April, 2015, Part 1, Will The Center Hold?

On a regular basis we discuss a continuing theme in this post. “Will the center hold?” Never in my life have I seen such a push back against an overreaching Federal government and Washington political class at all levels of government and at the individual citizen level. From Obama Care to gun control to education to Common Core to spying on innocent civilians, across the country people are finally saying enough and have started to rebel against Washington dictates and laws.

Which brings to two very interesting questions:

1. What if Washington passed a law and everyone the country simply ignored it?
2. Would the center hold or would the Republic splinter apart?

Don’t believe that the center is possibly in danger? Insert the phrase “will the center hold” into the search box above or read on today and for the next few days to see where the rebellion has spread to.

1) A major source of irritation and push back against Washington has been with Common Core, the Washington based overhaul of education in the country which attempts to dictate a top down approach to education. We have often discussed how badly this program educates are kids based on actually testing results and how states, schools and parents are rebelling against education dictates from a far away and out of touch Washington.

How deep is the push back? Well, on Long Island in New York, twice as many parents have taken their kids out of the the Common Core testing exams this year vs. the previous year. In one school district, over 80% of the parents decided their kids should not be subjected to the Common Core tests. Other school districts on the island have had opt rates over 50%. Thus, we are not talking about a small minority of rebellious parents, we are talking about the majority of parents in certain school districts.

Which gets us to the question: what happens if everyone takes their kids out of Common Core testing, does the Common Core program die a well deserved death? We shall see. For a look at the opt out rate for Common Core in every Long Island school district go to:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12MKPf7x8-Xym-sLwEH2XJNqR6cN6KMGzjFx25k4-_ug/edit#gid=246053646

2) One movement that we have not talked a lot about in this theme but which is certainly related is the Convention Of States movement. This effort aims to put together a coalition of states that will press for Constitutional changes that include the annual balancing of the Federal budget and term limits for Federal politicians. Two thirds of the state need to pass legislation calling for a Convention of States and that movement is progressing nicely towards that number across the country.

A week ago, the Tennessee Senate formally passed legislation calling for a Convention of States by a vote of 23 to 5. The vote was this strong despite out of state efforts and money to derail it.

3) The Personal Liberty website posted some state by state efforts to rebel against the Feds in a March 24, 2015 article by Michael Boldin:

• In Arizona, legislation was recently passed in the state senate, by a vote of 17 to 12, that would ignore any restrictions that would inhibit the right to keep and bear arms in the state.
• A similar bill to protect Second Amendment rights in Montana was recently passed by both houses of the state legislature and is headed for the governor’s office for approval and enactment.
• Similar efforts are are underway in the Tennessee, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania state legislatures.
• Idaho was the first state in the country in 2014 to pass state level legislation designed to prevent any new Federal gun control efforts.
• In 2014, Arizona voters approved Proposition 303 which allow Arizonans to try experimental medical treatments that have not yet been approved by the Federal government.
• In 2015, Wyoming and Arkansas enacted so-called “right-to-try” laws and similar legislation is pending in Virginia, Montana, Indiana, Utah, and Mississippi, all intended to go around the FDA’s glacier drug approval process: “These laws are a no-brainer,” said Mike Maharrey of the Tenth Amendment Center. “When someone is on their deathbed, the fact that FDA regulations would let them die rather than try, has got to be one of the most inhumane policies of the federal government. Every state should nullify the FDA like this.”
• The Federal government allow hemp to be grown for medical research purposes only but it is currently being actively farmed in Colorado and Vermont in defiance of that Federal law.
• In addition, Tennessee, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Washington, Connecticut, Missouri, Texas, Florida and North Dakota are in various legislative stages of allowing widespread hemp farming in their states.
• Last year Utah and New Hampshire passed laws that ban each state from participating in any warrantless eavesdropping activity on its citizens by the Federal government.
• Texas, Alaska, Tennessee, Missouri, South Carolina and other states have introduced legislation to ban all “material support or resources” to all Federal bulk warrantless spying programs.
• Legislation is under way , Montana, New York, Missouri,Vermont, Massachusetts, and Oregon to block a nationwide car license plate tracking program.
• Legislation in Arizona and Texas is moving ahead to ban enforcement of an Obama Care tenet.

Many states and many issues, much rebellion and push back, will the center hold? 

4) Arizona has been one of the most active states in telling the Feds to pound sand. It is working on two new pieces of legislation in that vein:

• The first piece of legislation, Arizona House Bill 2368, prevents the state of Arizona from funding any executive orders issued by President Obama, or policy directives issued by the Department of Justice. The bill would prohibit “this state or any of its political subdivisions from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with an executive order issued by the President of the U.S. that has not been affirmed by a vote of Congress and signed into law as prescribed by the U.S. Constitution.” It also “prohibits this state or any of its political subdivisions from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with a policy directive issued by the U.S. DOJ to law enforcement agencies in this state that has not been affirmed by a vote of Congress and signed into law as prescribed by the U.S. Constitution.”
• The second bill, House Bill 2643, stops state and local governments from using state funds to enforce and implement the Obama Care. 

Both bills passed the Arizona House and will now move to the Senate. 

Wow, a state insisting that the Federal government and current Presidential administration follow the Constitution. Amazing and unfortunately, very rare. 

But maybe the tide is turning. Dozens of instances where states across the country are making a stand for the rule of law, common sense, and the protection of its citizens and their rights. The center is getting shaken on the edges, will it hold? More shaking tomorrow.

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.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w