Tenth Amendment Remembered

...from Tenth Amendment Center Today is the 558th day that the GOP has failed to repeal Obamacare, or gun control, or end mass, warrantless surveillance. In this episode of Tenther Tuesday, Mike Maharrey ( follow ) and Michael Boldin ( follow ) discuss some aggressive government overreach, including TSA and DEA programs stalking innocent travelers and over-the-top efforts to keep surveillance programs secret. Even with all of this going on, a lot of Republicans seem to think things are better constitutionally. As Maharrey and Boldin discuss, you get these kind of bad opinions when you have bad constitutional foundations. WATCH SHOW LINKS JOIN TAC, Support the Constitution and liberty:   http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/members TSA Quiet Skies Program DEA License Plate Tracking Program Maharrey Sued for Asking Questions about Surveillance Op-Ed: The First Step Toward Limiting Unchecked Surveillance Jason Spencer on Who is America? People with Bad Constitutional Foundations En

...from Tenth Amendment Center WASHINGTON  (July 31, 2018) – A member of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee is calling out the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury for dodging questions about their activities involving America’s gold reserves. In a letter dated July 27, Representative Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) wrote to Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, after receiving perfunctory responses to his April 24 inquiry, noting “a few questions were either not addressed at all or not fully addressed.” In particular, the Fed and Treasury would not articulate any U.S. policy toward gold and refused to comment on historical U.S. State Department documents pointing to a U.S. policy of “driving gold out of the world financial system in favor of the Federal Reserve Note or Special Drawing Rights issued by the International Monetary Fund.” In his follow-up letter, Rep. Mooney provided evidence of involvement by the Exchan

...from Tenth Amendment Center by Ron Paul President Trump’s recent Tweets expressing displeasure with the Federal Reserve’s (minor) interest rate increases led to accusations that President Trump is undermining the Federal Reserve’s independence. But, the critics ignore the fact that Federal Reserve “independence” is one of the great myths of American politics. When it comes to intimidating the Federal Reserve, President Trump pales in comparison to President Lyndon Johnson. After the Federal Reserve increased interest rates in 1965, President Johnson summoned then-Fed Chairman William McChesney Martin to Johnson’s Texas ranch where Johnson shoved him against the wall. Physically assaulting the Fed chairman is probably a greater threat to Federal Reserve independence than questioning the Fed’s policies on Twitter. While Johnson is an extreme example, history is full of cases where presidents pressured the Federal Reserve to adopt policies compatible with the presidents’ agendas —

...from Tenth Amendment Center A lot of people seem to believe Pres. Donald Trump is some kind of limited government constitutionalist. He’s not. The other day, I got an email from a guy who embraces this idea. He claimed Trump “unwittingly embraces the fundamental ideals of the founders: ie. a smaller unobtrusive laissez-faire government, with emphasis on individual liberty via merit.” People who have a poor constitutional foundation end up with really convoluted constitutional opinions – like this guy. Whether you like Trump or not, you simply can’t believe he “embraces the fundamental ideals of the founders” if you understand what those ideals actually were. For instance, Trump has continued the federal surveillance state unabated. But general warrants that authorized British agents to enter and search homes and businesses without any probable cause was one of the first flashpoints between colonists and the British government more than a decade before the colonists declared in

...from Tenth Amendment Center On this inaugural edition of Good Morning Liberty, host Michael Boldin talks about an unnecessary federal “law” giving states “permission” on legalization, an update on Lexington suing Michael Maharrey over their surveillance programs, and a ramp up of the air war in Afghanistan. SHOW LINKS An Unnecessary Law: STATES Act Lexington Police refuse to release info on surveillance cameras, appeal judge’s order US Airstrikes Continue to Rise Precipitously in Afghanistan FOLLOW TAC: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TenthAmendmentCenter RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/tacdailydigest Twitter: http://twitter.com/tenthamendment Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tenthamendmentcenter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tenthamendmentcenter/ Email Newsletter: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/register Become a Member: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/members/ Michael Boldin July 30, 2018 at 12:48PM

...from Tenth Amendment Center Conventional wisdom holds that Republicans reliably protect the Second Amendment. In fact, one of the reasons conservatives said it was imperative to elect Donald Trump was that he would defend our right to keep and bear arms. A Hillary White House would shred the Second Amendment and aggressively come after our guns — so we were told. But the reality doesn’t stack up to the rhetoric. In fact, during Trump’s first term, ATF enforcement of federal gun laws increased in every single category compared to the last year Obama was in the White House. We can start with the number of firearms cases investigated. In 2016, the final year of the Obama administration, the ATF investigated 31,853 firearms cases. During Trump’s first year, the agency investigated 35,302. That’s 3,349 more firearms cases than under Obama, a 10.81% increase. ( See Footnote 1 ) We see similar increases in other enforcement categories during Trump’s first year. There were 786 more cas

...from Tenth Amendment Center The feds maintain an almost complete ban on commercially-available CBD products. But a market has still grown - and is thriving. Michael Boldin July 28, 2018 at 07:12PM

...from Tenth Amendment Center If there was a thermometer that measured political polarization, the mercury would have already busted out the glass top spraying most of us either red or blue. There’s no middle ground. According to many who are playing identity politics game, you are either a “Libtard” or a “Nazi.” Some have even suggested we’re on the verge of another Civil War. This polarization has left many pondering: How did we get here? Could it have been avoided? Can anything be done? Now, many on the left will point to the rise of Donald Trump being the source of much of this polarization. No doubt, Trump’s election has contributed, but this was building way before Trump ever announced his intentions of running. Sir Issac Newton’s third law of physics states: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This seems to be true of politics as well. One of the reasons the Nazis formed the  Sturmabteilung ( aka the Brown Shirts) was due to violent communists disru

...from Tenth Amendment Center The federal courts are so appallingly bad at upholding the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights that when they seemingly get things right for once, it’s hard not to celebrate. However, we must never lose sight of the fact that it’s our responsibility to defend our rights, not a bunch of politically connected federal lawyers. And we also need to remember that what they do one day in our favor they can easily undo the next. We need to keep this in mind when we consider a recent federal appeals court ruling that overturned a Hawaii state law regulating firearms possession outside the home. In many ways, the court ruling was praiseworthy; it correctly pointed out that the Second Amendment’s text protects not only the right to “keep,” but also to “bear” arms, meaning it protects the right of gun owners to both possess guns in their homes and take them out in public. But there’s a fly in the ointment. The court asserted that the state law violated the

...from Tenth Amendment Center The Constitution provides that presidents nominate officers and make treaties. But nominations and treaties become effective only “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” Many have argued that the word “Advice” means the president must ask the Senate to make recommendations before submitting his proposals. Others believe the Senate may create guidelines or criteria the president must follow. But that has not been the historical practice. Generally the president has merely submitted nominations and treaties to the Senate without prior consultation—other than politically expedient, informal consultation with certain influential Senators. Can we recapture what the framers and ratifiers meant by “Advice and Consent?” And if so, is historical practice correct? Or are those correct who believe the Constitution requires prior senatorial input? My  new article  in  Federalist Society Review  examines a wide range founding-era documents in search

...from Tenth Amendment Center In this episode, I cover the happenings of colonial Virginia over the course of 1775. These events ran in parallel to those in Boston immediately prior to and during the confrontation between the colonial militias and the British regulars at Lexington and Concord. Particular energy is devoted to Patrick Henry’s persuasive oratory and the uprising against Lord Dunmore. Virginia’s situation demonstrates that political radicalism was certainly not confined to Boston, and patriot sympathies were pervasive in the Old Dominion. WATCH Recommended Readings Patrick Henry: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death Speech Murray Rothbard:  Conceived in Liberty Kevin Gutzman:  Virginia’s American Revolution   Dave Benner July 26, 2018 at 10:53AM

...from Tenth Amendment Center The following is based on a speech given to the LP Mises Caucus “Take Human Action Bash” in New Orleans on June 30, 2018 In 1996, voters in California passed Prop 215, the “compassionate use act,” to legalize marijuana for limited medical purposes.  In the run up to the vote, three presidents came out to California to explain that voters couldn’t do this. Why not?  According to their messaging, the supremacy clause of the constitution says that federal law always wins.  And marijuana is illegal under federal law. Well, that marketing campaign didn’t work out too well for them. When Prop 215 passed, the message from the Clinton administration was the same – we don’t recognize your state law. Attorney General Janet Reno said, ”We want to make clear that Federal law still applies.”   An LA Times article from Jan. 1997 repeated the same message, noting that “Federal officials … vowed to pursue California physicians who recommend marijuana for their p

...from Tenth Amendment Center There has been a strong push to do away with the Electoral College in recent years. One of the more interesting proposals is the “Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote.” Not only does it attempt to circumvent the constitutional process of electing a president, it actually is effectively an attempt to amend how we amend the Constitution itself. The advocates of this agreement claim that when a sufficient number of states sign on, the election of the president will be decided by the total number of votes, irrespective of the sates in which those votes were cast. The purpose of the agreement is to circumvent election of the president by the majority of the electoral delegates of all states in the Electoral College. The number of electoral delegates is proportioned by the number of senators and House delegates in each state. The Constitution designed the presidential election process so that the majority of the elector

...from Tenth Amendment Center After losing yet another round in Fayette Circuit Court, the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government has decided to take its fight to keep its “mobile surveillance cameras” a secret to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. And I plan to keep fighting. On June 19, Fayette County Circuit Court Judge John Reynolds issued  an order granting a motion for summary judgment  in  a lawsuit filed against me  and ordered the Lexington Police Department to release documents related to 29 surveillance cameras it owns and operates. Reynolds said the city did not meet its burden of proof and “failed to assert an applicable provision of the KRS or other binding precedent which would allow the denial of the information requested by Maharrey.” The LFUCG asked for reconsideration and entered  a motion to alter, amend or vacate the judgment . After a hearing on June 22, Reynolds overruled the city’s motion and once again ordered the Lexington Police Department to turn over d

...from Tenth Amendment Center A lot of people are pushing for Congress to mandate conceal carry reciprocity. It may sound like a great idea, but there are some serious constitutional issues. In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head , I focus specifically on the idea that the “full faith and credit” clause authorizes Congress to pass such a law. LISTEN You can subscribe to  Thoughts from Maharrey Head  for free on iTunes. Just click  HERE . You can also listen on my YouTube channel HERE . SHOW NOTES AND LINKS Free E-Book: The Power of No!: The Historical and Constitutional Basis for State Nullification The Bill of Rights Was the Bill of Rights Meant to Apply to the States? The Incorporation Doctrine and the Bill of Rights Raoul Berger: Government by Judiciary Episode 75:  “States’ Rights” and Liberty Episode 41:  The Incorporation Doctrine and the 14th Amendment Episode 40:  The Liberty Enforcement Squad “The power of prescribing by general laws, the manner in whic

...from Tenth Amendment Center The state of New York is using facial recognition cameras to identify drivers and passengers at toll booths. A recent article in the New York Post revealed that toll booths use facial recognition to identify everyone. “We are now moving to facial-recognition technology, which takes it to a whole new level, where it can see the face of the person in the car and run that technology against databases,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.  (Click  here  &  here  to learn more about the proliferation of facial recognition technology.) Police are also testing facial recognition cameras that can identify people based on the shape of their ears. “Because many times a person will turn their head when they see a security camera, so they are now experimenting with technology that just identifies a person by their ear, believe it or not,” Cuomo said. Last year Vocativ revealed that NYC is using toll booth gantries to create a ring of spying cameras. “The Authority

...from Tenth Amendment Center A lot of our work goes on behind the scenes. As a result, it can often go unnoticed. So, it’s nice when the legislators and other elected officials we work with acknowledge the effort we put in. That happened recently when Alaska Gov. Bill Walker invited me to the bill signing ceremony for the Alaska Right to Try bill . I worked very closely with Rep. Jason Grenn’s office for more than 18 months to help get HB43 passed. The new law gives terminally ill patients access to medicines not yet given final approval for use by the FDA. On July 13, Alaska became the 41st state to pass Right to Try legislation that effectively nullifies in practice an FDA policy that denied access to drugs that had not gone through the entire agency approval process. The right to try movement was so successful at the state level that Donald Trump recently signed a federal Right to Try Act into law. That would have never happened without state action . Grenn introduced HB43 ba

...from Tenth Amendment Center TAC memberships  help us produce more educational tools like this. Members can download this video and read the full transcript here . Give government an inch and they always take a mile. Especially when it comes to war powers. FOLLOW TAC: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TenthAmendmentCenter RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/tacdailydigest Twitter: http://twitter.com/tenthamendment Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tenthamendmentcenter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tenthamendmentcenter/ Email Newsletter: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/register Become a Member: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/members/ Michael Boldin July 23, 2018 at 11:05AM

...from Tenth Amendment Center by Ron Paul According to financial writer Simon Black, the federal government is spending approximately 52,000 dollars per second. This, not last year’s tax cuts, is the reason why the national debt has reached a record 21 trillion dollars, which is more than America’s gross domestic product (GDP). Another ominous sign is that this year both Social Security and Medicare will have to draw down on their reserve funds to be able to pay benefits. The Social Security and Medicare trust funds will both soon be bankrupt, putting additional strains on the federal budget and American taxpayers. The excessive debt caused by excessive spending will inevitably cause a major economic crisis. Yet, with a few notable exceptions, there is little to no desire in Washington to cut spending. Instead, both parties are committed to increasing spending on warfare and welfare while ignoring the looming entitlements crisis. Examples of fiscal irresponsibility on Capitol Hi

...from Tenth Amendment Center A Twitter follower asked me what I would do to rein in the power of the Supreme Court. That is a very good question in light of the recent news cycle. If you missed it, Donald Trump was able to nominate another Supreme Court justice. The Left went nuts, the “Right” spiked the football and all is well with the political world if you aren’t a SJW. Except it isn’t. The real answer should be “Who cares who is on the Supreme Court?” All of the hand wringing on both sides could be solved by one simple word: federalism. You see, the founding generation designed the Supreme Court to be the least powerful branch of government. You wouldn’t know that if you have a social media account. Predictions of death, pestilence, famine, and genocide have followed Trump’s nomination of the very vanilla Brett Kavanaugh. To the Left–and many on the so-called “Right,” the Court is the final political arbiter. I remember John McCain thundering “We’re going to take Obamacar

...from Tenth Amendment Center Give government an inch and they always take a mile. Especially when it comes to war powers. Michael Boldin July 20, 2018 at 08:19PM

...from Tenth Amendment Center A confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, because he may have once opposed Roe V. Wade on abortion, is not likely to be as threatening as portrayed by the media. In the first place justices are only allowed to choose from what is brought before them, cases having survived tedious, time-consuming and expensive lower court scrutiny. So if Justice Kavanaugh wanted to reverse Roe V. Wade he would have to wait for a case that would allow that. Theoretically that could take a lifetime—if at all. Should Congress pass a law that all nine justices personally believed to be unconstitutional they possess no power collectively or individually to themselves bring it before the high court for review. There exists in the Constitution no judicial general review or oversight of the legislative branch; only in laws contested by a litigant proving damaged by it, or treaties. The Constitutional Convention nixed this notion because it would give the court too much power.