Resist DC: A Step-by-Step Plan for Freedom

power-to-the-people-webby State Rep. Matthew Shea (WA-4th)

This summer, legislators from several states met to discuss the steps needed to restore our Constitutional Republic. The federal government has ignored the many state sovereignty resolutions from 2009 notifying it to cease and desist its current and continued overreach. The group decided it was time to actively counter the tyranny emanating from Washington D.C.

From those discussions it became clear three things needed to happen.

  1. State Legislatures need to pass 10 key pieces of legislation “with teeth” to put the federal government back in its place.
  2. The people must pass the legislation through the Initiative process if any piece of the legislative agenda fails.
  3. County Sheriffs must reaffirm and uphold their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

With the advent of the Tea Party Movement, many people have been asking how exactly we can make the above reality. What follows is Part I of the outline of that plan regarding state legislation, the action steps any concerned citizen can take to see this legislation to fruition, and the brief history and justifications behind each.

Step 1: Reclaim State Sovereignty through Key Nullification Legislation

Our Constitutional Republic is founded on a system of checks and balances known as the “separation of powers.” Rarely, however, are the states considered part of this essential principle.

Enter the “doctrine of nullification.”

Nullification is based on the simple principle that the federal government cannot be the final arbiter of the extent and boundaries of its own power. This includes all branches of the federal government. In the law this is known as a “conflict of interest.”

Additionally, since the states created the federal government the federal government was an agent of the states; not the other way around. Thus, Thomas Jefferson believed that, by extension, the states had a natural right to nullify (render as of no effect) any laws they believed were unconstitutional.

In the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 he wrote,

“co-States, recurring to their natural right…will concur in declaring these acts void, and of no force, and will each take measures of its own for providing that neither these acts, nor any others of the General Government not plainly and intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shalt be exercised within their respective territories.”1

Alexander Hamilton echoed this sentiment in Federalist #85 “We may safely rely on the disposition of the state legislatures to erect barriers against the encroachments of the national authority.” 2

It is clear then that State Legislatures can stop the unconstitutional overreach of the Obama administration through nullification. Here is a list of proposed nullification legislation to introduce in all 50 States.

  1. Nullification of Socialized Health Care [current efforts] [example legislation]
  2. Nullification of National Cap and Trade [example legislation]
  3. Federal Enumerated Powers Requirement (Blanket Nullification) [details]
  4. Establishment of a Federal Tax Escrow Account [example legislation]

If imposed, socialized health care and cap and trade will crush our economy. These programs are both unconstitutional, creating government powers beyond those enumerated by the Constitution. If those programs are nullified, it will give the individual states a fighting chance to detach from a federal budget in freefall and save the economies of the individual states.

Next, blanket nullification.

The Federal Government, particularly the House of Representatives, needs to abide by its own rules. In particular, House Rule XIII 3(d) specifically states that:

“Each report of a committee on a public bill or public joint resolution shall contain the following: (1) A statement citing the specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the law proposed by the bill or resolution.” 3

Needless to say, this rule is generally ignored. The idea behind blanket nullification is that if the Congress does not specify the enumerated power it is using according to its own rules, or the power specified is not one of the enumerated powers granted to Congress in the United States Constitution, then the “law” is automatically null and void.

Lastly, the federal government cannot survive without money. I know that seems obvious but many states are missing the opportunity to use money as an incentive for the federal government to return to its proper role. Most visibly, states help collect the federal portion of the gasoline tax. That money should be put into an escrow account at the state level and held there. The Escrow Account legislation includes a provision that all consumer, excise, and income taxes payable to the federal government would go through this account first. This would do two things. First, it would give states the ability to collect interest on that money to help offset revenue shortfalls. Second, it would allow states to hold that money as long as needed as an incentive for the federal government to return within the enumerated boundaries of its power.

Step 2:   Erect an impenetrable wall around the County Sheriff and the 2nd Amendment.

As recently stated in the famous Heller opinion by the United States Supreme Court, the right to bear arms “is an individual right protecting against both public and private violence” and “when the able-bodied men of a nation are trained in arms and organized they are better able to resist tyranny.” 4

Thus, it is clear that the 2nd Amendment not only protects the right to self-defense but that right extends to defending oneself against tyranny. As with any historical attempt to establish a dictatorship weapons must be seized or severely regulated. 5

Here is a list of legislation to prevent this from happening, some of which has already been introduced in states around the country:

The county Sheriff is the senior law enforcement officer both in terms of rank and legal authority in a county. This comes from a tradition of over 1000 years of Anglo-Saxon common law. Anglo-Saxon communities were typically organized into “shires” consisting of approximately 1000 people. 6

The chief law enforcement officer of the shire was the “reeve” or “reef.” Hence, the modern combination of the two words, as we know them today, “shire reef” or “Sheriff.” 7

Consequently, the Sheriff’s pre-eminent legal authority is well established. This was confirmed in Printz v. United States. 7    Justice Scalia quotes James Madison who wrote in Federalist 39:

“In the latter, the local or municipal authorities form distinct and independent portions of the supremacy, no more subject, within their respective spheres, to the general authority, than the general authority is subject to them, within its own sphere.”9

Sheriff 1st legislation would formally declare that all federal agents and officers must give notice of, and seek permission before, any arrest, search, or seizure occurs. Thus, federal agents and officers seeking to enforce unconstitutional laws must go through the county Sheriff first.

Extending the castle doctrine to one’s person would go a long way toward eliminating the arbitrary “no carry” areas. Like Virginia Tech, it is these areas where guns for self-defense are most needed.

Many gun and ammunition tracking schemes have been, and are still being, attempted. The intended purpose of “reducing gun related” crime is never realized. Instead, law-abiding citizens are punished with regulatory burdens and fees. Quite simply we need transparency in government not in the people.

Montana started the firearms freedom act to rein in the federal government’s use of the Commerce Clause to regulate everything within the stream of commerce. The original intent of the Commerce Clause was to regulate commerce between states not within states as Professor Rob Natelson points out in his 2007 Montana Law Review article.10

The Montana FFA simply returns to that original understanding regarding firearms made, sold, and kept within a state’s borders.

This list is by no means exhaustive. However, it does contain some immediate steps that can be taken toward freedom and restoring our God honoring Constitutional Republic. Hitler’s laws of January 30 and February 14, 1934, should serve as a stark reminder of what happens when state sovereignty is abolished.

In the coming few weeks I will publish the next part of the plan.

Matthew Shea [send him email] is a State Representative in Washington’s 4th District. He’s the author of HJM4009 for State Sovereignty.  Visit his website.

Copyright © 2009 by TenthAmendmentCenter.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

NOTES:

  • 1. Kentucky Resolution of 1798, Thomas Jefferson, Adopted by Kentucky Legislature on November 10, 1798.
  • 2. Federalist No. 85, Publius (Alexander Hamilton), August 13 and 16, 1788.
  • 3. Rules of the House XIII 3(d), “Content of Reports,” Page 623, 110th Congress.
  • 4. District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. ___ (Actual Pages 11, 13) (2008)
  • 5. Id at (Actual Page 11).
  • 6. http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/history/ancient/1859-teutoburg-forest-the-battle-that-saved-the-west
  • 7. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=sheriff&searchmode=none
  • 8. Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
  • 9. Federalist No. 39, Publius (James Madison), January 16, 1788
  • 10. Tempering the Commerce Power, 68 Mont. L. Rev. 95 (2007).
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    131 Responses to Resist DC: A Step-by-Step Plan for Freedom

    1. JMB December 7, 2009 at 1:50 pm #

      I have recently spent some considerable time reading several state Constitutions, and I noticed that they all include (what seems to me) very well written bills of rights, upon which, if there should happen to be any particular wrongs perceived by those peoples of these states, they are enabled, with practicable abilities, to further address, WHEREAS in unrealistic opposition, is this United States Constitution, in which a mere minority of states can effectively make this same endeavor impossible.

    2. Don Turley December 8, 2009 at 5:05 am #

      good plan, our group of patriots have been working with our local county commissioners and i now see how important it is to include our local sheriff, after all it is true the sheriff is the most powerfull person in the county especially in regards to the constitution.

    3. Bill Greene December 18, 2009 at 6:35 pm #

      Can't wait to read your posts on passing a Constitutional Tender Act in every State!

      http://www.ConstitutionalTender.com/

    4. william copeland December 22, 2009 at 7:03 pm #

      Way to go Matt…I have been articulating to everyone I know we need to take action prior to the next election cycle. So much damage has been done already and we need to act now before its too late. I have been talking to people about their level of frustration reaching an alarming and dangerous anger…without a definitive plan we’ll will end up fighting against each other…forming local militia groups have been the subject of much of the talk around here but your announcement is definitely a better way to resolve the current take over. let me know how I can help.

    5. Dean Jamison January 1, 2010 at 4:04 pm #

      Matt..Enjoyed reading your lititure Keep up the good work,But I have one question on my mind,why is it not getting out to the people that there is no such thing as income tax,that it has been Fraud and, Extortion aganist the people for years!! Not one dime of Federal Income Tax go`s into the U.S. Treasury,but go`s to the Federal Reserve Banks for there own use.This has been proven in court on serveral accounts.Joe Banister won his case Tom Cryer won his case,Vernice Kuglin won her case ect.Just by asking the I.R.S. TO SHOW THEM THE LAW!!! they could not do it.
      Bill Benson won his case by proveing that the 16th Amendment had never been Ratified
      We have not filed a tax form since 2002 and never will! yes they started billing us in the year 2008,But if they ever take me to court, I will state my case on SHOW ME THE LAW,as there is no LAW.My subjestion
      is that every american citizan STOP FILING!
      When the Fat Bureaucratas have to stop extorting money from the people they will have to to come down to our standard of living,and will stop alot of this Bull SHIT
      there brain washing the people with.
      Thank you Dean Jamison

    6. GadsdenGurl January 2, 2010 at 3:24 pm #

      In NH , Rep Mike Rollo blocked a states rights bill called HCR6.. and he plans on doing it again.

    7. jos boersema January 9, 2010 at 5:04 am #

      Hi, If I read your USA Constitution then your President
      only has the power to sign a law, or send it back
      to Congress for review. The Congress has all the power to
      make law, the President has no power to make laws. The
      Congress can pass a law/bill send back by the president
      with a 2/3rd majority then no signing is needed. Since
      the USA presidents are attaching Objections (that they
      call ‘signing statements’) before signing, the law has not
      been signed but has been furnished with Objections, and the
      Objections are signed. Hence these laws/bills have not
      come into force, they are on the roll of the Congress for
      review (right???). Hence it might be an idea to give
      out a new USA Code of law, where all such bills/laws are
      removed which are still on the roll of the Congress ? And
      also physically send that list of bills/laws with Objections
      to the Congress for review ?? (I’m from Holland, but it is
      established that ‘signing statements’ are illegal, the USA president
      even agreed to that in campaign (right?)). regards, good luck. By the way, maybe
      you should learn from these things that you can not
      rely on smaller area Governments to reign in the power
      of the larger area Governments, just doesn’t work that way.
      Seek state sovereignty, disband the union, imho.

    8. Guy Garofano February 15, 2010 at 3:22 pm #

      What most concerns me is the degree to which most states have become dependent on the Federal Government for financial aid. You can't say "mind your own business" to Washington, but then expect to keep getting funds for for your transportation systems, your education system, your social services, and the list goes on. I just don't know if people have thought it all out – what kind of increase in state & local taxes might result, etc.

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