The Tenth Amendment

The following was written in April 2014, as part of a response to the Campaign for Liberty's 2012 survey questionnaire for candidates running for federal office.

6. Do you support and will you vote to protect states asserting their rights under the Tenth Amendment?

     Yes, I support and will vote to protect states asserting their rights under the Tenth Amendment.

     The federal government has broken its constitutional agreement with the states to exercise the Enumerated Powers. Overly broad and sweeping interpretations and applications of the Necessary and Proper Clause, the General Welfare Clause, and the Interstate Commerce Clause have all contributed to the justification of federal intervention in economic and civic life in the states.

     So too have executive orders which authorized – under the otherwise constitutional presidential power to re-organize the cabinet - the “reorganization” of entire industries, and sectors of industrial relations and of the economy, under the federal government's jurisdiction (as represented in the cabinet and in cabinet-level agencies), without the approval of Congress.

     Furthermore, the federal government has broken its agreement to only exercise exclusive jurisdiction over the District of Columbia and the nation's overseas territories, and over the lands and policy matters explicitly granted to it by the states in Article I, Section 8. The federal government's ownership of vast land areas within the states impedes the ability of each state to tax the unimproved value of land as fully as it finds necessary in order to afford to be in a financial relationship with the federal government.

     I fully support the rights of states to nullify and interpose unconstitutional federal laws; to enjoin federal authorities against enforcing such laws; and to exercise Article 5 powers. I believe that more Americans would support the rights of states if they knew that during the Civil War, the State of Wisconsin nullified federal legislation to return freed slaves to their former masters.

For more entries on states' rights, the Tenth Amendment, and other states' issues, please visit:

http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2014/02/secession-petition-signatures-as-of.html

http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2014/04/12-ways-to-bail-out-states.html