Federalism and the 10th: The States’ Great Awakening

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In Part 1 of this series, I explained how our federalism works and how the powers were divided between the states and our national government. The details showed that the states were superior to the federal government on the hierarchy scale and that the 10th amendment protected that position whenever the federal government stepped outside its boundaries.

The Constitution is a great document, but it is nothing more the words on a piece of paper unless those responsible for working within its boundaries are held accountable. The Constitution is absolutely meaningless if the federal government can ignore it and do whatever it wants at any time it wants.

Slowly, of the course of the last century or so, we have witnessed the deterioration of our Constitution. The federal government has stolen power from the states and people on a regular basis. Our rights that are supposed to be guaranteed protection from an encroaching federal government are being dismantled one by one as new laws keep coming out of the federal government.

Members of Congress are vehemently imposing their will upon the states and the people with no regard to the Constitution at all. Perhaps they need to return to school and learn what happened the last time an “imperial” government mandated edicts while ignoring the people. If the federal government continues to treat the states like Britain did the colonies, how could they not expect the “revolution” to happen?

Today we can easily see that our federal government is pushing harder than ever to take on the dominate role in our country’s politics. The servant is attempting to become the master and centralizing power in Washington. The answer to stopping this usurpation lies in the governors and state legislatures. It is within their power to correct this problem.

President Obama and his Administration seem to want to repeat history. They are trying to recreate the New Deal in modern terms. Through the use of Congress, the Fed and the judiciary, they are overstepping their bounds and violating the fiscal and constitutional rights of state and local governments. The imbalance of power in our federalist system has finally reached a tipping point.

When the pain gets large enough, people will do something about it. Apparently, James Madison was correct about the states banding together. While a lot has been taken away, the beginnings of the reclamation process is becoming more evident in our modern times. Several states, although not making compacts with each other, are all moving in the same direction to oppose federal intrusions on their authority.

Perhaps the legal axiom of “silence is acceptance” is being put to use as the states are no longer being silent. That silence has been broken is the first indicator that the pain threshold has been breached. There seems to be a growing movement among the states now to take back the power that is rightfully theirs.  The wheels of insurrection are turning. State and local officials are fighting back. The giant has awakened.

jim kearney was born and raised in Connecticut, a fervent believer of individual Liberty, is a registered Libertarian and operates http://www.LibertarianViewpoint.com

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 at 12:22 am. It is filed under Activism, Big Government, Constitution, Federalism, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, Law, Nullification, Sovereignty Movement, State Sovereignty, Tenthers and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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JimKearney
JimKearney

@dmellon

 

If what you say is true, then the states have no jurisdiction at all, there is no need for state courts or state governments. I think there is a loss of understanding on jurisdiction. It might be easier to see it if we look at this like a business.

 

The people are the boss, the states are the middle managers and federal government are the guys on the bottom rung of the ladder. If the guy at the bottom does something wrong, the big boss does not step in first, the middle manager takes care of the problem. The big boss only gets involved when the middle manager cannot handle the problem.Based on your interpretation, middle managers (states) are useless because they have no power. I disagree.

 

Since you bring up the SC, I will assume the SC actually does its job correctly and properly interprets the Constitution, then the SC will NOT negate states decisions to exercise their rights to do what the people want. They will properly interpret the Constitution to be a limiting document and see the 10th as reserving the rights for the states and people. Therefore, when the states start things like nullification procedures, the SC will stand with the states and NOT the executive or legislative branches of the federal government. AGAIN - that is assuming they do their job correctly.

 

So, what happens if they do not do their job correctly? What if the SC says the nullification effort is unconstitutional? Do they states just kowtow? What remedy is left to fix the problem?

 

I agree that ultimate power lies in the people. The problem here is that the people themselves do not realize this. When it completely breaks down then it is likely time for massive civil disobedience. When I say massive I do not mean just one or two people from each state, I mean really truly massive. It has to be like the prohibition era where no one listened to the ban on alcohol. It got so big they had to change the constitution to get rid of the problem. 

 

In that we both agree the power lies with the people and the 10th supports this stance - how do we educate the masses? Semantically I believe that you and I are on the same page. We may have a slightly different opinion on how our middle managers go about their tasks and ultimately, we both understand the power resides with the people. Surely, having blogs like this will help some when a person is searching for information, but often it seems like we are preaching to the choir. What kind of things can we do to help educate the general public on colossal scale?

dmellon
dmellon

 @JimKearney  @dmellon Asking the state legislatures to nullify unconstitutional federal laws is the rightful remedy because we must strengthen our state legislatures since they are the only current line of defense that we have.  The legislatures will gain their power if they represent the will of the people.  So as you ask how do we educate the general public on a colossal scale to support nullification?

 

My hope is that many states will nullify Obamacare creating what might be called a constitutional crisis that would have to be addressed by the MSM.  That would provide the forum to educate some of the public.  Keep in mind that currently about 30% of the population thinks the fiscal cliff is somewhere in the rocky mountains so when we talk about the general public we don't mean all the people.

 

When I read Madison's Report of 1800 on the Virginia resolutions of 1798 it changed my understanding of the relationship between the people, the constitution, and the members of the Federal Government.  The main point is that the people of the various states having established the constitution are the final arbiters of its meaning.  If the people say Obamacare is unconstitutional then it is and that decision cannot be reversed by the SC.  Unfortunately Madison does not give us guidance on how the people can exercise this power.  But certainly a starting point is by working through the state legislatures to pass nullifying laws.  Then one can hope that the SC will be sensitive to overwhelming public opinion so if that can be achieved for these laws then perhaps they will prevail.  If that strategy fails then the people will have to proceed without the support of the state governments using some process not yet defined.

 

 

JimKearney
JimKearney

 @dmellon  Ah, so then we do agree after all. The state's great awakening is taking place and they are acting appropriately to nullify federal law and protect their people as they should. I am glad to see that you have recognized the fat that power ultimately resides with the people and that if they state fails in its duty it is up to the people to do something about it.

 

It is that "not yet defined" process that I worry most about. Clearly civil disobedience of some sort will be involved. Often I look back at what is going in our country and wonder why the simple lesson of Liberty is not being taught in our schools any longer. The power of the people lies in knowing that in order to be free of the government one must recognize they are free of the government. I guess until that lesson is learned nothing else will take place.

 

Great conversing with you on the subject matter. Watch for the final installment, part 3, to be posted soon.

dmellon
dmellon

Jim, I am reluctant to post a second time on this subject, but I think there is an important point to be made.  The constitution is a compact between the people of the various states and not the state legislatures.  It was the people through state conventions that ratified the constitution and not the state legislatures. Further Madison in his Report of 1800 on the Virginia Resolutions, explicitly tell us that the word “states” in the tenth amendment means the people of the states and not the state legislatures.  The state legislatures are not granted superior power to the federal courts and I can list 8 Supreme Court decisions that explicitly say that. 

 

That is important because sooner or later the SC is going to overturn a nullification action by one of the state legislatures and if our position is that the state legislatures have superior power to the SC then our position will be seriously weakened in the eyes of the public. 

 

The true and unassailable position that we should always promote is that the people are sovereign and their will is being exercised through the state legislatures.  The state legislatures are the vehicle through which the power flows and not the source of the power.  If we make this point over and over then I believe the negative SC decisions will have little effect on the eventual outcome of our nullification actions.  That is the SC can overrule the state legislatures but not the will of the people.  I might add that this position will allow us to proceed even without the support of the state legislatures if that becomes necessary.