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"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

Nowhere in the Constitution is the principle of limited government more focused than in that rarely discussed amendment of the Bill of Rights: Amendment IX. But this "forgotten" amendment is one that makes evident the underlying basis of the highest law of our land."

Hooray, someone else has found the Ninth Amendment. 90% of my posted replies in this forum, refer to the Ninth Amendment and the Fifth Amendment, as the claim of no jurisidiction or constitutional power of proposed and enacted federal, state, and local laws.

Let us list some of those "retained" rights that are denied or disparaged:

--to consume the chemical of your choice --to not wear a seatbelt --drive an automobile while consuming an alcoholic beverage --hating someone and saying it out loud --loving someone and saying it out loud --to be assisted in suicide --not to be searched by government personnel before boarding an aircraft --raise your children as you see fit --not to send your children to public schools or any school for that matter --to refuse to rent, sell, serve, or allow anyone for whatever reason, race, religion, color of skin, height, weight, sexual orientation, in a private place of business

the list can go on and on and on.

For those of you who think the "commerce clause" gives Congress the "power" to prohibit some or all of the above, consider the following:

For arguments sake, I will accept the claim that Art I, Section 8, Clause 3, gives the Congress the power to regulate commerce between individuals across state lines, but also remember those regulations must not violate the rights enumerated in several amendments, and those rights that are not enumerated in the ninth amendment.

For example, Congress may wish to regulate the content of what the press can print. Well, Congress may have that power and jurisdiction to regulate a place of business emanating from the commerce clause, but Congress cannot regulate the content of what the press can print because of the enumerated, unalienable right of Amendment I.