Tennessee Senate Unanimously Affirms Sovereignty
12. Jun, 2009 
35 Comments
Today, the Tennessee State Senate unanimously voted to pass, as amended, House Joint Resolution 108 (HJR0108). The resolution “Urges Congress to recognize Tennessee’s sovereignty under the tenth amendment to the Constitution.”
The State House passed the resolution on 05-26-09 by a vote of 85-2.
Tennessee joins Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho and Oklahoma – as the sixth state to have both their House and Senate pass a resolution in support of the 10th Amendment.
The final vote was 31-0. (h/t Steve Rowland)
Read the final version of the resolution below:
WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: “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”; and
WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and
WHEREAS, the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and
WHEREAS, today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
CONCURRING, that we hereby affirm Tennessee’s 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.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed by the Speaker of the House and of the Senate, which shall have as its charge to communicate the preceding resolution to the legislatures of the several states, to assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship and to call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and to each member of Tennessee’s Congressional delegation.
If you enjoyed this post:
Click Here to Get the Free Tenth Amendment Center Newsletter,
Great news, Tennessee! I don’t believe this needs a signature of the governor, but if anyone hears further on this, please do let us know. I hope, in conjunction with TN passing the Firearms Freedom act last week as well, that this will lead to some real resistance to an unconstitutional federal government.
Contratulations to the memembers of both houses of the legislature and the people of my adopted homestate. It’s about time the states (and through them, the people) began standing up to the federal government. We’ve very close to losing our constitutional freedoms and this is a step in the right direction to recover and maintain them. I don’t wish ill for the USA but I do hope to see a restoration of the proper balance of power between the individual states and the federal government. We’ll all be better off when that happens. More states need to get serious about sovereignty and then band together to call a Constitutional Convention and repeal the amendments that have fed the federal usurpation of state powers. If enough are willing (I think it requires 2/3 of the states concurring) it can be done. Without it our federal government will continue to rush headlong into the abyss we see unfolding in California, and will take all of us along for the ride. We need to stop it while we still can but there’s not much time left.
Michael,
The Idaho Joint Memorial No. 4 (sovereignty resolution) did not require the governor’s signature.
Congratulations Tennessee, thanks for “coming along side” .
We are now also drafting a Idaho bill, similar to the “Montana Firearms Freedom Act”
The sovereignty resolutions are a great first step, but I am working on the draft of a petition to our legislature to request that they enforce the statements made in the memorial. There will be considerable work distributing this petition, but we all have to carry this issue forward in every state that has declared sovereignty. I look at these declarations as a “shot across the bow” of the federal ship (which will be ignored), consequently we need to reload and fire for effect.
Wow, a shutout! Passing the resolution is one thing, passing it by unanimous vote is quite again another. Way to go Tennessee!
Terry, it takes 2/3 of the states to compel Congress to call a convention, 3/4 of the states to ratify its recommendations. If the states had a mind to they could force the federal Congress to call a convention on several items such as the gay ‘marriage’ issue where the 2/3 majority is already met (Note: I’m not endorsing calling a convention for that purpose, just giving an example that comes to mind.). The latter part, however, is a pretty tall order, especially considering today’s political climate in America. An absolute repeal of the amendments you’re talking about would be virtually impossible to achieve in my opinion. But, we might be able to get some clarification or revision on such issues as “birthright citizenship” for the children of illegal aliens, as an example.
A unanimous vote is a big statement. The house had only 2 dissenters, and the vote was overwhelmingly in favor on the TN Firearms Freedom Act recently too. TN looks to be a place where the legislators are not even quibbling about the idea that the federal government has gone outside its strict constitutional limits. They need the support of people in other states doing the same to encourage them to keep moving forward with this strong stand.
Go Volunteers!
Here is Lou Dobbs reporting on the Amnesty Bill working its way through Congress. You’ll want those guns when you hear what they are planning on doing to US.
http://mail.pvtnetworks.net/DownLoad.aspx?MailboxName=INBOX&SequenceNumber=500396333&FileName=ftcvi26.wmv&PartReference=2&Encoding=
If Ohio does not follow suit with HCR11 and SCR15, I may leave Cleveland OH for Cleveland TN.
I find that people in our area, and I am sure in other areas are fearful that all our state sovereignty issues may have no effect because of the rapid pace of the President and the Democratic Congress in passing liberal socialistic laws. They feel that we will lose our freedom and be subject to a socialistic government.
My vision is that we have no choice but to work through the States, and to petition them to enforce the statements presented in the “Sovereignty Resolutions”, and hope that there is time enough for the states to present a formidable defense against the Federal Government.
My sincere questions to Terry Morris, Michael Boldin, Patrick Henry Live, and others that would care to comment, are as follows:
1. Is there time to work through the “Sovereignty Resolutions”?
2. Are there any quicker and better methods?
3. I am sincerely looking for your opinions, council, and strategy opinions as I proceed with the petition to my state to enforce the “Sovereignty Resolutions” statements.
Sorry about the link above. Here is a correct link. The Minority Leader called it a “piece of sh**”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YzJtMTAMuQ
Watch it and then tell me if you can think of even ONE reason to think Washington DC is capable of being reformed. Just ONE.
There is no question that the powers that be want to create a North American Union like The EU and are deliberately destroying our national sovereignty. There is NO TIME left. The game is up. The States MUST secede and we must all write them and encourage it.
Remember: Washington DC is BEYOND REFORM.
While we are waiting for others to chime in, let me say this: There is a reason now at this time that 35 States have suddenly moved to affirm their sovereignty. Can you guess what it is? We are all scared! I think the States see what is coming and are taking steps to protect themselves. They see the present administration led by a man who resists all efforts to establish if he is a natural born citizen legally entitled to be president; they see a man with a vision of socialized government; a man who has a messianic complex; a Congress with an agressive domestic agenda that doesn’t include increased liberty; they see an imploding economy and a collapsing dollar. The nation is crumbling and people are scared.
Do we have time? I think the more important question is “do we have the will to resist and the will to be free regardless of the risks and costs?”
Having exhausted all patience and all attempts to get the British government to moderate its policies toward the colonies, the founding fathers were forced to declare independence. I am one that believes that all attempts to refore Washington are hopeless. I am one that believes that even if Washington could be reformed, we are probably already economically ruined or shortly will be. I am one who believes that the plan for North American Union was made long ago and the American people were never asked what they wanted and never will be asked. Every major news media in the country ought to be sounding the alarm against North American Union, but there is a spiritual blindness that has settled over our nation. 1e0 years of Darwinism has benighted our country. We don’t even know right from wrong any more. Homosexuality, called by William Blackstone the “infamous crime against nature,” is now being legalized and given the approval of law. How totally appropriate that at the supreme moment of our national calamity we are legalizing sodomical marriages!
Do we have time?
6 down, 32 to go!
I want to make sure that people understand that the great likelihood is that the majority of states are never going to pass their own Tenth Amendment Resolutions into law. When you get down to brass tacks, the people who are self-governing, self-determined, self-sustaining, independent, etc., comprise a relatively small minority (My sense is that it is a very small minority, but I could be wrong). In other words, we on the side of these resolutions and what they ultimately imply are pretty well outnumbered. I’m not saying this to discourage anyone, I’m simply saying that we need to be prepared for the contingency that we’re likely, in the end, to be heavily outnumbered.
Are we out of time? Well, I guess that kind of depends on how you look at it. As I’ve said before, I don’t see the United States as a whole as being reformable at this point. So, yes, I think we’re out of time in that sense. Are there any quicker and better methods than the sovereignty resolutions? Let me answer that this way: I personally wouldn’t want a “quicker” solution. It took decades and decades to get us to the point we’re at right now. The quicker the solution, therefore, the fewer there’ll be to see it through to its conclusion. Virtually every American has become, in some way, shape, form, reliant on government (and the central government at that). And as they say, overnight conversions are rare indeed. Even when they do occur, we see that people tend to go from one extreme to the other, generally reverting to their former ways. Which is evidence of the fact.
Patrick Henry Lives,
The general attitude of the citizenry (and I get it, it’s another one of those “when you repeat something often enough people begin to believe it” absurdities), is that the central government has exclusive authority in the area of immigration. But this is simply not the case. Indeed, a better constitutional argument can be made that the central government has no authority concerning immigration except in controlling the national borders. The constitution provides that the federal government make “uniform rules of naturalization,” but that’s a lot different than regulating immigration.
As someone who has been a strong advocate for some years for the assertion of state and local control over issues of immigration within their own borders, the movement of the administration and the leftist Congress to effectively nullify the work on the state level which has been done to date in this crucial area comes as no surprise to me at all. Indeed, I predicted that this would happen way before Hussein Obama and the new Congress was elected because I could already see the handwriting on the wall. However, it does surprise some folks, particularly those folks who have, to date, taken only a slight interest in the subject. So the posting of such videos is important.
But everyone should rest assured that so-called “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”, i.e., The Senate Amnesty Bill (new, improved, more “comprehensive” version) will pass in that body. This idea that Republicans still have the power and numbers to filibuster such destructive legislation is simply ridiculous. There are enough RINOs in the Senate for that body to pass anything Hussein sends down the pike, with plenty to spare for other pieces of legislation equally destructive. And that’s a fact.
At this point I wish to thank PHL and Terry Morris for their respective opinions. There may be other forthcoming posts which I am looking forward to.
I see that there is a concenses on both posts that time is short, which I also believe. I also agree with both posts that the toxic atmosphere of Washington DC is beyond repair, and no moral or honest person can operate within it.
Time better not be that short. No doubt, the vast majority out there is unconcerned so long as they have beer, a recliner and a remote control.
I should apologize for the tone of my posts. I received the video clip on Dobbs and the Amnesty Bill shortly before and “lost it.” I don’t mean to be so negative. My posts are a little “hieghtened” to help underscore the moral and Constitutional crisis we are in, and that we cannot afford the luxury of just drifting along like we have for the last 20 years. In the last 20 years, the nation has been destroyed. In the span of Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr, all our jobs have gone south to Mexico and the balance to China. Nothing is “made in the US” anymore. We went into a war in the Persian Gulf for no good reason, which provoked the retaliation of 9/11. Then we went into Iraq upon phoney evidence of weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. Meanwhile, Clinton signed NAFTA and most favored nation status to China. Now, Obama has spent more money than all the administrations since the nation’s birth combined, and is on a campaign to socialize health care (just to be sure the patient dies on the table), repeal the defense of marraige act, legalize homosexual marriages for the whole nation, and the amnesty bill is shear insanity. Did I mention North American Union?
I’m ranting again. The important issue is not time, but resolve. We need men in leadership and state office with the resolve to fight back and take a stand. That is the issue. Do we have men of moral vision and resolve? The resolutions that are percolating along give us reason to hope, but I think we should be candid enough to admit that resolutions will probably be ignored. To pass resolutions requires no moral courage. It is following up with legislation and refusing to back down that will make or break us.
The Tennessean didn’t have anything on it today on the oline edition that I saw. This is great. Now if we could just get rid of Bredesen (Gov) and Lincoln Davis (my Congresscritter)
PHL
“The important issue is not time, but resolve. We need men in leadership and state office with the resolve to fight back and take a stand. That is the issue. Do we have men of moral vision and resolve? The resolutions that are percolating along give us reason to hope, but I think we should be candid enough to admit that resolutions will probably be ignored. To pass resolutions requires no moral courage. It is following up with legislation and refusing to back down that will make or break us.”
That is why we all need to network our respective states into a 10th Amendment coalition, (call it what you may) and present a petition requesting the state legislators enforce their sovereignty resolutions (see sample at end of post). Even though the state resolutions are non-binding, they have put the Feds on notice that changes may be coming, and we in turn have put the state legislatures on notice by our petition that we want the resolutions enforced, that my friends is not the final solution but it is progress.
As far as wanting men of courage, morals, and leadership ability to fill political office I can’t agree more, but until they come along we, (you and I) will have to fill the gap.
You and I will have to get on the net, round up the teapartiers, the 912ers, and other groups in each state and get them pointed in the 10th amendment direction. We, (you and I) need to be setting at the park this 4th with a Tenth Amendment banner and our petitions You, by your posts, have demonstrated to me that you have the potential leadership ability to organize and “work the net”.
As for me, I’ll be dammed if I’ll sit here and do nothing more than just blogg. If the left, progressive, socialistic, liberals are going to pull the whole “shebang” “down around my ears” I intend to go down fighting.
PETITION DRAFT
WE THE PEOPLE of the State of Idaho hereby request that the Idaho Legislature and Governor commence immediate action to enforce the statements as set forth in House Joint Memorial No. 4 concerning the Constitutional violations of the Tenth Amendment, said statements are as follows:
“NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by members of the First Regular Session of the Sixteenth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein, that the State of Idaho 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.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this serves as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent to cease and desist, effective immediately mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all compulsory federal regulation that directs states to comply under criminal or civil penalties or sanctions, or requires state to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited.”
WE THE PEOPLE of the State of Idaho also hereby request that the Idaho Legislature and Governor support and enforce a proposed bill now being drafted known tentatively as the “Idaho Firearms Freedom Act” (short title).
Hi Pete,
Thanks for the encouraging words. Your Petition is a good model; we need to all start sending these to our State Representatives, to be sure.
As to the 4th of July, our own TEA Party group is come under the (temporary) control of the local Republican central committee. They want to have a nice “warm fuzzy” rally that ditches the revolutionary tone that was so prevalent at the Tax Day party. However, we are pressing the 10th Amendment issue and it will be the focus of the effort. We will be in the parade our our float will say “Legalize the Constitution.” My idea. But there is a move to keep the tone of the speeches very…well, worthless. They want only the warm fuzzy nonsense the government will be playing on TV. It is sort of like the Republican Party vs. the TEA Party.
Either we are in a crisis or we are not. Either the crisis will pass and all will go back to normal, or it will bring frightening changes that threaten or even end liberty and traditional values. I cannot see how we do any body any favors by refusing to talk openly about it.
I’m really beginning to enjoy this site! People here show real promise, thus give me some measure of renewed hope. I admit to almost having lost all hope, having spent the better part of the last 20 years arguing these very points of tenth amendment state sovereignty to no apparent avail. But, you know, the Lord do work in mysterious ways. And he does things in his time, not ours. I trust his judgment, as well as his timing.
Pete, you’ve offered real, concrete measures that anyone can easily emulate. PHL has done the very same thing under another article. I would be remiss to remind readers, however, that contained in the Tennessee measure is the following resolution:
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed by the Speaker of the House and of the Senate, which shall have as its charge to communicate the preceding resolution to the legislatures of the several states, to assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship and to call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.” (emphasis mine)
Similar provisions grace the pages of other Tenth Amendment Resolutions. So don’t think for a minute that they’re not working on it. Committees are being formed, abuses are being documented concurrently. Kinda reminds me of the famous committees of correspondence and the list of grievances contained in our glorious Declaration of Independence. Indeed, the parallels between that event and what is happening in our time are striking. Yes, right down to the general degradation in morals, and the reticence of the general populace to take effective, meaningful action to defend their rights.
I say again, these is interesting times indeed!
Thanks to everyone.
Two things: First, emotionally we talk about “going down fighting” but the reality is that if the whole nation wants to abandon itself to North American Union or whatever, there is not much a few bloggers here or there can do about it. We will go down with them. I have a family and have no intention of getting involved in any sort movement to overthrow the government or anything stupid like that. Second, if secession comes, and I hope it does, it has to come by our lawfully elected representatives or not at all. Anything else – like a bunch of skin head white supremists in a compound somewhere – not only won’t suceed, but probably shouldn’t. Groups like that have only hate and anger and that can’t provide a foundation for meaningful correction or change. We need the law abiding, church attending, family type people to be on board and at the head of the movement. That is the encouraging thing about the 10th Amendment Resolutions, they show that mainstream American is finally getting with the program!
Thanks be to God!
There are some interesting comments here. I’m 70, born and raised in the South (NC), retired military, Vietnam Vet and have lived in states North, South, East and West with as many years in the North as the South. I once considered myself a citizen of the nation rather than a state or region but as I’ve gotten older my Southern roots are beginning to show. My wife’s a native Tennessean and I’ve adopted Tennessee as my homestate. What I’ve seen firsthand are different attitudes toward government in different parts of the nation. Most people are just trying to make a living and raise families and don’t pay much attention to politics. Largely products of government run schools they don’t know much about the Consitution or constitutional government and don’t really care; especially if they’re 40 or younger. They’re primarily concerned about keeping a job, a home, food on the table and paying their bills. Many vote a party line rather than conscience because that’s what their family has always done. They may grumble about Washington but in the end they keep sending the same rascals back after each election. What has become our “political class” understands all that and takes maximum advantage of it. Not a lot has changed really in that sense since the days of our founding fathers. A majority of Americans then weren’t actively in favor of the revolution but enough were dedicated to independence to be able to pull it off. The question for us is are we dedicated enough to make this work? You know the federal government isn’t going to willingly give in. If our elected officials in Washington would only follow the Constitution the problem would pass but regardless of what they say, they don’t and they won’t. So, if the situation is going to change we have to be the change agents. And, the majority of Americans are not likely to get involved. I even question my own commitment at times. Still I cherish my freedom and the legacy of independence passed down to me by my ancestors. I believe the states provide our best hope but at this time I’m personally not in favor of secession except as a last resort. But, if the federal government continues on its current path of continued excess I believe the economy will collapse and it will implode. All you have to do is look at what’s happening in California and extrapolate that to the nation at large to get a preview of coming events. when that happens, I believe the nation is likely to split along regional lines and we’d better be ready to pick up the pieces if we’re to have any hope of survival. The Southern National Congress has been formed with that very thought in mind; to be prepared for the eventual collapse of the USA as we know it. I hope it doesn’t happen but given current trends in Washington and many states I don’t see how it will be avoided.
We do need to encourage one another, and I firmly believe God is with us in our endeavor to resist the godless socialist effort to destroy our constitution and Christian underpinnings. Terry, God’s timing is perfect and precise, and the people he chooses are the very ones who are born for the time and place he picks. I am thankful I can look back to George Washington as being a prime example of how God provides the right leaders at the right time. (Didn’t mean to get so preachy)
PHL, I in turn am encouraged by you and the activities you are in, and yes I agree with you, this must be a peaceful revolution, and even though we may end up on the political bottom at times during this revolution there is still a lot of political/legislative options yet available, as Winston Churchill said “We must never, never, give up”. And by the way PHL, I was advised by a wise lady to bypass the local Republican Central Committee when we formed our local TeaParty group, and now I can see what could have happened to us
Terry, I have picked up your Tennessee resolution for a template and will see if I can work it into our petition.
It has been a slow task of getting all the various state groups located and convinced to focus on the Tenth Amendment Issue. I have gone back to the old April 15th TeaParty sites, and found a few, and have looked in other areas, but I am just not making the progress I should. I know the groups are out there, “milling around”, taking on various local issues, but getting them all headed into the same correl. is difficulty. (Forgive me for my lapses into collocial speech, just comes out , must be my Idaho back country “rasin”)
I am open to any suggestions any of you may have on how we can expedite this task of networking and directing our state teaparties into one Tenth Amendment effort.
Way to go neighbor!! I hope to see this issue taken in soon in Georgia as well. I have just watched a video made by the John Birch Society that really gives a great picture of how we got to where we are today. Its a short video called “Overview of America”. It is nothing new for the current vistors to the Tenth Amendment site but I recommend it for all new vistors. It should be required viewing of every HS student as well as every candidate running for office. I found the video at Http://trueworldhistory.com but it is probably on their website as well at Http://www.jbs.org. Michael this would be a great video to post on this site if thats possible. My thanks to everyone posting and taking a stand in this fight to get our Constitution back. Do not be disheartened we are making progress.
Once upon a time there was a man and wife. The man was a drunken tryant. He beat his wife, spent the family food allowance gambling and running around with other women. The man abused his children horribly. They grew up in terror of his drunken rages.
Naturally, the wife tried to make it work. Everybody, the kids, the extended family, everybody would all be better off if the family could be kept together. The wife begged the husband to reform; to get help for his drinking and control his spending. She begged him to quit running around with other women and to stay home nights with the family, like he did the children were still very young.
Unfortunately, the husband would not listen. Instead, he only grew worse and his demeanor more menacing. Finally, having exhausted all patience, the wife threatened to take the kids and leave if he did not mend his ways. At first, the husband knew she was not serious and that she would not make good her threats. So, he only menaced her worse and tried to keep her in subjection with terror and violence – his own version of Homeland Security.
However, one day the husband saw that something had finally changed. The wife was now finally ready to make good her threats about leaving him. The realization shocked him. But now there was nothing more he could do to disuade her from leaving, and he was left alone. He begged her to return, and promised to change. She did not trust him and would not go back.
Finally, faced with the realization he had destroyed his own family and home, he sought help for his problem. Little by little he mended his ways. As the fog of alcholism slowly lifted from his mind, he realized the sort of tyrant he had been and truly repented. He wooed his wife, and slowly the relationship began to mend. Today, they are a happy family again.
Moral of the Story: The Federal government has no incentive to change as long as it can play the tyrant over the States and it knows they do not have the moral courage or resolve to secede. Secession is the leverage that can bring the federal government to its senses. If there is another way, by all means, let us pursue it. But, I rather think the drunken tryant will resist all appeals until it knows the States are finally serious about going their separate ways, and not before.
Blessings,
PHL
PHL, great analogy. Perhaps the psychology of fearful dependence you’re describing should be called Abused State Syndrome. Think about it.
Anyway, I agree our resistance to the current Federal Hubris should be peaceful and lawful to the extent possible, but only to the extent possible. The founders did not follow the model you prescribe for us. They did take up arms when no other reasonable recourse could be found. This is right. The man or woman who would live out all duties owed to God, and to others in the love of God, must set those duties above any human law that, if obeyed, would cause us to fail in those duties.
This is the real reason freedom is the hallmark of the American vision, colored as it is by the rich hue of faith. Freedom is that which empowers us to live the life our God requires of us. That is why seeking freedom is not simply an option, a luxury we try for but excuse ourselves if we fall short. No, seeking freedom is a duty that does not expire with circumstances or difficulty. It lives on in the darkest, weakest moments of our experience. It is the flicker of light, the faint breath of hope, the stirring within against all despair, which keeps us always ready to engage the forces that would take it away from us. Take it away from me they someday might, but only from my cold, dead hands.
Resolution:
Whereas the duty to be free is a principle duty of man, a keystone to the exercise of virtue, and cannot be set aside, neither by an abusive government, nor by the citizenry subjected to that abuse, be it resolved that no option which might result in that freedom be taken off the table, except as constrained by wisdom and Godly character.
Blessings All.
SR (Yes, THAT Springfield …)
Recall how suddenly the Soviet Union collapsed? The same thing could easily
happen to the morally and financially bankrupt tyranny in DC.
http://patrickdeneen.blogspot.com/2009/05/anti-anti-government.html
(…)
Preemption, in this case, does not refer to the “Bush Doctrine” in international affairs, but rather a quiet and largely unremarked upon policy by which the Federal government presumptively and preemptively overturned State-based laws in areas of interest to private business interests. According to one person quoted in the article, “‘It’s environmental law, it’s drug law, it’s mortgage law, it’s a whole host of areas where the Bush administration was really aggressive about using regulatory action to clear state and local laws that businesses and corporations didn’t like,’ said Doug Kendall, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center.” Federal regulation was regularly, even promiscuously used to overturn legitimate State legislation in areas where private business demanded uniformity for the sake of efficiency, profit, and economies of scale. So much for the idea that the States are the “laboratories of democracy.”
(…)
And don’t forget those NAFTA Tribunals that can overturn virtually any state law and reverse jury awards in civil suits.
Unless TN and other states that have passed these bills start pushing back against the Fed and starts looking out for their citizens then these bills are meaningless.
It looks like we Tennesseeans, clinging to our guns and religion, have just declared our independence for a second time. I am proud of my state legislature.
I agree with Pete’s statement that we need to network in each of our states to form coalitions in each state to force our respective states to back up their words with action. I looked on the State Groups page of this website but don’t see anything for Tennessee. I would love to get involved with a group here.
This is a copy of a letter I am mailing to the five New Mexico Delegates:____I write to you today, because I am greatly concerned about the direction our president, Barrack Hussain Obama, is taking our great nation. I believe that he and all members of Congress and Senate – Federal and State, including myself, have given our Pledge of Honor by oath such as:____“…I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against__ all enemies, foreign and domestic
I am sending a letter to the five New Mexico Congressmen and Senators reminding them of their Oath and their duty to the people of their State First. That they need to protect the sovereignty of the state and the rights of the people of their state FIRST…, then the people of the United States and lastly, to attend to the needs of non-citizens (people of the world). I included articles of the US Constitution (Ammendments I, IX & X) and also related sections of the NM Constitution affirming the same – emphasizing the rights of the individual, mine.
That's an important step! we need to politely, but sternly, let our state reps know what their duty is….and give great encouragement and support to those who do right.
Dennis Roch is one of those good legislators in NM…I urge you to thank him for sponsoring a 10th Amendment resolution there and let him know you want him to do it again in 2010!
I suggest to everyone, to browse the website for Oath Keepers(www.oathkeepers.org), and also, the website for Committees of Safety (www.committeesofsafety.org). Both of these sites are counseled/led by Constitutional attorneys.