“I cherish my country as well. I have been overwhelmed with support like yours on the 10th Amendment resolution, and the repeal of the 17th Amendment. Please stay in the fight for freedom with me! I want to invite you to go to my website at http://www.randybrogdon.com and sign up for the Newsletter, read my Blog and Contribute to the cause of Liberty. We can take our nation back one state at a time.

Randy”

Second,

The usurpation of states rights by the Federal government has probably been happening in baby steps since the time the ink dried on the Constitution but really took off after the Civil War. The defeat of the Confederacy in the Civil War weakened states rights and greatly enhanced the strength of the Federal government. No many cared at the time because the Federal government still mostly observed the Constitution’s enumerated powers and didn’t meddle where it wasn’t explicitly allowed to do so.

The Federal government started to reach beyond its enumerated powers, with the consent and/or ignorance of the public with the New Deal. Then, like now, people were scared and very worried about the uncertain economic times and looked to the Fed for a solution. The Supreme Court was more active back then and actually declared much of the New Deal unconstitutional but FDR threatened to pack the court with Leftists if they didn’t agree to the New Deal programs and the SCOTUS backed off. Johnson took another great leap forward with the Great Society programs and still not many people objected even though by then the Constitution was becoming, to Democrats, a quaint relic of a bygone era.
We certainly are not helped now by the fact that our public education system is run by big government supporting unions with an interest in promoting government as the solution to all problems. The NEA is openly hostile to all things Conservative.

Not many people are calling for disunion or the creation of 50 separate states but rather that the people be free to live within each of the 50 states as they decide and not as the rest of the country decides. The Fed needs to return to its limited role as protector of the 50 states.

Liberals/Socialists love a strong central government because it prevents us from escaping. If we had 50 strong states within the union each with its own tax infrastructure, regulations, laws, etc, then the states would be forced to compete for the most productive citizens which, would have the benefit of keeping taxes low and regulation to a minimum. Some states could decide to legalize gay marriage, or abortion and others would decide to keep both illegal. Perhaps people would decide to live in a high tax state for the benefit of being able to marry their gay partner. That’s fine by me. I like the idea of people living where their beliefs are dominant. There would be a lot less political warfare in DC if the states were free to decide for themselves, “they” being the body of their citizens, what is best for them. I for one don’t want some latte sipping, cable car rider in San Francisco telling me how I should live my life here in Arkansas. We live in two completely different worlds.

And let me conclude by saying that all “states rights” legislation ought to be written to protect not just the states but the citizens of the states as well who are being run over by an out of control Fed. The gentleman from NH interviewed by Glenn Beck mentioned the imposition on the states of unfunded mandates but said nothing about the imposition upon NH citizens of a national health care scheme. If the citizens of NH, or any state, wish to not participate in such a Marxist plan then it is the states, via the 9th and 10th Amendments, who are bound to protect their citizens from this encroachment. Perhaps it was the short nature of the interview but I’m led to believe that the gentleman from NH would support a federal mandate IF it were funded. That is selective submission, or state prostitution, “I’ll do it as long as you pay me”. The states ought to push back against any and all federal legislation that is clearly unconstitutional whether or not money comes with the deal.

Mike – you’re right that the people haven’t kept the government in check. But here we are, with an out of control beast of a federal government. What’s the options to make it in line with the constitution? Other than elections, do you see anything that can be done?