Limited Government

Proponents of limited government, like myself, are too often misunderstood. I speak in this post only of the Federal government, so I'll limit my remarks to that august body.

We believe that the Federal government should be limited to those powers directly granted it by the Constitution of the United States. No more, no less. Nearly every single issue which arises between Left and Right, at the national level, would be put to bed if that pesky ol' Constitution were simply followed.

It's not a matter of limiting government for specific causes, or to only a politically-expedient list of certain responsibilities (e.g., food safety, roads/infrastructure, education). We want government limited to what it's allowed by law.

Recall the 10th Amendment:
"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."


So, the limited government view holds that the Constitution does not grant the Federal government any power that it does not expressly mention.

The contrary view holds that the Constitution grants the Federal government the authority to do anything that is not explicitly prohibited by the first eight amendments.

Regardless of the issue at hand, be it food safety or infrastructure, the limited government proponents have a simple solution: Amend the Constitution to allow government to do that which it wishes. Absent an amendment, it's illegal.