Federalism is the distribution of power between a central authority, like our federal (or national) government, and the states or people. Under our system of government the power of the federal government is separated from the powers of the states. The framers of our Constitution did this to keep our national government from becoming too strong. The Constitution delegates, or grants, power to the federal government. With the exception of a few other powers that are shared, the states keep all the remaining power. Examine the chart below to help you make sense of it all.
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Delegated Powers (Powers given to the federal government) The Federal Government can:
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Concurrent Powers (Powers shared by the federal and state governments) Both the federal and state governments can:
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Reserved Powers (Powers held only by the states or the people) Only the states can:
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* This is called the elastic clause. Its purpose is to make sure Congress has the needed authority to enact the above Constitutional powers, and is one of excuses they use to make a bunch of other laws that may or may not really be within the scope of their authority.
Pres. Bush may be interested to learn that marriage laws are, in fact, a reserved power. That means that the state’s have the authority to determine their own marriage laws. It means that only the states may determine marriage law, and the federal government can’t really do anything about it.
Okay, here’s the editorial part of all this…
A Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in this country, whatever your viewpoint on the matter, would not only usurp power specifically reserved for the states, but could potentially pave the way for other unconstitutional extensions of federal authority. The ability to amend the Constitution was not provided so that a Congress could enact laws otherwise outside the scope of their power just because they like the idea or the President has a big bigot stick shoved up his ass. The ability to amend the Constitution was provided so that it could be adjusted to meet the needs of the people or the government. I don’t think the homophobia of President Bush or of a conservative Congress meets that test.
Messing around with the supreme law of our land just to make a few political allies is a very dangerous thing for the President or the Congress to do. The American people do not like having their rights chipped away. While an amendment targeting a minority in this country such as homosexuals may pass and hold up for a while, I would wager that eventually even homo phobic voters are going to wonder what the federal government is up to. Is it really necessary for the national government to devote such time, money, and energy to pass an amendment so completely devoid of national necessity and importance? What’s the point? What is President Bush’s real agenda here? Surely he’s not so stupid as to suggest an entire constitutional amendment banning gay marriage just to ban gay marriage. (I genuinely hope he’s not that dumb). There has to be a deeper purpose. I hope that purpose isn’t to further extend the powers of an already dangerously powerful federal government. Thomas Jefferson said a little revolution, ever now and again, is a good thing. I hope the President and Congress aren’t going to do anything that would give the people a reason to see if that statement is true.
Now I’m not saying let’s go out and have a revolution. I am saying that the current administration ought to think more carefully before bandying about ideas of constitutional amendments to enforce a political agenda. The constitution works because we don’t mess with it unless we have to. The last time we had a constitutional amendment that attempted to enforce a political and moral agenda, there was chaos, crime, and death until it was repealed. I certainly hope the current administration stops to consider the weight of their words and actions before they advocate changing the building blocks of the United States of America.