America, America...

OK, here's the deal-

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, have either legislation or resolutions designed to reassert powers usurped by a power hungry federal establishment over the past 222 years. Typical of the proposals 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criminal sanctions, or which requires the state to take certain actions or lose federal funding, shall be prohibited or repealed.

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." Oddly enough, Montana's resolution says:

“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 1994 this resolution was adopted by California :

RESOLUTION CHAPTER 93
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 29, 1994
Resolved by the Senate and Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the State of California hereby claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the United States Constitution and that this measure shall serve as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President pro Tempore of the United States Senate, each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States and to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate of each state legislature in the United States of America.

Perhaps they need reminding??

Additionally, similar proposals are under consideration in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, 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.

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.