coming under the centralized dominancernof a particular interest, faction, orrnregion. Throughout American history, itrnhas been that very feature of the Constitutionrnthat has so profoundly offendedrnand alarmed the legions of those armedrnwith a Better Idea —High Federalists,rnabolitionists. Social Darwinists of thernGilded Age, Wilsonian apostles of thernNew Freedom, Roosevcltian peddlers ofrnthe New Deal, New Frontiersmen, GreatrnSociety social engineers, lunch-counterrnliberators, civil-liberties Stalinists, abortionists,rncommon criminals, and overeducatcdrnfreethinkers who feel oppressedrnbecause someone can read the TenrnGommandments on a school bulletinrnboard. Each and every one of them hasrnsought to gut the dispersion of politicalrnpower promised in the old Gonstitutionrnand tried to get the federates on his or herrnside, usually by wheedling the branch ofrnthe federal government least responsivernto the voters into forcing everybodv elsernto conform to his or her hobbies and obsessions.rnWhat has stood between these platoonsrnof crackpots and crusaders and thernordered way of life most Americans preferrnto follow has not been the presidency,rnthe Supreme Gourt, Gongress, the newsrnmedia, churches, or big business, andrncertainlv not any “conservative movement”rnheadquartered on K Street orrnGapitol Hill. What has resisted themrnhas been the American people themselves,rnorganized and represented in decentralizedrnlocal institutions of governmentrnat the levels of county, town, andrnstate, and their resistance has been overcomernonly when their enemies have capturedrnthe Supreme Gourt and turned itrninto a political weapon to advance theirrnpet causes. If Americans are going to recapturerntheir country, they’ll have to dornso by stripping the Gourt of the powers itrnhas seized under such fictions as the IncorporationrnDoctrine and substantiverndue process, dismantling the Court’s appointmentrnof itself as the “perpetualrncensor upon all legislation of the States”rnthat Justice Miller warned against, andrnpreventing the exploitation of Court andrnGonstitution as the “constructive policymakingrninstruments” into which EadrnWarren transmuted them. So far, thernReagan Revolutionaries and their taxexemptrnallies in the Beltwa}- Right havernshown little capacity to accomplish thatrncounterrevolution and precious little interestrnin even trying.rnTHE WISDOM OF THE PLANNED GIFTrnThere are many ways to give to educational and charitable organizations such asrnThe Rockford Institute, publisher of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. Most people make directrngifts, which result in a “charitable deduction” from their taxable incomes.rnAnother option is to establish a Charitable Remainder Trust. Assume, for example, that a person boughtrnstock years ago at a cost of $20,000 that is now worth $50,000 and pays 3 percent in dividends. One way tornlock in the current value, avoid capital gains tax, and derive more income would be to create a CharitablernRemainder Unitrust. Pay-out percentages could be set at from 5 percent to 8 percent, and the funds placed inrnsecure income-producing investments. If the trust earns more than the agreed pay-out, the additional money isrnadded to the trust so that its size increases. Upon the death of the donor or his beneficiary, the trust wouldrnbecome the property of the Institute or other charities of the donor’s choice. Estate taxes are eliminated andrnthere is a sizable charitable deduction in the year the trust is established. The amount of the charitablerndeduction depends on the age of the donor and the income retained.rnMichael Warder, Legacy Program, The Rockford Institute, 934 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 61103rn12/CHRONICLESrnrnrn