Limiting the Power of the Federal Government Essay

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness— these were the unalienable rights our forefathers bestowed upon our new nation when drafting the Declaration of Independence; what a far cry from independent our nation has become. Our forefathers guaranteed life and freedom, and the pursuit of happiness; happiness was not a guarantee, but set forth as a challenge for every individual to define and actively pursue for themselves. Surely, when our forefathers declared independence from an oppressive and overbearing king they did not intend for the American Government to become a maternal state that coddles its citizens. Sadly, we have become just that: a nation of citizens dependent upon our government for everything from putting food in our stomachs, to saving money for our retirement.

States have always been sensitive about the amount of power they have; the federal government has always had to step carefully around the demands of the states. This has been true since the beginning of the United States. But both believe that they should have the most power when it comes to certain things. Individual states have different values and as such tend to implement different laws about certain topics; such states want their state laws to reflect these individual values instead of a blanket law from the federal government. States should have less power compared to the federal government when implementing laws dealing with topics such as the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage, and abortion.

In the making of the United States, there were many events that are important. This paper intends to highlight a few of those events including; Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers. Many events in America’s history helped to establish the United States as a free and independent country. The Declaration of Independence in particular explains the rights and freedoms that Americans. Each document is like a stepping stones that leads to the next and building upon the pervious document.

The book begins by saying that economics has more incorrect arguments than any other study. The two critical reasons for this are: People don’t care about the long term health of the public, as much as the care about the short term gain in their private lives. Special interest groups create or reuse correct-sounding fallacies to promote their viewpoint. Economics consists in looking at more than the immediate policy; It includes seeing the problems of the policy for not just one group but for all groups. The misconception that government spending boosts the Economy, is a result of a system of misconceptions. The fact that, we don’t address deficit spending and inflation and assume that public spending will be covered in taxes, is a delusional dream.

What are ways the constitution limits the power of the federal government? There are three different ways the constitution limits power. The three different ways are the system of checks and balances, the bill of rights, and federalism. Along with ways the constitution limits power, there are the three branches of government as well. The first branch is the legislative branch, the second is the executive branch, and the third and final branch is the judicial branch. Each branch in the government has a lot of power and they use several ways to distribute their power evenly among other branches.

Recently, the federal government has crossed the line in regards to its actual power. In passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal government is essentially ignoring many vital sections of the Constitution that help keep it in check. These fundamental restrictions help prevent an abusive and tyrannical government. The fact that this law still remains in place today shows that these constitutional restrictions on the federal government no longer apply, and that the federal government essentially has unlimited power. This act is unconstitutional due to its violation of the Commerce Clause, the Tenth Amendment, and the Origination Clause.

Congressional authorization is the ability to empower and allocate funds, which supports Congress with an effective tool for omission and authority of intelligence activities. Congress is expected to have more power than the President and the Supreme Court. Its powers are also known to be Constitutional as well as evolutionary (ushistory). After the Senate as well as the House of Representatives approves a bill or proposed law, it then becomes an actual law. These two houses also share other powers, that involve coin money, the power to declare war, establishing rules of naturalization as well as immigration, raise an army and a navy, regulate commerce, and set up the federal courts along with their jurisdictions (ushistory). Although Presidents can have authority to act without Congressional authorization when necessary for the nations security, it would be better if they did seek Congressional authorization before acting or making any important decision regarding the nations security, in order to preserve Constitutional checks and balances, as well as make the right decisions and protect the President politically.

Federalism has played a large role in our government since the time that the Constitution was ratified. It originally gave the majority of the power to the states. As time went on, the national government gained more and more power. It used the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution to validate its acts, and the Supreme Court made decisions that strengthened the national government creating a more unified United States. Finally, the recent course of federalism has been to give powers back to the states.

As the United States sled into a great economic depression in the early 2000’s, the people of this country grew desperate and in need of government assistance. As with any economic downfall the unemployment rate grew to a staggering high. Most families were despondent to stay afloat the poverty line on whatever means possible. But what are the effects of continuously throwing money at people even when the economy bounces back? In an editorial recognizing these effects, “Welfare Dependency Destroying America,” John Mariotti, an advisor to and president of many successful companies explains why giving handouts aren’t always a positive matter.

After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the United States Government was reorganized under the Constitution. This gave the federal government far more power than did the Articles of Confederation, which invested power within the states. Basically, the Constitution created three branches of government (Executive, Judicial, and Legislative) which would work together to run the government. To make sure that there was an equal balance of power among the branches, a system of checks and balances was devised so that each branch could limit the power of the others. It is important to note that "the doctrine of separation of powers is not established by any constitutional provision [but] rather it emerges from he framers'

But WHY? Why has the power of the federal government expanded so significantly? Was this shift in power from state governments to the federal government necessary?

The separation of powers and checks and balances is a system that was created in America by the founding fathers in the constitution of the United States. The separation of power plays an important role of keeping the three branches which are legislative, executive, and judicial in the government systems equal to one another and that neither branches becomes too powerful. Each branch has its very own power and duties to serve to the people and government. All three branches play a significant role in checks and balances and separation of powers, in our government and rely on each other to make sure that all of the power is equally distributed.

The Legislative Brach of the federal government is made up of two Chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. These two bodies draft and pass laws that, if signed by the President of the United States, govern the United States and it's citizens.

Observers of failed economic stimulus packages have developed a fear that these large sums of funding will be mismanaged and therefore will not be able to stimulate the economy (“History of Government Spending,” n.d.).