~ Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia states that the Constitution doesn’t say anything about discrimination against women.

Ending Senate Elections ~ Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and many in the GOP, including Scalia, support undoing the Seventeenth Amendment which allows voters to elect their own senators. Senators would be appointed by Governors.

Child Labor ~ Justice Clarence Thomas has advocated for returning to the discredited theory of the Constitution that would declare our federal child labor laws unconstitutional. This position has been embraced by many elected GOP officials.

Eliminating the US Dollar ~ Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who chairs the House subcommittee that oversees federal monetary policy, has claimed that paper money is “nothing short of counterfeiting” and that the US dollar is unconstitutional. Others in Congress agree with him.

Social Security and Medicare ~ The Republican’s “Pledge to America” embraces the “tenther” view of the Constitution which holds that Social Security, Medicare and many other social-safety-net programs would be unconstitutional.