What Are Rights ?
If we us The Declaration and The Constitution as examples of what rights are; we come up with a list that includes:
From The Declaration "among these are"
From The Constitution we see some enumerated rights as
Our rights, quite literally are unlimited as unlisted.
From The Declaration "among these are"
- Life
- Liberty
- Pursuit of Happiness and Property
- Alter, Abolish, Throw Off corrupted forms of government
- Consent / Vote
From The Constitution we see some enumerated rights as
- Speech
- Press
- Assembly
- Petition
- Keep & Bear
- Secure in our Privacy
- Vote
- and with Amendment 9 we retain those unlisted rights: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
- If it ain't listed... we still retain it.
Our rights, quite literally are unlimited as unlisted.
What Are Government Powers ?
We have two statements; one from The Declaration, one from The Constitution concerning the limitations on government powers.
The Declaration states, "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"
Governments are supposed to get their just and honorable powers directly from the governed people.
The Constitution, Amendment 10 states, "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."
If The Constitution does not specifically grant a power to government, that power is off-limits to government to exercise.
We know that every government power touches one of the peoples' rights. All government levels and branches swear oath to The U. S. Constitution, as is required by Article 6
From The Declaration the states, counties, and local communities get their powers directly from the governed people therein.
The Declaration states, "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"
Governments are supposed to get their just and honorable powers directly from the governed people.
The Constitution, Amendment 10 states, "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."
If The Constitution does not specifically grant a power to government, that power is off-limits to government to exercise.
We know that every government power touches one of the peoples' rights. All government levels and branches swear oath to The U. S. Constitution, as is required by Article 6
From The Declaration the states, counties, and local communities get their powers directly from the governed people therein.