wayweird

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” ~ Thomas Paine

“That government is best which governs least.” ~ Thomas Paine

It seems Mr. Paine and I see things the same way. We both hold to the concept of “enumerated and separated powers,” which means two things:

1. That all powers of the federal government not enumerated in the Constitution, are assumed not to exist.
2. That the executive, legislative, and judicial branches are each authorized to exercise only those powers designated by the Constitution and no others.

The harsh realties of this world demand that we have a strong central government to impose civil order, protect us from foreign invaders, and secure individual rights. Yet at the same time its powers must be strictly limited to ensure that government itself does not trample on our rights.

The essence of this philosophy (and the essential structure of our federal system) is captured in the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the Constitution. The Ninth Amendment addresses individual rights. It states that “the enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The tenth addresses federal powers. It tells us that the national government may exercise only those powers enumerated in the Constitution - such as the power to coin money and raise armies. The powers that are not specifically enumerated are reserved to the states or, depending on state law the people.

In other words no matter how worthy a goal may be, if there is no constitutional authority to pursue it, then the federal government must back away and leave the matter to the states or private parties.

Additionally, the Ninth Amendments unenumerated rights include all the rights associated with individual liberty with two big constraints:

1. Our exercise of such rights must not interfere with exercise of those same rights by others - basically your rights end where my nose begins.
2. We may not impose obligations on others - except their obligation not to use force or fraud against us. My rights end where your nose begins.

Once we ignore this we are on the road to slavery and tyranny.

Unfortunately, we began our departure from this system with Roosevelt’s New Deal and it appears we will continue racing away from it with Obama and company.

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