[chajin]

Rand Paul is not my favorite by any means, but he is correct in that marriage should be an issue left to the states per the Tenth Amendment, and the best thing for the Feds would be to drop the whole issue. Since the Federal courts won’t drop the issue, however, that puts supporters of traditional marriage between a rock and a hard place: if we stick to our Constitutional principles the left will use the federal courts to force same-sex marriage down everyone’s throats; if we push for a Constitutional amendment we will get nowhere because you won’t get 2/3s of both houses and 3/4 of the state legislatures to go along. In short, you can’t win a battle against an opponent who won’t play by the rules, but if the purpose of the battle is to support the rules, you will lose the battle by breaking the rules.

[wagglebee]

Rand Paul is not my favorite by any means, but he is correct in that marriage should be an issue left to the states per the Tenth Amendment,

That won't work and the left knows it.

The Full Faith and Credit Clause essentially makes it impossible to keep it a state-by-state issue. The courts would be forced to rule that a marriage that is valid in one state is also valid in another.

[xzins]

but he is correct in that marriage should be an issue left to the states per the Tenth Amendment

Actually, that's not the whole story. The 10th Amendment says that marriage should be left to the people.

Amendment 10: "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."

The people have spoken on numerous occasions. They voted in favor of traditional marriage only to have that unconstitutionally overthrown by judges.

Why is this an issue for the people and not for the states? Because the people brought it to a referendum vote by a process of petition and referendum, and the first amendment says petition is a 'right of the people'.

[PGR88]

and the best thing for the Feds would be to drop the whole issue.

You are correct. Who has been the biggest promoter and enabler of the change of marriage? Its been the Federal Government. Some Conservatives think they are going to beat the progressives at their own game by simply having someone different at the top dictate society's behavior. That will never happen. The goal should be to LIMIT Federal power, and especially eliminate any Federal influence in the realm of marriage and family.