Yesterday’s update kick off post can be accessed at:
1) A New Mexico county government is the latest non-Federal government entity to rebel against a Federal action. The New Mexico Otero County Commission voted to instruct the local sheriff to open up a Federal Forest Service gate so that cattle of local ranchers could reach a water source.
The action told the sheriff to "immediately take steps to remove or open gates that are unlawfully denying citizens access to their private property rights."
"That Constitution is in breach right now and it is our duty, it's our civil duty — if we want to keep our nation free and keep our country as it was intended to be by our forefathers — to stand up and take this type of action," said Mr. Ronny Rardin, one of the county commissioners who voted to open the gates.
This is part of a larger and growing issue across the west between locals and the Feds regarding access to western grazing lands and water sources. The first salvo in the push back was with the Cliven Bundy confrontation in Nevada. And now a county government in New Mexico is telling the Federal government to step aside also.
2) From the Bundy ranch in Nevada to Otero County in New Mexico we now move northward to Utah. The state government of Utah recently passed legislation that demands the Federal government cede control of 30 million acres of land that fall within the borders of the state.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed a bill earlier this year that intends to snatch a massive amount of land from the overreaching hands of the Federal government to help build the state’s economy and resources. The belief, at least in Utah, is that state and local politicians and citizens can do a better management and conservation job of the state’s wilderness lands than a far away Federal bureaucracy that has shown itself to be mostly inept in any thing it does.
I doubt that the Obama administration is going to hand over any land to a state government so it could get real interesting, and real dangerous, if Utah decides to execute the legislation with or without the approval of Washington.
3) The Governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback, recently signed a Kansas state bill that nullifies local gun control laws and brings uniformity to Second Amendment rights and laws across the state. The law also expands on the places that allow the carrying of a firearm, similar to Georgia’s “guns everywhere” law.
According to the Kansas City Star newspaper, the law would strip cities and counties of their power to regulate firearms, and would nullify existing gun control laws, effectively allowing open carry of firearms across the state.
Both of these actions are obviously in conflict with the Obama administration’s desire to shred the Second Amendment and Americans’ rights to defend themselves and their families.
4) According to a recent Reuters news report, even the government loving state of California is getting into the push back action against the Federal government. A recent piece of legislation that is working its way through the California state government, having recently been passed by the state senate with only one opposing vote, would require the Federal government to have a real warrant from a real judge if it wants the cooperation of California officials in searching residents' cell phone and computer records.
This is probably in direct response to the Edward Snowden leak that proved that the Federal government, via the NSA and other government entities, were shredding the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens with warrantless searching and eavesdropping on American citizens' communications: "The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is very clear. It says the government shall not engage in unreasonable search and seizure," said the bill's author, Democratic State Senator Ted Lieu, of Torrance. "The National Security Agency's massive and indiscriminate collecting of phone data on all Americans, including more than 38 million Californians, is a threat to our liberty and freedom."
Well said, Senator Lieu. And even better news, Reuters reports that several similar measures have also been introduced in eight other states including Alaska, Arizona and Oklahoma. Also, Montana has passed a similar law affirming the Fourth Amendment and mandating that state agencies operate in terms of it.
The California bill would not permit state law officials in the state to assist any Federal organizations looking for records of phone calls, Internet use or other electronic activity by residents unless a warrant has been issued by a judge. Which raises another point of confrontation between citizens wanting to live in a free country again and a Federal government that continually stomps on that desire: what happens when a renegade NSA employee violates state laws and spies on a California resident? Interesting times.
5) Consider a recent article from the United Liberty website. The Tenth Amendment Center has reported that at least two of the five state government nullification bills that passed last week will keep the Federal government from tracking cell phone data in their states without a real, legal, court approved warrant.
In Minnesota, house bill SF2466, passed with deep bipartisan support in both the Minnesota state House and Senate. The bill bans law enforcement agencies in Minnesota from obtaining tracking information on cell phone users in the state without a warrant.
In Missouri, Senate Joint Resolution 27 also protects citizens’ information by adding electronic communications as one of the objects protected by the state constitution. The resolution will likely be up for a vote by Missouri residents this November after it passes the House.
Also in Missouri, legislation that would keep Missouri out of the Federal government’s plans to expand the Common Core educational standards has also passed last week. House Bill 1490 allows the state to regain control of education standards and processes, keeping the Federal government away from interfering with local educational boards and guidelines.
6) In both South Carolina and Tennessee, the Federal ban on farming industrial hemp has also been nullified by state government legislation, actions that are likely to increase the productivity and viability of those states‘ agriculture industries. Both states passed bills that allow local farmers to grow industrial hemp in their states. In Tennessee, Governor Bill Haslam has already signed the proposal into law. South Carolina’s Governor, Nikki Haley, is expected to sign the bill into law in the near future.
That will do it for today. From anti-snooping to western land management to education standards to gun control to protecting the Fourth Amendment, Americans are finally taking off the blinders and telling the Federal government to get out of their lives. The Feds had their chance to do good and blew it. Time for the locals to take over and see what good they can do, the ineptness Federal government has set that bar pretty low.
Which gets us back to the same question we have been constantly asking over all of this push back activity against the Federal government: what happen if the Federal government passes a law that no one obeys?
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
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