Issue Position: Federalism

Issue Position

The men who wrote our Constitution fought passionately over the balance of power between the states and the federal government. When the Bill of Rights was added, the 10th Amendment provided that powers not given to the federal government were to remain with the states (or the people).

The Tenth Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights to further define the balance of power between the federal government and the states. The amendment states that the federal government has only those powers specifically granted to it by the Constitution. These powers include the power to declare war, to collect taxes, to regulate interstate business activities and a few others that are listed in the articles.

Any power not listed, is left up to the states. Although the Tenth Amendment does not specify what these "powers" may be, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that laws affecting family relations (such as marriage, divorce, and adoption), commerce that occurs within a state's own borders, and local law enforcement activities, are among some of the rights specifically reserved to the states.

Over the past decade, we have seen an erosion like never before of both our individual and state's rights. Now is the time for us as individuals (and as state legislators) to stand up and fight to preserve our freedoms and liberty, before even that right too is gone.

Dan Eubanks pledges to always stand up and fight when individual citizens and states' rights are in the ba

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