The Role of Government

                Today I want to reflect on a couple of thoughts that have been kicking around in my head since this last election season.  I want to talk about states’ rights.  I find it interesting that President Lincoln has become such a fascination for many Americans.  He was President during a time when America was highly divided and suffered a Civil War.  Our nation is highly divided today with the right and the left appearing so uncompromising with each other.  It’s probably natural that we would think back to him given the context.

                Now, what is uniquely interesting to me and is the source of much of my contemplation is that, in broad terms, the political party most supporting of a small federal government is perceived as largely against individual freedom.  The Republican party is perceived as pretty much anti-everything.  The Democrats are considered as pro-individual and yet they are also considered the big government party. 

 

I pose this question.  Do we realize this is exactly the opposite of the thought process that founded our nation?  I am not an expert on Constitutional Law but I want to talk about the 10^th Amendment.  Does anyone remember the last amendment to our Bill of Rights?  It says:

 

“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.”

                What does that mean?  It means our nation is not America, it is the United States of America.  Thirteen colonies came together and agreed to a common government, a representative republic, where the states maintained their autonomy, had their own constitutions, their own governors, and passed their own laws, but would create between them a federal government that would operate under delegated authority.  That means the federal government of the United States only has the powers given to it by the states.  It has no power of its own.

                We often have this reversed today.  Most people believe the states only have powers given to them by the federal government but that is not how our nation was formed nor was it ever the intent of our founders.  The constitution spelled out exactly what powers were given to the federal government.  Do you know what they are?  They are surprisingly limited and targeted.  They are:

 

·         Print money (bills and coins)

·         Regulate commerce between states and international trade

·         Establish post offices and issue postage

·         Establish an army and navy

·         Declare war

·         Enter into treaties with foreign governments

·         Make laws necessary to enforce the Constitution

 

                In a very real way our federal government’s authority is restricted to commerce and diplomacy.  Individual states do not print their own money or make their own foreign policy or declare their own wars.  The United States of America print a single currency, make a single treaty, and enter war together.  That is it.  That was the original scope of federal authority.  All other governing powers are maintained by the states.  This is what I am talking about when I say small government.  I want to return to a model where citizens were concerned their central government would become too powerful. 

Our Constitution separates federal authority into three branches and provides checks and balances specifically to limit federal control.  Our Constitution provides for free speech specifically so the government can’t prevent it.  Our Constitution provides freedom of religion so the government can’t prevent it.  Our Constitution provides the right to bear arms, to form a militia, protection from search and seizure, and all the other freedoms we have as a people specifically to protect the dignity of the individual and to restrict the powers of the government.  This is the heartbeat of the founding of our nation.  Reducing the government provided for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  By definition in places when the government is big the individual must be small.

This is what I mean by our thinking being reversed.  Today most people looking for social freedom and acceptance are expecting the government to make it happen for them.  In a rather odd reversal most people who are fans of big government would reduce defense spending.  The establishing of a military is one of the few explicitly given federal powers yet most big government proponents would reduce military spending and fund social programs instead.

 

                I don’t really have answers to these questions but I want to bring them up.  How did we get so reversed about what the role of government is?   These thoughts are beyond me but they are worth thinking.  This issue of federal authority verse state authority has several current applications for today.  If you want some further thinking or reading consider looking up some of the following.

·         One of the powers reserved by the states is the issuing of licenses.  This is why some states can approve gay marriage while others don’t.  It is a state issue explicitly.  It’s also why parts of the federal Brady Bill for gun control were struck down the by the Supreme Court.  States make licenses and the federal government can’t regulate arms bearing.

·         Electoral voting represents the autonomy and authority of the state.  Switching to a popular vote removes the state from the federal process and makes them voiceless.

·         During the Great Depression Congress passed the Commerce Act which greatly increased Federal power under an expanded role of the original power to regulate inter-state commerce to try and get out of the Depression.  This act, more than anything else, is the root of “big government” today.  In fact, several states challenged “Obamacare” as unconstitutional and overstepping federal authority.  The Supreme Court upheld the law based on interpretation of the Commerce Act.  Had the Commerce Act never passed many federal programs today could not exist.