Will The Center Hold. Part 4: Americans And States Push Back Againdst An Overreaching Federal Government

We have spent the past three posts covering the various measures, in some cases extreme measures, that states and individuals are taking to protect their freedom and liberty and force the Federal government and Washington political class to adhere to the tenets of the Constitution. Never before has such civil disobedience to the dictates of the Federal government been so strong and widespread, leaving one to ponder the question: what happens if the Federal government passes a law that no one obeys?

Is it still a law if it is completely ignored? And more importantly, if such widespread rejection of a Washington law becomes the norm, can the center hold as far as being a country and nation? Fascinating questions for a fascinating, and dangerous, time.

We had thought we would be done by now with the update in his area. However, as quickly as we write, more state level and individual citizen actions come to the forefront that need to be reported and discussed. The first post in this series can be reviewed at:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/03/will-center-hold-part-1-americans-and.html

Let’s see where the latest action is:

1) In early March, 2014 the Georgia state government legislature passed legislation which called for a Convention of States to amend the U.S. Constitution, as allowed under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. The legislation restricts the convention to topics of limiting the power of the Federal government and establishing term limits for Federal politicians. Georgia’s House of Representatives voted 107-58 to pass the measure, which previously had passed the state Senate.

“An Article V Convention of States would provide an opportunity for the citizens of this great nation to restore the balance of power between the states and the federal government,” Republican state Rep. Buzz Brockway of Lawrenceville said in a statement. Brockway called for other states to do the same in order to rein in the runaway spending and actions of the Federal government.

2) It could be that other states are heeding Mr. Brockway’s advice. Legislation calling for a Convention of States was recently passed by the Alaska House Finance Committee. Its sponsor, state Rep. Tammie Wilson of North Pole, Alaska, said she introduced the bill because she is fed up with Federal government overreach: “The federal government is just not listening to us. The states have certain rights. The Founding Fathers put this process in place for a reason.”

As with Georgia and other state initiatives, the Alaska legislation also specifies that a convention must be limited in what it can consider, as critics have raised the danger of a “runaway” convention that could either take on an ambitious Constitutional rewrite or end up with so many distractions that it fails to accomplish anything. Specifically, Alaska resolution, HJR 22, demands that Congress convene a “convention of the states to propose amendments to the Constitution that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office of federal government officials.”

Supporters of the Alaska effort point to a runaway national debt level of over $17 TRILLION that the Washington political class seem unable to control, wasteful spending on pork barrel and crony programs and projects, and an out of control EPA that has exceeded its lawful parameters.

3) Texas voters recently went to the polls to vote on a variety of political office races and issues. Six of the issues on the ballot received overwhelming support in favor of less Federal government intervention in our lives and/or better and saner Federal policies. These ballot questions and the total voting results include the following issues:

• 93% of the Texas voters called for the repeal of Obama Care and the hassles, expenses, and taxes that come with it, only 7% opposed repeal.
• 95% of Texas voters voted in favor of people receiving tax payer funded welfare payments and other government assistance be subject to random drug testing as a condition of receiving those welfare benefits, 5% opposed mandatory testing.
• A whopping 99% of the voters said that all elected officials and their staff should be subject to the same laws, rules, regulations, and ordinances as their constituents, only 1% opposed such a requirement.
• 87% of Texas voters support Second Amendment rights and liberties and want to expand locations where concealed handgun license-holders may legally carry, 13% opposed expansion.
• 97% of voters said they should be free to express their religious beliefs, including prayer, in public places. Only 3% opposed such freedom.
• 88% of Texas voters said the state should abolish the state franchise tax, also known as the margins tax, to encourage business growth, 12% want the tax to remain.

Given that the Federal government presses ahead with the disaster known as Obama Care, continually hands out welfare money without any strings attached, continually exempts themselves from their own legislation, continually attack gun possession rights, continually attacks the religious rights of Christians throughout the country and military, and continually increases taxes and spending to no avail as far as improving the economy, it is pretty evident that at least the people and voters in Texas are fed up with Federal government mandates and controls.

4) As we have pointed out previously, the disgust with government and the American political class is not just with Washington. Many citizens across the country are disgusted with their state political class as well, feeling that those in their state government positions are also out of control and out of touch with citizens that they are supposed to be representing.

As a result, there is a small but growing movement across the country where citizens are making plans and a push to split off from their current state and form new states with new state governments:

• Jefferson, a new state on the west coast, would be made up of Northern California and Southern Oregon.
• A new state called Western Maryland would split off from the current state of Maryland.
• A new state called Northern Colorado would be formed from within the current state of Colorado.
• There is a movement afoot to split California into six new states since some feel that the state government in Sacramento is totally out of touch with people far away from the state capital.

Becoming a new state, while allowed by the Constitution, faces many hurdles and would eventually have to be approved by the U.S. Congress. However, as we have seen, people around the country have reached a point of frustration and disgust with their current politicians, whether they are in Washington or their local state capital, they are willing and anxious to take the difficult steps of slapping down overreaching governments and the politicians that operate them regardless of where they are.

5) One last bit of rebellion for this month. In late February, 2014, the state of Alabama’s House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for a Convention of the States under Article V of the Constitution. As with other states, the Alabama effort would explicitly limit the purpose of the Convention to just three issues in order to keep things under control: 1) Proposing a balanced budget amendment, 2) Reining in power/jurisdiction of the Federal government and 3) Implementing Federal officials’ term limits.

That will do it for now but rest assured that this will likely not be the last time we need to review the growing and widespread disgust with the American political class as state governments and individual citizens take action to protect their freedoms, lives, and financial well being against an out of control and inept set of politicians.

Keep in mind the still outstanding question of our times: what if the Federal government passes a law and no one obeys it?

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w