Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, California has resembled the busty blonde B-movie actress in a horror film.
You know the look. Eyes wide. Red lips parted halfway between a gasp and a scream. Hands frozen in mid-flail.
That was the reaction in the scene where President Trump called California “out of control” and said he might have to cut off federal funds.
This terrifying prospect has public officials up and down the state looking everywhere for a copy of the U.S. Constitution. It says he can’t do that, right? States have rights. Right?
You might think so if you read the Tenth 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.”
That amendment was written to make it absolutely clear, even though the authors of the Constitution thought it was already clear, that the federal government had limited powers. The powers of the states, on the other hand, were “numerous and indefinite,” in James Madison’s words....
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
