This is a nice compilation of the highlights. If anyone has additional footage, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

And, thanks for Leo S for the link, here’s nearly 200 pictures from the event:
10th Amendment Rally Pictures

The danger of being number 10 is that no one really knows who you are. George Washington was our first president; but how many can name number 10 off the top of their head? And Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to climb Everest, but does anyone know who the tenth person was to reach the summit?

And then consider our amendments to the United States Constitution: most of us know the 1st Amendment verbatim, but do you know what the Tenth Amendment says?

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Sometimes thought of as an afterthought, to “sweep up” anything the Founders may have forgotten, the 10th Amendment today is taking on monumental importance as increasing federal intrusion into state affairs threatens to completely destroy the balance between state and federal power.

In the Federalist Papers, authors Jay, Madison, and Hamilton labored to convince a monarch-shy colonial population that they needed a strong government to preserve a free, cohesive nation. The authors took pains to outline how the Constitutional structure of the government would prohibit the federal government from becoming big enough to overwhelm the powers of both the states and the democratic process.

The 10th Amendment was foundational to this system of checks and balances, constitutionally restricting the federal government to covering issues related to commerce, national defense, the postal system, and the like.

“Power begets power,” though, as the saying goes, and the federal government slowly began expanding its powers. One of the most effective and insidious ways that the federal government has taken over control of state affairs is by first passing a mandate and then offering federal money to states with significant strings attached.

Whether the issue is welfare, Real ID, No Child Left Behind, or health insurance programs, tantalizing packages have been dangled in front of state governors and legislators, promising to stop the budget gap or expand a politically successful program. States have taken the money and over time, the requirements and restrictions on those state funds have slowly but surely changed the direction of state policy.

Instead of developing programs to fit the needs of state citizens and altering them to best use the state resources, programs are instead clumsily built around the federal funding requirements, so the state does not lose a single available dollar. This significant paradigm shift should be a wake-up call to every citizen not only in Pennsylvania, but also across the nation.

Therefore, because the Supreme Court allowed the federal government to offer funds on conditions, states have subjected themselves to Washington. This submission completely distorts the checks and balances inherent in our Constitution, and enshrined in the 10th Amendment.

In order to raise awareness of this improper delegation of power, I have joined with representatives, senators, Democrats, and Republicans from over 30 states and introduced a resolution into the Pennsylvania General Assembly that reaffirms Pennsylvania’s constitutional powers under the 10th Amendment.

This 10th Amendment Resolution (House Resolution 95) is little more than a restatement of the last amendment to the Bill of Rights, reminding state legislatures that the federal government must no longer be allowed to commandeer our rightful authority.

As difficult as it is to believe someone could oppose a resolution as plain as reaffirming a basic tenet of our Constitution, sadly, opposition is too often the case in our state legislatures. This issue, however, is gaining traction among American citizens who are unwilling to sit back while Washington blatantly ignores their voices.

Supporting the 10th Amendment Resolution is a grassroots effort if ever there was one. I encourage you to spread the word and contact your family, friends and relatives, in and out of Pennsylvania, and encourage them to speak up. This issue will not go away—and it gives a voice to those who have grown frustrated and disillusioned with our federal government.

The 10th Amendment Resolution simply yet powerfully affirms our belief in the constitutional structure of our government. Join me today in that affirmation.

Rep. Rohrer will be holding the “10th Amendment Rally for the State of Independence” on Monday, March 16 at noon in the Rotunda of the State Capitol. Please make plans to join him there. Visit www.samrohrer.com for more information.

Samuel E. Rohrer is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (R-Berks).  To contact him, visit his website at www.samrohrer.com.

The conclusion of my last article read, “If there is any hope for America, it lies with We The People taking back our country from the crooks and criminals in Wash., D.C. who are running our country into the ground… There is a new hope for America… and it involves the States and the People working together, as the Founders intended, to make the America of all our dreams.”

The State governments of the original Thirteen States of the United States of America established the federal government to act as their agent in a world of interdependent nations.  Those original Thirteen States did not have to establish a federal government, but because those states collectively wanted to be represented to the world as one whole nation of States, they chose to have an agent, our federal government, to represent the collective interests of the several States.  Thus, the federal government, as our agent, is at all times accountable to the States, and to We The People!

The Federalist papers were written prior to the passage of our Constitution, to help the citizens understand its principles and meaning.  James Madison wrote in The Federalist that the new federal government was to exercise its powers in external relations of “war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce” with other nations.  These are the things outlined in our Constitution that the federal government is authorized to act upon.

James Madison also wrote in The Federalist that, “The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people.”

In other words, the original State governments were very active, and were engaged in supporting all aspects of the lives and daily living, and concerns, and interests, and rights of the people.

Over the past 233 years, the federal government has slowly exceeded its Constitutional powers until we have arrived at the situation we find ourselves in today.  It is now very clear that the people are sick and tired of our federal government’s usurpation of powers – exercising powers never granted, nor ever intended to be granted, by the Constitution.

Pennsylvania State Rep. Sam Rohrer, sponsor of PA’s State Sovereignty Resolution says, “This federal intrusion on state sovereignty has reached a breaking point.”

Apparently, many people feel the same way, and it is this feeling among We The People that has given birth to the growing State Sovereignty Movement.  Rep. Rohrer says, “Like our sister states, Pennsylvania must draw a line in the sand and reassert its sovereignty.”

But the reasons for the States declaring sovereignty today under the Tenth Amendment are many and varied.  Some States are concerned with out-of-control federal spending.  Oklahoma State Sen. Randy Brogdon, sponsor of Oklahoma’s Sovereignty Resolution, H.J.R. 1003 (which, by the way, passed in the Oklahoma House by 83 to 13), said, “A sixth grader should realize you can’t borrow money to pay off your debt, and that is the Obama administration’s answer for a stimulus package.”

However, the primary reason for the State Sovereignty Movement remains the very matter of sovereignty itself, guaranteed by both the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.  The Ninth Amendment makes it clear that “Sovereignty itself remains with the people, by whom and for whom all government exists and acts.” (U.S. Supreme Court in Yick Wo vs. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 370, an 1886 case)

State Rep. Judy Burges, a sponsor of Arizona’s Sovereignty Resolution, H.C.R. 2024, sums up our frustrations: “The federal government has been trouncing our Constitutional rights.  We are a sovereign State in Arizona, not a branch of the federal government, and we need to be treated as such.”

The wording of resolutions makes the intent unmistakable.  Tennessee’s resolution, H.J.R. 108, begins, “A Resolution to affirm Tennessee’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and to demand the federal government halt its practice of assuming powers and of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution of the United States…”

These are difficult times, and it will take much work to build a just world.  But we must start here, at home, in America.  Some believe this movement will incur the wrath of the federal government, as troops are sent in to quell opposition to its policies.

This is a revolutionary freedom movement; we must stand firm.  We can practice non-violent resistance.  The real reason for the Second Amendment was to prevent our government from becoming tyrannical.  If the federal government responds violently, we will all know it is still exercising powers never intended by, nor enumerated in, the Constitution.

If we do not stand up, and act, and take back America, the federal government will lead us into a great depression, the likes of which no one will want to see.  The choice is up to us, take back control of America, or be controlled by evil forces, yes, evil forces, bent on the total destruction of liberty and justice for all.

Ray Bilger [send him email] is a freelance writer and investigative journalist. Mr Bilger’s articles are first published at The Loop Newspaper in Tehachapi, CA.

Join Rep. Sam Rohrer

10th Amendment Rally for the State of Independence
Monday, March 16, at noon
Main Capitol Rotunda
Harrisburg, PA

Click here for directions.