Via Twitter I found this story from Indiana. It talks about Indiana Senate Resolution 42 which passed on Thursday (4/9/09) by a vote of 44-3. The text of their resolution:

Whereas, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifically provides that, “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”;

Whereas, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being those powers specifically granted to it by the Constitution of the United States and no more;

Whereas, Federalism is the constitutional division of powers between the national and state governments and is widely regarded as one of America’s most valuable contributions to political science;

Whereas, James Madison, “the father of the Constitution,” said, “The powers delegated to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, [such] as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people”;

Whereas, Thomas Jefferson emphasized that the states are not “subordinate” to the national government, but rather the two are “coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole. The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch of the same government”;

Whereas, Alexander Hamilton expressed his hope that “the people will always take care to preserve the constitutional equilibrium between the general and the state governments.” He believed that “this balance between the national and state governments forms a double security to the people. If one [government] encroaches on their rights, they will find a powerful protection in the other. Indeed, they will both be prevented from overpassing their constitutional limits by [the] certain rivalship which will ever subsist between them”;

Whereas, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be limited in its powers relative to those of the various states;

Whereas, Many federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and infringe upon Indiana’s reserve powers and the people’s reserved powers;

Whereas, The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States , 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and

Whereas, A number of proposals from previous administrations and some now being considered by the present administration and from Congress do infringe on the States’ reserve powers and the people’s reserved powers, and may further violate the Constitution of the United States; Therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:

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 all compulsory federal regulation that directs Indiana and her sister states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions, or directs states to pass conforming legislation under threat of losing federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

SECTION 4: That the Secretary of the Senate immediately transmit copies of this Resolution to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the Majority Leader 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.

Following some available links I also discovered the Tenth Amendment Center. Chasing that rabbit trail led me to a WND Story about Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona who has introduced H.R. 450, or the Enumerated Powers Act.

When he introduced the proposal Jan. 9, Shadegg gave a House floor speech reminding his colleagues of limited authority granted in the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

It states, “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.”

“What that means is that the Founding Fathers intended our national government to be a limited government, a government of limited powers that cannot expand its legislative authority into areas reserved to the states or to the people,” Shadegg said. “As the final amendment in the 10 Bill of Rights, it is clear that the Constitution establishes a Federal Government of specifically enumerated and limited powers.”

Further in the story:

WND columnist Henry Lamb has been urging voters to contact representatives and ask directly if they will co-sponsor and vote for the Enumerated Powers Act, or explain why not – in writing.

The legislation has 19 co-sponsors – all Republicans.

Lamb suggested the act become the theme song of the tea parties taking place around the nation.

Twitter Friend Smalltalkwitht found,

20 states so far have/are pass/ing Sovereignty resolutions ND SC SD WA IN TX NH AZ MI MN MO OK HI Coming AK AL AR CA CO ID NV ME PA.

I don’t see Florida in that list. How about your state?

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I know. I haven’t posted anything since Monday. I you want to know why, here is the short version: For most of the past five years I have been a department of one. On Monday I became a part of a department of two, and responsible for training the “rest” of the staff. Add to that a hard drive meltdown (work computer, not here at home) and I have been spending a great deal of time and effort at the day job. Just to make things interesting at home as well, eight to ten men have been on top of the house all week replacing the roof. Shorter version, it’s been a chaotic week.

Interesting stories in my feed reader are starting to really pile up. I seriously doubt that I will get around to posting on any of the older ones, but there are several things that I would really recommend taking a look at:

Seriousness Merges With Satire in Iconographic Obama News Coverage P.J. Gladnick intertwines the extremely humorous Gerard Baker satire with a “serious” article by Euan Ferguson of the UK Observer. The differences are slight in a scary/funny sort of way.

One more from Newsbusters — the story about New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson taking on and taking down Robert (You Mean I’m Supposed To Live There) Wexler and host Chris (Obama Mancrush) Matthews over Obama’s Berlin speech.

Rick Moran dares utter the TOP TEN THINGS THAT CREEP ME OUT ABOUT OBAMA. A dead on list that gives me (and should give others) the full body shudders.

Don Surber examines the first thirteen quotes from Barack Obama on Meet the Press (7/27) and concludes, rightly, “Without a script to read, Obama makes Dan Quayle sound bright, articulate and — Well, I, I, I — we need a, a, a more serious — eloquent. George Walker Bush is a regular Lincoln by comparison.”

Leo Pusateri writing at Blogs For Victory examines a movement in the state of Oklahoma that thinks the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution means what it says. Here is Leo’s set up:

The Tenth Amendment, which is supposed to hold weight equal to the First, Second and every other Amendment to the United States Constitution, has in the last 80 years been regarded as “a nice idea” but optional. This has resulted in usurpation of powers from the States in everything from health care to education (and everything in between).

Far from being taken seriously, the Tenth Amendment has become the red-headed stepchild of the Constitution, and has been ignored with impunity by the Federal government.

Do read the rest.

Well, that get’s me up to only a few days behind, but it’s time to go.

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