Recently, the Oklahoma House of Representatives once again voted to support a House Resolution authored by state Rep. Charles Key, which sends a message to the federal government regarding states’ rights. This is Key’s second proposal which has been necessitated by a previous version approved in the House and Senate, but vetoed by the governor.

The resolution seeks to reassert Oklahoma’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and according to the resolution’s language, serves as “Notice and Demand to the federal government, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.”

The resolution makes a firm statement on behalf of local control.

I continue to firmly support local control because the ability of the people to make a difference is greatly enhanced when the power to change the law is close to the people.

For instance, people have little opportunity to make a difference in federal policy. They can call their congressmen or U.S. senators, but in the big scheme of things, it is hard for even a federal official to change policy because he/she is only one out of several hundred. This means that people have limited ability to change unfair federal mandates.

On the other hand, people have a little more ability to change policy at the state level. You may call me as your state representative and I can have some voice in changing egregious policy because I am one out of 149 legislators.

In addition, I can sponsor up to eight bills each year in order to reflect the desires of the people I represent. If a parent or teacher is negatively influenced by a bad state mandate, with a lot of effort we can make a difference.

However, if the power is concentrated at the local level of government, then people have a tremendous voice, because they easily can contact their city councilman, county commissioner or school board member.

Rarely do these boards have more than 10 members, so it is quite possible and relatively simple for the affected individual to contact every member of the board to make sure their side of the story is heard. If local officials are not responsive to the values presented, the way for people to change policy at that point is simply by voting for a new local official.

I believe that as much power as possible should be placed in the entities that are closest to the people and I believe this also was an important principle to our founding fathers, which is why they attempted to make this concept clear in the Tenth Amendment to our country’s Constitution.

Another reason the people have a much greater voice at the local level is because powerful special interests and lobbyists have a tremendous investment in federal and state level politicians. At the local level there is little influence wielded by these groups as they cannot afford to invest in every local official.

Unfortunately, years of aggressive federal government expansion has eroded these principles and it is my hope that as more states adopt states’ right resolutions and laws, we will see the start of a reversal of this trend.

Federal mandates are affecting our lives in a number of ways and in the future I plan to share some of the examples of how the federal bureaucracy’s unfortunate regulations are negatively affecting local residents.

Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, represents House District 31, which encompasses all of Logan County and a portion of northern Edmond. He may be reached via e-mail at jason.murphey@okhouse.gov.

The answer to a better life for individuals, economies, better communities, and better countries is not a move toward globalization but localization.

Strong families with values, strong communities, and strong states, protected from invasion by a strong federal defense create solid foundations for global relations. These relations create opportunities for all of the local communities without the threat of losing the basic values we live by.

We have a constitution that protects every individual American citizen. This protection is under assault from the current move to allow for more decision making to be made globally. Think about this; how can a federal government in Washington DC, never mind a global “government’ in Brussels or some other place, ever gain trust or administer for the good of the individual or the community? Forget that this attempt is worth a second revolution and stopping it is worth dying for, it isn’t even feasible.

We can’t manage a state government properly never mind a world government. Decisions made on behalf of us by a world body will decimate our freedom and prosperity. This cannot and will not stand. As Obama bloviates at the G20 gathering he speaks for none of us. Our constitution is what speaks for us. He can never hand over our sovereignty to any political body without our consent. That would be treason.

Every president and federal representative takes an oath to protect and defend the US Constitution. The constitution is clear; we in America are sovereign and free.

The tenth amendment was included in case the federal body got too big for its britches. No one can take that from us. And if they try we should be willing to do everything it takes to remove these people from our government.

We can trade, travel, and befriend all of our friends around the world without any change to the culture and business of the United States. The world is too big to manage centrally and it will foster misery and tyranny. We must read, understand, and live by the constitution…

Then and only then will happy days be here again…

Rich Hand was a 2008 candidate for congressional district 5 in colorado. Formerly a Republican, he has left the party after 16 years because of his disappointment with its direction. He is a dedicated family man, the author of My Life; Ignored! and a musician with 3 CD’s. Visit his blog at http://whoisrichhand.blogspot.com/