If you haven’t seen it yet you should take some time to watch this documentary. I have not had a chance to read a book from Tom Woods yet, but after watching this documentary I think I most definitely will at some point. The documentary is essentially trying to bring up the point that Washington DC and everybody from the President, Congress and the Supreme Court have consolidated too much power in their hands and are essentially ruling over us as an oligarchy or tyranny.
The solution to this? Forget about the federal government and go straight to the state legislature and get individual states to “nullify” any bill that is unconstitutional. And what if any federal agents should come into your state to enforce these laws? Well some speakers say the solution is to simply arrest these individuals. This is certainly ambitious and is thinking that is outside the box and whether you agree with this or not at least it’s a different idea.
For any opponents of this idea I warn you to do your homework because the proponents of nullification are claiming that numerous Founding Fathers believed that the states indeed had this authority and directly reference the 10th amendment. At one point Tom Woods brings out a quote from Thomas Jefferson himself in which he actually uses the word “nullification” and indeed calls it the “rightful remedy” when the federal government oversteps its bounds.
For anybody that is against Obamacare, federal restrictions on use of medical marijuana, or federal restrictions of gun laws you might want to think about seriously joining up with this movement. It’s become obvious to most people that the federal government is broken and putting all your energy into electing a President you think will fix everything is at this point unrealistic. The President is most likely going to lie to you on the campaign trail anyway so I believe your energies are much better spent at the local level. The closer the government is to you, the easier it is for you to monitor it and take action if they overstep their bounds. That is why it’s important that most government services be provided at the State level so people can more readily participate in the government instead of having a few people in Congress make decisions that affect the whole country. In my opinion the delegated powers to Congress in the Constitution are the means the Founding Fathers choose to achieve these ends.
Now I wish to provide my critique of this “nullification” idea of unconstitutional federal laws.
I know the Constitution is a venerated document in American history with some people like Glen Beck even going as far as to say that God himself wrote the document. And at one point in my life I also held it in high esteem. Even though The Constitution is certainly one of the better political documents that humanity has created, is still leaves a lot to be desired which is why we have so many debates about it. I think it’s important to realize that there were debates even as the Constitution was being written. On one side were people like Alexander Hamilton that wanted big central government with immense power while on the other you had people like Thomas Jefferson that feared the dangers of such a government. Then there were people like James Madison that were somewhere down the middle. And that is essentially the Constitution right there, it is a compromise. Just look at the often cited general welfare clause.
“The Congress shall have the Power to lay and collect Taxes … to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.”
When you think about it this phrase right here pretty much gives the Congress the authority to do as it wishes, after all any action it takes can be argued is for the general welfare. People like Alexander Hamilton in fact argued for this interpretation after the Constitution was ratified. But in order to get the opposing camp on board or the people that wanted a limited government, often referenced as “anti-federalists”, a Bill of Rights was created with the 10th amendment as protection against the general clause which 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.”
So basically under the 10th amendment if a power is not delegated to the Federal government under article 1 Section VIII then it is reserved to the States. That would mean that federal laws on abortion, social security, health care, and drug laws are all unconstitutional. Then again there is the “necessary and proper” clause and the favourite of the Supreme Court “the commerce” clause that can be interpreted to have a broad meaning.
I guess my point is to say that using the Constitution to protect the Constitution might be a fruitless exercise. After the clear contradictions I just highlighted it can become difficult to sort out which side is right in all of this. Still, I want to make it clear that I personally support nullification as a balance or check on the federal government. In fact the Founders had created three branches of government as a means to spread out power and keep things balanced, but what happens when all three branches work together to increase their power? This is the problem facing Americans today and so while I think nullification is not the final solution to the state of our society, I support it as a means to improve the situation that respects the principles in the Declaration of Independence of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
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