Jim DeMint has a great column on NRO today discussing the Constitution, how it limits Federal power, ensures liberty and how elected officials are circumventing it.

Here are a few great excerpts:

Democrats have always been the “party of go,” bent on transforming America with their “living Constitution,” which changes to suit the political whims of the day. That’s why Republicans shouldn’t flinch when they are criticized as being the “party of no.” Saying no is necessary to uphold the freedoms on which our nation was founded.

The Constitution is full of no’s. It is by telling the government what it cannot do that the Constitution protects our freedoms. The Founders loathed tyranny and sought to erect a government ruled by law, not people. As Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense, “in America the law is king.”

And this great excerpt regarding “no” and “shall not”

Using the Constitution’s amendment-making process, Americans have added even more no’s over the years: The 13th Amendment says no to slavery; the 15th and 19th Amendments say no one can be denied the right to vote based on race or sex.

Every clause of Article 1, Section 9, which is all about the limits on Congress, contains the words “no” or “shall not.”

And my favorite paragraphs.

Progressives like Obama believe government has limitless ability and power. Remember what Obama said the night he secured the Democratic presidential nomination: “This [is] the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” Only a liberal would believe that tinkering with the levers of government could ever accomplish such planetary change.

If President Obama’s motto is “Yes, we can,” the Constitution’s is “No, you can’t.” Obama may have once been a constitutional scholar, but he’s no constitutionalist.

Jim DeMint is really stepping up and becoming a strong conservative leader in Congress. Be sure to read the rest at NRO.

147 days until November 2nd, 2010