"With Noiseless Foot"

John D'Aloia Jr.

John D'Aloia Jr. is a retired navy captain and a submarine commander. He is a columnist for several newspapers in Kansas.

In his "Notes on the State of Virginia," written between 1781 and 1785, Thomas Jefferson held that "Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone." In 1788, he wrote "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." His antidote was a rule of law that severely limited the authority of government, a form of government that kept necessary government functions as close to the people as possible, and an alert electorate standing ready to turn the devils out. In this, he was echoing Edmund Burke who wrote in 1770

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

How does a republican form of government gain power over our mere existence? As stated last week, bit by bit, encouraged and emboldened every time we turn to it and implore it to be our Nanny. The cry that "There ought to be a law!" is all the opening The Guardians need to extend their power, to erode our liberty. George Mason, who drafted the Virginia Bill of Rights, the precursor to our Bill of Rights, wrote in 1787

From the nature of man, we may be sure that those who have power in their hands will always, when they can, increase it.

Like the proverbial camel getting his nose under the tent flap and soon residing in the tent, give The Guardians a morsel and soon they will be eating your lunch.

The hue and cry for the state to regulate telemarketing is a current example. Telemarketers are a pain. They always seem to call just when a juicy morsel is about to land on your palate-or there are 10 seconds left, the Jay Hawks are down by one, and have the ball. A friend thinks that telemarketers actually serve a useful psychological purpose-they provide an outlet for one's pent up frustrations that would otherwise be vented on family and friends. Do you really need the Attorney General of the State of Kansas to tell a telemarketer to get lost? Can you not, politely of course, hang up? Do you really need to empower government by giving it another function that requires more clerks, more computers, more regulations, more oversight-and more of your tax dollars? The fiscal note for S.296, the no-call bill working in Topeka, puts the first year implementation cost at one more full-time position and $30,000. Is the freedom you give up by sending more tax dollars to Topeka worth the perceived benefit of not receiving telemarketing calls at dinnertime? Is it worth enlarging the bureaucracy? Is it worth giving politicians another sound bite telling you they are your saviors? I think not.

Will the law make a dent in the phone calls? I think not. Not when presented daily evidence of the inefficiencies and incompetence in large organizations, government or private, and the ingenuity-or brazenness-of the American peddler.

Jefferson wrote on another subject, a worry of his in 1820 that should be a worry today of all Kansans.

The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working underground to undermine the foundations of our confederated fabric.

In 1821, he wrote that the federal judiciary

. . . ever acting, with noiseless foot, and unalarming advance, gaining ground step by step, and holding what it gains . . .

What better description of the Kansas Supreme Court's unilateral action in raising court-related fees, an action stomping on the rights and authority of the legislative and executive branches of our state government. One would think that it was done ". . . with noiseless foot . . ." given the lack of immediate and loud outcry and action on the part of the Governor or the legislature. The court's action is a direct attack on the doctrine of separation of powers and the inherent balances built into our political system. It is potentially the greatest threat to the continued existence of our state government facing us, a bigger threat than the political contretemps playing out with reapportionment or the budget deficit pitting one group against another, fighting for every dollar they can get. If ever there was a constitutional crisis in Topeka, this is it, yet from all appearances, it is ho-hum, just another day under the dome. Think about it. If the court can impose fees, why can it not impose any law it wants, even if it has no basis in the state's constitution or statutes? If the court can impose fees, why cannot the Governor issue Caesar-like decrees, independent of the legislature? It is a recipe for tyranny.