James Madison made this speech before the United States Congress in 1789:
"If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare,
and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare,
they may take the care of religion into their own hands;
they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish
and pay them out of their public treasury;
they may take into their own hands the education of children,
establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union;
they may assume the provision of the poor;
they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads;
in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation
down to the most minute object of police,
would be thrown under the power of Congress.... Were the power
of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for,
it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature
of the limited Government established by the people of America."
and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare,
they may take the care of religion into their own hands;
they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish
and pay them out of their public treasury;
they may take into their own hands the education of children,
establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union;
they may assume the provision of the poor;
they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads;
in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation
down to the most minute object of police,
would be thrown under the power of Congress.... Were the power
of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for,
it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature
of the limited Government established by the people of America."
Our founding fathers prayed to God to deliver us from an over-bearing government (Great Britain) and to be granted independence. Many gave their property and their lives in the effort.
As a nation, we are in the terrible condition that Madison feared and still headed in a downward spiral. The great successes this country has achieved in the past were never because of the efforts of a powerful federal government, but the results of a strong and independent citizenry who knew the value of the God-given freedom they were blessed with and the willingness to commit their individual efforts in the pursuit of their goals.
Today we are a nation where millions (mostly unnecessary) depend on the government for food, housing, medical care, transportation, education, ect...
Continued acceptance of this dependance on government handouts will only weaken us as individuals and a nation.
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