The Neglected Tenth Amendment

This article was first featured in Sunday's Idaho State Journal.

Once upon a time in a land far away there was a government that thought it had unlimited power over the lives of Americans. But we decided we didn't want bureaucrats running our lives and we fought a war for independence. We chartered a new course of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy.

Our Constitution placed restrictions on the government, not the people. Nobody likes being restricted, and government is no exception. So they routinely ignore or reinterpret the Constitution - the contract between the central government and We the People of the States.

Fortunately, more and more of us are realizing that if we don't begin enforcing the contract, nothing will stop the consolidation of all power in Washington D.C.; nothing will stop bureaucrats from dictating every decision we make - from personal health choices to spending the fruit of our labor; nothing is off limits from the insatiable appetite of bureaucracy.

The world is run by those who show up and increasing numbers of Americans are discovering that bureaucrats and corporate cronies are the ones that consistently show up to protect and enlarge their piece of the pie. Problem is, the fruit used to make the pie is confiscated from taxpayers.

The American sleeping giant is now awakening to the fact that we were ripped off while we were slumbering. Watch out! We're mad and we're rolling up our sleeves to go after the culprits.

This is not about right versus left - which keeps us divided and conquered - it's about local government and state's rights versus the ever-encroaching central government.

NULLIFICATION OF UNCONSTITUTIONAL FEDERAL LAWS

"Thirteen states now have some form of medical marijuana laws - in direct contravention to federal laws which state that the plant is illegal in all circumstances. Massive state nullification of the 2005 Real ID Act has rendered the law nearly void. And, two states, Montana and Tennessee, have already passed laws nullifying federal gun laws and regulations within their states." - Michael Boldin, Founder of the Tenth Amendment Center

The use of nullification is a growing, nationwide, transpartisan movement among the states that's being fueled by the arrogance of the federal government.

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: "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."

In 2009, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the State of Idaho passed House Joint Memorial 4, claiming sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution.

With concerns about privacy, funding and more, Idaho was one of 25 states over the past 2 years that passed resolutions and binding laws denouncing and refusing to implement the REAL ID Act, the implementation of which has been delayed numerous times in response to this massive state resistance, and in practice, is virtually null and void.

The Sovereign Idaho Coalition, found online at http://SovereignIdaho.com, is planning to Converge on the Capital in Boise on January 18th to meet with our legislators and deliver thousands of voter signatures on a petition asking them to join dozens of other states and nullify several unconstitutional federal laws.

FIREARMS FREEDOM

Any firearms made and retained in Idaho are beyond the authority of Congress under its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the states. Idaho should nullify unconstitutional federal regulations on firearms, accessories, or ammunition manufactured and retained in Idaho.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Switzerland was and is a model for American self-defense. Surrounded by the war-mongering nations of Europe, they managed to stay out of two World Wars because they maintain a well regulated Militia. With a trained marksman behind every door, foreign invaders avoid what would be a disastrous confrontation. Consequently, violent crimes such as assault and robbery are virtually unheard of.

CONSTITUTIONAL TENDER

The Constitution declares, in Article I, Section 10, "No State shall... make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." Idaho should nullify federal legal tender laws by authorizing payment in gold and silver or electronic transactions backed 100% by gold or silver.

The Constitution was never amended to allow the creation of the monopolistic banking cartel known as the Federal Reserve System. Since its inception in 1913, the Fed has helped to devalue our dollar by 95%. They steal the fruit of your labor by inflating the money supply, giving it away to their cronies as in recent bailouts, and they refuse to even tell Congress who they gave it to. Inflation of the money supply is what caused your price for groceries to double in the last decade.

If Americans had to pay for the onerous welfare-warfare state via direct taxation alone (without the hidden inflation tax), there would be a revolution overnight. Government can't print gold and silver and reduce its value the way they've done with the dollar. Limited availability causes its value to rise in relation to the increasing supply of other goods and services. How would you like your earnings to buy more and more instead of less and less?

HEALTH CARE

A reading of the Constitution through the original understanding of the Founders and Ratifiers makes it quite clear that any national health care plan or national public option is not something that was delegated by the People to the Federal Government in the Constitution. Idaho should pass legislation making it clear that we will not participate in any nationalized health-control scheme.

A reporter recently asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?"

Pelosi dismissed the question by saying, "Are you serious? Are you serious?"

The reporter said, "Yes, yes I am."

Pelosi then shook her head before taking a question from another reporter.

Disregard for the Constitution is strangely common to whichever political party controls Washington. They have their agenda and they're not going to let old fashioned ideas like constitutionally limited government stop them.

Prior to the outbreak of the Iraq War, Congressman Ron Paul proposed a congressional declaration of war as mandated by the Constitution, even though he planned on voting against it. Republican chairman of the International Relations Committee, the late Henry Hyde, chided him, "There are things in the Constitution that have been overtaken by events, by time. Declaration of war is one of them. There are things no longer relevant to a modem society. We are saying to the president, use your judgment. [What you have proposed is] anachronistic; it isn't done any more."

I have pleaded with our public servant to obey the Constitution for the last decade - to no avail. Representative Simpson voted for Real ID, the Patriot Act, more federal intrusions into health care and education, last year's banker bailout, another $2 billion in cash for clunkers, and numerous other unconstitutional central government expansions that are bankrupting our country.

Ironically, whenever power shifts the new minority party suddenly believes in the Constitution again and they use it to criticize the majority party. This absurd hypocrisy can certainly be stopped by sending constitutionalists to Congress and holding them accountable. But it also needs to be stopped at the Idaho state line.

By reasserting state sovereignty we can restore sanity and liberty to our land. When we Converge on the Capital for the 2010 legislative session we will send a powerful message to Washington: Idaho believes in the Constitution and we will no longer allow gross usurpations to go unchecked.

Chris Stevens, of Pocatello, is Idaho State Coordinator of Campaign For Liberty and Bannock County's Republican State Committeeman. He is also co-chair of the recently organized Sovereign Idaho Coalition and has been active in all of the local Tea Parties. He can be contacted at Chris.Stevens@CampaignForLiberty.com or 478-8683.