First in the Nation: Idaho House Passes Health Care Nullification

Tenth Amendment Center ^ | 02-16-2011 | Michael Boldin

[RepublicnotaDemocracy]

In an historic vote in the Idaho House of Representatives, the Federal Health Care Nullification Act (originally authored by the Tenth Amendment Center) passed by a vote of 49-20.

House Bill 117 states:

"The state of Idaho hereby exercises its sovereign power to declare the public policy of the state of Idaho regarding the right of all persons residing in the state of Idaho in choosing the mode of securing health care services free from the imposition of penalties, or the threat thereof, by the federal government of the United States of America relating thereto"

The principle behind such legislation is nullification, which has a long history in the American tradition. When a state ‘nullifies’ a federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and inoperative, or ‘non-effective,’ within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as the state is concerned.

Implied in any nullification legislation is enforcement of the state law. In the Virginia Resolution of 1798, James Madison wrote of the principle of interposition:

"That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government, as resulting from the compact, to which the states are parties; as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting the compact; as no further valid that they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, the authorities, rights and liberties appertaining to them."

House Bill 117 expressly includes this principle

[newzjunkey]

Go Idaho!

[The Citizen Soldier]

Of course the Federal government has a way of blackmailing states...."No money for you"....

It never ceases to amaze me how states have this gun held to their heads, when the money originated in the very state being threatened by those in Washington.

[ForGod'sSake]

Thanks EdReform! Who was it that said a trip of a thousand miles begins with a first step??? May there be many others who take this step along with Idaho. Talk about leading the charge; GOOD on them!

Since this one is in "Breaking News" I'm not going to do a ping in hopes that most everybody on the list will see it anyway. On second thought, I think I will...

[eyedigress]

Thanks for the ping. Obama is doing a good job of bringing the foundation of government front and center. As said earlier, States made DC, States can take it away.

[Idabilly]

'Good Morning, Mr. President.'

by William Buppert

"Good Morning, Governor, how might we…"

"Mr. President, I realize you are a busy man so let's get down to brass tacks…we are calling the ball and withdrawing our support of your Administration and the Federal government in DC. Effective immediately, we have coordinated to place all outgoing receipts to the IRS in a caged account here in Boise…"

"Governor, you can't do that…"

"Please don't interrupt while I am speaking as we are from this point onward peers in the family of nations. I hope you have reviewed the diplomatic instruments we sent by courier last night to Department of State which delineates the terms of our divorce."

"I did receive those and you have no earthly idea the can of whoop-…"

"Please, sir, maintain the decorum of these proceedings so we can move forward to an amicable separation. I give you my personal assurance on the safety and well-being of all Federal personnel we have detained for immediate repatriation to the remainder of these United States. Any non-law enforcement Federal personnel who wish to remain behind will be permitted to do so."

"I hope you have thought through the consequences of what you are embarking on."

"Mr. President, we have had over two hundred years to give the rulers on the Potomac a chance but that time has expired. Effective immediately, all so-called Federal lands now belong to the nation of Idaho and we will dispose of these lands at our leisure. In the interest of burying the hatchet, we will not seek compensation for the seizure, abuse and tenure of Federal practices on the aforementioned land and call the balance even."

"Those are my lands, Governor…"

"In actuality, they belong to neither of us, sir. On to other business, I have alerted my National Guard forces to establish checkpoints at all the main arterials in and out of Idaho. All National Guard forces deployed overseas will return home in the next 48 hours. I would also caution you on the use of military force to convince Idaho and its citizens to forcibly return to the yoke of the Union. Idaho has a well-deserved reputation as a rather well-equipped state in firearms possession and use. As Yamamoto said, you may find a rifle behind every blade of grass."

"Are you threatening the president of the United States?"

"No, sir, I am simply making an observation about the hazards of one country invading another."

"You are land-locked, Governor and wholly dependent on federal subsidy for a great deal of employment and infrastructure in Idaho."

"No longer, the tremendous tax burden across the spectrum formally imposed in our nation as a subject State in your country is now effectively terminated and we are going to unleash the free market to address all of our former shortcomings as a result of the overarching government supremacism practiced here before. In telephone conversations with my neighboring governors, we are on the verge of Confederation negotiations that will pave the way for Idaho embassies in British Columbia, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. We do intend on opening a consular office in DC as soon as we can ensure the diplomatic baggage containing sufficient weapons assures our safety in the greater DC metropolitan area for our diplomatic personnel."

"Governor, what Constitutional right do you have to secede from the US?"

"Mr. President, the behavior you have exhibited toward the Constitution has been at best characterized by active neglect and abhorrence for the restraint on governance in the Bill of Rights. I am rather surprised you would resort to assuming the document in any way has weight in Washington, DC. I would suggest my rights extend as far as our ability to throw off what has become a government of occupation instead of cooperation. We resign, sir and wish to go in peace."

"I will use every measure in my arsenal to force you back into the fold."

"Mr. President, thank you for the heads-up but we have taken certain precautions to ensure that any rash measures on your part have a disproportionate impact in the DC/Virginia corridor. Please don't press us on the issue. I would like to offer one more rather moderate important proposal to our future business. These United States as administered by DC are now essentially bankrupt. War on the world, out of control spending and borrowing, debt and deficit, non-funded future liabilities in the tens of trillions and a banking infrastructure rotten at every level has pushed the US to an economic abyss from which it cannot shrink. We will provide you a demonstration project of tiny government, free banking and a formerly enslaved citizenry unleashed to realize their potential with no government interference. We simply wish to go our own way untethered from the Remora Nation DC came to symbolize."

"Governor, this conversation is over."

"Good day, Mr. President."

[ForGod'sSake]

Heh. “I brought you into this world, I can take you out.” — Bill Cosby routine

[arrogantsob]

Nullification is not constitutional so this will go nowhere. It was as wrong in 1798 as it is now and, in fact, no state then adopted the policy as valid. Jefferson and Madison were wrong and all the states rejected this attempt to evade the law. Read the Constitution as to the Supremacy clause and the applicability of laws to ALL states.

Andy Jackson said he would hang any of the South Carolinians attempting this and he was born in S.C.

Now as to the constitutionality of the Health Care law that is another matter but state legislatures are powerless to make a biding declaration on a law’s constitutionality. They are free to SAY whatever they want about that but it has no legal meaning anymore than my opinion would.

[ForGod'sSake]

Well done. I think I noticed this was passed by the Idaho house. I presume it has to go to the senate and then on to the guvnah???

[arrogantsob]

Shhh, you’ll confuse kneejerkers everywhere.

[ForGod'sSake]

There are so many misconceptions in you’re post and I’m too tired to even think about composing a reply. Maybe some of the others with a little more spring in their step will help with your education.

[rockrr]

Good post. I see you took some heat for it - even to the point of drawing out a couple of real knuckle-draggers.

This Idaho legislation won’t work - at lest in the conventional sense - but I’m glad that they passed it. We need to continue to apply pressure to Øbozo everywhere we can and in every way we can. Just the way the dhimmicrats sought to overwhelm the country with their socialist agenda starting in 2008.

It isn’t enough to trust the House of Representatives to force him to the mat. Keep the pressure on him and prevent him from moving the ball.

Oh, and don’t worry about the neo-secessionists - they’re all blather and no bite ;-)

[arrogantsob]

Yeah, I’ll bet.

[ForGod'sSake]

The TENTH AMENDMENT CENTER is about as good as any I've run across.

[Idabilly]

Nullification is not constitutional so this will go nowhere

Obama is not Constitutional.....

Jefferson and Madison were wrong

Interesting... Being Madison was one of the main culprits in forming it..

Read the Constitution as to the Supremacy clause and the applicability of laws to ALL states.

No, not really. So, was the Clinton gun ban Constitutional? If the Federal Courts uphold unconstitutional laws,, who stands with the people? If you read Federalist # 26, you'll see: "the State legislatures, who will always be not only vigilant but suspicious and jealous guardians of the rights of the citizens against encroachments from the federal government, will constantly have their attention awake to the conduct of the national rulers, and will be ready enough, if any thing improper appears, to sound the alarm to the people, and not only to be the VOICE, but, if necessary, the ARM of their discontent."

[surfer]

Giddy up!

[naturalborn]

something like heritage.org index of economic freedom rankings by country:

“We measure ten components of economic freedom, assigning a grade in each using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom. The ten component scores are then averaged to give an overall economic freedom score for each country”

except someone needs to substitute the country data for state data.

[verum ago]

I (and many other FReepers who have FReemailed me) would very much like a website that has information about states (maybe tabular), that allows easy comparison of the states, such as:

* Whether excellent legislation such as this passes
* gun laws
* right-to-work
* tax burden


For those many, many FReepers who are at some stage of considering a move, this would be very helpful.

As an Idahoan I can go ahead and tell you that:
*you know about our Obamacare related legislation
*our gun laws are about as restrictive as paper handcuffs
*we are a right-to-work state
*I'm not sure about tax burden relative to other states off the top of my head

I'm proud to be a resident of this state.

[ForGod'sSake]

Montana's governor encourages ranchers to kill wolves

[happygrl]

Opening shot.

[happygrl]

Opening shot.