Appotus Dominus

[dnief]

Date: Feb 7, 2009 10:08 AM
Subject: Lawmakers in 20 states move to reclaim sovereignty



© 2009 WorldNetDaily

NEW YORK – As the Obama administration attempts to push through Congress a nearly $1 trillion deficit spending plan that is weighted heavily toward advancing typically Democratic-supported social welfare programs, a rebellion against the growing dominance of federal control is beginning to spread at the state level.


So far, eight states have introduced resolutions declaring state sovereignty under the Ninth and Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, including Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.


Analysts expect that in addition, another 20 states may see similar measures introduced this year, including Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nevada, Maine and Pennsylvania.


"What we are trying to do is to get the U.S. Congress out of the state's business," Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Randy Brogdon told WND.


"Congress is completely out of line spending trillions of dollars over the last 10 years putting the nation into a debt crisis like we've never seen before," Brogdon said, arguing that the Obama stimulus plan is the last straw taxing state patience in the brewing sovereignty dispute.


"This particular 111th Congress is the biggest bunch of over-reachers and underachievers we've ever had in Congress," he said.


"A sixth-grader should realize you can't borrow money to pay off your debt, and that is the Obama administration's answer for a stimulus package," he added.


The Ninth Amendment reads, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
"

The Tenth Amendment specifically provides, "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.
"

Brogdon, the lead sponsor of the Oklahoma state senate version of the sovereignty bill, has been a strong opponent of extending the plan to build a four-football-fields-wide Trans-Texas Corridor parallel to Interstate-35 to Oklahoma, as WND reported.


Rollback federal authority

The various sovereignty measures moving through state legislatures are designed to reassert state authority through a rollback of federal authority under the powers enumerated in the Constitution, with the states assuming the governance of the non-enumerated powers, as required by the Tenth Amendment.


The state sovereignty measures, aimed largely at the perceived fiscal irresponsibility of Congress in the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, have gained momentum with the $1 trillion deficit-spending economic stimulus package the Obama administration is currently pushing through Congress.


Particularly disturbing to many state legislators are the increasing number of "unfunded mandates" that have proliferated in social welfare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, in which bills passed by Congress dictate policy to the states without providing funding.


In addition, the various state resolutions include discussion of a wide range of policy areas, including the regulation of firearms sales (Montana) and the demand to issue drivers licenses with technology to embed personal information under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and the Real ID Act (Michigan).


Hawaii's measure calls for a new state constitutional convention to return self-governance, a complaint that traces back to the days it was a U.S. territory, prior to achieving statehood in 1959.


"We are trying to send a message to the federal government that the states are trying to reclaim their sovereignty," Republican Rep. Matt Shea, the lead sponsor of Washington's sovereignty resolution told WND.


"State sovereignty has been eroded in so many areas, it's hard to know where to start," he said. "There are a ton of federal mandates imposed on states, for instance, on education spending and welfare spending.
"

Shea said the Obama administration's economic stimulus package moving through Congress is a "perfect example.
"

"In the state of Washington, we have increased state spending 33 percent in the last three years and hired 6,000 new state employees, often using federal mandates as an excuse to grow state government," he said. "We need to return government back down to the people, to keep government as close to the local people as possible.
"

Shea is a private attorney who serves with the Alliance Defense Fund, a nationwide network of about 1,000 attorneys who work pro-bono. As a counter to the ACLU, the alliance seeks to protect and defend religious liberty, the sanctity of life and traditional family values.


Republican state Rep. Judy Burges, the primary sponsor of the sovereignty resolution in the Arizona House, told WND the federal government "has been trouncing on our constitutional rights.
"

"The real turning point for me was the Real ID act, which involved both a violation of the Fourth Amendments rights against the illegal searches and seizures and the Tenth Amendment," she said.


Burges told WND she is concerned that the overreaching of federal powers could lead to new legislation aimed at confiscating weapons from citizens or encoding ammunition.


"The Real ID Act was so broadly written that we are afraid that it involves the potential for "mission-creep," that could easily involve confiscation of firearms and violations of the Second Amendment," she said.


Burges said she has been surprised at the number of e-mails she has received in support of the sovereignty measure.


"We are a sovereign state in Arizona, not a branch of the federal government, and we need to be treated as such, she insisted.


NH's HCR6 Public Hearing (2/5/2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z5VQEJ4BfQ
In case you didn't hear about it on the mainstream media
(which you haven't because they want to keep us asleep), numerous states are currently declaring sovereignty, including:

Washington
http://apps. leg. wa. gov/billinfo/summary. aspx?year=2009&bill=4009

New Hampshire
http://www. gencourt. state. nh. us/legislation/2009/HCR0006. html

Arizona
http://www. azleg. gov/Formatdocumentasp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/1r/bills/hcr2024p. htm

Montana
http://data. opi. mt. gov/bills/2009/billhtml/HB0246. htm

Michigan
http://www. legislature. mi. gov/(S(21rmjiv1sl0wvw55yxurwl55))/documents/2009-2010/Journal/House/pdf/2009-HJ-01-22-002. pdf

Missouri
http://www. house. mo. gov/content. aspx?info=/bills091/bills/HR212. HTM

Oklahoma
http://axiomamuse. wordpress. com/2009/01/07/state-legislator-charles-key-wants-to-limit-federal-power/

Hawaii
http://www. hawaii-nation. org/

[Teklan]

Just a few questions to further understand the issue as an entire thing:

- Are any of these states affected by the massive layoffs?
- Are any of these states affected by huge decreases in tax income due to layoffs or bank closures?
- Are there states benefiting from these states?

If you don't know what I'm getting at; is it possible these states mentioned are being majorly influenced by the economic downturn, and are turning their backs on other states / people in need? To some degree there's that feeling of self preservation, but if these states simply are trying to avoid major deficit and unemployment, they are pretty much giving people from other states a big "F U" that may need the help.

Anyways, thats my thoughts on it. And as I said, I do not know what states are hit hardest by the foreclosures, layoffs, etc.

[Mandaar]

Nothing here.

[Teklan]

[Jazzmasta]

[Mandaar]

Yeah, you're probably right jazz. But it burns my bacon when I think of all the BULLSHIT he promised and how he is flat out lying to America with his talk of this is an emergency measure. Bullshit. This is a catalog of special interest pork and I'm not paying for it.

And I'm aware of the firefighting technique teklan. I wasn't thinking of a forest, but consider my statement adequately adjusted.

[Teklan]

The stimulus bill I might not agree with wholeheartedly just cause of the basis that they have no idea of the outcome and they are investing extremely hefty into it. But please, don't blame Obama for it. He endorses and leads the bill's travel through legislature, yes, but it was by no means his idea. He can only go by what the top economic experts and whatever else suggest. By disagreeing with Obama on this particular bill you are also denying the expertise of some of the leading persons that study this stuff for a living.

On that note, yes politics skew and stretch what needs to be done with what they want done. The initial plan becomes more of a skeleton of what becomes of it. It is that type of politics that I think most of us disagree with.

[Mandaar]

Not a single expert economist thinks that bill is anything but pork.

Not a credible one anyways.

He is responsibile for it. He's the one slamming it down our throats. I DO blame obama for it. IF you haven't read the bill don't even try to support it or soften it.

It's a travesty and we're about to go to hell with him driving.

[Innania]

[IoneMonk]

So far, the roar of criticism against the Obama administration, and virtually everything it is trying to do to address the shitstorm not of its making, is coming from the right and people like Senator Richard Shelby (oh and, Karl Rove, who never even fucking obtained a college degree).

I'm sorry, I think the stupid fucks who promoted 8 years of unprecedented tax cuts and lax oversight of financial institutions are hardly in the position to criticize now. Their solution--MORE TAX cuts--hasn't worked so far, and it's not going to work again. I wish the Republicans would quite whining, accept the fact they lost resoundingly and let the adults run things for awhile.
_________________

[reijo]

gotta agree with you ione. the last republican administration ran the country into a cesspool, now after fucking up everything the touched they suddenly have the answers on how to fix everything. basically they're pissed because the special interest groups, the boards they sit on and get paid ton's of money for doing nothing aren't getting the cushy government contracts.

if you think its bad now, wait until your bill comes in the form of more taxes to pay for W's billion dollar a day war. remember all that money that was gonna be made from the sale of iraqi oil ? the money to fund the war and relieve the american taxpayer, well the oils flowing, wheres the money ? it's in cheney's and his good ole republican boy's bank accounts. the accounts of the companies awarded the contracts by the republicans. i'm not a huge obama supporter but he was handed a mountain of shit and then asked to sculpt a masterpiece.

[dnief]

What you need to understand is that the Republicans and Democrats are controlled be the same party.

Obama isn't being asked to do anything but stop the wars. Stop the wars and stop the depression. It's so simple its almost ridiculous.

[Teklan]

[dnief]

Your right about consequences. if Obama ended the Federal trade Commission and brought all our troops from around the world home the Military industrial Complex or elite families if you will would kill him and get someone to reverse what he had done just like they did to Kennedy.

What i mean is it's simple to know as an America what you SHOULD be fighting for. Frankly, just listen to Ron Paul.

The word that i am getting which I tend to believe is possible is that the dollar will collapse in 9-12 months and we will have a revolution on our hands. This is why they are going after the ammo and why Gun sales exploded just before Obama took the Presidency.

[Stryffe]

[Teklan]

I don't recall hearing about us having a revolution in the 1930s. What would cause 300 million people to all of a sudden revolt this time?

[Xorne]

[Stryffe]

[Mandaar]

Nothing here.

[Teklan]