Quote:
Originally Posted by jimjamuser
That I don't care about other folks - pretty much sums it up. I guess "greed is good" also.
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That "I don't give a darn about rights...take them away when you see fit!" - pretty much sums it up. See how easy that was?
I'm not making the point that wearing a mask isn't important (in places where it's appropriate). I'm making the point that some people here just don't seem to care at all about the breadth of federal government power. The whole notion of the United States is predicated upon LIMITS on federal government power.
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."
Does the Constitution give
the federal government the power to mandate that every citizen must wear a mask (wherever)?
Lots of people here don't even seem to want to ask that question. It's just like, "Well, it's a good idea, so let them do it!"
I don't look at it that way. Once you start setting precedents like that, it makes it much easier to expand upon them with some other federal mandates at a later date. It will come to a point where constitutional rights, as we
thought we knew them, really won't matter at all.
It's a matter for the states and local governments. And even then, there's no guarantee that a state law/mandate will be deemed constitutional. For example. Governor Hogan's mandate in Maryland was in his power to decree. But that doesn't mean it's going to hold legal muster, if successfully challenged.
The bottom line is that people should be very, very hesitant to just nonchalantly go along with some notion that directly impacts their rights, such as a federal mandate. I know, I know...cue the "but we're talking about saving lives!" mantras. Fine. I'm saying do that on the state/local level,
not via a federal mandate.