In the fable, the ant does nothing of the sort. The grasshopper starves to death in the winter.

In the real world, the ants rip off the grasshopper’s legs and head and carry the tasty parts back to the nest to feed their larvae.

Feel free to extend either to the current financial situation as you see fit.

I hear ya, I think I said as much, here: “if the font Was the FedGov, the document would be Proscriptive of those powers..

though, it isn’t.

The Source of the Power is the People, each, and every. Therewith, the powers granted to the Federal Government are Enumerated, listed specifically, and, as the 9th and 10th Amendments make clear, further Proscribed..”

“the Constitution–ratified in 1789, and The Bill of Rights–ratified in 1791, are two different things..”

So, yes, the original Constitution specifically enumerated certain Federal powers and the Bill of Rights was a separate Act of Congress; however, amend – a change made TO a written constitution – thus, by amendment, the changes, e.g., the Bill of Rights, and its proscriptions, become part of the Constitution and, in that sense, not two different things.

the difference is crucial to understand the Source of the Powers being discussed.

if the font Was the FedGov, the document would be Proscriptive of those powers..

though, it isn’t.

The Source of the Power is the People, each, and every. Therewith, the powers granted to the Federal Government are Enumerated, listed specifically, and, as the 9th and 10th Amendments make clear, further Proscribed..

The Framers of the U.S. Constitution sought to avoid the inflexibility of the Articles of Confederation. James Madison, one of the principle architects of the Constitution, argued in The Federalist Papers that the new compact’s amendment procedures, unlike those of the old Articles, protected “equally against that extreme facility, which would render the Constitution too mutable, and that extreme difficulty, which might perpetuate its discovered faults.”

Proving the truth of Madison’s contention, the first ten amendments to the Constitution were passed as a package by the first session of Congress in 1791. This group of amendments is called the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights fulfilled a promise that the backers of the Constitution, known as the Federalists, had made during the ratification procedure of the Constitution. It guarantees specific liberties relating to (1) rights of conscience, including the freedoms of speech, press, religion, and peaceable assembly (First Amendment); (2) rights of the accused, including freedom from “unreasonable searches and seizures” (Fourth Amendment), freedom from compulsory Self-Incrimination (Fifth Amendment), the “right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury” and with legal counsel (Sixth Amendment), and freedom from “excessive bail” and “cruel and unusual punishments”(Eighth Amendment); and (3) rights of property, including freedom from seizure of property without “due process of law” (Fifth Amendment).
…
West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Constitutional+Amendment

the Constitution–ratified in 1789, and The Bill of Rights–ratified in 1791, are two different things..

West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/enumerate

pro·scribe (pr-skrb)
tr.v. pro·scribed, pro·scrib·ing, pro·scribes
1. To denounce or condemn.
2. To prohibit; forbid. See Synonyms at forbid.
3.
a. To banish or outlaw (a person).
b. To publish the name of (a person) as outlawed.

——————————————————————————–

[Middle English proscriben, from Latin prscrbere, to put up someone's name as outlawed : pr-, in front; see pro-1 + scrbere, to write; see skrbh- in Indo-European roots.]

——————————————————————————–

pro·scriber n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

add’l: http://clusty.com/search?v%3afile=viv_1080%4020%3aROfq02&v%3aframe=list&v%3astate=root%7cN795&id=N795&action=list&sw=%7cGovernment%20Has%20Only%7c&sec=1236068731&

simply, my intent, with the above comment, was to underline the fact that the Constitution specifically lists the certain powers that Federal Government may properly engage. It was written, to anyone’s best understanding, to be specific in that regard.

The Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments, are, technically, Amendmends to the Constitution. That Amendments further clarify, or, by addition, proscribe, the original intent, would seem definitional.

see next:

@Mark E Hoffer: Let me pile on to what Marcus Aurelius said:

ARTICLE NINE The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Maybe we need to remember that the Constitution enumerated, not proscribed, the Powers the Federal Government was supposed to have..
______

I think you have that backwards. By my reading, the Constitution (at least the Bill of Rights) – in forming s Republic – set proscriptions on the powers of the Federal Government. For instance, the First Amendment proscribes the Government from restricting free speech:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Other Amendments are similarly proscriptive. If not, the tyranny of pure Democracy would rule the minority.