“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.”
i read what i believe to be some claptrap on the internet bout this clause and what it means.
does the clause mean if congress has a constitutional power, it is congresses power alone -and- if the constitution doesnt prohibit a state/people from a thing it is theirs to choose?
does it in anyway indicate that congress and the states can overlap in their functions??
as relates to the “congress shall have power to…coin money and regulate the value thereof” portion in section 1…could states somehow regulate the value of coins and congress as well? once congress excercized a consitutional power would a state doing differently be going against congress authority?
I hate to say it, but it means what ever the 9 folks in black robes collectively called the Supreme Court determine it to be by a one person one vote. So the delegation of powers to the Congress is really a fiction and that the court can at any time legislate this or any amendment out of existence.
But ideally it means that the power of the federal Congress is limited to ONLY those powers listed in the Constitution. That is the powers are listed in Article 1 Section 8 and the power to regulate interstate commerce. The 9 aforementioned people in the 1930s broke the back of the camel when they determined that the power to regulate interstate commerce basically trumps any other limitation of government in the document when they allowed Congress to regulate the behavior of farmers growing food for their personal consumption.
As to regulate money, the original intent was to have only Congress able to COIN money, make standards coins of certain weights and sizes to prevent the states from having 50 different forms of money. The framers did not want larger states being able to force smaller states to accept the larger states money in interstate transactions. Note that it does not specify that Congress has the power to determine “Legal Tender” or determine money INSIDE an individual state or keep states or individuals for that matter from creating their own currencies. These powers were granted by those 9 people.
I am not correct. States are prohibited from coining money but NOT individuals. So individuals can and do coin money. Again the original intent was to have one money standard among the several states and keep the large states from bullying the smaller ones.
But still note that there is nothing about paper money or worse electronic money in the document other than to prohibit the states from creating it. So depending on how you read it, Congress does not have the power to print paper money. I wish they didn’t. Let the markets determine the value of individually created currency based upon federal coins.
In another thread, I replied to you with much of the Constitutional limits as of the ratification of the first 10 amendments. A state may not, for example, use a direct democracy to govern the state. Additionally, due to the “equal protection” clause of the 14th amendment, most prohibitions of Federal abuses have been extended to be prohibitions of state abuses, as well.
Sorry. I should have been more clear. As written, the first amendment does not prohibit a state government from prohibiting the free exercise of religion, nor abridging the freedom of speech, nor of the press, nor prohibiting peaceful assemblies. The Federal government, specifically Congress, is prohibited. However, “equal protection” has been used to extend the prohibition to the states.
ok…so consitutionally, if some merchants or miners saw that a smaller silver coin ( not regulated by congress) would assist in trade for…whiskey shots or single coat buttons…they would be free to do so?
but the sate govts still couldnt?
if the above was permissable, seeing as foreign coin could circulate, would the congress have the power to regulate or mimic a domestically prodcuced private coin???
it was pretty pointless of the founding fathers to create a document that outlines the powers of a federal government if it can be amended with pretty much anything…
same goes for state constitutions…
why have a document that limits powers of a state, if anything can be amended to it?
Why pretend like you’re limiting politicians powers by creating a document that allows politicans to amend damn near anything to it?