Tag Archive for: states rights

States are Sovereign: Our Forefathers gave an incredible gift to We the People!

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Ever so slowly, almost invisibly, the gifts our founders fought and died for have been removed or relegated as out-of-date, not pertinent to a thriving, modern and powerful nation such as we have known. Add to this a deliberate removal from teaching the history, framework, foundational principles and unique characteristics of our founding as a nation in schools. These facts are evident as the State of Texas has taken on the role of defending itself (and America as a whole) from the diabolical invasion flowing across our former southern Border. The federal government deliberately has come against Texas to put them in their place – subservient to federal power. Our Forefathers would be aghast, and not the least bit hesitant to speak out boldly against such impunity. Allow me a few points I have no hesitation to believe our founders sitting in Philadelphia writing our unique constitution and laying out the foundation for a new government would rise and speak forcefully against such federal acts.

The central government is a creation of the States, and intended to be an agent FOR the States, not a ruler OVER the states. The federal government has no sovereignty of its own outside the powers delegated to it by the States, and the States were never intended to be slaves to their own creation of the federal government. Essential to the preservation of Liberty and our newly formed principles was the creation of a confederation and central government that would work on behalf of the States in foreign affairs and matters of over-all national security and preservation.

The Contract (The Constitution) is between the sovereign parties (the States), and the federal government is a creation of the contract and not a party. What do the states do when their creation acts outside the parameters of the contract by engaging in actions not authorized, such as passing unconstitutional laws and regulations? The framers considered it an absolute absurdity to think the federal government acting outside of the constitutional charter for even a moment could be considered legitimate and binding upon the sovereign States.

When the federal government steps outside its boundaries, since legally speaking we are a Constitutional Republic and not a kingdom or a democracy, our remedy lies with the States reasserting their sovereignty and taking responsibility for the power originally delegated to them by We the People. The States have an obligation to protect the People from an abuse of power by the central government. This is accomplished when the States step in-between the central government and the People to maintain the limited power of the central government.

This is exactly what the Great State and Republic of Texas did to preserve and protect their sovereignty and their people. This is exactly why the Elites hated what Texas did, because, in part, the Elites hate the Constitution and the privileges therein.

We need people to stand for truth as servant leaders with great humility and grace and with great courage and conviction to defend the documents and ideals that made our nation exceptional. We need ordinary heroes who are willing to pay the price, demonstrating obedience to the Lord’s ways, not man’s, and to serve with sincere joy and thanksgiving for what He has done creating our country.

©2024. Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

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Tennessee: Legislature moves closer to States’ Rights lawsuit on Muslim Refugee Program

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All over the country, ‘Pockets of Resistance,’ are forming to oppose the heavy-handed (secretive and costly) UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program.  Tennesseans get kudos for being among the first to be recognized as resisters by the federal government as I learned here at a 2013 meeting the Office of Refugee Resettlement held in Lancaster, PA.

Now, the legislature itself may be on the cusp of striking a real blow for states’ rights.

Think about it! Private citizens heading up non-governmental organizations: Holly Johnson of Catholic Charities TN and Jan Reeves of Idaho’s Janus Inc. call the shots, along with the feds, about how much state taxpayers must shell out for refugee programs. You know it’s unconstitutional!

See Michael Patrick Leahy, here at Breitbart:

The state of Tennessee is one step closer to filing a Tenth Amendment lawsuit in federal court to end the United States Refugee Resettlement program in that state.

Jan Reeves & Holly Johnson

Holly Johnson (left) of Catholic Charities TN and Jan Reeves of Idaho’s Janus Inc.

The Finance, Ways & Means Committee of the State Senate overwhelmingly passed Senate Joint Resolution 467 in a bi-partisan nine to one vote.

The resolution now goes to the State Senate floor, where it is likely to pass, then on the the State House, where it is also likely to pass.

In Tennessee, the state legislature (called the General Assembly) has the authority to file this lawsuit, which may prevail in the courts on Tenth Amendment grounds, if Republican Governor Bill Haslam fails to act.

[….]

The resolution was filed in the State Senate by Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey a little less than a month ago on January 22, and has moved quickly through the legislative process.

Unlike previous lawsuits filed by Texas and Alabama, which were not brought on 10th amendment grounds, this lawsuit could result in a victory. Such a victory would not prohibit refugees settled in other states by the Obama administration from entering the state of Tennessee. It would, however, prevent the State Department from settling those refugees initially in Tennessee under any circumstances, since such settlement requires the state of Tennessee to pay, in part, for their upkeep.

“Wilson-Fish alternative program” states including Tennessee and eleven others (Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Vermont) who have opted out of the US Refugee Resettlement program have a strong 10th amendment suit against the federal government to stop the program in their states since it is “an unfunded mandate,” proponents of the resolution argue.

[….]

“In 2012, the Supreme Courte ruled in the now famous NFIB v Sebelius case in that case the Supreme Court said ‘a state cannot be compelled or coerced to participate in a federal program for which it has chosen not to participate.’

Continue reading here.

By the way, most people outside of Tennessee are shocked to learn that the state (especially Nashville) is a prime resettlement site for refugees seeded there by Catholic Charities in conjunction with the federal government.

Readers get moving!

For all of you in Wilson Fish states***, you must work to persuade your governor (or state legislature in some cases) to get on board with a 10th Amendment lawsuit ready to file at the Thomas More Law Center.  You ask me all the time, what can I do. Well, if you are a citizen in one of these states this is something you can do!

***Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont

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UH-OH! Could A States’ Rights Battle Be Emerging?

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This is a call for State governments to assert themselves. States Rights was/is a big issue in the South and the Southern Cross battle flag kind of stood for that.

Michael Patrick Leahy for Breitbart Writes:

A new Rasmussen Poll indicates that a growing number of Americans want state governments to tell the Supreme Court to get out of the business of rewriting laws and telling American citizens how to live their lives.

In a new poll, Rasmussen reported the percentage of Americans who want states to tell the Supreme Court it does not have the power to rewrite the Affordable Care Act or force sovereign states to authorize gay marriages has increased from 24 percent to 33 percent after last week’s Constitution-defying decisions by the court.

A closer look at the poll results indicates that popular sentiment for state defiance of the federal government extends beyond just the Supreme Court’s latest decisions.

“Only 20% [of likely voters] now consider the federal government a protector of individual liberty,” the Rasmussen Poll finds. “Sixty percent (60 %) see the government as a threat to individual liberty instead,” it adds.

“Take this regulation and shove it,” and “take this grant and shove it,” are two additional battle cries which appear to resonate with a growing popular sentiment, especially in “flyover country,” those 38 states outside the dozen in which President Obama won more than 56.2 percent of the vote in 2012.

(In descending order of support for Obama, those twelve states are: Hawaii, Vermont, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, and Maine. Arguably, three additional states where President Obama won between 54 percent and 56.2 percent of the vote in 2012 could be added to this list: Washington, Oregon, and Michigan.)

CONTINUE READING HERE:

Time for the States to Declare Independence From the Federal Government – Breitbart

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on Allen West Republic.

State Courage Rising: Kansas leading the way

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Kansas is showing no fear and leading the way in standing against the Washington D.C. bullies who threaten freedom! The Tenth Amendment is the solution to a growing problem.

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