PA Pundit

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1. Lysander - February 12, 2009

This should be a no-brainer. After all, it is the obligation of everyone who has sworn allegiance to the U.S. Constitution to ensure that it is respected by government at all levels.

The PA Constitution (Article 6 Section 3) requires our legislators to take the following oath prior to taking office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity.

2. The 10th Amendment | PAWaterCooler.com - February 13, 2009

[...] State Rep Sam Rohrer does. State Representative Sam Rohrer is circulating an excellent resolution putting the federal government on notice that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will no longer tolerate infringement of its sovereignty, and calling on the federal government to respect the U.S. Constitution’s plain restraint on its power. [...]

3. Patrick Sperry - February 13, 2009

Twenty and counting… PA in a revolt..? Say it isn’t so. I mean, it’s not a southern state, or even one of those square sided fly over places on the frontier…

Ok, ok, just kidding

Just remember these issues the next time, and every time that your politicians side with Chuck Schumer or Lautenberg or any of the rest of the gang!

4. papundit - February 13, 2009

According to DownsizeDC.org:

[T]here are only 20 things the Congress is permitted to do under the Constitution. Here’s the list:
1. Borrow money.
2. Regulate commerce among states.
3. Regulate naturalization.
4. Regulate bankruptcies.
5. Coin money.
6. Fix weights and measures.
7. Punish counterfeiters.
8. Establish post offices.
9. Establish post roads.
10. Record patents.
11. Protect copyrights.
12. Create federal courts.
13. Punish pirates.
14. Declare war.
15. Raise an army.
16. Provide a navy.
17. Call up the militia.
18. Organize the militia.
19. Make laws for Washington, DC.
20. Make rules for the Army and Navy.

If the issue before Congress is not on the list, they shouldn’t be legislating on it. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments reserve all other powers to the various states and to individuals.

5. Will States Restrain the Federal Government? | Federalist - February 17, 2009

[...] Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina, is asserting that point, and suggesting that his state should not take any of this money. The Pennsylvania state legislature is also considering a resolution that would “put the federal government on notice,” and serve as a preamble to repealing all extra-constitutional federal laws and taxes. [...]

6. Harry James - May 27, 2009

“Will States Restrain the Federal Government?

I do not think so.

It appears to me that the states exist in name only and presently function as territories under the jurisdiction of the federal government. As such they are no longer (since post civil war reconstruction and the adoption of the 14th Amendment) free and independent states. Since there is no lawful money in circulation they also are bankrupt.

Remember, at the close of the War of Independence the sovereignty devolved upon the “people” not the governments of the individual colonies. Where are the sovereign people today?

After the Civil War the former Union was “reconstructed.”

In order for any thing to be “re-constructed it must have first been deconstructed or dismantled in some way.

The Union clearly was not reconstructed in the same republican form of government as it was first constructed. If this be a correct observation then those who are today claiming state’s rights are riding a dead horse.

In the above list of 20 things that Congress is permitted to do, you might add one thing they are also required to do and that is they must guarantee to every state a republican form of government.

Do we have such a republican form of government in Pennsylvania today or is it a majority rule democracy?