I find it interesting to hear all the media pundits claiming that the “American People” are against a government shut-down and blame Republicans for using ObamaCare as a negotiation tool.
If the States that are united were founded on a principle of a consolidated nation, where a “National” government ruled over them, then it is possible the pundits may have it correct. However, that is not how the founding generation envisioned our union of States. We are made up of individual and sovereign entities that united to form a more perfect union. These States then delegated certain limited authority to the Federal government. It was very clear to nearly everyone involved that the States would retain the majority of their sovereign powers. This is one of the reasons that the Tenth Amendment was inserted into the Bill of Rights. What does it say?:
“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.”
Who were those people? The people of the individual States, not the people of a giant conglomerate. If any self-respecting news journalist or historian for that matter, would take the time to read the debates of the several States during their ratifying process they would then understand the principle.
New York, for instance, inserted this into their ratification document:
“That the Powers of Government may be reassumed by the People, whensoever it shall become necessary to their Happiness; that every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by the said Constitution clearly delegated to the Congress of the United States, or the departments of the Government thereof, remains to the People of the several States, or to their respective State Governments to whom they may have granted the same; And that those Clauses in the said Constitution, which declare, that Congress shall not have or exercise certain Powers, do not imply that Congress is entitled to any Powers not given by the said Constitution; but such Clauses are to be construed either as exceptions to certain specified Powers, or as inserted merely for greater Caution.”
How much clearer could it be?
The people of the fifty States elect representatives from many different districts within their States. These representatives are to vote the way their constituents, who put them in office, expect them to vote. The people from a district in New York who are against an un-Constitutional act like ObamaCare do not really care if a socialist leaning district in Massachusetts are for it. This is called Federalism or like Mike Church of Sirius/XM fame likes to say, “Little [r]epublicanism”.
What about the Senators? The Senate was created to represent the interest of the States. Federal Senators are not supposed to represent the people of the States but the State itself. We already have a House of Representatives who are elected to represent the people of the States.
So when you hear or see the media continuously harping about the will of the People being thwarted by some in Congress, know it is a lie. The people of the Sovereign States elected those who are against ObamaCare, the NSA, Patriot Act, etc.. to vote against those things. Some may have voted for individuals who are for ObamaCare and such. However, it is the will of the sovereign people of the States to decide. There is no political entity of the whole people of the States united. There never was, nor should there ever be. Oh, and by the way, most Republicans do not understand the concept either and I hold no hope that they will do the right thing. Everyday that the government stays “shut-down” we the taxpayers are saving money and regaining our liberty. In the end we win. Viva the shut-down!
- The 2nd Amendment vs the Incorporation Doctrine - September 9, 2015
- The “American People” and ObamaCare - October 21, 2013
- Stop and Frisk: No Feds Needed. - August 19, 2013