Politics 2008:The Caucuses and The Dem/Rep Conventions

[KAPital PHINUst]

Originally Posted by SummerChild

KPN,
Why are people so much more comfortable with the *state* or the *local government* controlling them than the *federal government*?

Good question, though one item I would like to clear up:

It is not a matter of the people being "controlled" by any governmental entity, but rather a proper and proportional balance of power by all parties involved: the people, the state, and the federal government.

All Articles of the Constitution addresses the roles and powers of the Federal Government, while and the first 8 of the 10 Bills of Rights addresses the means by which the federal government exercises its powers. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments by default relegates any powers not addressed previously in the Constitution to the people (Ninth Amendment) or to the States (Tenth Amendment).

Now as far as people being controlled by the State, if the State infringes on a person's rights or if the person has a grievance with the State, this is where the Eleventh Amendment supposedly comes into play. A citizen can sue the State in Federal court. A state does not have soverign immunity in such actions.

Ideally, the Federal government was intended to serve as a mediator between the people and the state, allowing the States to govern themselves accordingly while allowing the people life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I am oversimplifying this for the sake of brevity, but my point was that the federal government was NEVER intended to serve its own interests over that of its people or outside of the powers originally allowed to it by the United States Constitution, but was to serve at the pleasure of its people and to serve as referee between the people and the State, using the Constitution as a guide.

I have never understood this. What is the difference between the feds being in control and the states being in control? Does having the state be in control make you feel more comfortable? Why?

Because when you govern using the Constitution as a guide, you have a strong system of checks and balances instead of the rogue legislation practices and a string of un-Constitutional acts and executive orders, as you see now.