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.
U.S. Constitution, Amendment X
While researching the Tenth Amendment, I wanted to get an idea of just how many powers not delegated to the federal government they were exercising. I went to the website “A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies” and started doing some calculations. This websites lists 659 U.S. government departments and agencies. A little more research also found that this list included all 50 states, six territories, two houses of Congress, five courts, and 53 duplicate agencies. Removing those duplicate, non-agencies entities leaves us with 537 departments and agencies in the federal government. Using somewhat generous definitions, I found 49 agencies where I could find a delegated power in the Constitution. So, if any power not delegated to the United States remain with the states or the people, that means that more than 90% of federal departments and agencies are unconstitutional and therefore illegal. Imagine how much less painful April 15th would be if the IRS only took from us the money needed to do the work the federal government was authorized to do? Then imagine how much easier life would be if we didn’t have to spend it stumbling over these federal agencies that have neither a legal nor legitimate reason for being.
The fact that the list of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies included the state really bothers me. First I thought, “How stupid. Can’t the government get an accurate count of its own departments and agencies?” Then it dawned on me: The federal government orders how the states draw up their Congressional districts, how to spend their education money, what environmental and licensing laws they can have, and on and on. Which means the federal government treats the states as if they were departments of itself! And since the states long ago abandoned standing up for their own sovereignty, why wouldn’t the feds treat them like colonies rather than states?
Why is this so important? Because if we don’t understand the Constitution, we believe that politicians are exercising a legal authority when they pass legislation that violates the Tenth Amendment. We accept it, and then maybe even expect it, when our state representatives genuflect to the federal government rather than standing up for the rights of their citizens.
So, if you want to get money out of politics, if you want to get Washington under control, and if you want to return control of the federal government to the states and the people, you must first understand the limitations placed on that government and be willing to hold all our elected representatives accountable to enforce it.
