Tom McClintock Joins House Republicans to Launch New 10th Amendment Task Force

Auburn Journal ^ | 5/6/10 | Bill George

[Bokababe]

Representative Tom McClintock (R-Granite Bay, CA) joined Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Tom Price (R-GA), Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and nine other Republican Members of Congress to officially launch the newly formed 10th Amendment Task Force, a project of the RSC. The Task Force will develop and promote proposals that aim to disperse power, decision-making, and money from Washington back to states, local governments, and individuals.

The Task Force was created in response to the concentration of power and the one-size-fits-all solutions from Washington. Representative McClintock made the following remarks at today’s press conference:

“I believe that it can be stated as a universal maxim that the failures of our government can be traced to a single cause: the abandonment of federalism.

“The tenth Amendment was not written to protect states rights. Experience has shown that state governments can be just as abusive of their authority as any other government.

“The tenth Amendment is rather about dividing governmental authority to limit the abuse of power that naturally occurs when it accumulates into too few hands.

“The Founders knew that the ultimate check upon an abusive or dysfunctional government is the ability of people to walk away from it. By limiting the federal government to those enumerated powers that serve a truly national objective, our Constitution disperses the remaining powers among 50 states and a hundred fold more communities.

“Those states that are governed unwisely naturally lose population and commerce and revenues to those that are governed well. It is a self-correcting mechanism.

“In 1821, Jefferson warned that "When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated."

“We have reached that point, and the time has come to restore the genius of the American founding by restoring those principles of federalism that are the foundation of our freedom and the natural ramparts that protect us against both folly and despotism.

“I can’t imagine more important work than that which this task force now sets out to do.”

[Razzz42]

Support Tom McClintock in his efforts. He has been tirelessly working behind the scenes for years. He is acutely aware of California’s plight but if he sees this as more important then maybe he is on to something with going back to basic foundations.

[ForGod'sSake]

Thanks dynachrome and bokababe! Interesting development in that it comes from feral rather than State representatives. Sortof like the very old days when the parties actually tried to "out-constitution" one another. What a time that must have been, eh? Not wanting to cast any aspersions on McClintock and Company, I'll just add, they have a great sense of timing. ;^)

In any case, and regardless of the motives, this will help to bring more attention to the predicament we find ourselves in and more importantly, how we got here. I LIKE it!

Feral congresscritters are joining the parade!

Please ~ping~ me to articles relating to the 10th Amendment/States Rights so I can engage the pinger.

I've stopped monitoring threads and unilaterally adding names to the ping list, so if you want on or off the list just say so.

Additional Resources:

Tenth Amendment Chronicles Thread
Tenth Amendment Center
The Right Side of Life/State Initiatives
Sovereign States
Firearms Freedom Act
Health Care Nullification

CLICK HERE TO FIND YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVES

[unkus]

Yeah...unfunded mandates. Like Death Care.

[ForGod'sSake]

Another similar article dated 5/7 from the Compost:

GOP to insist on 10th Amendment

[ForGod'sSake]

And ANOTHER one from FoxNews(How in the world did we miss these articles from over a week ago???)

Republican Lawmakers Launch States' Rights Task Force

[Rick_Michael]

“I believe that it can be stated as a universal maxim that the failures of our government can be traced to a single cause: the abandonment of federalism.”

yep, I would say that accounts for a significant portion.

[Bokababe]

"How in the world did we miss these articles from over a week ago???"

I was thinking the same thing when I saw this one. How in the heck did I miss that at the time?

[ForGod'sSake]

How in the heck did I miss that at the time?

To tell you the truth I feel a little embarrassed about it. I try to keep up with these developments but it occurrs to me it's been a while since I did a web search for new stuff. Shame on me!

I also discovered they've set up a facebook page. JMHO, but I think Freeper Facebookers could add considerable numbers and share our considerable insights in support of their effort.

10th Amendment Task Force

[A Navy Vet]

"“The tenth Amendment was not written to protect states rights. Experience has shown that state governments can be just as abusive of their authority as any other government."

As much as I respect and voted for McClintock, he is wrong above. The 9th and 10th Amendments were specfically added to the Constitution to secure States' Rights! . There is no way to spin or parse or distort those Amendments.

Yes, State govs can be "abusive", but not so much as Fedgov which no one can avoid. You can always move to another State if you don't like their laws. I'm surprised about his interpretation of the 10th Amendment.

“The tenth Amendment is rather about dividing governmental authority to limit the abuse of power that naturally occurs when it accumulates into too few hands."

Sorta, kinda got the right idea, but no: It's about limiting Federal abuse that "naturally occurs when it accumulates into too few hands"...not State authority. That's a whole other legislative, executive, judicial matter that is more locally controlled by the People.

Does no one ever read the Founding Fathers' debates, periodicals, correspondence, diaries, et al any more that shows their INTENT? Even this guy has got it wrong.

STATES' RIGHTS ABOVE ALL!
I've been espousing it for years now.
It is the ONLY way back, short of revolution.

[rottndog]

“Those states that are governed unwisely naturally lose population and commerce and revenues to those that are governed well. It is a self-correcting mechanism.

There's an engineering term for this....Inherent Stability....meaning if you leave a system alone, without additional inputs for which the system was not designed, the system will self-regulate and operate within its' parameters.

RIGHT (PUN INTENDED) ON THE MONEY!!!

[FreedomPoster]

Howdy, neighbor.

I concur on Price. He’s a class act.

Have you gotten in on any of his telephone town hall meetings? They’re good stuff as well.

[NTHockey]

>>Here’s a novel idea. Instead of increasing legislation, why not abolish those program and agencies that do not comply with the enumerated powers in Article 1 Section 8 thereby reducing the size and scope of government?<<

Great idea. Goodbye to Departments of Education, Energy, HHS, and an untold number of obsolete programs. Unfortunately, IRS is protected by Constitutional Amendment.

I’d go one step further. Limit Reps and Senators to three staffers only - one in Washington, one at home and a floater. Then sell off the excess office buildings to the public. Excluded from the sale are ALL politicians and their families, their staffs, lobbyists and anyone with ties to the federal and state governments.

That’s a good START.

[dcwusmc]

Bump

[Man50D]

Unfortunately, IRS is protected by Constitutional Amendment.

The IRS began in 1862 before the 16th Amendment was enacted in 1913. That amendment pertains only to taxing income. The Fair Tax Act(HR25/S296) will replace all federal income taxes and abolish the IRS. There is also concurrent legislation(House Joint Resolution 16) that begins the process of repealing the 16th Amendment.

[NTHockey]

>>The IRS began in 1862 before the 16th Amendment was enacted in 1913. That amendment pertains only to taxing income. The Fair Tax Act(HR25/S296) will replace all federal income taxes and abolish the IRS. There is also concurrent legislation(House Joint Resolution 16) that begins the process of repealing the 16th Amendment.<<

Thanks for the correction. Just another example of treasonous actions on the part of the Yankee government and America’s first dictator.

Goodbye IRS.

[stephenjohnbanker]

B U M P

[rottndog]

“If the Left obeyed the 10th Commandment, maybe they would learn to obey the 10th Amendment. “

favorite quote of mine.

[bamahead]

“We have reached that point, and the time has come to restore the genius of the American founding by restoring those principles of federalism that are the foundation of our freedom and the natural ramparts that protect us against both folly and despotism."



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[EdReform]

Here's a novel idea. Instead of increasing legislation, why not abolish those program and agencies that do not comply with the enumerated powers in Article 1 Section 8 thereby reducing the size and scope of government?

Indeed! Precisely what needs to be done.

(Obamacare Class Action Lawsuit (Deadline May 31st))

[altair]

McClintock is a good guy, though.

Indeed. He is one of the few people I respect in DC.

(And if you're ever in Central California visit his family's restaurant McClintock's. They have wonderful Buffalo Burgers and steaks).