by State Rep. Susan Lynn (TN-57th)
The following is a letter from Tennessee to the other 49 State Legislatures
We send greetings from the Tennessee General Assembly. On June 23, 2009, House Joint Resolution 108, the State Sovereignty Resolution, was signed by Governor Phil Bredesen. The Resolution created a committee which has as its charge to:
- Communicate the resolution to the legislatures of the several states,
- Assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship,
- Call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government, and
- Seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.
It is for those purposes that this letter addresses your honorable body.
In 1776, our founding fathers declared our freedom in the magnificent Declaration of Independence; our guide to governance. They established a nation of free and independent states. Declaring that the purpose of our political system is to secure for its citizens’ their natural rights. The Constitution authorizes the national government to carry out seventeen enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8 and the powers of several of the ensuing amendments.
At the time of the Constitutional ratification process James Madison drafted the “Virginia Plan” to give Congress general legislative authority and to empower the national judiciary to hear any case that might cause friction among the states, to give the congress a veto over state laws, to empower the national government to use the military against the states, and to eliminate the states’ accustomed role in selecting members of Congress. Each one of these proposals was soundly defeated. In fact, Madison made many more attempts to authorize a national veto over state laws, and these were repeatedly defeated as well.
There are clear limits to the power of the federal government and clear realms of power for the states. However, the simple and clear expression of purpose, to secure our natural rights, has evolved into the modern expectation that the national government has an obligation to ensure our life, to create our liberty, and fund our pursuit of happiness.
The national government has become a complex system of programs whose purposes lie outside of the responsibilities of the enumerated powers and of securing our natural rights; programs that benefit some while others must pay.
Today, the federal government seeks to control the salaries of those employed by private business, to change the provisions of private of contracts, to nationalize banks, insurers and auto manufacturers, and to dictate to every person in the land what his or her medical choices will be.
Forcing property from employers to provide healthcare, legislating what individuals are and are not entitled to, and using the labor of some so that others can receive money that they did not earn goes far beyond securing natural rights, and the enumerated powers in the Constitution.
The role of our American government has been blurred, bent, and breached. The rights endowed to us by our creator must be restored.
To be sure, the People created the federal government to be their agent for certain enumerated purposes only. The Constitutional ratifying structure was created so it would be clear that it was the People, and not the States, that were doing the ratifying.
The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people to the federal government, and also that which is absolutely necessary to advancing those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution of the United States. The rest is to be handled by the state governments, or locally, by the people themselves.
The Constitution does not include a congressional power to override state laws. It does not give the judicial branch unlimited jurisdiction over all matters. It does not provide Congress with the power to legislate over everything. This is verified by the simple fact that attempts to make these principles part of the Constitution were soundly rejected by its signers.
With this in mind, any federal attempt to legislate beyond the Constitutional limits of Congress’ authority is a usurpation of state sovereignty – and unconstitutional.
Governments and political leaders are best held accountable to the will of the people when government is local. The people of a state know what is best for them; authorities, potentially thousands of miles away, governing their lives is opposed to the very notion of freedom.
We invite your state to join with us to form a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.
Susan Lynn [send her email] is a member of the Tennessee General Assembly; serving on the Commerce Committee and Chairman of the Government Operations committee. She holds a BS in economics and a minor in history. She is the Chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Commerce Task Force. Visit her blog at http://susan-lynn.blogspot.com
Many of us have been hoping and praying for a new Jefferson to emerge to help lead the charge to take back the sovereignty of our states. Today, I believe we have found her in Rep. Susan Lynn. I am so proud that Rep. Lynn is leading the way here in Tennessee.
Terry Morris. Thank you for your rebuttal. From the legalist perspective of tenthers, my argument and any others pertaining to greater social goods trumping constitutional arrangement will not succeed. This is true. But then the constitution also has to be viewed as what it truly is, an appeal Seth has already made. Being the foundation of extrapolating further laws to guide behavior and institute beneficial policy for citizens, no slippery slope is emerging since this may be the intention behind all constitutions: elaboration.
Being notoriously wasteful and having that reputation falsely imparted to all parts from some are two different ideas not to be unaddressed. There is a difference between hearsay and evidential truth. The news syndicates are not a good source. These are captured by specific political perspectives that spin the events for self-confirmatory reports. I challenge people to understand which parts, which departments are wasteful and smear the deserving with black tar and feathers. But to say the entire federal government is wasteful is like receiving the diagnosis of being inefficient without being specified as the digestive, cardiovascular, lymphatic et al. systems are amiss.
To concede to you an important point, the federal government is justified to levy troops for protection since every state on its own would be too unwieldy and riven by rivalry to act together on a sustained basis. But what is more inefficient for a system than to not cover all targets aparty to its function? If there is a water shortage, is it the responsibility of the individual states or the federal government to resolve the crisis? If the federal government were to step in and it is not their constitutional prerogative, should water be given to the thirsty?
If the United States government does not have the legal prerogative to shape universal healthcare come what may, how is the machinery forging forward? And why are the biggest opponents the economically interested parties and not advocates or lawyers, even Supreme Court Justices? It’s business as usual in American politics.
Doc.
I’m surprised for an educated man like yourself (you named yourself doc, short for doctor, from the latin ‘doctus’ for ‘learned man.’ Very modest of you), I am surprised you would elect to employ an ad hominem fallacy as the basis of your argument. As you were privately educated, the public system too much a strain for your heightened sensibilities, then I need not inform you this fallacy is one among many Aristotle enumerated in times it was acceptable to condescend to others. I doubt you find the principles of equality hold much traction, being self confessed as a learned hater of educational opportunity for all.
If you understand evolution, you will have to admit many factors interweave to permit sexual selection of one mate by another. Try as you might, your efforts are in vain to stop the marauding hands of the many molesting the treasured dynasty of the one. Yourself, that is. But there I go referring to those Greeks again! It must be terribly boring having taken that and sundry other topics to make you a stellar arbiter of ontological worth.
I’ve always wondered about people like you who judge on such scant information. What I really enjoyed is the lack to pick up a single philosophical thread. Why not challenge the first syllogism? Or the efficacy of the free market to determine social mandates? I wouldn’t hazard a presumption these thoughts are beyond you, but this performance left much to be desired on the x-axis of thought and the y-axis of expression. I’ll hate to discuss your z-axis of invective again since we only watch you count imaginary number.
Fantastic! An elected legislator who actually supports this country and it's principles, instead of the pimps, perverts (Barney Frank), tax cheats (Tim Geithner) Islamic Socialists (Obama), and the army of liars, crooks, corrupt weasels (Pelosi, Reid, Byrd,Baucus, et al., )who seek to destroy it. I'm confused though. If the sole function of these aforementioned traitors is to lie, cheat, and steal their way into public office, why are they interested in killing the goose that lays the golden egg? The more that ordinary people are working, producing, and contributing, the more these bastards will have to steal. If people are not working and producing, there won't be as much for these weasels to steal. Why don't real Americans get off their butts, march on Washington, and haul these bums out of their comfortable offices and hang them from lamp posts? And if there are no lamp posts, line them up against the Capitol building and shoot them. I could go on, but the readers get the point. God save America! The politicians certainly won't.
Seems as if we've had this discussion with a federal government run amok before. It's time to do so again. God Bless the good folks of Tennessee and God Bless America.
And it's certainly time for more than just having a discussion, right?
William Bradford. You underestimate the competing interests for the fleece of our herd. Not only do we possess the parasitical elite domestically but other power conglomerates are seizing assets and control globally. Each new innovation is the means of controlling our information. So in a closed system with one ruling class, an active middle class is still a problem due to its inherent stability. Harder to nefariously shake money out of.
I am from Alabama but now reside in Texas. I have been talking up for Texas to do the same thing. I am not in any legislature but I can voice my opinion to others around me. I encourage others to do the same thing. Blessings on you for taking this action. I hope other states will wake up and do the same thing.
Obama is a pawn of European banking powers, the perfect sell to employ 21st century methods of domination. He is silently extinguishing liberty like freedom from intended sickness, and the monetary denomination. He cannot defeat constitutional resistance, once the 50-some states wake up! It's called the United S…. for a reason!! Now it's sliding into worse tyranny, the invisible sort. Was W Bush there to gage how stupid the American people are? Or maybe just to lower the bar of presentation for an American President, to make a mortal one possible..
I have discovered it is hard to properly conceive of a place as America if you do not have a relationship with God. Even a conception of Him is not good enough because you cannot conceive God without experiencing Him.
The reason we set a time off in the day to pray is because experiencing the Almighty is an act of extreme will and devotion and cannot be maintained 24/7. We don't need to suppose the Founding Fathers were praying to the Lord on particular matters of statecraft but instead were striving to understand the nature of God through revelation-baiting to understand what form physical nature will deliver Liberty as a homeland. However, whether this is possible from the other forms of God in the world begs the question, "how can I discover if I already believe in Him?" I state the conversation in prayer cannot be upheld 24/7 since God comes if one is voluntary. God can be asked questions on at all times (being timeless). Considering all will be with God on death regardless of this lifetime, it might be good to understand where you're going.
I cannot censure others for not believing in God or being spiritual. It is the blind God gives all humans upon birth to forget Him and have to live to get to know Him. Who are we to judge what time this takes, even if death must bring it to them? The devil is in the details.
"Being every strong man is a strong woman." I agree.
Shoot! I meant "Behind"!
Thank you Representative Lynn, and thank you Tennessee. I hope other states will follow your lead.
Rita, Virginia Beach,VA
It is great to see we still have a few people at some level of government that cares about her state and country, and has the integrity and courage to stand up and be heard. I wish you and the relatively few others like you, success in your campaign to once again restore relevance to our
Constitution. I pray others will join you in your quest to restore America to her greatness, a time when narcism in politics was the exception rather than the rule.
We can summarize the thing which put us into this situation in one word: COMPLACENCY. Yes, it's an oversimplification of a somewhat complicated process, but it has corroded our beloved Republic just the same.
My Father's term would be "half-ass", meaning we, the people, throughout generations, have half-assed our own futures — and those of generations to come — through our own complacency. We all have been guilty of it to various degrees, and the time has come to abolish it from our lives, forever. We must read, study, learn and KNOW our American history. We must become experts on everything related to our American heritage, and we must teach this to both existing generations, as well as future generations.
I tip my hat to Rep. Lynn for her letter and for taking the initiative to rally the sates together in opposition to the tyranny that has run unchecked for entirely too long. May God bless and protect her in all her efforts, and the efforts of those who choose to do the right thing along with her.
Rob, I think you're actually on to something. The Constitution doesn't enforce itself, so it takes an aware citizenry to keep it valid.