By James Osborne at FOXNews.com:
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. — U.S. Constitution, Tenth Amendment
Fed up with Washington’s involvement in everything from land use to gun control to education spending, states across the country are fighting back against what they say is the federal government’s growing intrusion on their rights.
At least 35 states have introduced legislation this year asserting their power under the Tenth Amendment to regulate all matters not specifically delegated to the federal government by the Constitution.
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer recently signed into law a bill authorizing the state’s gun manufacturers to produce “Made in Montana” firearms, without seeking licensing from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Similar laws are being considered in Utah, Alaska, Texas and Tennessee.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry made headlines recently when he made a passing reference to the possibility of the Lone Star State seceding from the U.S., saying, “if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that?”
States rights advocates offer countless examples of what they believe is Washington’s overreach.
In Utah, 67 percent of the state’s land is controlled by the federal government through wilderness preserves, limiting state leaders in their bid to fill government coffers through oil and natural gas drilling after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar cancelled 103,000 acres of leases this year.
In Idaho, ranchers are furious that federal endangered species law prevents them from shooting the wolves that prey on their cattle.
“The balance of power between the states and the federal government is way out of whack,” said Georgia state Senator Chip Pearson.” The effect here is incalculable. Everything you do from the moment you wake up until you get to bed, there is some federal law or restriction.”
Candidate for GA Governor John Oxendine recently stated:
If governor, I would support legislation which puts Georgia on record as affirming our 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 of the United States and which would serve as notice and demand the federal government, as our agent, cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.
Additionally, I would support legislation which states all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.
Thousands of discontented Georgians lined the streets around our state Capitol on April 15 to protest excessive Washington spending and an increasingly burdensome tax code. In response to a federal government that thinks it knows how to spend your money better than you do, and continues to grow nearly unchecked, the Georgia Senate voted to reaffirm our rights as a sovereign state to prevent the federal government from continuing to expand.
As a country governed by a written Constitution, the right to keep government in check is vested in “we the people.” That means that we, the people of this country, cannot be forced to accept an oppressive and intrusive federal government. Under Senate Resolution 632, the Georgia Senate expressed bipartisan support for the principles of Jeffersonian democracy.
Our Founding Fathers included this constitutional guarantee because they knew only too well that a small, limited government works best. These principles affirm that states did not unite under the practice of unlimited submission to their federal government. SR 632 is a reaffirmation of the principles of our nation’s founders.
Constitution, Tenth Amendment, federal government, States rights, sovereignty, sovereign, Jeffersonian democracy
