By what authority?

It’s the lost amendment in today’s political thought, the one that is ignored by politicians when it is inconvenient as well by the public at large; but it is also one of the most important amendments we have in this countries constitution. I am referring to the 10^th Amendment which reads as follows…

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.

What does this mean? What is means is that the federal government’s power is limited to the duties prescribed to it by the constitution of the United States and that any authority not given it is to be delegated to the several states and the nation’s citizens. This is a beautiful amendment, for it limits the power of the government only to what is written in the constitution and no more.

I would love to see the government show me the constitutional justification for half the things they do. For instance, what justification is there for the war on drugs, or the “legal plundering” of people’s wealth to benefit the needs of others? What constitutional authority is given to the US government to give out welfare, or bail out incompetent businesses such as the airline industry?

I call for the next president of the United States to require congress to show what constitutional authority they posses for whatever bill they are trying to pass, and to veto any bill which overstretches their constitutional power. What are the powers of congress? Read Article 1 of the constitution, and pay extra attention to section 8. There you will find the powers of congress spelled out pretty well and straight forward. Nowhere will you find a justification for the drug war, nor for the countless welfare programs and corporate handouts they approve.

Now some of you will point to the general welfare clause as proof that congress has the right to take money away from Jo Blow and give it to John Dough. What this amounts to, in the end, is the complete disregard of the constitution. Anything could potentially be justified as “promoting the general welfare,” but if this is what our founding fathers intended when they wrote the constitution why would they bother detailing the powers of the government? If we are to interpret the “general welfare” clause as an open invitation for the government to do whatever it wants, why bother having a constitution in the first place? We might as well ignore it completely.

Now understand that if the federal government does not provide welfare for its people that does not mean that the states may not do so. I’m sure that if welfare were to end then several states would create own programs. Although I’d be against the passing of any such welfare programs in my own state, it is the right of the states to enact welfare if they so desire and if the people were to want it. Stats also have the right to criminalize drug use if they so desire, although once again I’d be against it. At least the power to make such decisions would rest in the hands of the several states, where it’s easier to enact change and negative consequences do not affect the entire nation.

Our government does not seem to respect the constitution, do you?