The best way to look at The US Constitution is as if it is a rule book for the government. It lists all of the functions of the government and what their responsibilities are. The 10th Amendment explains that anything the federal government is not supposed to do will be left to the states to decide. If we compare the current United States government to The US Constitution, we can find many areas that the government should not be involved in. If we had a small federal government, the politicians wouldn't be able to sell their power to the corporations.
The 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution clearly states:
"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".
Lobbyists
Wrong Issues
To me, one of the biggest issues is when we see presidential candidates debating. Politicians usually argue over subjects they shouldn't have the power to regulate. Things like social security, welfare, abortion, drug legalization, etc. should not be recognized because The Constitution does not list these as responsibilities. The founding fathers specifically added the 10th Amendment so the federal government couldn't become a bureaucracy.
The Results
We can see the effects of big bureaucracies today. The federal government is so big today and they regulate the most important areas of the economy; healthcare, education, agriculture, energy, and much more. When we allow politicians to regulate, they are not passing laws that benefit the people. The lobbyists write the regulations and pay the politicians to pass it into law. You cannot stop this from happening without having a small government. As long as we grant politicians endless power, they will continue to sell it.
States Rights
There are many benefits when we leave the hard issues up to the states. Local communities have way more control over the lifestyle they would like for themselves. For example, marijuana is illegal federally, yet multiple states have written their own laws and regulations legalizing it. Parents would have more control over their child's education at the state level. When we have a Department of Education, the education is one-sided and there is no competition. You have to learn what "The State" wants you to learn, they like to call them "Standards". When we leave these decisions up to the federal government, they tend to control our lives in every aspect and we end up losing freedoms.
Constitutional Amendment
Welfare
The federal government decided to provide loans to students so they could go to college. It sounds like a great idea, but they have to print the money to do it. Printing money causes inflation especially in the areas the government sends it. That is why tuition costs are so high because colleges know the government is giving huge loans. If we took these loans away colleges would have no choice but to lower their tuition, otherwise, students would not be able to afford to go. Ron Paul always made the point that he was able to work a summer job and pay for college when he was younger.
Medicine
The Food and Drug administration is another bureaucracy looming over our shoulders. If we allowed the states to determine what medicine to use, we would all be much healthy. The reason being is each state may take a different approach to medicine and some could work better than others. The states would be able to learn from each other. There are so many unhealthy drugs that the FDA approves, yet safe and effective ones never get approved. It keeps going back to the lobbyists too. The pharmaceutical companies write the regulations and pay to have their drugs approved. It is a flawed system and the federal government should have never been given this authority.
“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."
Thomas Jefferson
Super Congress
Control
The 10th amendment is one of the most important ones. People are confused, they believe that the government needs more control, when really they are the reasons the economy is so bad. The founders had a lot of insight and unfortunately we have lost their vision over the years. That is what happens when you allow the federal government to control education, they stop teaching you the important lessons that history has left for us. Marijuana may have never been made illegal if we didn't grant the government unnecessary power. There were many industries that would have been born with the industrial use of hemp. Hopefully, we will be able to find our way back to our roots, but it looks like we are too far gone at this point.
