The 10th amendment says “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.” (Italics added)
The Legislative branch was set up with two separate bodies. The House of Representatives was designed to represent the people and they were elected by the people. The Senate was to represent the states and they were elected by the legislature of each respective state. This way the Senate could defend the rights of the states and hold the federal government’s power in check.
The 17th amendment (ratified in 1913) stipulates the Senate to be voted in by the people instead of by the state legislatures. Since then we have seen the powers of the federal government grow tremendously, leaving the states weaker and weaker. The federal government has created huge bureaucracies to deal with issues they are not constitutionally authorized to and therefore should be reserved to the states. The Departments of Health & Human Services (1953), Energy (1977), Education (1979), and Housing & Urban Development (1965) were all created after the ratification of the 17th amendment and are all unconstitutional according to the 10th amendment. The combined annual budget of these 4 departments is $762 BILLION.
The reason I did this post is because I believe the vetting question at the top of the list for our candidates for Senate should be Are you committed to restoring states’ rights as guaranteed in the 10th amendment and what are you going to do to accomplish it?
The Republicans running against Senator Bennett for his seat are: Mark Shurtleff, Cherilyn Eagar, Tim Bridgewater, and James Russell Williams. The only Democrat I know of so far is Sam Granato.
Utah's Representatives 
Comments on: "How the 17th Amendment Killed the 10th" (6)
As anyone knows who’s been listening to Glenn Beck lately, there were a whole slew of amendments, laws, and decisions during the early 20th century that have been Constitution killers. As well as the above mentioned 17th amendment there was a Supreme court decision that changed the interpretation of the General Welfare clause in the constitutioni from meaning that money spent by congress must benefit the country as whole, to that congress could spend money on any good cause. Also the passage of the Income tax (we’d only tax the very rich). The Federal Reserve was created. Also another interesting thing was that the State militias became an arm of the U.S. Military-the national guard. The early stages of the Revolutionary War were fought by colonial militias (like the minute men in Massachussetts) and they continued to play a role throughout the war, often fighting along side the Continental Army. The nationalization of the state militias creates a possible conflict of loyalties for the national guard. They are funded by, and ultimately take orders from the President of the United States. But what if they are called on to protect their State against a rogue federal government that has overstepped it’s constitutional bounds? Just a thought.
A-MAZING ! I love reliving this beuuaiftl day through these photos.Cassie and Korbie you look amazing together , what a beuuaiftl couple. Nick I love your creativity and personal style that comes through in these photos , I also had a great time assisting xo
Terri .My backdrops are alomst all just fabric. Flooring is a rug, and baseboards are just a pieces of wood. Hope this helps! And thank you so much for your sweet comment
They definitely laid the groundwork in the early 20th century and they did it by misleading the people. We were told the income tax would only reach as high as 7% and that would be during times of war and only the wealthiest would pay it.
As far as state militias, maybe that’s why we have them in Iraq & Afghanistan still despite campaign promises to bring them home.
I believe that our troops will be stationed across the globe for two reasons. 1) they would not fire on our own citizens. Because of this send them away. 2) When armed forces are needed UN Peace keeping force would be deployed and commanded by foreign leadership. These people would be more likely to fire on American citizens.
I suppose the question is: who is being represented in the U.S. Senate? I agree with you. If you are interested in this line of thought, I hope you will have a look at the following post: http://euandus3.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/the-u-s-senate-what-is-it-really/