Tenth Amendment Remembered

...from Tenth Amendment Center A lot of people want to shoehorn the Constitution into their personal notions about liberty. But the Constitution isn’t a declaration of liberty. Even so, the decentralized structure of government inherent in the Constitution as ratified does provide a framework conducive to liberty if maintained. Under the Constitution, the people of the several states delegated power to the various branches of the general government. But more significantly, they clearly divided power between the sovereign states and the central authority. And as ratified, the Constitution delegated the federal government very little power. As James Madison wrote in Federalist #45 , the powers delegated to the federal government are “few and defined.” The powers remaining with the state governments are “numerous and indefinite.” Federal power was primarily reserved for “external objects” including war, peace, foreign affairs and foreign commerce. “The powers reserved to the sever...

...from Tenth Amendment Center On Monday, I was on the Tom Woods show to discuss the nullification movement in light of the fact that 2020 will be the 10-year anniversary of the publication of Tom’s great book, Nullification: How to Fight Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century. From the show notes: It’s been ten years since my book Nullification was published, so it’s an appropriate moment for a retrospective on how during that time the states have pushed back against various federal intrusions. The Tenth Amendment Center’s Michael Boldin joins me. LISTEN HERE Michael Boldin April 23, 2020 at 08:36AM

...from Tenth Amendment Center The story about how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fans the flames of fear is nearly as old as the terror attacks of 9/11. In 2014, an  article  in  The Council on Foreign Relations revealed how DHS told a scared public that Al Qaida could weaponize Ebola and spread the virus across the country. “At present, we have no credible information that ISIL is planning to attack the homeland of the United States, but that is not by any means the end of the story,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said. Fast forward 16 years and that same scenario is being played out again, except this time it is with the coronavirus. Despite having no evidence that terrorists are weaponizing COVID-19, the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Director for Infrastructure Protection, Brian Harrell issued a nationwide alert, warning people that terrorists could purposefully infect grocery stores and gas stations with the coronavirus. ...

...from Tenth Amendment Center I recently appeared on the Foreign Policy Focus podcast to talk about government overreach in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Kyle Anzelone had a pretty frank discussion on the struggle between resisting government authoritarianism while also making common-sense decisions to protect yourself and others in a pandemic, focusing specifically on the Kentucky governor’s shutdown of churches. We also talked about the value of decentralization during a crisis and the inevitable expansion of government during an “emergency.” We wrapped up talking about the ever-growing police state in the U.S. and how a crisis gives the government an excuse to use it. Mike Maharrey April 22, 2020 at 03:31PM

...from Tenth Amendment Center Fact: Every power you give to Trump today will be used by Biden, or AOC or someone else in the future. More centralized power is not a path to liberty. Fact: Every power you give to Trump today, will be used by Biden, or AOC or someone else in the future. More centralized power is not a good thing for liberty. @mmaharrey10th pic.twitter.com/loX9NwM2Oy — TenthAmendmentCenter (@TenthAmendment) April 15, 2020 Patrick Henry warned us. “Show me that age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men, without a consequent loss of liberty.” For Further Reading Don’t Trust Government The Tenth Amendment is Always the Right Answer Oppose a Disease at its Beginning Mike Maharrey April 22, 2020 at 03:28PM

...from Tenth Amendment Center $24 trillion – and climbing fast. It doesn’t matter which team is in power, it keeps going to the moon. But the founders warned us of the dangers of massive debt. From their own experience leading to the revolution, they knew what would happen. Path to Liberty: April 22, 2020 PODCAST VERSION Subscribe: iTunes | Google Play | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS SHOW LINKS: JOIN TAC Show Archives Subscribe and Review on iTunes James Madison Political Observations of 1795 Thomas Jefferson 1816 letter to William Plumer Debt Clock Maharrey Calm before the Storm Doesn’t matter what party is in power Off Book debt British Taxation of the Colonies Sugar Act Stamp Act Townshend Acts Dickinson – letter 12 James Madison to Henry Lee, April 13, 1790 George Washington farewell address Also his 5th annual message in 1793 Hamilton 1792 John Adams, first address to congress 1797 Jefferson letter to Gerry jan 1799 Another Episode: Jefferson and Madis...

...from Tenth Amendment Center The U.S. government budget deficit in March came in at $119 billion, according to the latest US Treasury Department Report . That’s a massive budget shortfall. But it’s actually the calm before the storm. The March 2020 deficit came lower than the $146 billion shortfall in March 2019. But this was primarily a function of the calendar. Significant March outlays were pushed back into February. Overall, the budget deficit through the first half of fiscal 2020 stands at $744 billion, an 8 percent increase over FY2019. Government receipts in March came in at $238 billion. That was a 3 percent increase over March 2019. Federal outlays totaled $356 billion. That was down about 5 percent year-on-year. But with calendar adjustments, the March deficit was $170 billion, compared to an adjusted deficit of $136 billion in March 2019. In other words, spending is way up overall in fiscal 2020. And the real budget storm is on the horizon. The March deficit does no...