Several questions must be asked and answered before any state or group of states considers nullification or secession. The same questions should be asked and answered by voters before deciding or supporting nullificaton or secession. Let’s look at a few of them.
First and foremost the questions must be, are we willing to risk everything as our Founders did, or will our actions be nothing but lip-service? Are we willing to take our weapons off the wall as the Minute Men of colonial days? Do we firmly believe our stand is just or are we reacting out of anger and passion alone? Will we simply blow off steam, or will we actually follow through? These are serious questions and must be given considerable thought.
The federal government says nullification and secession are “against the law,” so to speak, and that questions about nullification and secession were answered via the Civil War. To that argument, I say hogwash. Our rights are God-given, not government issued and among them is the right of self-determination. Our forefathers didn’t ask for, indeed, wouldn’t have considered asking for approval from the King of England before they seceded from British rule.
The Southern Confederacy several times asked for relief from onerous Northern tariffs. The north refused. Finally, after Southern nullification failed, the secession began. They did not ask permission to secede - they just did it.
The Declaration of Independence says quite eloquently: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…"
And: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security…”
Again, the questions. Have there been a “long train of abuses and usurpations” designed to reduce us to “absolute despotism?” In my opinion - yes.
1. The federal government has not given us a militia, but rather a standing army, a clear violation of the Constitution. It has involved our military in “brush-fire“ conflicts making us the police force of the world, without specific congressional approval, relying instead on the “War Powers Act.”;
2. By repeated use of Executive Orders, the office of President has become little more than a dictatorship, and by-passing Congress, has issued unconstitutional edicts;
3. The judiciary has, under color of law, rewritten parts of the Constitution overturning the clear will of the people as expressed by voting in some elections;
4. The current occupant of the White House has never proven his constitutional right to hold that office;
5. Many members of Congress, several serving as president and many in the judiciary, violated their oaths of office in which they pledged to protect and defend the Constitution;
6. The government has on several occasions interfered with free elections;
7. Several presidents have appointed so-called czars and allowed them to serve without congressional oversight and rule by regulation and decree;
8. Many in the federal government are openly violating the Second Amendment and are passing unconstitutional laws restricting the Right of the People to keep and bear arms;
9. First and Fourth Amendment rights have been attacked with unconstitutional laws and acts;
10. The federal government, with no regard for future generations, borrowed money from foreign powers and placed our nation deeply into debt;
11. The government has failed to provide border security and is working to promote a “no-border” policy with Mexico and Canada. Our governments acts are destroying our national sovereignty and placing us in an unconstitutional alliance with foreign powers;
12. The government has taken our nation off the gold and silver standard and placed congressional power to coin money with an unconstitutional central bank, deceitfully using the term “Federal Reserve.” The Federal Reserve is a private corporation mostly owned by foreign investors and banks;
13. The federal government has claimed passage of the 16th Amendment (income tax). The 16th Amendment was never ratified;
14. The federal government has repeatedly caused our nation to disarm under the guise of nuclear non-proliferation treaties even as our enemies continue to arm themselves;
15. The government, through treaties such as NAFTA and GATT, allowed our industrial base to move to foreign nations, placing our nation at grave danger should we be attacked by a foreign army;
16. Congress has failed to pass constitutional laws by illegally delegating law-making and enforcement powers to a massive federal bureaucracy.
I could continue wirhout much trouble. In short, our government has totally failed to uphold the Constitution.
Our nation would be better served if the 112th Congress simply de-funds programs such as Obamacare and pork barrel spending. But de-funding alone won’t solve all the problems our nation faces. We simply must hold the government’s feet to the fire with constant threats of nullification and even secession.
Thomas Jefferson said it best. "God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
“And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."
The question remains, will a state be forced to act alone or will there eventually be a confederation of sister states willing to take the plunge? Will we unite against our common enemy - the federal state? Will the action be economically feasible. Could enough revenue be generated to sustain a secession or be able to financially fight through nullification?
At least 24 states have nullified or threatened to nullify certain federal actions. Chief among them are taxation, runaway spending and unconstitutional federal law, such as government controlled health care. The Federal Government also needs to end U.S. membership in the United Nations. We need to send all U.N. delegates home and sever our relationship with that unconstitutional body. Then we must eliminate the central banking system (Federal Reserve), end the use of fiat (un-backed paper) money and return to the gold standard. Of course, eliminate unconstitutional gun control.
One thing is certain. Right or wrong, it is time to take sides. We cannot be caught sitting idly on the sidelines but must join in the battle for restoration of our freedom and liberty.
So what do we do about it? Jefferson again gave us the answer. In 1798 he wrote that “whensoever” the federal government “assumes undelegated powers,” that a “nullification of the act is the rightful remedy.”
Notice that Jefferson didn’t tell us that a nullification of the act is a “good idea” – or that we should first try federal lawsuits or wait for the next election cycle. He said, in fact, that every time Congress exercises powers not delegated to it – every time – it must be resisted on a state level. When states pass laws rejecting unconstitutional federal laws – this is not a rebellion – but our constitutional duty.
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