“Our founders sought to establish the weakest possible federal government capable of performing its essential functions, for three fundamental and intertwined reasons.
- First, government is inherently dangerous, so the less power it has, the better.
- Second, the states – being closer to the people and more responsive to regional differences and needs – are better equipped to handle most matters than a far-off centralized administration.
- Third, the states were prior to the federal government; the people, through their states, created the latter to serve them, not the other way around.”