“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.”

In their timeless wisdom, the founding fathers knew that the yoke of oppression would most likely return in the form of an overreaching federal government, perhaps even after seeing the first signs early on, and in their wisdom provided us with the 10^th Amendment to provide a vital check on a federal government that strays toward tyranny.

In fiscal 2007, U.S. public debt was approximately $5 trillion (36.8 percent of GDP) and total debt was $9 trillion (65.5 percent of GDP). Any increases in the national debt can result in future economic conditions under which the total US debt structure may become unserviceable, and render the US government financially insolvent.   This outcome will cause a severe economic impact affecting all US states, which is unacceptable and must be prevented by all fiscal controls available.

It has become necessary for the States to reassert their rightful role as the sole source of authority that is consigned to the federal government, as an acting agent of the states.   Even to the extent where it becomes necessary to strip away certain powers when federal government has exceeded their original mandate, or has demonstrated a pattern of unchecked growth or overreaching of State authority.

Whereas, it has become evident that the federal government in Washington DC, including key federal agencies staffed by political appointees, has been taken over by special interests groups-both domestic and foreign, and subject to the undue influence thereof.     

Whereas, the balance of power in the congress, Senate and Presidency is determined primarily based on political affiliation, and a disproportionate number of votes on resolutions, bills, and other governmental actions follow party lines.

Whereas, federal corruption has continued unchecked, and the US attorney general, as a political appointee, can determine which cases are pursued by federal prosecutors, and recommend the penalties to be assessed.

Whereas, certain politically active, high-wealth campaign donor have demonstrated a pattern of bypassing Federal election laws to create special purpose entities to both solicit donations and advocate political candidates, as well as certain special interest political causes.   These influential individuals can use these various special purpose entities to bypass FEC rules, and vastly increase the total actual campaign contributions raised.  These political “front organizations” result in an undue level of influence that can be exercised by a single, wealthy individual.

Whereas, during recent presidential and congressional election cycles, there have been widespread incidents of voter registration fraud across numerous states, many of which are directly attributed to ACORN, a community activist organization funded in large part by grants from the federal government. These invalid voter registrations have caused significant additional effort by state election officials to verify authorized voter identifies, and have called into question whether these invalid voter registrations have in fact resulted in illegitimate votes cast in districts that do not properly verify voter identities.

Whereas, the federal government has secured ownership or exclusive use rights on vast amounts of state lands, including offshore areas, and the restrictions on use of state lands imposed by the federal government have caused economic harm to the states who should in fact enjoy the rights and privileges of use to their territorial land.

Whereas, it has been determined that excessive federal spending and monetary policy has resulted in national indebtedness to foreign countries that compromises US economic security, and reduces the value of US currencies in international markets. 

Whereas, the Federal government has been charged with maintaining the security of the US borders and managing the process for lawful immigration, as well as enforcing current immigration laws. Many states have incurred significant increases in operating costs resulting from providing services to illegal/undocumented aliens, further causing a degradation of services to legal citizens, and in some cases, a complete loss of services from healthcare service institutions that are not able to remain financially viable.

Whereas, for many years federal, state and city governments have expended millions of dollars defending lawsuits related to the display of religious symbols, including the ten commandments, and selected biblical passages, on federal and state-owned buildings and property. All of the arguments presented by the petitioners in these lawsuits have based their cases on various interpretations of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause as the sole premise supporting the legal separation of church and state.   Numerous court findings have determined that the display of these religious symbols do not, in fact, violate the spirit and intent of the Establishment Clause.

Now therefore, be it resolved that the following actions are proposed to restore the proper balance between the States and the Federal government, acting as a loyal agent of the states.  These actions are intended to prevent any further increase in the powers vested in the federal government, or abuse of existing powers:

1.      Each State shall re-affirm their 10^th Amendment rights as the principle basis for ensuring the founders vision of Federalism, and preserving states rights.

2.      Any organization found to have violated FEC rules or any US state laws governing voter registration shall be permanently barred from receiving federal funds, a second offense shall result in a minimum $25,000 fine, and a third offense will result in a mandatory jail sentence for up to five years.    The integrity of our elections must be protected with a “no tolerance” policy. After the first offense, each state shall have the right to bar the offending organization from operating within their state. 

3.      In cases where either political party holds a majority in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, the following conditions will be required before any resolution or bill can be passed:

a.      A majority of state governors must ratify any such action.

b.      Each state governor will have the ability request a vote on such bill by their state senate.

c.       State Governors representing any combination of states whose recorded citizen population is 60% or more of the total population of the US will compose a super-majority and may block or cause to recommit any bills or resolutions passed by the US Congress or the US Senate.

4.      No offices reserved for use by a political party will be allowed in the Senate offices, Whitehouse or other US Presidential working quarters.

5.      All Federal and State election ballots, and voting instructions, shall be printed in English only, as the sole designated language for both the federal and state electoral processes, including primaries, special elections and runoffs.  

6.      Length of Service in the US Senate shall be governed by strict term limitations, not to exceed three terms served consecutively or otherwise, and the combined total length of elected service in federal offices shall not exceed 25 years.

7.       Length of Service in Congress shall be governed by strict term limitations, not to exceed three terms served consecutively or otherwise, and the combined total length of elected service in federal offices shall not exceed 25 years.

8.      The US Congress and US Senate shall no longer have the sole authority in deciding their compensation and benefits, this right will be assigned to their home state and determined by the State Governor.

9.      The federal government shall not be allowed to define restrictions on use of land or mineral rights therein over each state’s self-determination, except in cases where land is needed for military or interstate commerce use.   The federal government shall not have the authority over the state to ban exploration and drilling activities on state-owned lands or offshore regions.   Moreover, States may petition the use of federal lands within a state’s boundaries, including offshore areas, if the state determines that said lands contain energy or water reserves considered vital to the state’s economy.

10. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as a governing body, shall be appointed by State Governors, and act in a reporting capacity only to the US Congress. The US Senate and Executive Branch shall have no authority over the FCC.

11. The federal government shall disallow the organization of caucuses based on race, gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity, and permanently disband any such organizations which are currently active in the US House of Representatives or US Senate. 

12. The federal government shall begin the process of dismantling any and all race and gender based preferences that are enforced by federal policies, and end all race and gender-based preferences across all federal agencies and GSE’s.

13. The Federal Reserve must be subject to the oversight and management, including regular audits by congress and the GAO, with proper review by each state.

14. In the event that the federally issued US currency is subject to significant deflation, or other volatile swings in US currency valuations that cause a materially detrimental effect on the overall US economy, each state shall have the right and privilege to issue a state-backed currency which shall be valued independently of the US dollar and be accepted by all states as an alternative currency with a pre-determined fair market value. The Federal Reserve shall have no authority over state-issued currencies.

15. The Department of Justice powers must be altered to allow for state oversight regarding prosecution of federally elected or appointed officials for political corruption.   Each state shall have jurisdiction over their elected federal officials presiding in Washington DC.   If the DOJ does not pursue prosecution against Congressmen or Senators for acts of corruption, or other dereliction of duty, each state’s Attorney General shall have the right and responsibility to convene a Grand Jury to recommend prosecution by the State of any of their federal officials.

16.  The US House of Representative and US Senate shall not require a majority of votes in order to pass a motion to investigate a member of Congress or the Senate.   In the event that one party holds a majority and can block a motion to investigate based on a political majority, then a motion to investigate shall only require any combination of US Representatives or US Senators from ten (10) or more US states in order to initiate an investigation of any US congressman or US Senator.   In addition, any State Governor or Attorney General can request an investigation of a Representative or Senator from their state without requiring a Congressional or Senatorial vote for such investigation.

17. Any lobbyist or official from a company that has an established lobbying presence shall not be eligible for federal elected office, and shall not be eligible for appointment to any federal position that has spending authority.

18. The federal government may not be allowed to participate in international bodies that advocate the relinquishment of US legal or economic sovereignty.    Nor shall the federal government be allowed to ratify treaties with the same such international bodies, without the full knowledge and consent of the US Congress.

19. No federal court or judge will be allowed to cite, reference or render a legal opinion based on laws, or other legal precedents, that originate from a foreign court or any other foreign governing body.

20. Any federally elected official in the legislative or executive branches shall be prosecuted for perjury for making any knowingly false claims during the discharge of their official duties.

21. Any federally elected official in the legislative or executive branches shall be prosecuted for treason for making any knowingly false claims in matters of national security during the discharge of their official duties.

22. No organization will be allowed to bring an action against the federal government, state governments or local governments for the purpose of removing religious symbols from government property without demonstrating actual harm based on the following:

a.      Such plaintiff was prevented from the free exercise of their religion,

b.      The state or federal government withheld services on the basis of religion.

These actions are needed to restore the proper balance between the States and the Federal government, and prevent any single political faction from assuming complete control over the federal government.  

According to Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union “We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama — $60.7 million to be exact — and we’re proud of it”.   Arguably, the behemoth labor organizations, combined with ACORN’s highly questionable voter registration tactics, were a key influencing factor in the 2008 US federal elections.   The same was not true for our US Armed forces, a study released May 2009 says that 28 percent of deployed service members were unable to vote in the November elections because their absentee ballots were uncounted or never collected.   This scale of election malfeasance threatens the legitimacy of our electoral processes - upon which our entire system of governance is based, and can not be allowed to continue.

These actions are required to establish formal boundaries of authority for the federal government, restore the rightful authority of the states-with the necessary checks and balances, and prevent any further increase in the powers vested in the federal government.   At the same time, these actions will help reduce the impact of undue influence from special interest groups that have focused their attention on the US Executive and Legislative branches- to the detriment of the US states.