States’ Rights and the Growing Rebellion – A Status Report

Family Security Matters ^ | February 16, 2009 | Paul Hollrah

[ForGod'sSake]

One of the inevitable consequences of the last 75 years of Democrat rule in Washington – augmented by a decade or more of gutless rule by Republican presidents and congressional majorities who thought they could win hearts and minds by imitating Democrats – is a quiet rebellion within that basic building block of our American republic: the state legislatures. 

 

After many decades of uninterrupted drift toward a socialist state, and seeing a self-serving federal legislature and a bloated federal bureaucracy whose incompetence is exceeded only by its avarice, the legislatures of a number of states are beginning to take matters into their own hands. They rely on the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which proclaims that:

 

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

 

Accordingly, some eight states, including Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Washington, are now considering either legislation or resolutions designed to reassert powers usurped by a power hungry federal establishment over the past 222 years. Typical of the proposals now under consideration is Oklahoma House Resolution 1003. Referring to the language of the 10th Amendment as its basis, the Resolution concludes: 

 

“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE OF THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 52ND OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:

 

“THAT the State of Oklahoma hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.”

 

The resolution serves notice on the federal government that it is to “cease and desist” in the process of issuing mandates to the State of Oklahoma that exceed the powers granted to it by the U.S. Constitution, and it resolves that all compulsory federal legislation which directs the state to comply under threat of civil or criminal sanctions, or which requires the state to take certain actions or lose federal funding, shall be prohibited or repealed.

 

House Resolution 1003 is similar to a resolution filed last year which passed the Republican-controlled House by a vote of 92-3 but was stalled in an evenly-divided Senate. Republicans gained a clear Senate majority in November 2008  

 

In New Hampshire, a resolution reasserting States’ rights reads, in part, as follows:

 

“Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 1, Article 7 declares that the people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State; and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America…” 

 

Proving once again that the people of New Hampshire take seriously their state motto, Live Free of Die, the Resolution concludes with an ominous declaration, saying that any act of Congress, any executive order of the President of the United States, or any directive of the Federal Courts “which assumes a power not delegated to the government of United States of America by the Constitution… and which serves to diminish the liberty of the several States or their citizens, shall constitute a nullification of the Constitution of the United States of America…”

 

In Missouri, House Concurrent Resolution 0004 (2009) reasserts its sovereignty based on Barack Obama’s stated intention to sign into law a federal “Freedom of Choice Act.” The Missouri Resolution reads, in part:

 

“Whereas, Barack Obama, President of the United States, has promised that one of the top priorities of his new Administration is to sign into law the "Freedom of Choice Act" which purports to classify abortion as a "fundamental right" equal in stature to the right of free speech and the right to vote – rights that, unlike abortion, are specifically enumerated in the United States Constitution; and

 

“Whereas, the federal Freedom of Choice Act would nullify any federal or state law "enacted, adopted, or implemented before, on, or after the date of [its] enactment" and would effectively prevent the State of Missouri from enacting similar protective measures in the future…”

 

“Now, therefore, be it resolved that we, the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-fifth General Assembly, hereby declare our sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States…” 

 

In Montana, the House of Representatives is considering a bill reasserting the state’s sovereignty, using as a basis the 2nd Amendment rights of the people of Montana. House Bill 246 reads, in part, as follows:

 

“AN ACT EXEMPTING FROM FEDERAL REGULATION UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES A FIREARM, A FIREARM ACCESSORY, OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURED AND RETAINED IN MONTANA…

 

“The 10th amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves to the state and (the) people of Montana certain powers as they were understood at the time that Montana was admitted to statehood in 1889. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of Montana and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.”

 

In addition to bills and resolutions already introduced in these states and the legislatures of Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan, and Washington – telling the federal government to mind its own business, the business specifically assigned to it by the U.S. Constitution – similar proposals are under consideration in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nevada, Maine, and Pennsylvania. The 20 states already considering such proposals, or contemplating such action, contain 40.2% of the total U.S. population. 

 

In the year that the U.S. Constitution was written, Thomas Jefferson said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants... God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion; what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."

 

Clearly, any careful reading of the U.S. Constitution should convince the reader that the primary building block of the American republic is the state legislature. They are now drawing a line in the sand and are reminding the three branches of the federal government of their Constitutional limitations. We hope that the course they have embarked upon will continue to be a bloodless one. To insure that it is, we should all lend our active support to the state legislators. They are the Patrick Henrys of our era.

 

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Paul Hollrah is a Senior Fellow at the Lincoln Heritage Institute

 

You can find this online at: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.2533/pub_detail.asp

COPYRIGHT 2009 FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS INC.

[mojitojoe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzOAbekZoOc

______________
zer0 would sh*t his pants if he heard this. Had he been in the Union army he would have been a surrender monkey like the French.

[ExTxMarine]

You get anywhere here in Texas? I am going to start calling tomorrow!

[KrisKrinkle]

Wouldn’t that have been something to hear coming at you your very first time on the line?

[hedgetrimmer]

Bump for later.

[Hostage]

I like your last item ‘withhold FITW’.

Read up on this or update your previous reading:

http://www.fairtax.org

The states are allowed under the US Constitution to ‘memorialize Congress’ to call for amendments to the US Constitution. The Congress can call for amendments but the present cast of members would never do so on their own. Therefore, it is up to the states to start throwing their weight granted to them under the Constitution and compel Congress to act, which Congress must do if 3/4 of the states ‘memorialize Congress’. That’s 38 states; 12 can abstain or oppose but 38 states will put state interests in the driver seat.

The 16th must be repealed BEFORE H.R. 25 (FairTax) is enacted (it can be passed but enactment must be triggered by repeal of the 16th.)

Once the 16th is repealed and HR 25 is enacted, the Federal government power will be limited over the states, which is the way it was meant to be.

And don’t worry about timing, the FairTax (intentional no space between r and T) has been a serious movement and growing movement, in fact the largest tax reform movement in Congress today for only about TEN YEARS. Compare that with how long (52 years) it took to make the Income Tax without apportionment legal (it was passed in 1861 but was shot down repeatedly until the 16th was passed to make it legal).

If we can get HR 25 passed by 2013, that would be poetic justice as 2013 marks the 100 year anniversary of the legal Income tax without apportionment. And that was the beginning of the march towards federalization of the States.

The FairTax movement is growing by an average of 800 peoople every day, seven days a week. It takes about 3000 voters to become FairTax activists in each Congressional district in order to turn the district’s US Representative to support HR 25.

We need democrats for HR 25; 3000 committed voter activists will make them pay attention. There has been success. Dem reps can be turned if they feel heat from the voters, only 3000 needed!. Commit yourself to your local FairTax chapter more than any ACORN member can fudge voter registrations. Call people in your chapter and introduce yourself; get involved.

[ForGod'sSake]

Dear Stupid States with bloated budgets:

The 10th amendment door swings both ways. Quit taking federal money for project and programs that are the responsibility of the State. If you did that, it would go along way in getting the federal government out of your business!

The Stick and Carrot has worked out pretty well for the feral government. That is if their goal was to secure compliance of the states so they would bow to their federal masters. The current contrived "crisis" has put many states in receivership of the federal beast. Does it matter that the receiver, the feral government, is also broke? Not as long as they can keep the printing presses on line. Does it matter if this "fiat" money with be worth pennies on the dollar in a couple years?

We are in a REAL pickle. Created almost entirely by the unconstitutional AND insidious machinations of our servants in DC. Makes me wanna puke!

[ForGod'sSake]

SUPER! Stay close so they know there are some good folks behind them.

[Nuc1]

ideological struggle against Northeastern “tyranny.”

Some things never change do they?

[Free Descendant]

The 10th is the new 2nd! All the cool conservatives are down with the 10th. :)

[Lusis]

Ping to be added to the list.

[ForGod'sSake]

Is it time?

Heh, no, I don't think so. And God only knows I truly hope and pray it doesn't come down to anything resembling CW1. But SOMETHING has to give if we are to restore our Republic. If state resolutions turn into bills and bills are matched with resolve, there will be a confrontation. Just how far it will proceed at this point is anybody's guess.

JMO, but I think Texas may hold the key. NY and Kollifornia are all but lost causes IMO, and Texas has the gravitas, for a lot of reasons, to really put this movement into motion. My fellow Texans and I should be spending as much time as we can with our state representatives to first, make them aware of this movement and, two, encourage them to put something like this before the legislature. Even a resolution from Texas would rattle the walls in DC.

[ForGod'sSake]

Glad to; thanks for your interest.

[ForGod'sSake]

Send them a Copy of The Federalist Papers, asap.

Heck, they don't want to have anything to do with 'em. They would show the Federalist Papers the same reverence they have for the Constitution -- use 'em for toilet paper!

[ync1994]

“JMO, but I think Texas may hold the key. NY and Kollifornia are all but lost causes IMO, and Texas has the gravitas, for a lot of reasons, to really put this movement into motion.”

That’s sounds possible. Good luck. I hope Texas gets the ball rolling fast.

[ForGod'sSake]

Thanks for the info. Seems to me Michigan has something else working re asserting their rights under another Constitutional Amendment. 2nd maybe???

[ForGod'sSake]

You get anywhere here in Texas? I am going to start calling tomorrow!

I'm deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas. BTW, our legislature formally began their current session today so the crew will all be in Austin. I'll be sending emails in addition to making some phone calls. Heck, I'll even try to get through to Rick Perry. Regardless of what you've heard about the man, having met him, my personal opinion is he is good people. Almost conservative enough to become a Freeper ;^)

[Prov3456]

No, that was not I.

[ForGod'sSake]

Very well; done. Thanks for the interest.

[djsherin]

I’ve heard that in Law School they tell you the 10th Amendment is cannot be used as a defense.

The 10th is already dead to most Americans unfortunately.

[o_zarkman44]

Resolutions are a wake up call to the Feds. warning them they are getting too pushy.
And if the feds push any harder, the states will go the bill route. Our state officials are still very accessable and easily reminded of what the people can do if we don’t like their actions. For the feds, the layers of corporate lobbyists and party handlers pretty much put them out of harms way.....for now.

But alas.......there is now federal stimulus money coming to the states and the politicians are climbing over themselves trying to get money for their district.

Like the banks.........there are very big strings attached.
States better take heed before taking money.