States Rights Question

[KramerDSP]

A friend of mine wrote that regarding States Rights, "we already tried that" with the Articles of Confederation and that the country "almost fell apart". I thought I'd post this as a thread to point me in the right direction for a rebuttal. I must admit this is not an area where I am well versed within, but I was certain some folks at RPF would have their opinions on this.

[Matt Collins]

Governments don't have rights, only powers (contrary to what the Constitution says).

[muzzled dogg]

Governments don't have rights, only powers (contrary to what the Constitution says).

lol who is it that always stresses this i forget

vieira? tim baldwin? nepalitano?

[Vessol]

lol who is it that always stresses this i forget

vieira? tim baldwin? nepalitano?

The 10th Amendment?

[muzzled dogg]

The 10th Amendment?

no, specifically that states do not have rights

some constitutional scholar always stresses that

[Vessol]

'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.'

[muzzled dogg]

'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.'

/me yawns

[.Tom]

States don't have rights. Individuals have rights.

/thread

[RonPaulCult]

Tell your friend to read the federalist papers. There are certain roles a central government should have - like the common defense of all states. But for the most part, people at that time believed strongly in having a small federal government and the founders only gave a few powers to the federal government and left all remaining powers to the states via the 10th amendment.

[BuddyRey]

From what I understand, the only problem with the AoC was that the various states were engaged in tariff wars. This could have easily been rectified by simply amending the AoC, but Hamilton and Co. were more than happy to use it as a pretext for drafting an entirely new and unnecessary national Constitution for the sake of establishing a strong central government.

[tremendoustie]

the country "almost fell apart".

I can't think of a single thing the federal government does that doesn't do far more harm than good. I'd be glad to be rid of 'em.

I hope the country, meaning the people, come together -- but we'd be better off without the feds. Local governments are far more responsive, and accountable.