Jackson Shreds the Argument
- Jackson then takes a closer look at South Carolina's ordinance.
- They start off by saying that the government didn't really need the money raised by the abominable tariff; they're just doing it to protect manufacturing interests in certain regions.
- That's it? That's a reason to secede from the Union?
- The ordinance is recipe for disaster, says Jackson. It gives any state the right to annul any law just by claiming it's unconstitutional. And who knows anyone's real motives, anyway?
- He moves on to South Carolina's next argument: that the tariff operates "unequally."
- Hey, no one has ever been able to devise a system of taxation that is perfectly fair.
- And if total fairness of all the laws is a requirement, then you might as well tear up the Constitution, because it's impossible.
- Is the Constitution, which people hold in awe and cling to, so fragile that it will blow away at the first sign of disagreement?
- Was George Washington deluded? Did the "exalted patriots" want to self-destruct?
- Short answer: No.
- The Constitution isn't dumb enough to give power to make laws then give everyone permission to ignore them.
- You can read every word in all the debates during the founding of the Union, and you wouldn't find a single mention of overturning the government's supreme authority to make and enforce laws.
- You couldn't have a nation if every state prejudice or personal animosity led to a challenge of that authority.
- You're claiming that the Tariff is raising way more money than necessary and that who knows what the feds will use it for. Something unconstitutional, probably.
- Maybe they will—sometimes governments abuse the power.
- Still, the power to tax has to lie with Congress, not the states.
- Giving each state the power to levy separate taxes would make it impossible for everyone to work together.
- You can disagree about how taxes might be used, but you can't argue with the government's right to impose them.