by Anthony Gregory, LewRockwell.com
The following is based on a talk given at the Free State Projectâ€™s Liberty Forum in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Friday, March 6, 2009.
The Tenth Amendment says “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.” This effectively means that if the Constitution does not grant the power to the federal government over something, then it is for the states and people to decide. Some people here would say this is the most important amendment. If the federal government obeyed it, the entire drug war as we know it would be impossible.Details
Legislators in Ohio have introduced House Concurrent Resolution 11, “To claim sovereignty over certain powers pursuant to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, to serve notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain mandates, and to insist that certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed. “Details
On 03-05-09, Alabama State Representative Canfield introduced House Joint Resolution 298 to call on the State of Alabama to claim “Sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution” and to serve “notice to the federal government to cease and desist”
Here’s the full text:Details
by Dr. Archie Jones, The American Vision
No fundamental provision of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights is more neglectedâ€”or thoroughly violatedâ€”today than the Tenth Amendment. It is violated in spirit and in practice. Its violation is advocated implicitly and explicitly: in the teaching of American history and government, in legal theory, in what passes for â€œConstitutional Law,â€ and in the functioning of everyday American politics and government.
Our Constitutionâ€”as the very words of the Tenth Amendment make clearâ€”was intended to be a delegated powers document. The states which formed and ratified the Constitution were free and independent statesâ€”nationsâ€”which delegated certain authority and powers to the new central or national government created by the Constitution. They delegatedâ€”and manifestly intended to delegateâ€”only those powers stated in the Constitution: and no more. They forbade themselves certain other powers which they also stated in Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution.Details
On 03-10-09, legislators in the State of Oregon submitted House Joint Memorial 17, which calls on the federal government to “cease and desist imposing mandates that are beyond the scope of those powers expressly delegated by the Constitution of the United States to the federal government…”
Here’s the full text:Details
by Thomas E. Woods, The Freeman
Thinkers in the classical-liberal tradition, to the extent that they support a coercive state at all, speak routinely of the importance of keeping government strictly limited. To that end, the United States has a written Constitution, which enumerates the relatively brief list of tasks entrusted to the federal government and whose Tenth Amendment makes clear that any power not granted to the federal government resides in the states, the authors of the federal compact.
That is all well and good, but how does a theoretically limited government remain so? Some have argued that it is impossible to restrain a government over time. The framers of the Constitution, for their part, were well aware of the tendency for power to concentrate and expand. Thomas Jefferson spoke of the calamity that would result if all power were vested in the federal government.Details
Pennsylvania Lawmakers encourage supporters to join them at Capitol event
Politicians in Washington, D.C., have been exerting undue influence on the states and itâ€™s time for them to stop. Thatâ€™s the sentiment behind a rally Rep. Samuel E. Rohrer (R-128) and Sen. Mike Folmer (R-48) will hold at noon on Monday in the Capitol Rotunda.
â€œIf you think the size and scope of the federal government has far exceeded our Founding Fathersâ€™ intentions, then we hope you come out Monday to support our cause,â€ Rohrer said. â€œFor too long, Congress and the president have been encroaching on policy areas that ought to be decided by the states. This rally is the equivalent of posting a â€˜no trespassingâ€™ sign.â€Details
by State Rep. Dick Harwood, Idaho-St. Maries
It might seem strange that the Legislature is considering action to declare Idaho’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. State sovereignty should be a given.
Yet, it isn’t. “Change” is the latest buzzword in politics; that’s what President Obama campaigned for when he ran for office and since he took office in January. He wants “change” in the political climate in Washington and “change” in how business is conducted.Details