OPINION:
There is a part of our Constitution that the the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court have forgotten or deliberately ignored: the Ninth Amendment. The amendment states, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
A brief reading of the reports of this amendment’s discussion prior to adoption shows the amendment was intended to preserve and protect the rights given Americans at that time as well as rights that might come into being in the future. The amendment was intended to keep the federal government on a very short leash so it would not drift toward dominance over the people.
The fact that we face federal intrusion today is manifest with a Congress that passed a law that forces us to purchase a product by placing a tax on any failure to buy it. We have a president who changes that law and others to suit his political needs. We have a Supreme Court that favors the federal government in the cases it decides. A recent example is Obamacare.
Had the Supreme Court analyzed Obama-care in accordance with the language and principles of the Ninth Amendment, it would have been required to rule that the law was unconstitutional. Why? Because every one of us retains the right to decide what product or service we will purchase — and putting a tax on a good does not in any way take that right away from us.
JAMES M. DORN
Chino Hills, Calif.
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