[Peace-discuss] Rebellion against Federal control at state level spreads...

[E. Wayne Johnson]

There is already significant backlash against the Obot central government --

Several different issues are driving this opposition movement, including 
the multiple threats to freedom from FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act), 
National ID, Gun Control, "unfunded federal mandates", and a number of 
other ills that result from excessive and unconstitutional centralisation.

This week I posted in my blog, links to info on eight states that have 
state sovereignty resolutions before their legislatures. 
<http://www.liberty4urbana.com/drupal-6.8/node/101#comment-367>  Now the 
number is growing to 20...


*Lawmakers in 20 states move to reclaim sovereignty*
Obama's $1 trillion deficit-spending 'stimulus plan' seen as last straw

Posted: February 06, 2009

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Randy Brogdon
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. 
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