2010 Federalist. No. 13, States’ Rights

2010 Federalist. No. 13, States’ Rights


Article. 1., Section. 3. of the Constitution establishes how the Senate is to be established and chosen. There are several things very important here.

1. Each State gets 2, and they were to be chosen by the legislature of each state, not directly elected by the people.
2. They are elected for 6 years. One-third of the Senate is elected each 2 years causing the terms of all the Senate to be overlapping. If vacancies happen, the governor of the state shall appoint an interim Senator until the legislature convenes and can elect a replacement.
3. The Vice-President of the United States is the President of the Senate, but he cannot vote unless there is a deadlock because of a tie vote.
4. No politcal party was mentioned. No retirement benefits were mentioned.

Secton. 7. establises that all bills raising Revenue shall originate in the House.

Section. 8. lists the things that Congress has the power to do.

Section. 9. lists all the things Congress cannot do.

Section. 10. lists all the things States cannot do.

The first 10 Amendments are called the Bill of Rights. They list the rights, those things handed down from God, not created by government or handed down from government, directly to the people and the states. These rights are not to be violated by the federal government. All ten were considered and ratified together as a single document. They form the basic set of personal rights that are not to be denied citizens under any circumstances.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

In other words, those rights listed here may not be the only rights and just because they are not listed here, does not mean they are not present or can be usurped by the federal government.

Amendment X

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.

In other words, if the power to do something was not spelled out in the Constitution as belonging to the United States, and not prohibited by the Constitution to the individual States, they are reserved for the States or to the people. The United States has only those powers specifically granted by the Constitution, no others. In all other circumstances, the States or the People are supreme. This is the paragraph that establishes States’ Rights. Notice that the default is to the States, not to the federal government.

The Constitution establishes Congress first, before the Executive or Judicial branch. It does this because it intends for Congress to be the most important of all three branches and for a very good reason. Congress is responsible directly to the people and the states. And the authority of the people and the States are to be protected. Remember the Preamble and We the People.

Why are States’ rights important? Why do they need to be protected? In Federalist. No. 45, James Madison wrote:

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.

But since that writing, things have changed. Notice that the Senate was to be elected by the State Legislatures, not directly by the people. The 17th Amendment changed that.

17th Amendment

Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.

Note: Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

Some reasons why it passed were listed as an attempt to get the government closer to the people, some consecutive state legislatures sent different Senators to Congress and the local elections were questionable due to bribery and corruption. It created some immediate problems. The candidates now had hundreds of thousands or millions of constituents, campaign finances became an issue and larger staffs were needed both at home and in Washington.

Today, States’ Rights and the loss of status of States to the federal government is a common discussion point because it is a huge problem. The federal govenrment has found a new way to make themselves heroes while leaving all the onorous tasks of collecting taxes and enforcing unpopular laws to the States. This is called Unfunded Mandates. They Mandate that States and other local govenments like school districts and Cities do something, but they leave it to the States to set up the bureaucracies, implement the laws, and pay for the whole mess. They do this under the commerce clause in Article. 1. Section. 8. of the Constitution. See the partial list below as of 2004 totaling nearly $30 billion dollars. It is much worse today. From the Free Library:

THE 8 WORST OFFENDERS

Minimum

FY 2004 Gap (in millions)

Individuals with Disabilities $10,087

Education Act (IDEA)

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 9,600

State Drug Costs for 6,000

Dual-Eligibles

Help America Vote Act (HAVA) 2,400

Environment 1,000

State Criminal Alien 350

Assistance Program (SCAAP)

Food Stamps 197

Transportation Sanctions 19


Total $29,303

Source: www.ncsl.org/programs/press/2004/pr040310.htm

THE COST TO THE STATES OF SELECTED * UNFUNDED FEDERAL MANDATES

State Total State Gap (FY 2004 in millions)

Alabama $359

Alaska 69

Arizona 332

Arkansas 219

California 3,160

Colorado 302

Connecticut 309

Delaware 72

D.C. 62

Florida 1,425

Georgia 650

Hawaii 82

Idaho 91

Illinois 1,040

Indiana 480

Iowa 212

Kansas 211

Kentucky 395

Louisiana 421

Maine 125

Maryland 396

Massachusetts 666

Michigan 812

Minnesota 403

Mississippi 282

Missouri 522

Montana 75

Nebraska 141

Nevada 123

New Hampshire 98

New Jersey 743

New Mexico 167

New York 2,191

North Carolina 687

North Dakota 60

Ohio 927

Oklahoma 267

Oregon 273

Pennsylvania 992

Rhode Island 107

South Carolina 344

South Dakota 67

Tennessee 433

Texas 1,830

Utah 152

Vermont 72

Virginia 526

Washington 456

West Virginia 158

Wisconsin 424

Wyoming 57

Total $24,400

* Does not include mandates in environmental programs, SCAAP and some programs authorized in the NCLB Act.

Source: Federal Funds Information for States and the National Conference of State Legislatures, Washington, D.C., March 2004.

Additionally, today, California, Michigan, Ohio and New York are on the verge of bankruptcy, because they have not been frugal or even half smart about how they spend their tax money. When this happens, it will be left to the other States to bail them out. How is this fair or reasonable to those who have not been so lavish with other people’s money? How does this happen? Who in the federal government protects the States? What happened to States’ Rights? Allowing the Senate to be elected directly by the people killed States’ rights. As James Madison stated in Federalist 39,

The Senate, on the other hand, will derive its powers from the States, as political and coequal societies; and these will be represented on the principle of equality in the Senate, as they now are in the existing Congress. So far the government is FEDERAL, not NATIONAL.

Then along came the 17th Amendment, and ever since, States’ Rights have been on the decline. Why is simple. There is no body in the Congress today to protect the states from the federal government. By removing the senators from the oversight by the legislatures, the guardians of States’ Rights were sent home – for good. Who in his right mind, having a large treasure, would summarily dismiss his guards leaving the treasure to be pilfered? The American people did on April 8, 1913. It is easy to understand why the problems listed above seemed insurmountable in 1912. But it is just as easy today to see why they are now easy to control. Open and instant communication is the norm today. If the 17th Amendment were repealed, we would automatically have a complete House of Congress, the Senate, as champions of States’ Rights. There would be no unfunded mandates. We would also fix the other changes mentioned in the excerpt above. Senators would no longer have to cater to hundreds of thousands or millions of individuals with all the emcumbent needs and potential corruption for campaign funds and costs of staffs. Lobbyists for the Senate would be in the various state legislatures, not in Washington, D.C. Senators would be calling home to get direction on votes, not relying on documents prepared by lawyers, lobbyists and staff.

The Senate was to protect the States from the federal government. But we changed that, and today the states have no protective body. The 17th Amendment should be overturned and the election of Senators should be returned to the respective legislatures.

Citizen 2010