Quotes & Sayings About The Tenth Amendment

Americans who believe their government should not be a giant ATM, dispensing money and benefits to people who have not earned them, and who want their country returned to its founding principles, must now exercise that power before it is taken from them. The Tenth Amendment is one place to begin. The streets are another. It worked for the Left. — Cal Thomas

[T]he Constitution conferred only a few specific powers on the federal government, all others being denied to it (as the Tenth Amendment would make plain). Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction of the U.S. population today - subtle logicians like you - can grasp such nuances. Too bad. The Constitution wasn't meant to be a brain-twister. — Joseph Sobran

[T]oday's Washington is about as attentive to the Tenth Amendment as the Unitarian Church is to the Book of Revelation. — Joseph Sobran

The tenth amendment said the federal government is supposed to only have powers that were explicitly given in the Constitution. I think the federal government's gone way beyond that. The Constitution never said that you could have a Federal Reserve that would have $2.8 trillion in assets. We've gotten out of control. — David Malpass

The [tenth] amendment states but a truism that all is retained which has not been surrendered. — Harlan F. Stone

He was prodding her. Let him. They were on safe ground. "Well, in trying to satisfy one amendment, it looks like they rubbed out another one. The Tenth. It's only a small amendment, only one sentence long, but it seemed to be the one that meant the most, somehow. — Harper Lee

Nothing in the Tenth Amendment says that the powers must be explicitly, expressly, or specifically given to the federal government - given, that is, in so many words. Also note that the amendment doesn't mention state "sovereignty"; in fact, that idea appears nowhere in the Constitution. Nor does the Tenth Amendment (or the rest of the Constitution) mention "rights" for the states. Finally, there's nothing in it about state "nullification" of federal law. Does the amendment really, in Da Vinci Code fashion, include those ideas? Compare the language of the Articles of Confederation: "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled. — Garrett Epps

If the Tenth Amendment were still taken seriously, most of the federal government's present activities would not exist. That's why no one in Washington ever mentions it. — Thomas Woods

If the American press corps were as concerned about the Tenth Amendment as it has been protecting the First and trying to get rid of the Second, this would be a far different country. — Rich Galen

It's a Tenth Amendment issue. If you want Washington, if you want to implement their standards, that's your call ... We certainly had higher standards than Common Core, so it was a very easy decision for Texans, myself and the legislature included, to basically say we still believe that Texans know how to best run Texas. — Rick Perry