The ordinance was passed in response to S.510, the odious Food Safety and Modernization Act, written by agricorps like Monsanto to put their smaller competitors out of business, and passed by Congress under the cover of darkness on Christmas Eve last year. 

The Sedgwick ordinance stated in part that

“Sedgwick citizens…[may] produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing,”

and declares that

“It shall be unlawful for any law or regulation adopted by the state or federal government to interfere with the rights recognized by this Ordinance.” 

As I pointed out in March:

This is so basic and yet so revolutionary.

In these days when petty tyrants seem to be at the helm of every government agency, imposing their arbitrary and destructive will upon a cowering citizenry, it is refreshing to know that there are still people with the courage and capacity to stand up and say “Not in our town.”

Now another town has joined the fight.

Voters in Blue Hill, Maine have adopted a similar ordinance to protect their own local food producers.

Nullification, the legal and moral equivalent of peaceful non-cooperation, marches on as more and more Americans discover that tyranny cannot exist without the people’s consent.  

h/t LRC

From Fox News:

To make it clear Oklahoma will develop its own plan, the state will not accept a $54.6 million federal grant for setting up a system where Oklahomans could shop for health insurance, Gov. Mary Fallin said Thursday.

Fallin said the state instead will use state and private money to form the system.

This is a step that advocates of nullification in many states have long sought. After all, it’s pretty obvious that threats of non-compliance with the feds are empty to the point of pathetic when state budgets still depend on grants of federal money (which is siphoned from their citizens to begin with).

However

Fallin’s announcement reverses her decision two months ago to accept the federal money.

Obviously the governor is bowing to some form of public pressure. In this age of  rampant and flagrant TSA molestation, it’s nice to see that pressure can still occasionally be successfully applied to public servants.

Perhaps other states whose legislatures have passed a version of the Health Care Freedom Act should consider following Oklahoma’s example.

No mention of the Virginia or Kentucky Resolutions, or of Thomas Jefferson.

Thompson did acknowledge that

Nullification has also been used to fight slavery but I find it odd that a strict Constitutional advocate would push for support of only those parts of the document that fit with his philosophies.

But that’s the strange part. Nowhere in his rambling diatribe does Thompson say what part of the Constitution Ron Paul or his son Rand don’t support.

The only specific part of the Constitution that is mentioned at all is the 10th Amendment.

Those who support nullification point to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution to support their claim that states have the right to “nullify” laws.

Thompson goes on to cite a “constitutional expert” named Edward Lazarus, who says of the 10th Amendment:

It is hard to know what to make of the fact that a bunch of opportunistic politicians are now holding out a tarnished artifact of constitutional history as a serious interpretation of the Constitution and of our national structure.

So, according to Thompson’s scholar, the 10th Amendment, which last I checked has not been repealed, is a “tarnished artifact” of the Constitution that may be ignored at will by the federal government, but Ron Paul is the selective hypocrite? Right…

As Thompson himself states at the end with an utterly misguided rhetorical flourish

Trying to find ways around the Constitution is why George W. Bush left office as one of the most unpopular President in history.

If that’s true, then why do Thompson and Lazarus and a host of “experts” and politicians on both sides of the aisle (basically everyone except Ron and Rand Paul) try so hard to find a way around the 10th Amendment, the very ”foundation” of the Constitution according to Jefferson, and the best weapon against centralized power?

Oh, wait, I just answered my own question.

They did so through what might be the most legitimate form of democratic expression left in America: the New England town meeting. (Which have been held in the Sedgwick town hall since 1794.)

According to one report, the residents of Sedgwick voted to enact a law that not only permits

“Sedgwick citizens…to produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing,”

but declares that

“It shall be unlawful for any law or regulation adopted by the state or federal government to interfere with the rights recognized by this Ordinance.” 

What about potential legal liability and state or federal inspections? It’s all up to the seller and buyer to negotiate. “Patrons purchasing food for home consumption may enter into private agreements with those producers or processors of local foods to waive any liability for the consumption of that food. Producers or processors of local foods shall be exempt from licensure and inspection requirements for that food as long as those agreements are in effect.”

This is so basic and yet so revolutionary.

In these days when petty tyrants seem to be at the helm of every government agency, imposing their arbitrary and destructive will upon a cowering citizenry, it is refreshing to know that there are still people with the courage and capacity to stand up and say “Not in our town.”

I can’t wait for the trolls to try and claim that, like medical marijuana, what happened in Sedgwick can’t be nullification because the Supreme Court said it doesn’t exist.

From NetRightDaily:

“State Representatives Sandifer and Loftis are taking the lead in protecting the rights of South Carolina consumers, who don’t want the federal government telling them which light bulbs they must use,” Bill Wilson the President of Americans for Limited Government said.

“The basic concept of the bill is to allow the citizens of South Carolina to be able to continue to buy incandescent light bulbs,” said State Representative Bill Sandifer, Chairman of the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee.

“It is my strong belief that the feds have overstepped the Tenth Amendment, and now are venturing into telling us what kinds of lighting we can have in our homes,” Sandifer added.

Their bill (H. 3735) is essentially a version of the Firearms Freedom Acts and Intrastate Commerce Acts that have been popping up all over the country. Essentially, any light bulb manufactured and sold exclusively in South Carolina would not be subject to federal regulation.

Which is already the case, but it never hurts to repeat the obvious for emphasis when dealing with a government as corrupt and insular as the one in Washington, D.C.

The siginifcance of the FFA was of course not just about firearms freedom. It was also about the precedent such a law would have set for returning the federal government to its constitutional role, and restoring some measure of state sovereignty. Unfortunately, by killing the bill, a tiny minority of Virginia Senators left the entire commonwealth open to federal attack on issues that go well beyond gun control, up to and <a href="http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2011/02/09/stopping-federal-food-police/” target=”_blank”>including the very food we eat.

This year, the Intrastate Commerce Act (HB1438), a bill whose language is much more broad, but whose overall purpose is the same, has also passed the House. Tomorrow it will come up before the exact same Senate sub-committee that killed its predecessor. The result must be different this year if Virginia is to have any hope of pushing back against federal overreach across the board.

If you live in Virginia, or just want to make your voice heard, please feel free to shut down the phone systems at the General Assembly building in favor of HB1438.

Sub-Committee Members:

Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D) (804) 698-7535 district35@senate.virginia.gov (chairman)
Sen. John S. Edwards (D) (804) 698-7521 district21@senate.virginia.gov
Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D) (804) 698-7509 district09@senate.virginia.gov
Sen. Thomas K. Norment, Jr. (R) (804) 698-7503 district03@senate.virginia.gov
Sen. John C. Watkins, (R) (804) 698-7510 district10@senate.virginia.gov

The Constitution is not just a piece of paper, it is the foundational compact between our ancestors and the government they established. If we let the courts and politicians tell us that it is meaningless, it will become meaningless. But, if we choose to exercise it, the Tenth Amendment explicitly gives us the power to enforce the Constitution’s letter and spirit through political action, regardless of the opinions and preferences of the ruling class.

Michael will be a featured speaker at Nullify Now! Orlando and Nullify Now! Chattanooga. Get tickets here – http://www.nullifynow.com/tickets/ – or by calling 888-71-TICKETS

A special thanks to Watchdog on Wall Street for being a premiere sponsor of Nullify Now! in Orlando – tune in to Chris’ show daily – http://watchdogonwallstreet.com/

“Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both warned us that if the federal government ever became the sole and exclusive arbiter of the extent of its own powers – that power would always grow, regardless of protests, lawsuits, elections – or anything else.”

“Nullify Now is about We the People exercising our rights whether they the government wants us to or not.”

*******

About the Show: Chris is the antithesis of what Wall Street has become; he knows financial planning is a profession, not a vehicle for selling as many ridiculous financial products as possible. His clear-cut, honest approach is in complete contrast with the fabrication and deception that individual investors are exposed to every day.

Please visit the following links for more information:
Nullify Now! – Chattanooga (or call 888-71-TICKETS)
State of Georgia Tea Party
The Al Gainey Show – please visit www.algainey.com and go to “listen live” to hear the show.

“The first person to really put nullification into words was Thomas Jefferson, and to a certain point, James Madison.”

“State legislatures need to tell the EPA to get out…”

Tom Woods is the Nullify Now! keynote speaker in Orlando on 10-10-10 – get your tickets here – http://www.nullifynow.com/orlando/

“The Civil War was about the right of states to allow slavery. The Union won and slavery was outlawed.”

Obviously, the southern states wanted slavery, but in reading the original “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union” – one would find the ideas of nullification and states rights vs centralization to be the leading issue:

an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution. The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, have enacted laws which either nullify the Acts of Congress or render useless any attempt to execute them. In many of these States the fugitive is discharged from service or labor claimed, and in none of them has the State Government complied with the stipulation made in the Constitution. [Emphasis Added]

Or how about Mississippi:

“[the North] has nullified the Fugitive Slave Law in almost every free State in the Union, and has utterly broken the compact which our fathers pledged their faith to maintain.”

From this it seems quite obvious to me that the Civil War WAS about nullification and states rights – the northern states were utilizing them and the slavers in the South wanted central power to force their way on the whole country.

Totally opposite of how the mainstream mouthpieces would have us believe.