Sweet Seventeen
The Founding Fathers’ original intent was to preserve the sovereignty of the states. They limited the federal government to 17 powers, as enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.
The Tenth Amendment defines the boundaries between federal and state authority. Its plain text is unambiguous.
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. – Amendment X
Thus, the name is the United States of America. The Union began with only 13 states; today, there are 50.
Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution defines the process for amending the Constitution. The Supremacy Clause in Article 6 does not limit the amendment process.
There have been good amendments—the Bill of Rights and the first ten amendments, for example—but there have also been bad amendments.
Clint Eastwood would appreciate the use of the phrase “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
The 18th Amendment prohibited alcoholic beverages. This was a bad amendment. It left us in a decade of low taxes and extraordinary criminal activities. These activities nearly wrecked the nation. The regulation of alcoholic beverages is not among the federal government’s enumerated powers. Consequently, the federal bureaucracy expanded. It flourished into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).
The enumerated powers do not include regulation of alcohol, tobacco, or firearms. As per the 10th Amendment, these powers are reserved for the states.
The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment, but the federal bureaucracy’s heavy hand is more significant than ever. One egregious abuse was the “Fast and Furious Operation,” conducted under AG Eric Holder’s watchful eye. The Obama administration withheld the delivery of pertinent documents to Congress for four years.
Lessons Learned
Erudite men and women reside in Rockwall County. There are lawyers, teachers, business owners, engineers, bankers, and other top specialists who excel in their respective endeavors. Which of these leaders read and study the Declaration of Independence and the Federal and State constitutions?
The wisdom of the Bible teaches, “Study to show yourself approved by God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
For Further Study
- U.S. Constitution.net—18th & 21st Amendments Evolution
- Police1.com—Looking at casualties from ‘Fast and Furious’
- The Death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry
- Congressional Research Service 5/12/2021—Congress’s Authority to Influence and Control Executive Branch Agencies
- Federalist No. 66—”So far as might concern the misbehavior of the Executive in perverting the instructions or contravening the views of the Senate, we need not be apprehensive of the want of a disposition in that body to punish the abuse of their confidence or to vindicate their own authority.“
John N. White 