Separation of Powers: Federal vs State Government

[creator]

My father-in-law sent an email with a separation of powers chart...

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The framers of the Constitution wisely separated the different powers and functions of government so that all powers would not be concentrated into the hands of only one level of government. They knew from the study of history, that whenever all or most governmental powers were collected at the highest level of government, the individual rights of individuals were ignored and tyranny, decay, debauchery, and/or collapse resulted. (Examples include, the Nineveh government of Assyria, the Egyptian Pharaoh who ordered the death of all male newborn Hebrews, King Rehoboam & his heavy taxation, King Jeroboam & his idolatry, King Ahab, Babylon, King Herod who slaughtered the babies of Bethlehem, the Fall of the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, etc.) (We could add the last rival Jaredite Kingdoms, King Noah, the City of Ammonihah, Hitler’s Nazism, Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung, and Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge and its tortures and genocide.)

I hope the chart helps.

Separation of Powers

Federalist form of government set up by the Founding Fathers for our country is structured with a vertical separation of powers (the National Government “vertically” above the States) as follows.

National Government
Powers & responsibilities delegated to the general (national) government (As specifically listed in Article I Section 8 and Article III Section 3 of the United States Constitution.)

Power to outlaw & punish the following:

1. Forces:
Piracies committed on the high Seas.
Felonies committed on the Seas (off-shore crimes)
Offenses against the Law of Nations
Insurrections and rebellion
Invasions

2. Frauds:
Counterfeiting the securities of the US.
Counterfeiting the coin of the US.

3. Treason

Power to define or regulate or provide the following:
1. Lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, excises
2. Pay the debts for defense & needs of the whole US
3. Borrow money
4. Regulate commerce with other nations & the tribes
5. Regulate commerce among the states
6. Rules of Naturalization
7. Uniform Bankruptcy laws
8. Coin money & regulate its value & of foreign coin
9. Fixed Standard of weights and measures
10. Post Offices and Post Roads
11. Securing limited-time Copyrights & Patents
12. Constitute tribunals below the Supreme Court
13. Define off-shore crimes
14. Declare war and issue rules of war, etc.
15. Provide for Defense via Army, Navy, militia, etc.
16. Regulate all affairs of the District of Columbia
17. Regulate affairs of federal forts, buildings, & docks
18. Regulate all departments of the US government.


Individual State Governments
ALL other powers and responsibilities were reserved to the individual state governments or to the people. (As emphasized in the 10th Amendment.)

Power to outlaw & punish the following:

1. Forces:
Murder & Rape
Assault or Battery
Vandalism, Arson, & Sabotage
Theft

2. Frauds:
Perjury & false witnessing
Lying & embezzlement
White collar crime
False advertising

3. Monopoly:
Dishonest labor union practices
Unfair subsidies for individual companies
Enforcement of “politically correct” thinking
News monopolies or blackouts

4. Debauchery
Prostitution
Pornography
Indecent exposure
Broadcast profanity
Abortion & euthanasia
Child abuse, sexual, physical, or emotional
Child adoption by practicing homosexuals
Gambling and the lottery
Animal cruelty
Drugs
Marijuana, LSD, cocaine, & heroin
Alcohol & Tobacco
Drug pushing
Public endangerment or nuisances
Poisons & Meth
Drunk driving and public drunkenness
Unguarded explosives
Reckless driving
Any action that could harm other people
Other gross sins

Power to define or regulate or provide following:
1. Define marriage.
2. Administer divorce.
3. Provide roads and define their uses.
4. Etc. …