Brushfire of Freedom
The Armory
Note: Originally published at Brushfire Sparks on July 14th, 2009.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The final amendment to the Bill of Rights is another amendment designed to prevent the overly strict interpretation of the rights enumerated in the Constitution. A modern version of the tenth might read, “Rights not given temporarily to the federal government by the Constitution are held by the States individually, and those rights specifically not temporarily granted to the States by the Constitution are held by the people.” It means that even if you temporarily assign your rights to a State entity, say the police department, you still do not surrender these rights. It means you have the right to defend your personal property even if you have a local police force who does it for you most of the time.
The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America have always had certain rights that the federal government may not usurp. Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution says, "The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government.....", and the Ninth Amendment states that..."The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people". These two passages, among others, ensure that the rights with whic
h we have been endowed remain our rights.
We have most recently seen the tenth in the news in the context of State Sovereignty resolutions. Oklahoma, Texas, and others have all passed these resolutions to prevent federal mandates form being enforced against the will of the people of their states. It is not officially a step toward leaving the union, but it does send a clear message to the Feds that that state will not have laws enforced within its borders that do not align with the will of the people in that state. The tenth is the biggest banner we have that clearly states the government is of, by, and for the People.
The recent passages by Texas and Oklahoma are not the first time states have asserted their sovereignty. This happened in the case New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992). The federal government was attempting to mandate that the State of New York accept radioactive waste for disposal. New York pleaded they were exempt from the mandate under the Tenth Amendment and the court affirmed the Tenth Amendment protection. Thus, by having proclaimed sovereignty, a state is in the position to select those mandates they will follow, now by choice, not by edict. In some cases the Feds may then establish sanctions against the state, which has been something of a common practice in recent years. An example here would be the withholding of federal highway funds if a sate refused to set 55 MPH speed limits on highways and roads. Montana got around this by establishing the limits, but only enforcing the limit through a $5.00 “environmental protection” fine that could be paid to the officer at the time of the “arrest”.
Since the days of FDR, the tenth amendment has been largely ignored by the people. It’s not ass flashy as “freedom of speech” or “the right to bare arms”. As a result, the federal government is now doing all kinds of things that the constitution does not authorize it to do.
The National Endowment for the Arts - Nowhere does the Constitution say that the federal government is to sponsor the arts.
Medicare and “Obamacare” - The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to get into the medical insurance business so, according to the tenth amendment, the federal government should stay out of it.
Social Security - The biggest “Ponzi” scheme in America today. If you think Madoff was bad, you should see this monster. Aside from that, it is a retirement program, something not designated as a Federal responsibility, therefor it is forbidden by the tenth.
The Department of Education - Education is not the business of the federal government. Aside from the fact that since it was established in 1979 (Jimmy Carter), the Dept. of Ed has overseen the absolute collapse of the American education system, the existence of the department is unconstitutional.
At this point many of my Liberal friends have become somewhat apoplectic, choking out the words “general welfare” with nearly every breath. The whole “general welfare” argument is the fall back for Statists who believe that a big federal government is the path to American success. The Founders would strongly disagree with that position:
"Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated." - Thomas Jefferson
“Our peculiar security is in the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction." --Thomas Jefferson to Wilson Nicholas
"With respect to the two words 'general welfare,' I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators." - James Madison
The Constitution was not written to give the federal government unlimited power over the nation. Further, the Bill of Rights was included to ensure that the rights of the people were clearly understood, and well protected from the government. To assume that the government has unlimited power to ensure “general welfare” is to assume that all other aspects of the Constitution is null and void, including the tenth amendment.
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