2 March 2009
State Sovereignty Hits Mainstream
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Constitution in Peril; Rejecting Herd Mentality; What's News .
(I just noticed this article is gone and I can’t find anything referring to this subject on any mainstream news.)
It finally hit the mainstream media. There has been such an outcry among citizens and states, that the press was at last forced to give the light of day to states declaring sovereignty. We hope that things do not spiral out of control, but it is only through the joint raising of oppositional voices that we have any hope of stemming the socialist tide. Hopefully Ghandi will be our example. This isn’t a fight against a nation across the sea, this is our own countrymen. Civil war in today’s climate would destroy our union. President Obama is no Lincoln and is, in fact, on the wrong side. Civil discourse, loud and determined, is what we hope to see.
For those of you who wonder why I keep referring to peaceful resistance to socialism instead of violence, I am keeping tabs with the pulse of the conservative and independent commentaries, and in the past two weeks I have seen a startling change. Everything is changing beneath the surface, and the rumblings of resistance are gaining momentum. This is good if the pendulum doesn’t swing too far into mindless, violent response. That would only hurt the cause of protecting the Constitution. It is our job to use logic and reason to help others see the danger to freedom. Fanaticism will turn people away who otherwise may see the light. An amazing amount of Americans have awakened but we need more to do so.
Some state lawmakers fighting federal stimulus
By TRAVIS ANDERSEN, Associated Press WriterCONCORD, N.H. – For small-government die-hards, the $787 billion economic stimulus bill recently passed by Congress isn’t a life saver. It’s the last straw.
Lawmakers across the country are sponsoring resolutions — most of them only symbolic — asserting state sovereignty, in effect the right to ignore any federal law or policies they deem unconstitutional, including the stimulus bill, the No Child Left Behind Act and any new assault rifle ban.
In New Hampshire, the House is scheduled to vote on Republican state Rep. Daniel Itse’s resolution Wednesday. Supporters are planning a rally at the Statehouse before the vote.
“I think that the specter of some assaults on our liberty have become so real and immediate that there is a reaction,” Itse said.
Lawmakers in at least 15 states are sponsoring similar resolutions. They say they’re fighting back against decades of federal overreach, culminating in the stimulus package.
“This has been a progression from (the New Deal) days to today, with the only break being Ronald Reagan,” South Carolina state Rep. Michael Pitts said by e-mail. Pitts, a Republican, has a resolution pending in the South Carolina House. “The stimulus bill is simply propellant for the resistance.”…
Two lawmakers say they have received hundreds of calls from constituents supporting their resolutions. Michigan state Rep. Paul Opsommer, a Republican, said about 250 people have called or e-mailed to say thank you, whereas most of his bills draw fewer than 10 messages.
Missouri Republican state Rep. Cynthia Davis, whose resolution is pending in the House, said she has received at least 200 supportive messages from constituents and residents in other states.
“I’m getting letters from all over the country,” Davis said. “It’s really a beautiful thing, watching the spirit of the American Revolution come back.”
Resolution sponsors cite the 10th Amendment, which says the federal government has no authority beyond the powers granted to it under the Constitution.
Several governors — mainly Republican — have threatened to reject some of the stimulus money, claiming it would raise taxes in their states. Some analysts see the revolt as partisan posturing.
But Opsommer, who thinks the stimulus has spurred many of the resolutions, said in an e-mail that the states’ rights movement transcends party politics.
“Some Democrats feel it is an attack on Obama until I explain I also introduced it last year,” said Opsommer, whose resolution is pending in the Michigan House. “This is about the rights of the states and the people, not anything to do with Republicans or Democrats.”
A Democrat in Kentucky, state Rep. John Will Stacy, is the prime sponsor of a sovereignty resolution in that state. He did not immediately return calls….
Karl Kurtz, a policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures, couldn’t say how many sovereignty resolutions Congress has received in prior years, but he suspects the current craze is no accident.
“In the case of the sovereignty resolutions it appears to be an organized campaign,” Kurtz said, adding that states’ rights activists may have influenced the sponsors.
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