Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People

Source:

Political Cartoon #1 - "Barack The Plumber"

Political Cartoon #2 - "GM Takeover"

Both illustrated by: William Warren

Constitutional Connection:

Amendment 10
"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."

Explanation of Connection:

            The two political cartoons above depict instances in which the Government has exceeded the boundaries of limited government and has stepped too far into the lives of the people in their state. In the first cartoon, Warren is showing viewers how President Obama is drawing way too much money from the working classes of the U.S., claiming that he invests it into the state's welfare. The looks on the faces of family in which money is being stolen from in the cartoon show confusion. They are unsure of what is really going on, but they are also furious, as would anyone be who falls victim to robbery. They also look scared, as if they don't know what's about to happen next. The second cartoon is particularly clever and interesting to me. In this cartoon, Warren is illustrating how the government has exceeded well beyond their "limits" when they shut down General Motors. He is also saying that the government has basically taken full control over the company, and not at all in a positive way. They have completely disregarded the separation between State and Federal powers, and Warren, as well as many others do not like it.

            These cartoons clearly ignore the demonstration Amendment 10 of the United States Constitution. This amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not give government the right to put restrictions on or remove any of our modern corporations, businesses, or institutions as long as they are for the good of mankind. Any incident of this sort is prohibited by the constitution in Amendment 10. However, the government clearly ignores this by taking over General Motors and robbing the money straight from the pockets of the working class of America to feed it into the "welfare of our states."

            To some extent, I do agree with most people. The government should leave our modern man-made institutions alone. Most people fear that these actions taken by Obama can lead to some form of a dictatorship, where citizens are being fully controlled by the government. However, I do also believe that the Obama Administration may truly just be trying to regulate things and prevent future chaos amongst us citizens. As states, I do not feel it is anything wrong with being monitored by the Federal government and having minor changes made here and their to ensure domestic tranquility, as long as those changes can always be argued by the states themselves. But with this right, the government must make sure that it contains itself from stepping too far into our freedom as states to make our own decisions, as long as they are all constitutional.