Thursday, 26 December 2013 11:15
Four Georgia state legislators are listening to the crescendo of constituent opposition to ObamaCare.
On December 16, State Representatives Jason Spencer, David Stover, Michael Caldwell, and Scot Turner announced their sponsoring of a bill that would halt the implementation of ObamaCare at the sovereign borders of the Peach State.
At their press conference, the lawmakers sought not only to explain their proposal, but to drum up support for it among like-minded Georgians.
HB 707 authorizes the Attorney General of Georgia to:
provide that neither the State of Georgia nor any of its political subdivisions shall establish a health care exchange for the purchase of health insurance nor participate in or purchase insurance from a health care exchange established by a nonprofit organization; to provide that no agency, department, or other state entity shall authorize an employee, contractor, vendor, or any other person acting on behalf of such agency, department, or entity to undertake any action under the aegis of Section 2951 of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 or a process established pursuant to such act.
Despite the apparent pulling of the constitutional punch, two of the four Georgia state legislators struck at the heart of the constitutional issue.
Representative Stover denounced the federal government’s usurpation of unconstitutional power. “To tax someone for simply being alive is anti-American, anti-Constitutional and anti-common sense.... The federal government did not create the states; the states created the federal government.”
Stover’s analysis of the creation of the Constitution is right.
Understanding that the states created the federal government will help state legislators and citizens appreciate the constitutional propriety and potency of the principles of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798.
The states created the federal government and reserve the right to resist the exercise by Congress of any powers not specifically granted to it by the states in the Constitution. For too long, Congresses, presidents, judges, and bureaucrats have “worshipped and served the creature [the government] more than the creator [the states and the people].” (Romans 1:25)
In his statement, state Representative Michael Caldwell invoked the 10th Amendment and the retention by states of the “numerous and indefinite” powers not specifically granted to the federal government in the Constitution.
“I am here to protect and uphold the Constitution,” Caldwell said. “The federal takeover of healthcare in the United States is the single largest infringement upon the Constitution, upon the Tenth Amendment, upon individual rights in my lifetime, in recent history and, I would argue, in the history of our nation. HB 707 is telling the Obama Administration that if they want the ACA in Georgia, ‘You’re going to have to pay for it, you’re going to have to implement it, and don’t expect any aid from the State of Georgia in doing so.’”
As the states have become servants, they may yet regain their proper role as masters. In this there is hope, in fact.
The states, through the exercise of the 10th Amendment and their right to rule as sovereign entities, may stop ObamaCare at the state borders by enacting state statutes nullifying the healthcare law and criminalizing state participation in administering or executing the unconstitutional provisions thereof.
Nullification is the “rightful remedy” and is a much more constitutionally sound method of checking federal usurpation. It is quicker and less complicated than an attempt to have the law repealed by Congress or overturned by a future federal bench more respectful of the Constitution. That said, there is no reason that concerned citizens should not use every weapon in the constitutional arsenal, including working to convince Congress to repeal this offensive act.
The Supreme Court’s ratification of ObamaCare’s individual mandate can be seen as a mandate of another sort. Americans should now turn their attention to removing from office every congressman who voted in favor of the “law” and electing those candidates for state legislature who will commit themselves to boldly asserting the sovereignty of the states and forcing the raging bull of the federal government back within the small and well-defined corral built by our Founding Fathers.
As the multitude of unconstitutional mandates contained within the ObamaCare behemoth begin breathing down the necks of Americans, thankfully, there are a few state legislators proposing bills to protect citizens from being subjected to the healthcare law.
Soon, the South Carolina state senate will consider a bill aimed at preventing enforcement of ObamaCare within its borders.
The growth of this movement is not only encouraging, but evidence of a increase in state assemblies of the proper role of states in checking the federal government.
ObamaCare and all future and former unconstitutional acts of Congress can (and must!) be nullified by state legislators and governors. The power to negate any act of the federal government that exceeds the constitutional scope of its power is innate in the states. All observers recognize that the creature has grown so large that it threatens to consume the creator.
If nullification is to be successfully deployed and defended, states lawmakers must remember that the Constitution is a creature of the states and that the federal government was given very few and very limited powers over objects of national importance. Any act of Congress, the courts, or the president that exceeds that small scope is null, void, and of no legal effect. No exceptions. James Madison said it best in The Federalist, No. 45: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” ... Finish reading>
Nullification is the “rightful remedy” and is a much more constitutionally sound method of checking federal usurpation. It is quicker and less complicated than an attempt to have the law repealed by Congress or overturned by a future federal bench more respectful of the Constitution. That said, there is no reason that concerned citizens should not use every weapon in the constitutional arsenal, including working to convince Congress to repeal this offensive act.
The Supreme Court’s ratification of ObamaCare’s individual mandate can be seen as a mandate of another sort. Americans should now turn their attention to removing from office every congressman who voted in favor of the “law” and electing those candidates for state legislature who will commit themselves to boldly asserting the sovereignty of the states and forcing the raging bull of the federal government back within the small and well-defined corral built by our Founding Fathers.
As the multitude of unconstitutional mandates contained within the ObamaCare behemoth begin breathing down the necks of Americans, thankfully, there are a few state legislators proposing bills to protect citizens from being subjected to the healthcare law.
Soon, the South Carolina state senate will consider a bill aimed at preventing enforcement of ObamaCare within its borders.
The growth of this movement is not only encouraging, but evidence of a increase in state assemblies of the proper role of states in checking the federal government.
ObamaCare and all future and former unconstitutional acts of Congress can (and must!) be nullified by state legislators and governors. The power to negate any act of the federal government that exceeds the constitutional scope of its power is innate in the states. All observers recognize that the creature has grown so large that it threatens to consume the creator.
If nullification is to be successfully deployed and defended, states lawmakers must remember that the Constitution is a creature of the states and that the federal government was given very few and very limited powers over objects of national importance. Any act of Congress, the courts, or the president that exceeds that small scope is null, void, and of no legal effect. No exceptions. James Madison said it best in The Federalist, No. 45: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” ... Finish reading>
