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:
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