Interview: Tenth Amendment Center

Jumping in Pools is proud to present the thirty-second installment in our ongoing interview series. This interview is with Michael Boldin from the Tenth Amendment Center. The TAM states that it "works to preserve and protect Tenth Amendment freedoms through information and education. The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of state and individual sovereignty issues, focusing primarily on the decentralization of federal government power."

1. Why and when did you begin the Tenth Amendment Center?

I created the Tenth Amendment Center (TAC) in mid-2006 and launched the website, TenthAmendmentCenter.com, in January 2007. It was my way of recognizing that it doesn't matter which political party has the power in D.C. - year in and year out, the power of the federal government continues to grow while your liberties are increasingly lost. It's essential that people in this country understand the principles that the founders and ratifiers passed on to us - that a government without limits is a tyranny.

2. Why in particular is the Tenth Amendment so important?

The 10th Amendment is the exclamation point on the Constitution - it explains what it's all about. In "legalese" - it's a rule of construction, and in this case what it means is quite simple: We the People, as sovereigns, created the federal government to be OUR agent for certain, enumerated purposes....and nothing more. And all powers not delegated to the federal government - are kept in state governments, or to "we the people" as we see fit. And that means the federal government is strictly limited in what it's authorized to do.

3. What has the government done in recent times to restrict the Tenth Amendment?

Since the 10th defines the entire purpose of the Constitution, and very little of what's done by the federal government, in my opinion, is actually Constitutional, I'd be hard-pressed to spend less than a few hundred pages covering the horrible abuses of power that emanate from Washington D.C. Most of both foreign and domestic policy is far from the strict limitations that the Constitution requires - and far from the course of action that the founders recommended.

4. Who in politics has been a stalwart supporter of the Tenth Amendment?

On a national level, very few in modern times have been consistent in their support of the Constitution. You'll hear good things on one issue or another, but across the board, almost no one. Ron Paul, though, is one of the few, if not the only one, that always asks the essential question of every piece of legislation - "where in the Constitution is this authority?" Courageous politicians - if such a thing exists - need to start asking that question and voting "NO!" on everything that's outside the scope of the federal government's constitutionally-delegated powers.

5. What is the overall goal of the Tenth Amendment Center?

Oh our goals are pretty small - we just want to empower you - and millions of others - to understand the principles of the Constitution and liberty. That way you can take that knowledge and take action.


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