10th Amendment—Then and Now

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.

As the last of my “Then and Now” series, the 10^th Amendment was probably, by far, the most important amendment to the Founding Fathers. Having just gotten out from under the thumb of big government tyranny, they clearly understood human foibles and feared big government.

This provision in the Bill of Rights was an effort to short circuit the ability to create big government. It also served as a warning to their descendants about the dangers of big government. Like other provisions of the Bill of Rights, it worked quite well for about 140 years.

Then, in the 1930s, when the liberal progressives (aka socialists or communists) first infiltrated the United States government during the Roosevelt administration, the seeds were planted for the destruction of the 10^th Amendment, the Constitution, and America as a whole. It is well understood that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Well, the first of what has been sold as a good intention was this monster called Social Security. The initial idea seemed like a good idea, but in reality it was the first big program for government to take responsibility for control of a small portion of every American citizen’s life. Sadly, it kept getting worse as time went on.

"Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." ~ James Madison

"In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will." ~ Alexander Hamilton

Social Security was the first baby step in the expansion of the United States federal government, and for the next 90 years, more seeming-like good intentions have done nothing other than expand government and demonstrate that nearly everything the federal government touches, that are beyond the enumerated powers of the Constitution, gets totally screwed up. None of the pavers for the road to Hell have accomplished what they were designed to do. The government just keeps pouring more and more taxpayer dollars into growing government to fix the unfixable. Shame on the American taxpayers for allowing this to go on and on and on. What am I talking about?

The following activities were not enumerated activities for the federal government in the United States Constitution. The federal government unconstitutionally usurped these, and many more, activities which make fine, fine pavers on the road to Hell.

The “War on Poverty” initiated in the 1960s that demonstrates James Madison’s concerns. There is more poverty in America in 2024 than there was in 1965. Failed! Not an enumerated power of the federal government. But it does allow the government to control many people’s subsistence as feared by Alexander Hamilton.

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Then there is the “War on Drugs” initiated in the 1970s. Like poverty, there is a bigger drug problem in America in 2024 than there was in 1970. Failed! Another power not enumerated in the Constitution.

Then the federal government first usurped control of education from the states in the 1970s, then the Department of Education was formalized in May of 1980. This is also not an enumerated power of the federal government. The results are so dismal that as Americans we should be embarrassed because in 1965 America was the number one ranked nation for education in the whole world and in 2024, America is ranked 28^th or 29^th depending on which data you wish to consider. Worse yet, America spends more money per student than any other nation. This failed system grants nearly total control of education to federal government corruptocrats. Another supposedly good intention that is nothing more than a very expensive paver on the road to Hell.

I could go on and on with things like health care, National Public Radio, the National Endowment for the Arts, and literally hundreds of other things that have done nothing but give up too much control over the lives of every person living in America. These were bad decisions made over the last 90 years that have only given too much control to the massive disaster of a government that clearly can’t handle it. 

The perpetual answer to the failures of these bloated government programs is always just more taxpayer money. At the time of this writing, every citizen reading this owns a $102,997 portion of the national debt, but it is $266,951 if you are a taxpayer. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over, doesn’t it?

The federal government is way over its head doing things poorly that should be done by the states or the people, in accordance with the 10^th Amendment of the United States Constitution. It doesn’t take much imagination to guess what the Founding Fathers might think about this situation.

What do you think about the Bill of Rights when you consider the impact they had in 1787 and the ugly reality of the impact they have in 2024? You might find it interesting to reread the Declaration of Independence, especially the list of grievances the founders had against King George. Which of these grievances of the people then might We the People now apply to the current United States government?

"A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored.” ~ John Adams

“Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." ~ John Adams

For more about state’s rights, check out A. Dru Kristenev’s CFP article: States Halt Illegal Entry

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