SWITCHING SIDES ON STATES' RIGHTS

12/12/04 | Jim Puzzanghera

[jonestown]

"Traditional labels no longer apply in the nation's new political environment, for a simple reason:

Whichever party holds sway in Washington finds it difficult to resist the opportunity to use federal power to impose its policy views on the nation.
The minority party, in turn, retreats to defending states' rights as a way to blunt the spread of those policies."

[Veritas et equitas ad Votum]

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain.” Thomas Jefferson

[EagleUSA]

"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 Tenth Amendment -- the last in sequence of the Bill of Rights, which comprises the first ten amenedments to our great Constitution. Most of us who are old enough to have been taught history (the good old days when schools actually taught something) --- know how this topic has been bashed, bantered, and raped through the years -- add Lincoln's antics, etc. Is the Tenth dead???

[jonestown]

The 'natural progress' of ignoring our Constitutional restrictions on governments must be stopped.

[bigsigh]

power is the ultimate drug and federal the ultimate power.

[Arkinsaw]

I love Scalia and his philosophy dearly. But he does have a blind spot on certain issues. You can't just turn States Rights on and off to suit your particular purpose. I don't like prostitution and gambling, but I don't live and pay taxes in Nevada so its none of my business.

I wouldn't appreciate a liberal judge born in Massachussetts interfering with my State's hunting regulations because he doesn't like guns. It works both ways.

[RightWhale]

power is the ultimate drug and federal the ultimate power.

Something that we Americans do is to confuse the gov't with the state. In Europe they don't have that blindness. The State is much more than the gov't. The ultimate power does not reside in the Fed Gov't, but in the whole system. View the press and the military as additional organs of the State and the bureaucracy and security as additional branches of the gov't and you begin to see the situation. Security could be seen as State rather than Gov't, but that is the idea. Where do corporate industries live? State or Gov't?

[jonestown]

Many people of both parties wish the Tenth was dead.


Apparently, they would like it to read:

'The powers delegated to the United States by the Constitution are unlimited, or, if delegated by it to the States, are reserved by the States to control the people.'

[bigsigh]

point to you

[jonestown]

power is the ultimate drug and federal the ultimate power.

6 bigsigh

---

Power trips are not limited to the feds. Many state & local officals are hooked bad on the ultimate drug.

[InterceptPoint]

I'm starting to rethink my support for Scalia for Chief Justice. Surely states rights should triumph in this case.

[PISANO]

Is the Tenth dead???

Sadly, yes!

[jonestown]

Arkinsaw wrote:

You can't just turn States Rights on and off to suit your particular purpose.

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Exactly.
-- Wise words need repeating.

And, States 'rights' are to be as feared as federal powers.

[bigsigh]

You're taking my comment way to literally and since you are, it does not exclude power grabs by other levels of government.

Have the last word, this is way too much time on that simple phrase.

[jonestown]

Javelina wrote:
Yet one more reason for a divided government.

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Yet more reason for a more divided political process.