Friday, April 18, 2014

Does Constitution Preclude a Bureau of Land Management?

   So, when the Tenth Amendment in the Bill of Rights came along in 1791, the federal government no longer had the right to create a department of education, a broad department of commerce . . . nor a department of interior?
 Interestingly, 1789, the year the Bill of Rights was drafted, was also the same year Congress first considered creating a department of interior.
   The Tenth Amendment says the powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states. Since the Constitution makes no mention of the federal government having the power to own parks and other natural lands, does that mean the right is reserved to the states? Does it mean the Bureau of Land Management in the U.S. Department of Interior is an illegal agency?
   For my part, I give the matter thought. I have not yet decided whether I think the Tenth Amendment should preclude a Bureau of Land Management, nor such agencies as a Federal Bureau of Investigations.
   All this I'm currently thinking of, though, in context of the Cliven Bundy situation, where he is arguing the BLM does not have authority to own and regulate the land in Nevada his cattle graze on.
   I do think it sounds a little extreme to cut the FBI, the BLM, and other such agencies from the federal government, but I might give it more thought.
   Off the top, one inclination is to agree with those who argue the Constitution does give right to provide for the general welfare. General welfare is a pretty broad category, but, bottom line is, the Constitution says general welfare, and if that means most everything, so be it. The Constitution should be followed just as much on this provision as it should on the provisons that limit government. You cannot just cite the part of the Constitution you like while looking past another part.
   But, that interpretation of the Constitution renders the Tenth Amendment meaningless. Since everything could be considered under "general welfare," no powers would be reserved to the states. Clearly, the Tenth Amendment was trying to reserve powers to the states.

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