Today's Constitutional Amendment of the Day is Amendment X: "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." Amendment X was part of the original 10 Amendments that made up the Bill of Rights. Basically, it says that the power of the federal government comes from the individual states, and the people.

Two hundred years ago, people referred to themselves as Virginians, New Yorkers, or Pennsylvanians rather than Americans. Our founding fathers realized that regional decisions were best made at the regional level, and not at the Nation's Capital. The Tenth Amendment was reassurance that States would remain in charge within their own borders, and could best represent their populace.

Unfortunately, by the mid 19th Century and culminating during the Civil War, Amendment number 10 was killed off. The Imperial Federal Government has seized sovereignty over all states within the Union, and these powers have been upheld in federal courts. The ever expanding Government reaches out with taxes on productivity, regulation of interstate commerce, and ownership of land within the states.

Limiting or even slowing down the growth of the Federal Government has proved to be very difficult, as more and more Americans look to the Fed to solve all of their problems. Congressmen, whether idealistic or opportunistic, use this welfare dependency to foster and maintain the power of the government and politicians.

Hopefully, some day Amendment X will be restored. Hopefully it will once again return to keeping a check and balance on the power, the size, and the reach of the Federal Government.