Cory,

States should be able to do exactly what you say but over time the Federal government has leveraged itself into state business in such a was as to make it impractical to do any thing but go along. It is treated more like "business" among the states and not the rule of law. The biggest problem, other than the 17th Amendment, is that states, over time, have allowed the Federal government to collect tax money from their citizens with the expectation that that collected money will be returned and spent within their states. A recipe for disaster because the Federal government can simply withhold or refuse payment to any state that does not go along with "any" deal they cook up. Where in the Constitution does it say that the Federal government must return collected tax money to a state that balks?

Regaining state sovereignty is going to take a new or self reinvented breed of state legislatures willing to tackle direct Federal taxation of their people. An easy case can be made today that Federal spending is irresponsible, unsustainable, and detrimental to state prosperity which therefore represents criminal misuse of the collective resources of the citizens of the various states.

States have the right to ignore any law passed by the federal government that pertains to any "right" not specifically granted in the constitution. State governments are co-equal to the federal government. Only when a "right" granted to the federal government ( the post office for example ) in the constitution, does the federal government have "supremacy" otherwise the states and the people retain all other rights.

i'm in the wrong state. should have moved to texas or kansas i guess.

I feel the major thrust of a National Healthcare system is to exact heavy taxation upon the various states using the Federal tax system (IRS) as the collector and not to address the handful of real health issues. State legislation might be able to prevent actual health coverage under the government plan but would probably not be able to protect its citizens and business from the associated Federal taxation. If my assumptions are true, Congress would not care if states accepted the plan or not as witnessed by the latest Senate version of the bill that allows states to "opt out" of the national plan if they so desire.

I guess I just don't see much of a gain with the Kansas position unless states can also curtail associated federal taxation. This might then raise the question if individuals and business should file tax returns directly to the IRS or should they be filed on our behalf by our state governments? Why do we currently need to file both a state and a federal tax return anyway?

I posted a similar comment in "Keep it Local!" on this site that depicts how the Federal government can sidestep a state's authority and tax the daylights out of its population using, in this example, healthcare. But wait, Cap and Trade is next. See:

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/10/27/keep-it-local/

Important point, Kevin.

That, of course, leaves us with the essential question -

Shoudl a movement focused on limiting federal power be focusing strategy based on what the federal courts will approve of?

Or, should they focus their efforts on what they can do in their own state - with or without "permission" from the federal courts or federal politicians?

I choose the latter.

Amending a state constitution is an interesting approach, but unfortunately the courts have not been shy in throwing out state constitutional provisions. The people of Colorado passed one several years ago and the Supreme Court threw it out (it was called Amendment 2).

If Congress does pass a mandatory medical program for all U.S. citizens I am planning on introducing a resolution in Colorado based on the authority of the Tenth Amendment. Resolutions have no direct force of law, but I see it as a first step to put the Federal Government on notice of their violation of the U.S. Constitution. Given the political mix in the Colorado legislature the passage of even a resolution is doubtful, but as a members of the Colorado State Senate I can do no less.

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WHAT A WONDERFUL SOLUTION TO THIS FASCIST GOVERMENT. I HOPE EVERYONE EMAILS THEIR SENS AND REPS TO DEMAND THEIR STATE DO THE SAME THING. THIS IS A WAY TO PROVE THE STATES HAVE POWER.

We expect to see upwards of 15+ states introducing some kind of state-level health care nullification legislation in the 2010 session. Going to be hard to make any national program stick if that many states end up saying no....