Posts
Two area lawmakers co-sponsor legislative measure that rebukes many federal laws as unconstitutional.
Some Florida lawmakers are seeking to hit the reset button on the U.S. Constitution.
On Wednesday nine House Republicans, including two who represent Marion County, added Florida to a long list of state legislatures that are resurrecting a states' rights push to re-establish the balance between the federal government and the governed.
These initiatives against federal encroachment, now filed in more than three dozen states, are rooted in the 10th Amendment, which fences in federal power by mandating that the states and the people control public policy unless the Constitution specifically denies them such jurisdiction, or delegates such authority to the federal government.
(Article continues below)
Shop Earthhope Magazines
The Florida lawmakers in their paperwork, known as a memorial, argue that "many federal laws are in direct violation of the Tenth Amendment," whose limits on Washington "established the foundational principle that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states."
"And yet," they add, "currently the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government."
"We, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the United States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp," the memorial continues.
Thus, "this memorial serves as a notice and a demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, from issuing mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers."
They also insist that Washington prohibit or repeal federal laws that force states to comply by threatening to withhold funding.
The memorial was proposed by Reps. Scott Plakon of Longwood and Ritch Workman of Melbourne.
Reps. Kurt Kelly of Ocala and Marlene O'Toole of Lady Lake, whose Villages-area district includes a small portion of south Marion County, have signed on as supporters.
Kelly could not be reached for comment.
Florida is actually a late arrival to this party hosted by modern anti-Federalists.
Over the past few months, largely in response to Washington's increasing involvement in the economy, lawmakers in 36 states have introduced similar resolutions, according to the Tenth Amendment Center, a Web site that tracks the progress of the proposals.
Seven of those legislatures have adopted versions of the resolution and forwarded them on to their governors. In late June, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen became the first chief executive to sign one, the center reports.
Three states have rejected it.
The statehouse vote tallies compiled by the center indicate a mixed response.
Such resolutions have been pushed primarily by Republican lawmakers. The vote for adoption in some state capitals has often been unanimous; in many others, it tends to follow party lines.
Michael Boldin, director of the Tenth Amendment Center, said the strong bipartisan votes clearly show people from both sides of the aisle can and have come together on this issue.
"What's most important, though, is the Constitution," he said. "The U.S. Constitution isn't a document for the left or for the right. The Constitution doesn't apply to you, to me, or to any person at all. It applies to the federal government, and is the set of rules and boundaries for the role that institution plays in our lives."
"The founders and the people who ratified the Constitution wanted the most important decisions, the most difficult ones, handled close to home. So, whether you're a supporter of medical marijuana in California, or gun rights in Tennessee, or gay marriage in Maine, or opposed to Real ID in Missouri, you're a supporter of these principles that the founders so wisely passed on to us."
One Ocala group is lobbying for passage of the memorial because they worry that, whoever is in charge in Washington, citizens are fast becoming serfs.
Donny Barber serves as executive director of the Sovereignty Action Committee, or SAC, which was formed in May by a handful of Marion County residents who yearn for Florida to reverse what they see as decades-old usurpation of its home-rule ability.
"We believe in a separation of powers that no longer exists," Barber said. "We're just trying to get back to our roots."
That means convincing Florida lawmakers to adopt the memorial.
On May 19, according to Barber, 150 people came out on a rainy night to attend the inaugural SAC meeting in Belleview. The group has formed as a for-profit business instead of a nonprofit so they would not look like hypocrites by avoiding paying taxes, Barber noted.
Audience opinions expressed that night ran the gamut from left to right, he recalled. As Boldin observed, Barber believes that indicates the 10th Amendment movement holds appeal for liberals and conservatives alike.
"We are looking for people to be part of something to re-educate people about the 10th Amendment," said Barber. "People are dissatisfied and they are generally concerned that the system permeates dependence on the system."
Barber, 25, believes he embodies the frustration many feel.
Five years ago, Barber was a Republican National Committee worker hitting the church circuit in the Panhandle to rustle up votes from evangelical Christians for George W. Bush.
He had also enlisted in efforts to help elect GOP politicians like U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, Congressman Jeff Miller of Chumuckla and Daniel Webster, a former state senator.
His loyalty to the GOP was eventually shattered, he said, by the unceasing warmongering and profligate spending of Bush and Congress. Yet his philosophical convictions still resonate within him strongly enough to preclude a jump to the Democrats.
Now among those who occupy the political no man's land between the "all or nothing" diehards of both sides, Barber is a member of the Constitution Party.
"Either the Republicans or the Democrats have been in charge for more than 100 years now," he added. "And instead of letting states do their jobs, they are going to force issues down our throats. They have the same old used-up ideas all the time. If they were right, we would have known it by now."
Along with Kelly, Dennis Baxley, Ocala's former state representative and once the No. 2 person in the Florida House, was among the panelists invited by SAC leaders.
"This is all part of the awakening of America to the issues and the times," said Baxley, one of the state's leading social conservatives. "It is exciting to see so many parts of the grassroots movement to protect our freedoms emerge. It is evidence of a readiness for the average American to re-engage in the dialogue of public policy."
The author James Bovard, whose writings frequently focus on the negative consequences of the growth of the federal government at the expense of individual liberty, noted that these movements only seem to emerge when Democrats control the White House and Congress.
Many conservatives allowed themselves to be "blinded" by former President Bush, Bovard said. They have awakened to the danger of Washington just since last November, he observed, and appeared unconcerned about the intricacies of the Bill of Rights when their man had his hands on the levers.
Likewise liberals who, for instance, protested President Bush's funding of faith-based initiatives and groups, should now be faulted for not objecting to a massive infusion of federal cash into the economy, Bovard noted.
"It's a worthy goal, although I don't know if it will change the political landscape," Bovard observed of what the SAC and other groups are trying to do.
Barber sees adopting the 10th Amendment proposal as the first step of many that would allow people to reclaim control over their government, and he expressed his gratitude to Kelly for supporting it.
"It's rare that a politician is connected enough with the people to have moved this quickly," he said. The SAC, Barber added, is now calling on House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, to get behind the effort and become a co-sponsor.
The next immediate move, if Florida lawmakers pass it, would be to begin work on a state constitutional amendment to give teeth to the resolution, said Barber.
Future proposals would include supporting a flat income tax, requiring federal lawmakers to spend 90 percent of their time in their districts and mandating that new federal policies be tested as pilot projects, limited in time and scope, to determine their effectiveness.
Email Bill Thompson
Source: Ocala
No comments:
Post a Comment
Content spammers take a hike.