Interesting Items

1. The People created the federal government to be their agent for
certain enumerated purposes only. The Constitutional ratifying
structure was created so it would be clear that it was the People, and
not the States, that were doing the ratifying.

2. The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as
being that which has been delegated by the people to the federal
government, and also that which is absolutely necessary to advancing those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution of the United States. The rest is to be handled by the state governments, or locally, by the people themselves.

3. The Constitution does not include a congressional power to
override state laws. It does not give the judicial branch unlimited
jurisdiction over all matters. It does not provide Congress with the
power to legislate over everything. This is verified by the simple fact
that attempts to make these principles part of the Constitution were
soundly rejected by its signers.

4. If the Congress had been intended to carry out anything they
claim would promote the “general welfare,” what would be the point of
listing its specific powers in Article I, Section 8, since these
would’ve already been covered?

5. James Madison, during the Constitutional ratification process,
drafted the “Virginia Plan” to give Congress general legislative
authority and to empower the national judiciary to hear any case that
might cause friction among the states, to give the congress a veto over
state laws, to empower the national government to use the military
against the states, and to eliminate the states’ accustomed role in
selecting members of Congress. Each one of these proposals was soundly
defeated. In fact, Madison made many more attempts to authorize a
national veto over state laws, and these were repeatedly defeated as
well.

6. The Tenth Amendment was adopted after the Constitutional
ratification process to emphasize the fact that the states remained
individual and unique sovereignties; that they were empowered in areas
that the Constitution did not delegate to the federal government. With
this in mind, any federal attempt to legislate beyond the
Constitutional limits of Congress’ authority is a usurpation of state
sovereignty – and unconstitutional.

7. Tragically, the Tenth Amendment has become almost a nullity at
this point in our history, but there are a great many reasons to bring
it to the forefront. Most importantly, though, we must keep in mind
that the Founders envisioned a loose confederation of states – not a
one-size-fits-all solution for everything that could arise. Why? The
simple answer lies in the fact that they had just escaped the tyranny
of a king who thought he knew best how to govern everything – including
local colonies from across an ocean.

8. Governments and political leaders are best held accountable to
the will of the people when government is local. Second, the people of
a state know what is best for them; they do not need bureaucrats,
potentially thousands of miles away, governing their lives. Think about
it. If Hitler had ruled just Berlin and Stalin had ruled just Moscow,
the whole world might be a different place today.

9. A constitution which does not provide strict limits is just the
thing any government would be thrilled to have, for, as Lord Acton once
said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

10. We agree with historian Kevin Gutzman, who has said that those
who would give us a “living” Constitution are actually giving us a dead
one, since such a thing is completely unable to protect us against the
encroachments of government power.

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