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Matt Collins
10-26-2009, 01:16 PM
State Rep Susan Lynn (R) introduced a sovereignty resolution in TN declaring sovereignty under the 10th Amendment which was recently passed and signed by the Governor. It is worth pointing out that this resolution was introduced exactly 1 month after my suggestion to Rep Lynn of a sovereignty resolution at the America's Future Foundation Round Table in January. It is said that "the world is run by those who show up" and the fact that this resolution exists I believe is proof of that. If I had not taken the time to attend local forums, meetings, and events such as this, would anyone else have brought the idea of a sovereignty resolution before Rep Lynn for her consideration? That will never be known of course however the more of us who advocate limited-government / Constitutional ideals begin to become involved in local political activism, the greater affect we will have on our government.


Details are below......


You can read the resolution itself here:
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HJR0108

Rep Susan Lynn is running for TN Senate. Here is her campaign website:
http://www.repsusanlynn.com/

Here is Rep Susan Lynn's Blog:
http://susan-lynn.blogspot.com/

Here is the official legislative page for Rep Susan Lynn:
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/h57.html

And another article from the 10th Amendment Center about the TN Sovereignty Resolution:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/10/20/they-cant-push-us-around-forever/
(the comments are interesting)

Here is information on America's Future Foundation
http://americasfuture.org/blog/category/nashville-chapter/







http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/images/h57.jpg



Lynn to Chair Special Committee on State Sovereignty



The Special Committee on State Sovereignty met this week to fulfill the requirements of HJR 108 (http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=3268265&s=96035451); a resolution to the to the US Congress from the Tennessee General Assembly in support of the Tenth Amendment. The resolution calls for a committee of Conference and Correspondence to communicate the resolution to the legislatures of the several states, and to call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.

State Representative Susan Lynn (http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=3268266&s=96035451) (R - Lebanon) was elected Chairman of the committee and State Representative Ron Lollar (http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=3268267&s=96035451) (R-Memphis) Secretary.

Representative Lynn proposed the letter below to send to the states. She authored the letter which outlines the purpose of American government, the abuses of the federal government and to ask for the states to join Tennessee in working to enumerate and repeal such actions.

The committee will additionally seek the assistance of the American Legislative Exchange Council (http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=3268268&s=96035451), the Council of State Governments (http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=3268269&s=96035451) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=3268270&s=96035451). The committee will author a letter to the groups to asking for assistance in forming working groups of state legislators from the various states to create a plan of action to defend of the Tenth Amendment.

Others members of the committee are Senator Douglas Henry, Senator Bill Ketron, Senator Tim Burchett, Senator Randy McNally, Representative Phillip Johnson, Representative Richard Floyd.

The committee will meet again in a month.


Letter to the states

We send greetings from the Tennessee General Assembly. On June 23, 2009, House Joint Resolution 108, the State Sovereignty Resolution, was signed by Governor Phil Bredesen. The Resolution created a committee which has as its charge to:

· Communicate the resolution to the legislatures of the several states,
· Assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship,
· Call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government, and
· Seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.

It is for that purpose that this letter addresses your honorable body.

In 1776, our founding fathers declared our freedom in the magnificent Declaration of Independence; our guide to governance. They established a nation of free and independent states. Declaring that the purpose of our political system is to secure for its citizens’ their natural rights. The Constitution authorizes the national government to carry out seventeen enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8 and the powers of several of the ensuing amendments.

At the time of the Constitutional ratification process James Madison drafted the “Virginia Plan” to give Congress general legislative authority and to empower the national judiciary to hear any case that might cause friction among the states, to give the congress a veto over state laws, to empower the national government to use the military against the states, and to eliminate the states’ accustomed role in selecting members of Congress. Each one of these proposals was soundly defeated. In fact, Madison made many more attempts to authorize a national veto over state laws, and these were repeatedly defeated as well.

There are clear limits to the power of the federal government and clear realms of power for the states. However, the simple and clear expression of purpose, to secure our natural rights, has evolved into the modern expectation that the national government has an obligation to ensure our life, to create our liberty, and fund our pursuit of happiness.

The national government has become a complex system of programs whose purposes lie outside of the responsibilities of the enumerated powers and of securing our natural rights; programs that benefit some while others must pay.

Today, the federal government seeks to control the salaries of those employed by private business, to change the provisions of private of contracts, to nationalize banks, insurers and auto manufacturers, and to dictate to every person in the land what his or her medical choices will be.

Forcing property from employers to provide healthcare, legislating what individuals are and are not entitled to, and using the labor of some so that others can receive money that they did not earn goes far beyond securing natural rights, and the enumerated powers in the Constitution.

The role of our American government has been blurred, bent, and breached. The rights endowed to us by our creator must be restored.

To be sure, the People created the federal government to be their agent for certain enumerated purposes only. The Constitutional ratifying structure was created so it would be clear that it was the People, and not the States, that were doing the ratifying.

The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people to the federal government, and also that which is absolutely necessary to advancing those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution of the United States. The rest is to be handled by the state governments, or locally, by the people themselves.

The Constitution does not include a congressional power to override state laws. It does not give the judicial branch unlimited jurisdiction over all matters. It does not provide Congress with the power to legislate over everything. This is verified by the simple fact that attempts to make these principles part of the Constitution were soundly rejected by its signers.

With this in mind, any federal attempt to legislate beyond the Constitutional limits of Congress’ authority is a usurpation of state sovereignty - and unconstitutional.

Governments and political leaders are best held accountable to the will of the people when government is local. The people of a state know what is best for them; authorities, potentially thousands of miles away, governing their lives is opposed to the very notion of freedom.

We invite your state to join with us to form a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.

In Liberty,

Susan Lynn
State Representative
rep.susan.lynn@capitol.tn.gov



http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=3268264&s=96035451

tangent4ronpaul
10-26-2009, 01:33 PM
+1

We should bomb her! - money bomb that is....

-t

NYgs23
10-26-2009, 02:18 PM
From her website, she seems to be a typical Republican conservative, pushing drug laws and a lot of other nasty stuff. At least this initiative was positive.

Matt Collins
10-26-2009, 03:32 PM
I see it as a step in the right direction.

Matt Collins
10-26-2009, 06:00 PM
SOURCE:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606 (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606)






State launches boycott of 'unconstitutional' federal laws
Urges 49 others to join in combating government's 'abuse of authority'


Posted: October 21, 2009
11:50 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Tennessee is urging 49 other states to come together and create a "joint working (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606) group between the states" to combat unconstitutional federal legislation and assert state rights.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen signed HJR 108, the State Sovereignty Resolution on June 23. According to the Tenth Amendment Center (http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/), the resolution created a committee to form a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and seek repeal of imposed mandates.

State Rep. Susan Lynn recently wrote a letter to the other 49 state legislatures, inviting them to join the group and warning that the role of the federal government has been "blurred, bent and breached."

"The national government has become a complex system of programs whose purposes lie outside of the responsibilities of the enumerated powers and of securing our natural rights; programs that benefit some while others must pay," Lynn wrote. "Today, the federal government seeks to control the salaries (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606) of those employed by private business (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606), to change the provisions of private of contracts, to nationalize banks (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606), insurers and auto manufacturers, and to dictate to every person in the land what his or her medical choices will be."

She continued, "Forcing property (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606) from employers to provide healthcare, legislating what individuals are and are not entitled to, and using the labor of some so that others can receive money (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606) that they did not earn goes far beyond securing natural rights, and the enumerated powers in the Constitution."

Lynn said that the people created the federal government to be their agent only for certain enumerated purposes.

"The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people to the federal government, and also that which is absolutely necessary to advancing those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution of the United States," she wrote. "The rest is to be handled by the state governments, or locally, by the people themselves."
She noted that the Constitution does not include a congressional power to override state laws, nor does it give the judicial branch unlimited jurisdiction over all matters. Attempts to include such provisions in the Constitution were rejected by the Founding Fathers.

"With this in mind," she wrote, "any federal attempt to legislate beyond the Constitutional limits of Congress' authority is a usurpation of state sovereignty – and unconstitutional. Governments and political leaders are best held accountable to the will of the people when government is local. The people of a state know what is best for them; authorities, potentially thousands of miles away, governing their lives is opposed to the very notion of freedom."

In one example of Tennessee's battle against federal government policies (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=104674), federal gun regulators wrote to gun dealers around Tennessee in July, dropping the hammer on a state law that exempts weapons made, sold and used inside the state from interstate regulations.

The letter (http://www.atf.gov/firearms/071709-tennessee-openletter.pdf) was distributed to holders of Federal Firearms Licenses.

In it, Carson W. Carroll, the assistant director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told dealers the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act, adopted this year, "purports to exempt personal firearms, firearms accessories (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606), and ammunition manufactured in the state, and which remain in the state, from most federal firearms laws and regulations."

The exemption is not right, the federal agency letter contends.

More recently, the state of Montana filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder seeking a court order that the federal government stay out of the way of Montana's management (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606) of its own firearms.

As WND reported (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=111759), the action was filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Montana Shooting Sports Association in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mont., to validate the principles and terms of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, which took effect Oct. 3.

The law provides guns and ammo made, sold and used in Montana would not require any federal forms; silencers made and sold in Montana would be fully legal and not registered; and there would be no firearm registration, serial numbers, criminal records check, waiting periods or paperwork required.

The idea is spreading quickly. Similar plans have been introduced in many other states.

Montana's plan is called "An Act exempting from federal regulation under the Commerce (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113606) Clause of the Constitution of the United States a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured and retained in Montana."

The law cites the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves to the state and people of Montana certain powers as they were understood at the time it was admitted to statehood in 1889.

"The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of Montana and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889," the law states.

The lead attorney for the plaintiffs' litigation team is Quentin Rhodes of the Missoula firm of Sullivan, Tabaracci & Rhoades, PC. The team includes other attorneys working in Montana, New York, Florida, Arizona and Washington.
"We're happy to join this lawsuit," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the SAF, "because we believe this issue should be decided by the courts.

"We feel very strongly that the federal government has gone way too far in attempting to regulate a lot of activity that occurs only in-state," added MSSA President Gary Marbut. "The Montana Legislature and governor agreed with us by enacting the MFFA. We welcome the support of many other states that are stepping up to the plate with their own firearms freedom acts."

jmdrake
10-26-2009, 06:02 PM
Cool!

On a sad note look what popped up in the Google ad for this thread. :(

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/imgad?id=CKGdnfDz2Z3G2AEQ1AMYMTIIOOm0sJ12KOc

I've seen this ad in TN.

Chester Copperpot
10-26-2009, 06:03 PM
From her website, she seems to be a typical Republican conservative, pushing drug laws and a lot of other nasty stuff. At least this initiative was positive.

at least its constitutional when the state does it.. step in the right direction.. baby steps sometimes.. lets just keep it coming.. i wish i had a lady like her in New Jersey's statehouse.

FunkBuddha
10-26-2009, 06:40 PM
makes me proud to be a Tennesseean.

WorldonaString
10-26-2009, 08:37 PM
Very cool indeed. Way to get out there and get our representative's ears. I'm amazed at how quickly this idea developed over the course of a single month. Such efficiency is rare in government. Matt, you must be quite the motivator!

Matt Collins
10-27-2009, 09:57 AM
Cool!

On a sad note look what popped up in the Google ad for this thread. :(

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/imgad?id=CKGdnfDz2Z3G2AEQ1AMYMTIIOOm0sJ12KOc

I've seen this ad in TN.
Gotta love Google context ads, eh? ;):p