Tenth Amendment

Idaho Moves To The Lunatic Right: A Call To Nullification And Repeal Of The 17th Amendment!

Ronald Leave a comment

The state of Idaho is remembered in its past for having had a couple of outstanding Senators (Republican William Borah and Democrat Frank Church), and a conservationist minded Governor who became an exceptional Secretary of the Interior under President Jimmy Carter (Cecil Andrus).

But Idaho, otherwise, is primarily recalled as the home of the Idaho Potato and of a number of white supremacist, racist groups, who feel comfortable in a state with a very small percentage of minorities!

Idaho has moved now to the Lunatic Right, if one examines the Republican state convention’s actions and resolutions!:(

The GOP wants to return to the right of nullification, which John C. Calhoun of South Carolina advocated, almost caused civil war under Andrew Jackson in the 1830s, and was a factor in the Civil War in the 1860s! Supposedly, nullification died as a result of the Union victory in that war, but suddenly it has reared its ugly head again!:(

The state convention also called for the repeal of the direct election of Senators, a democratizing idea that became part of the Constitution in 1913, but which now is opposed by the Tea Party elements who dominate that state’s GOP, just as in Utah a month ago. So the state legislatures should again control the Senate, even though the state corruption level and corporate control was endemic at the time! Is this progress toward the people having the final say on their Senators? The answer is obvious! 🙁

Additionally, the Republican party calls for retaking national parks and other public lands back from the US government, reversing what Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Cecil Andrus and other environmentalists spent their public life promoting! How that is to be done is not made clear! 🙁

Idaho Republicans want to promote the full enforcement of the Tenth Amendment with emphasis on state sovereignty being dominant, as if the state is an independent entity, which it is not, under our Constitution! 🙁

Really bringing back the 19th century, another proposal is to promote “hard money”, the use of gold and silver, instead of paper money, as the legal tender utilized by Idaho citizens! This is truly a loony idea, with no means of enforcement!

Socially, Idaho Republicans want to promote traditional marriage, but specifically say that transgender individuals should also not be allowed to marry, thereby failing to recognize the reality of some people being born in a way that no one would wish on their worst enemy! Is there a need to discriminate against such individuals? 🙁

Idaho Republicans are going the way of states including Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and South Carolina–putting all these states on a short list of states that are moving toward the lunatic fringe! 🙁

The intelligent citizens of these states need to speak up and to defend the good name of their states, as the GOP is certainly NOT doing so, instead inviting ridicule! 🙁

States Rights Vs. The Federal Constitution: Senator Robert Menendez, The Tea Party Movement And Recall

Ronald Leave a comment

The Tea Party Movement is at it again, now challenging New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez by pursuing a recall campaign in the New Jersey State Supreme Court.

More than a decade ago, New Jersey passed a change in its state constitution, allowing for recall of members of Congress in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and it has not been challenged in court since its inception.

There is no debate over the fact that the recall concept can be utilized in any state, if put into its constitution, against STATE officials, such as the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and other office holders. While rarely used, it certainly received great attention due to the California recall against Governor Gray Davis in 2003. Also, Mayor Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, Ohio, faced a recall vote in 1979, which he won, and today he is a Congressman from Cleveland who has run for President twice!

But NEVER in American history has a sitting member of either house of Congress been subject to recall, as they are FEDERAL officials, not state officeholders, and only their own legislative bodies may judge their fitness for office, and whether they should be seated, censured, or expelled!

The Tea Party Movement claims that the Tenth Amendment comes into play here, but they are totally off base, and IF the state supreme court were to rule in their favor, the case would have to go to the US Supreme Court, which it is hard to imagine would rule in their favor. Such a scenario would lead to true chaos in the halls of Congress, as one must realize that the true constitutional manner to register disillusionment with a member of either house of Congress is to vote them out when House members come up for election every two years, and when Senators come up for election every six years!

Just the fact of unhappiness with a series of votes should NOT be the basis for a recall vote! It is a victory of chaos and anarchy, and TOTALLY unconstitutional!

This is just further evidence of how reactionary and loony and anarchistic the right wing populism of the Tea Party Movement is becoming, something that the Republican party should reflect upon as more of a curse, than a blessing to them, and the whole political system!