The establishment politicos and pundits are out in full force talking about this “critically important” November election coming up. But does it really make a difference who wins?

Not if you discount the talking heads and take actual history into account.

An Oct. 2 Washington Post op/ed by Charles Krauthammer makes the case that Republican victory in next month’s vote will put the country back in the right direction. He says that it will allow the Republicans to show the country ‘its capacity to govern’ and put them on track to win the Presidency in 2016.

Regaining the Senate would finally give the GOP the opportunity, going into 2016, to demonstrate its capacity to govern… You can’t govern the country from one house of Congress. Republicans learned that hard, yet obvious, lesson with the disastrous shutdowns of 1995 and 2013. But controlling both houses would allow the GOP to produce a compelling legislative agenda.

And what compelling legislative agenda would this be? According to Krauthammer, it would include tax reform, energy deregulation, a partial repeal of Obamacare and added border security. Some of these might sound like good policies, but they don’t exactly represent a rollback of federal power. And even where the GOP promises to work for “smaller government,” what evidence exists that Republicans will actually do it if they gain more congressional control? Considering their track record, you can’t assume that Republicans will exercise their power in any way except to expand the reach of government even further into our lives.

Republicans may talk a good game when they are out of power, but that all seems to change as soon as they regain control. During the most recent Republican administration, for example, the federal government grew at an unprecedented rate. The Patriot Act was passed, torture was sanctioned, illegal wars were waged, entitlement programs were greatly expanded, federal power over education grew massively, trillion dollar deficits were normalized and so on. It could even be argued that the excesses of the Bush/Cheney regime paved the way for Obama to come in and expand federal power in ways that were previously unfathomable.

The second Bush administration was no aberration. After all, it was the first Bush who signed America onto United Nations’ Agenda 21 to decimate Americans’ property rights in favor of global government. Remember that it was Reagan who, in spite his rhetoric, exploded the debt and deficit to previously unforeseen heights. It was Nixon took us off the gold standard, started the job-killing EPA and began the disastrous federal war on drugs before having to resign in disgrace. The Republican Party simply has no credibility when it comes to fighting big government. If they win back Congressional power in November, there is no reason we shouldn’t expect more of the same.

Both parties are untrustworthy, and offer no alternative at the federal level to tyranny. This is a sad state of affairs, but it is not a reason for surrender. We are fortunate to live in a Republic designed by brilliant men who fully understood the evils of centralized power and designed many checks and balances to stop it. By understanding our rights, we can reverse the path that our country is on before it is too late.

The key to understanding our rights begins with examining the words of the Founding Fathers. They were not tight-lipped about what the people should do when faced with an overwrought federal government. This is best demonstrated by the words of the Father of the Constitution, James Madison in Federalist #46:

Should an unwarrantable measure of the federal government be unpopular in particular States, which would seldom fail to be the case, or even a warrantable measure be so, which may sometimes be the case, the means of opposition to it are powerful and at hand. The disquietude of the people; their repugnance and, perhaps, refusal to co-operate with the officers of the Union; the frowns of the executive magistracy of the State; the embarrassments created by legislative devices, which would often be added on such occasions, would oppose, in any State, difficulties not to be despised; would form, in a large State, very serious impediments; and where the sentiments of several adjoining States happened to be in unison, would present obstructions which the federal government would hardly be willing to encounter.

James Madison didn’t call for the people to grovel beneath unscrupulous politicians and beg them to stop their crime spree. He didn’t call for people to line up and vote for new corrupt bums to replace the old ones. On the contrary, he told the people to fight the corruption and fiercely resist it. He wanted the people to use the lower levels of government to stop federal power, to bring shame and folly upon the feds and their intolerable acts.

The Tenth Amendment Center has taken heed of James Madison’s words, and we are working to revive the adversarial spirit carried by the legendary statesmen who created our sovereign Republic. That is why we have developed legislation to bring disrepute to the feds on a wide variety of issues ranging from Obamacare to gun control to industrial hemp to NSA spying. Our plan works because of the limited reach of the federal government. They desperately need our state-level compliance and material support to effectively destroy our freedoms. Rather than voting for the same old garbage, let’s take away what our oppressors need from us, and show the feds who’s boss once and for all.

The 10th Amendment

“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.”

LEARN MORE

01

Featured Articles

On the Constitution, history, the founders, and analysis of current events.

featured articles

02

Tenther Blog and News

Nullification news, quick takes, history, interviews, podcasts and much more.

tenther blog

03

State of the Nullification Movement

232 pages. History, constitutionality, and application today.

get the report

01

Path to Liberty

Our flagship podcast. Michael Boldin on the constitution, history, and strategy for liberty today

path to liberty

02

Maharrey Minute

The title says it all. Mike Maharrey with a 1 minute take on issues under a 10th Amendment lens. maharrey minute

Tenther Essentials

2-4 minute videos on key Constitutional issues - history, and application today

TENTHER ESSENTIALS

Join TAC, Support Liberty!

Nothing helps us get the job done more than the financial support of our members, from just $2/month!

JOIN TAC

01

The 10th Amendment

History, meaning, and purpose - the "Foundation of the Constitution."

10th Amendment

03

Nullification

Get an overview of the principles, background, and application in history - and today.

nullification