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Politics

Blasting Feds, Jacksonville Conference Will Declare 'Nullify Now!' on Saturday

October 17, 2011 - 6:00pm

Promoting state sovereignty, a convention of 10th Amendment advocates will gather on Jacksonville's riverfront Saturday with a simple but radical message: "Nullify Now!"

More fundamentally libertarian and anti-establishment than the "Occupy" movement that hit town last week, the "Nullify Now!" tour challenges what organizers assail as "federal overreach."

Weve got exploding debt, war without end, government demanding we purchase health insurance on its terms and federal agents raiding business for the heinous crime of selling whole milk, said Michael Maharrey, spokesman for the 10th Amendment Center.

From guns to weed to TSA groping, the feds poke their noses into areas where they have no business or constitutional authority. Whether they realize it or not, Tea Partiers and Occupiers are both reacting to the same problem -- Washington, D.C."

Calling attention to the little-known constitutional provision of legal nullification, advocates label this "Just say no."

Nullification isnt some mystical legal principle buried in cobweb-covered books. In fact, its so simple, a toddler can do it. You can explain it in one word -- No! Maharrey said.

Its a principle rooted in the Constitution and woven into the philosophical foundation of the United States. The Nullify Now! presentation makes the case for nullification in an entertaining and captivating way.

Saturday's conference, which begins at 10 a.m. at the Omni Hotel ballroom, will feature several nationally known speakers, including:

  • Thomas E. Woods Jr., author of "Meltdown," "Politically Incorrect Guide to American History" and "Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century." Woods has been the keynote speaker at several "Nullify Now!" tour stops around the country since the events were launched in Texas in 2010.
  • Jack Hunter, a columnist for The American Conservative, who assisted Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in writing "The Tea Party Goes to Washington."
  • Georgia state Rep. Jason Spencer.
  • Michael Boldin, founder and director of the 10th Amendment Center.
  • John Bush, education director for the Foundation for a Free Society.
  • Doug Tjaden, executive director of the Sound Money Center.

Andrew Nappi, head of Florida's 10th Amendment Center, said the conference will provide practical strategies on "how to roll back federal unlawfulness."

"The election frenzy will eventually end. Federal overreach will not ... unless we all learn the principles of nullification and how to use them," Nappi told Sunshine State News.

Citing a recent Rasmussen poll revealing that a majority of Americans believe states should have the power to opt out of federal programs they dont agree with, Maharrey said nullification is wholly in harmony with the nation's foundational political philosophy.

Thomas Jefferson called nullification of laws a "rightful remedy" and other Founding Fathers believed it was the "moderate middle ground."

Through historical writings, case studies and speeches by the founders, "Nullify Now!" speakers in Jacksonville will outline the 10th Amendment provision that gives the states the power to block unconstitutional laws. Presenters also will detail that states -- not the Supreme Court -- should arbitrate disputes with the federal government over the constitutionality of Washington's actions.

But Nappi said Florida lawmakers have been slow on the uptake. He said all 160 state legislators have been invited to the conference; "two have responded in the negative and the remainder have not responded at all," Nappi reported.

State Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, was the only lawmaker to attend last year's "Nullify Now!" conference in Orlando.

Frequently critical of the Republicans in control in Tallahassee, Nappi said, "They have traded away our education sovereignty by taking Race To The Top funds. Our governor, who is chief executive of a state that is party to a lawsuit to stop Obamacare, has already taken $3.4 million from it so as not to lose further Race To The Top funds."

The "Nullify Now!" effort is not to be confused with a national campaign called the "Repeal Amendment."

Though both movements tout states' rights, the "Repealers" seek a new constitutional amendment that declares:

Any provision of law or regulation of the United States may be repealed by the several states, and such repeal shall be effective when the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states approve resolutions for this purpose that particularly describe the same provision or provisions of law or regulation to be repealed."

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos is one state legislator who supports the Repeal approach.

What we have seen over the past few years is a consistent, growing power grab from the federal government.The idea behind the Repeal Amendment is federalism at its core -- it gives power back to the states as the founders intended," the Merritt Island Republican says.

Randy Barnett, a law professor at Georgetown University and a constitutional opponent of Obamacare, says the Repeal Amendment "reflects confidence in the collective wisdom of the men and women from diverse backgrounds ... who comprise the modern legislatures of two-thirds of the states."

"Put another way, it allows thousands of democratically elected representatives outside the Beltway to check the will of 535 elected representatives in Washington, D.C.," said Barnett, who also is a senior fellow at the libertarian CATO Institute.

But other states' rights scholars favor the nullification strategy.

Though a seemingly radical reordering of power, the Repeal Amendment would still allow Congress to re-enact a repealed measure if federal lawmakers believed the overriding two-thirds of state legislatures were out of touch with popular sentiment. Congress could reverse any repeal with merely a simple majority.

Noting that limitation, Marshall DeRosa, a constitutional law scholar at Florida Atlantic University, said, "I prefer the Jeffersonian nullification route for keeping the national government in check because Im convinced that 90 percent of what the feds do is unconstitutional."

"Nullify Now!" proponents say the Constitution already contains the power to rein in an overbearing federal government -- at all levels.

"Right now, across the country, dozens of states are implementing nullification bills," reports the Los Angeles-based 10th Amendment Center. According to the center, nullification "can and should be used to stand up against rights-violating acts like FDA raw milk raids, warrantless TSA searches, the Patriot Act and more."

Specifically, the center says nullification can be used to block Agenda 21, which states' rights advocates brand a template for unconstitutional "progressive" and globalist initiatives at the local level.

"Counting on the federal government to stop this international plan is nothing short of absurd. For the first time anywhere, learn about a plan to stop the anti-freedom Agenda 21 right on your own doorstep. Get model legislation to use in your area, plus action steps to take right now," organizers said.

Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.

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