More Foreign Policy Arrogance
Via Jason Ditz In comments published today in a Pakistani business paper, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin pressed for Pakistan to dramatically raise taxes, insisting that “Pakistanis pay less for their government than nearly any other country in the region.” To that end, Secretary Wolin urged Pakistan’s parliament to enact value-added tax (VAT) legislation. [...]
Question With(out) Boldness: In Which Glenn Beck Jumps the Shark
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. – Thomas Jefferson At the risk of being redundant, I must join Michael in pointing out the sheer hypocrisy of Glenn Beck’s hatchet job of a radio [...]
State sovereignty with teeth
The “Five for Freedom” plan in Colorado
Health Care Freedom for Virginia
Today, the Virginia House of Delegates passed 4 bills proposing to make state law the right of a person to choose health care providers: No resident of this Commonwealth, regardless of whether he has or is eligible for health insurance coverage under any policy or program provided by or through his employer, or a plan [...]
Do States Need Permission to Enforce their Rights?
The Tenth Amendment Center shared this WSJ Blog on Facebook recently. It was a pretty short piece that may be summed up in one paragraph. On its face, it certainly sounds like an amendment that’s worth being mindful of (which one isn’t?). Thing is, however, that any new application or enforcement of the 10th amendment [...]
Kansas Senate Affirms Sovereignty Under the 10th Amendment
The Kansas Senate passed a state sovereignty resolution Thursday that affirms the principles of enumerated powers and the 10th Amendment: “the State of Kansas 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 [...]
Health Care Freedom Bill Passes VA House
More good news coming out of the Virginia General Assembly Thursday: Del. Bob Marshall’s health freedom bill, HB 10, passed the House of Delegates 72-26. The Senate bills on this issue, SB 283, SB 311 and SB 417, all passed the House Commerce and Labor committee by 17-5 margins and are headed to the floor. [...]
Chris Matthews Smears Debra Medina
Why, she can’t be for (the Principles of 1798 as enunciated in Jefferson and Madison’s Virginia and Kentucky Resolves) nullification and interposition! Who does she think she is, John C. Calhoun? That’s Jim Crow, says the ignorant and evil regime shill Matthews. (Thanks to Travis Holte) cross-posted from the LewRockwell.com Blog
Kansas, West Virginia to Consider Health Care Freedom Act
Introduced in the past week in Kansas and West Virginia is the “Health Care Freedom Act” which seeks to ensure the freedom of state residents to choose their own health care providers. In Kansas, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1626 (SCR1626). In West Virginia, House Joint Resolution 103 (HJR103). In each state, the proposal is for a [...]
A Question for Glenn Beck on Global Warming and Conspiracy
Glenn: I’m under the impression that you consider the science behind global warming to be inaccurate, and that the efforts to promote it include hiding truth. A grand conspiracy, of sorts. On your TV show in November, 2009, you said: Count them. There’s Jones, Mike, Keith, Gene and Caspar, whoever they are. Potentially deleting emails [...]
What to do with those donation requests from political parties
Just an idea I wanted to pass along to you all: If or when you receive a letter from the state or national political parties asking for money, don’t throw it away. Instead, write a short note to the effect that you will not donate money to them until they make a firm commitment to [...]
Health Care Nullification Passes Idaho House
The Idaho State House has passed House Bill 391 (H0391). The bill, known as the “Idaho Health Freedom Act” seeks to make public policy for the state that “every person within the state of Idaho is and shall be free to choose or decline to choose any mode of securing health care services without penalty [...]
Alabama Governor Signs Sovereignty Resolution
Alabama Governor Bob Riley has signed Senate Joint Resolution 27 (SJR27), sponsored by State Senator Scott Beason. The resolution claims sovereignty for the state “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.” In [...]
Jefferson on Judges
“To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men and not more so. They have with others the same passions for party, for power, and the [...]
Ron Paul on Federal Stimulus spending
Is federal government stimulus the answer to our declining economy? Texas Congressman Ron Paul discusses why government spending can’t reverse our anemic economy. Government does not create wealth or create value, this is done in the private sector by companies and individuals who take raw materials then assemble a product to create something more valuable [...]
Jefferson, the Fed, and the Tenth Amendment
In one of the many arguments Thomas Jefferson had with Alexander Hamilton in the first administration of the newly found republic, under President George Washington, Jefferson used these words to describe why Hamilton’s plan for a federal bank under private management was a bad and unconstitutional idea: “I consider the foundation of the Constitution as [...]
Health Care Sovereignty for Colorado
On Friday February 5th, 17 House Representatives and 2 Senators in the Colorado General Assembly cosponsored new legislation limiting the federal government’s power to enforce health care legislation in this state. Please make sure this legislation passes by contacting all members of the General Assembly and ask them to cosponsor this bill. HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION [...]
Another Nail in the Coffin: Utah Considers bill to Reject Real ID
Introduced in the Utah Legislature is House Bill 234 (HB234), which if passed, would prohibit the state from “participating in the implementation of the REAL ID Act of 2005.” Real ID created national standards for driver’s license and identification cards and opponents have been resisting it for various reasons – it’s a privacy risk, forces [...]
NH: New sovereignty bill – New Hamsphire state’s rights
HB1343 – A legally-binding bill to enact a 10th Amendment Commission for the state of New Hampshire. CLICK HERE – for the Tenth Amendment Center’s 10th Amendment Bills tracking page
Sovereignty for West Virginia?
Introduced by State Senators Boley, Barnes, Hall, Deem, Caruth, Sypolt, K. Facemyer, Guills, and Plymale, West Virginia’s Senate Concurrent Resolution 20 (SCR20) seeks to reassert “the State of West Virginia’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over certain powers and serving notice to the federal government to cease and [...]
States to Feds: Step Off
Ashby Jones has a good report on the still-growing 10th Amendment Movement in the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog. We had no idea: states across the land are assembling their legislatures and passing these resolutions asserting their sovereignty. It’s all part of this push, it seems, to remind whomever — citizens, the federal government — [...]
Nullification, Secession, and the Human Scale of Political Order
For three days last week, on the third floor of the Francis Marion Hotel in downtown Charleston, SC, a group of scholars have been meeting to discuss the history of nullification and secession in American law and politics, and the continued relevance of those concepts today. I had the privilege of joining them for the [...]
States Can’t Nullify, Because I Said So!
Funny to watch the establishment’s reaction to the reappearance of the idea of state nullification of unconstitutional federal laws. This isn’t allowed, of course — the right of Ivy Leaguers to impose their theories on the country shall not be infringed. The extremely conventional Sanford Levinson trots out all the old arguments. My book on [...]
Constitutionally illiterate
That’s a good way to describe almost everyone in D.C. Even those that what the Constitution means seem to forget how to preserve it when they’ve been in office a long time. That’s the subject of an article in the Baltimore Sun last week. Here’s an excerpt: On Nov. 5, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, [...]
