Tenth Amendment Center Blog

Reflecting on the story of the Internal Revenue Service targeting groups with names that included tea party, patriot or any other name that marks a group as pro Constitutional, pro Freedom or pro Bill of Rights, leads us to consider the history of the IRS.

Why would you even approach the IRS for blessing?  Your group is, itself considered to be an enemy of the Fed to which the IRS owes allegiance.  Any way they can, the IRS will cause opposition to its perceived enemy.   Did the American army ask the enemy governments to finance them for WWI or WWII?

The federal income tax was created in 1913 with the ratification of the 16^th amendment to the Constitution.  Before that time the Fed ran on “tariffs.”  Using only tariffs was wise, it kept the government constrained to its Constitutional duties. There were some high tariffs, which did cause some anger and resulted in the “Tariff of Abominations,” but even that was not so high as to stifle the free enterprise system.  And the Fed had plenty of money to run what is properly within its scope.

In arguments during the consideration of the 16^th amendment (1909), Representative Samuel McCall (Mass.) stated “….leads me to believe that the chief purpose of the tax is not financial, but social. It is not primarily to raise money for the state, but to regulate the citizen and to regenerate the moral nature of man. The individual citizen will be called on to lay bare the inner-most recesses of his soul in affidavits, and with the aid of the Federal inspector, who will supervise his books and papers and business secrets, he may be made to be good, according the notions of virtue at the moment prevailing in Washington.” Continue Reading →

I recently visited the new Ralph Carr Colorado Judicial Center—the huge and incredibly expensive building complex that now houses the Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

But even after spending $258 million, they couldn’t get one sign right.

An exhibit there has the worthy purpose of educating the public about the rule of law. The sign in question features what it calls “the four pillars of the rule of law:” divided powers, guarantees of individual rights, due process of law, and equal application of the law.

There are several defects in the sign. For example, instead of the repetitive quotes about  “due process of law,” it would have been better to explain the term. To the Founders, “due process of law” meant that when government officials proceed against a citizen, they have to follow pre-existing procedures; they are not allowed to  make up the rules as they go along.

But the biggest defect is a SCREAMING omission in the sign’s explanation of divided powers: “The powers and responsibilities of the United States government are divided among the legislative, executive, judicial branches.”

Whoa! What about federalism—reserving most governmental authority to the states? Better to have said, “Power is divided between the states and the federal government, and both state and federal powers are split among legislative, executive, and judicial branches.”

Missouri House Bill 436, the 2nd Amendment Preservation Act, has passed both the State house and senate – and is on it’s way to the Governor’s desk. If signed into law, his bill would nullify virtually every federal gun control measure on the books – past, present and future.

Your help is needed right now to ensure that HB436 becomes law – and federal gun control is subsequently nullified.

Action Items

1. Contact Governor Nixon.  While he’s not expected to be a friend of the effort, still call him and respectfully urge him to sign HB436.

2. Contact your State Senator and State Representative There is a veto-proof majority in both houses, but to ensure that holds, call your senators and representatives to voice your support for HB436 today!

http://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/Leg_Lookup.aspx

http://house.mo.gov/legislatorlookup.aspx

3. Share this information widely.  Please pass this along to your friends and family.  Also share it with any and all grassroots groups you’re in contact with around the state.  Please encourage them to email this information to their members and supporters.  Continue Reading →

Last month, the Oregon house voted to pass HB2710, a bill to nullify warrantless drone spying.  This bill is scheduled for a Work Session in the Senate Judiciary Committee with a possible vote out of committee on May 29th

HB2710 “provides that law enforcement agency may use drone to intercept communications only as provided under laws relating to wiretaps and other interceptions of communications.”

In other words?  No warrant = no drone.

Action Items for HB2710.

1. Contact the Committee Chairman. Thank him for scheduling the hearing, and encourage him to vote YES on HB2710.

Floyd Prozanski 503-986-1704 sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us

2. Contact the other members of the Judiciary Committee. Strongly, but respectfully, urge each of them to vote YES on HB2710.  Continue Reading →

Remember the guy in Portland Oregon who went naked at the TSA checkpoint to protest the federal frisking policy?

I see he has been fined $1,000.  And get this: the TSA said they fined him for breaking their rules.  THEIR rules?  Apparently they have a series of rules that We the People must follow: “no person may interfere with, assault, threaten, or intimidate screening personnel in the performance of their screening duties.”  (What was a naked man threatening them with, one must wonder. But I digress.)

And now for some humor.  The TSA representative said “All of TSA’s policies and procedures comport with the law and the Constitution.”

I have my Constitution out. I don’t see any delegated power indicating the feds may fondle people for simply wanting to travel.  Ah, here it is, in the Fourth Amendment.  “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, paper, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Continue Reading →

The Alabama Senate recently created quite a stir when it passed a 2nd Amendment Preservation Act that would have nullified federal firearms regulations violating the Second Amendment.

But even with broad-based popular support, the Alabama House failed pass the bill and do its duty to protect Alabamians from federal overreach. SB93 did not move out of House Committee before session deadlines.

With the next legislative session a year away, only one option remains, and it’s likely the most effective: build grassroots groups to block violations of the  Second Amendment at the local level.

Counties and cities must refuse to assist any federal attempts to violate your right to keep and bear arms in their jurisdictions. Starting now, work to get your county, city or town to pass a resolution then a binding ordinance in response to violations of the 2nd Amendment.  Covering the state with local communities saying NO to such unconstitutional federal acts will not only render the laws “nearly impossible to enforce” as Judge Napolitano has said – it will also provide the heavy pressure needed to ensure that the state legislature will have the courage to do the same in the future.

Of course, local governments won’t act without your input and grassroots pressure. The good news is a few dedicated individuals can make a difference at the local level.

That’s where you can step up to the plate.

It’s going to take work to ensure that this is how things play out.  Here’s what you can start doing right now.

1.  Contact your local legislators – County, City, Town - and urge them to introduce model legislation in support of the 2nd Amendment Protection Act.

local ordinance here:
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/legislation/2nd-amendment-preservation-act/

2.  Become a local leader.   If you’re dedicated t Continue Reading →

Texas House Bill 149, to nullify NDAA “indefinite detention” failed to pass through the process in the House in time to become law this legislative session.  There’s still the possibility that the bill could be added as a rider to another bill that did, but that’s not the only hope for Texans looking to stop the unconstitutional federal act.

HB149 is only one piece of the puzzle to nullify the unconstitutional federal act.  The most important step is something you can doing right now – nullify locally!

Government bodies at the local level can step into the fray. Counties and cities must refuse to assist any federal attempts at indefinite detention in their jurisdictions. Starting now, work to get your county, city or town to pass a resolution then a binding ordinance in response to NDAA indefinite detention.  Covering the state with local communities saying NO to the unconstitutional federal act will not only render the law “nearly impossible to enforce” as Judge Napolitano has said, it will also provide the heavy pressure needed to ensure that the state legislature will have the courage to do the same in the future.

Here’s what you can start doing right now.

1.  Contact your local legislators – County, City, Town - and urge them to introduce model legislation in support of the Liberty Preservation Act.

local ordinance here:
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/ndaa

2.  Become a local leader.   If you’re dedicated to stopping Continue Reading →

The heat is on! The Second Amendment Preservation Act in Kansas is under fire from Mainstream Media outlets all over the nation. The federal supremacists don’t want to lose power that was never theirs to begin with, and they have unleashed campaigns against the new law through the establishment media.

But even with mounting pressure, grassroots organizations across Kansas can take action and nullify  that message.

The power to determine the extent of federal authority in the last resort resides in the people of the states, not a select few in DC. Under the newly passed Firearms freedom act, and now,  any federal action, law, regulation, or order infringing on the right to bear arms in Kansas is unenforceable.

The new law states, “Any act, law, treaty, order, rule or regulation of the government of the United States which violates the second amendment to the constitution of the United States is null, void and unenforceable in the state of Kansas.”

The law goes on to specify the operative interpretation of the Second Amendment.

“The second amendment to the constitution of the United States reserves to the people, individually, the right to keep and bear arms as that right was understood at the time that Kansas was admitted to statehood in 1861, and the guaranty of that right is a matter of contract between the state and people of Kansas and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Kansas in 1859 and the United States in 1861.”

Based off this text, the state of Kansas is not allowed to participate in any federal gun control measures that restrict the individual right to keep and bear arms as understood in 1861.  Continue Reading →

SPRINGFIELD, Ill - Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will be deciding if his state will become the 20th to defy and nullify the unconstitutional federal ban on marijuana  after the state Senate approved legislation on Friday.

The Illinois House passed the bill legalizing marijuana for medical use by a vote of 61-57 in April, and the Senate concurred by a vote of 35-21.  on Wednesday.  Passage into law would nullify, as 18 states are already doing, unconstitutional federal bans on the plant.

Congress and the president claim the constitutional authority to ban marijuana. The Supreme Court concurs. But sharing an opinion on something doesn’t necessarily make it a fact. You can claim you are a unicorn, but you’re not. Clearly, the Constitution delegates no power of marijuana regulation to the feds. And the so-called war on drugs rests on the same legal authority as all of the other modern-day undeclared wars.

None.

So, more and more states continue to do exactly what they should do when the federal government tries exercise power it does not legitimately possess.

Ignore it.

Nineteen states have done just that, legalizing marijuana for either limited medical purposes – or as done by the People of Washington State and Colorado last fall, legalize the plant for the general public. The wave continues to build, with even more state legislatures considering medicinal marijuana legislation in the current session, and more likely to follow suit this year and next.

The message?  When enough people say NO to unconstitutional federal “laws” – and enough states back them up, there’s not much the feds can do about it. Continue Reading →