By Printus LeBlanc

Following the Janus decision on Wednesday, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he is retiring from the Supreme Court. Liberal progressives’ heads proceeded to explode throughout the U.S. Every TV and radio station had a Democrat Senator or consultant hyperventilating at the thought of President Trump getting to appoint another Justice to the Supreme Court. Maybe if the government wasn’t so involved in every person’s life, the fate of the Supreme Court wouldn’t be such a big deal?

The question to ask is why is the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) so important? The court is one of the three branches of government designed to check the other two institutions, the Presidency and Congress. As the highest court in the land, it is up to SCOTUS to ensure the other two branches of government do not violate the law of the land, the Constitution. Seems simple enough, but the more government interferes in the lives of people, the more there is for the Supreme Court to rule on.

What has happened to the court has put it in direct conflict with its mission. For decades, the court has made policy and wrote laws. Those are two areas the court is specifically not supposed to be involved in. The job of the court is to look at a law Congress passed, or policy being implemented by the Executive Branch and decided if it violates the Constitution in cases where there is merit.

Many of those complaining SCOTUS has too much power and they are right, but the court has the power it does because government has infected the lives of everyone in the U.S. Progressives have decided if they cannot win at the ballot box or the ideas cannot convince legislators, they will take it to the courts. The very people screaming about Trump taking away democracy are same people wanting nine unelected judges to rule on every aspect of life in the U.S.

Some of the more recent cases in front of the Supreme Court show just how powerful the government has become.

The Janus decision was based on people being forced, by the state and local governments as a matter of law, to pay union dues even if they didn’t want to or agree with the political message or even if they were not a member of the union.

The Obamacare decision was a case of big government getting involved in the lives of people, by forcing every American to purchase a product. The court rewrote the law to make that decision work.

In the Masterpiece cake decision, big government was once again forcing American citizens to do something against their will before that was overturned to uphold First Amendment rights to the freedom of religion.

All the most recent cases that riled people up had one thing in common, big government forcing people to act against their wishes.

It can also be argued President Trump owes his election to the power of the Supreme Court. Many conservatives were not keen on voting for Trump in the election, but the idea of Hillary Clinton picking a Justice frightened them to the polls. One of the smartest political moves in history was for President Trump to publish a list of possible nominees to fill the vacant seat.

If government wasn’t so big, thereby making SCOTUS that much more important, maybe many conservatives would have stayed home on election day.

As everyone continues to lose their minds over the retirement of Justice Kennedy, they must ask themselves one question. Why is the most important issue in your life a judge? If Congress and the American people want to stop having heart attacks over the Supreme Court, quit giving government issues that make it to the court.

Printus LeBlanc is a contributing editor at Americans for Limited Government.