Isn’t Life Strange?

Several states have begun putting the federal government on notice about violations of sovereignty and increasing federal encroachment on the rights of the states.

The 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is one sentence: “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.”

Now I’m not a Constitutional scholar, so I am just going to take a common man’s look at this. If for any reason you believe I am mistaken in my analysis here, please correct me. Simply put, the Constitution is very specific about the powers granted to the federal government by the states. The 10th Amendment, the last of the Bill of Rights, makes the clear point that the states are responsible for anything NOT enumerated in the Constitution, and the federal government is restricted from taking steps to create new powers for itself or infringe upon the rights of the states or the people until they are specifically granted permission through the amendment process.

If I am correct in my reasoning above, the Constitution is more or less a meaningless document today. For generations the federal government has grown to massive proportions, created new powers for itself, new programs to create a society dependent upon government assistance, and has imposed several layers of bureaucracy that citizens must tolerate if they wish to be kept in the government’s good graces. I believe that most people don’t know or care about the intrusion upon their freedoms because for decades the people have been gently and gradually desensitized to it. Many are thrilled to get a tax refund check thinking how fantastic it is that the government cares to send them some “bonus” money, when actually they should question why the government holds it to begin with.

I could go on with an entire list of items, of grievances people have about problems that wouldn’t exist had the federal government not created them in the first place. But back to the point…

The great State of Indiana is one of several working to pass resolutions asserting state sovereignty based on the 10th Amendment.

SECTION 1: That the State of Indiana hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.

SECTION 2: That this Resolution serve as a Notice and Demand to the federal government to maintain the balance of powers where the Constitution of the United States established it and to cease and desist, effective immediately, any and all mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers.

SECTION 3: That the Secretary of the Senate immediately transmit copies of this Resolution to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of each state’s legislature of the United States of America, and each member of Congress from the State of Indiana.

The entire resolution can be read here.

There is much being said today about the uncertainty of our nation’s future. A gradual shift to the far left has been replaced by a sharp lurch toward a socialist state focused on centralized control and diminished individual rights. It is oddly comforting to know that the states are beginning to realize that they must act now before it’s too late.