Government, today, wields a seemingly endless measure of power over the people.
To protect liberty from the ravages of power, the founders separated power and made it a check on power, itself.
The object, as the Constitution's Preamble states, was to "Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." Thus, for example, while the executive branch would wield the power of the sword, the legislative branch would wield the power of the purse.
The framers knew that if the power to raise money and the power to raise armies lay in the same hands, power would soon overwhelm liberty and all would be lost.
So how limited was limited government meant to be? Jefferson declared: "Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Yes, but there is only so much to which the governed can consent.
Since no individual has a right to take away or give away what belongs to another that is a power no number of men can confer on their government.
Not having a right to deprive others of their lives, liberties, or possessions, no number of citizens can give such a renegade power to their elected representatives.
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