What is States’ Rights? Part 3.

Mike Crane
Morganton, Georgia

“Our Rights are like a cookie, no matter how big the cookie and how small the bites, eventually you run out of cookie”

In Part 1 of this series a concept was presented that runs a bit contrary to current public conception – that the term States’ Rights can be used more for partisan benefit than a true effort to protect the God-given Rights of the people. Part 2 demonstrated that as early as 1801 incursions attacking American Liberty had already started and have continued to this day. In fact - in the 210 years since 1801 these incursions have grown into a rout.

From a definition (The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia® Copyright © 2007) of federated government:

“ … The distribution of powers between the federal and state governments is usually accomplished by means of a written constitution, for a federation does not exist if authority can be allocated by ordinary legislation. …”

Today it would be laughable to state that the federal government does not create “new” authority from not only legislation but also judicial edict and historically has also used armed aggression. One does not have to look very far to find examples of federal government laws that are obviously beyond the scope that any of the Founding Fathers or Framers of the Constitution of 1787 could have conceived.

Roscoe FilburnLet’s look at such an example that most sane citizens would agree is an example of the central government (The United States) that denies (as opposed to guaranteeing) a citizen’s God-given Rights; is certainly on questionable grounds for being within delegated powers; and is somewhat stupid to boot.

Roscoe Filburn was a farmer in Ohio. The Secretary of Agriculture in 1940 established his grain quota as 11.1 acres under the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1938 based upon regulating inter-state commerce. He grew 23 acres and used all of his grain to feed his livestock or his family.

The law and case summary deals with “grain quotas” laws passed by Congress and signed into law by the President - to regulate inter-state commerce. The farmer grew an extra 11.9 acres for use on his own land. This was deemed to be a violation of the federal government “quota” established to regulate inter-state commerce and he was fined. The Supreme Court (Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942)), sided with the government of which it is part – in effect placing usage of private land for personal consumption into the realm of inter-state commerce and Congressional regulation even if the resulting product never leaves a citizens property!

In this case all three branches of the federal government have in effect greatly expanded their “power” to regulate inter-state commerce delegated in Article I. Section 8:

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

[Emphasis added]

It is certainly not obvious that grain grown on a farm and never leaves the farm is Commerce among the several States! The following excerpt from the referenced Supreme Court decision confirms that this legislation was an expansion of the power in the Constitution:

The present Chief Justice has said in summary of the present state of the law: ‘The commerce power is not confined in its exercise to the regulation of commerce among the states. It extends to those activities intrastate which so affect interstate commerce, or the exertion of the power of Congress over it, as to make regulation of them appropriate means to the attainment of a legitimate end, the effective execution of the granted power to regulate interstate commerce.

[Emphasis added]

The three branches of the federal government from my perspective generated an expansion of their regulatory authority in this case as they can do in any case where the three branches so decide.

The issue being presented here is not whether or not such laws are good or bad. The issue is whether or not the federal government has become the judge of what it can and cannot do. It does not matter if you are a “conservative”, “liberal”, “middle of the road”, Republican, Democrat or just don’t give a hoot. American Liberty is not a political position - it is a form of government whose primary purpose is to guarantee your God-given Rights!

· Does our current form of government protect and guarantee our God-given Rights?

· If it does not, and if it has become its own judge of what its powers are, then regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum – from right to left – you and your future generations will either belong to an elite – or you will suffer tyranny!

For those who have problems understanding the second bullet above – you do not understand why our Colonial forefathers seceded and fought against the world’s most powerful nation to gain their and your independence!

If you understand the second bullet then you also understand why our Confederate forefathers seceded and fought against the world’s most powerful nation in an effort to gain their and your independence. If you do not understand the latter, then you do not fully understand the second bullet.

A growing number of American citizens are finally beginning to understand that the central government, known as the government of The United States is not working like they want it to. The mantra and battle cry for many of these concerned citizens is to emphasize “States’ Rights,” “State Sovereignty,” and “Nullification.”

Patrick HenryThese concepts have a very solid foundation among many of our Founding Fathers such as Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. Reusing the example from President Jefferson’s first State of The Union report to Congress:

“When we consider that this Government is charged with the external and mutual relations only of these States; that the States themselves have principal care of our persons, our property, and our reputation, constituting the great field of human concerns, we may well doubt whether our organization is not too complicated, too expensive; whether offices and officers have not been multiplied unnecessarily and sometimes injuriously to the service they were meant to promote.”

[Emphasis added]

States’ Rights as an aspect of government in our land draws support from Article VII of the Constitution of 1787.

“The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.”

This is clearly an agreement between the “States.” Historically this is confirmed by the fact that not all thirteen States ratified the Constitution of 1787 at the same time. The States created the government known today as The United States by withdrawing from the previous government they had created by a similar name under the Articles of Confederation (Article I):

The Stile of this Confederacy shall be “The United States of America”.

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of 1787 also supports the concept of “States’ Rights” (Amendment X):

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 go back and read the example above about the farmer who grew too much wheat under the Congressional law. When the central government can expand the legal definition of its delegated powers at will, how can one ever define the phrase “not delegated?”

There is a major, very major problem with today’s doctrine of “States’ Rights” (including “State Sovereignty” and “Nullification”):

For over 200 years it has not worked! The Constitution was ratified in 1789 and the 10th Amendment was ratified in 1791 – so if they are the solution - why has the problem gotten worse for 200 years?

It is the opinion of this writer that if we are to restore and preserve American Liberty for our future generations - State Powers must be used as a check on the central government and to concurrently guarantee our God-given Rights. We need to understand what went wrong, why it has continued and what will have to be done to avoid the cliff American Liberty is approaching. What went wrong is complex and thus …

To be continued.

Editor’s Note: This article was first published in We Hold These Truths.

Current Affairs, Political Well Being

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Third Southern National Congress Convenes in Tennessee; Declares U.S. Government “In Breach of Contracth”

Floyd, VA; November 15, 2010 – One hundred and fifty Southern men and women from fourteen Southern States gathered at Montgomery Bell State Park near Dickson, TN November 12 –14 for theThird Southern National Congress site Third Southern National Congress (SNC).

“We have passed the test of making it to that all-important third year,” said Thomas Moore, who was re-elected Chairman. “Any new business owner can tell you, if you can make it for three years, then you’ve succeeded in establishing a viable, going concern. This was our most energetic Congress yet. We can now honestly say the SNC has proven itself to be a permanent and significant voice for the Southern People and the Southern States.”

Mark Thomey, re-elected as Vice-Chairman, said, “This session of the Congress was a great success. We’ve laid more of the groundwork necessary for the South and her people to obtain their liberty and independence.”

Delegates attended from all the Fourteen Represented States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Observers came from the North as well as the South, with some from above the Mason-Dixon Line expressing interest in forming a similar forum in their region.

The SNC is a representative assembly of citizens of the Southern States, providing an alternative, legitimate forum to express Southern grievances and advance Southern interests in a way that is no longer possible through today’s political process or the major political parties. The SNC preserves the great Southern political tradition of individual liberty and a small central government limited to its enumerated powers; and which is the creation, the servant, and the agent of the sovereign people acting through their respective States. These were the founding principles of the American Republic, but they have been consistently violated by the central government, which was designed to be the servant of the States that created it, but which has instead become their master and oppressor.

In his opening Charge to the Delegates, Chairman Thomas Moore observed, “We Southerners perhaps understand better than most Americans that the country is in deep, deep trouble. Millions of voters all across the land demonstrated this same anxiety in the recent elections. But they had no real alternatives to choose from. Americans vote for the Democrats in one cycle and the GOP in the next, and yet the oppressions, abuses, and follies of the Washington government continue without let-up. One definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and yet expect a different result. We in the SNC are no longer willing to participate in the madness of the failed political system. We’re creating a genuine alternative, an ‘instrumentality’ which Southerners can use to forge a different destiny for ourselves and work collectively to restore liberty, justice and prosperity in the Southland.”

Chairman Moore explained that when the duly elected or appointed magistrates fail in their sworn duty to uphold the law and safeguard liberty, then any People worthy of the name will bring forth new leaders to act on their behalf. Political sovereignty resides in the whole People under a sovereign God. When oppressed, the People have the right and the duty to organize the collective means to defend their interests. Such means derive their moral authority and thus their legitimacy from a commitment to the welfare of the community. This is a constant theme in Western history and a hallowed principle in English common law. Not only does this right have support in history and politics, it also has theological sanction in the Christian doctrine of ‘interposition of the lesser magistrate.’ That is, when then higher magistrates fail in their duty or betray their public trust, lesser magistrates may step forward and interpose themselves between the People and the abuses of despotism. This is the basis on which the SNC rightfully claims its legitimacy.

The SNC’s proven model is from America’s own history – the First Continental Congress of 1774. The Crown-authorized governors and colonial assemblies were still the “legal” governments at the time. But they represented the interests of the British ruling class, not the interests of the American people. Colonial Committees of Correspondence appointed delegates to an alternative forum that would represent their interests and voice their grievances.

In keeping with its mission to speak for Southern interests, the Third Congress vigorously debated and adopted a resolution declaring that “…the central government of the United States, by defaulting on its obligations to protect the inalienable rights of the People to life, liberty, and property, is in breach of the United States Constitution that once bound the People and the Several States to the Federal Union…” As a consequence, “… free Southerners should consider their States and the People of their States absolved of any moral obligation of obedience, deference, or loyalty to the central government of the United States. In such circumstances, we encourage Southerners to devote their primary efforts to their States and local communities in order to reconstitute a free, just, and prosperous civil society.”

The full text of this historic resolution may be found on the SNC website at: http://southernnationalcongress.org/third_congress_resolution.shtml

Larry Pratt speaker at Third Congress. Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America and a long-time champion of all of Americans’ historic liberties, was the keynote speaker at the Congressional banquet on November 13. Mr. Pratt stirred the Delegates with his address on the principles of nullification and interposition, which he proposed as the best solution to runaway, rogue government in Washington.

The Congress also elected the following officers for two-year terms:

* Chairman – Thomas Moore of Virginia
* Vice-Chairman – Mark Thomey of Alabama
* Parliamentarian – David Jones of Tennessee
* Treasurer – Bobby Johnston of Georgia
* Chaplain – Rev. David Whitney of Maryland
* Finance Chairman – Franklin Sanders of Tennessee

The Delegates elected one member from each State Delegation to represent their States on the SNC Board of Governors. This Board will ensure accountability of the SNC and its officers to the Represented States, and act for the full assembly between annual sessions. The Delegates established a new Budget Committee, and created an appointed position of Clerk of the Congress, who will serve the Chairman as a chief-of-staff. Chairman Moore appointed Mike Crane of Georgia as the first Clerk of the Congress.

Chairman Moore reminded the Delegates that their performance validates the SNC’s claim to serve as a legitimate voice for the Southern People. He said, “The Washington Elites believe We the People aren’t capable of, nor worthy of, self-government. They despise us Southerners in particular. But the landmark Third Congress proves them wrong. The SNC has demonstrated a far greater capacity for moral, responsible self-government than anything we see in the U.S. Congress. If the corrupt and criminal elites in Washington could be here with you today, they would have to hang their heads in shame.”

Qualifications to become a Delegate to the SNC are as follows:

· There are no restrictions based on race, creed, or sex.

· A Delegate must be a resident of one of the Fourteen Represented States.

· A Delegate must be 18 years of age on the date of the Congress attended.

· A Delegate must be willing to affirm the following: I believe that I have a duty to my home State. I believe that the Southern people are a distinct people. I believe in the right of voice, the right of preservation, and the right of recognition, for the South and her people.

Southerners of good will and good character are invited to apply to become Delegates by going to this link: http://southernnationalcongress.org/delegateapplication.php

News media representatives or Southern citizens seeking information about the SNC should direct their queries to Mr. D. R “Doc” Smith, Chairman of the SNC Media / PR Committee, at visionhousefilmz@gmail.com. Chairman Thomas Moore is available for scheduling radio appearances or other interviews at tgmoore@mindspring.com.

Current Affairs, Political Well Being, SNC

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