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Re: Constitutional Law: "To Provide for the Common Defense and General Welfare"
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Originally Posted by TSGracchus
The Constitution was designed to expand and strengthen the central government, not to limit it. The central government was a lot more limited under the Articles of Confederation, so if the goal were to limit it nothing needed to be done. This is not to say there are no limits, only that the idea that the primary focus of the Constitution is to limit the central government is completely backwards.
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False argument. Just because the government was once expanded does not mean that it should always be expanded. Saying so is a false belief. Furthermore, the founders believed that the government should have the power it needs but no more than what it needs. The Articles of Confederation did not grant it what it needed but the founders were very cautious about how much power they gave the federal government and limited it with this amendment.
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Originally Posted by 10th Amendment to the Constitution
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.
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Originally Posted by TSGracchus
This is true, but what was delegated to the federal government included an awful lot, so to say that "everything else" is the province of the states or the people isn't saying as much as you suppose.
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No it doesn't. Consider:
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Originally Posted by James Madison
The powers delegated to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite.
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The man called the "Father of the Constitution" states that the federal governments powers are "few and defined". Your argument flies smack in the face of his and, frankly, I'm inclined to believe him.
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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, ... That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,"
-Declaration of Independence
Two truths that many Americans seem to have forgotten:
1. Men are endowed by God with inalienable rights.
2. Government's purpose is to secure man's God-given rights.
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