Limited Constitutional Government and Florida Sovereignty

1. Limited Constitutional Government and Florida Sovereignty Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida Will Pitts Chairman

2. Relationship Between the Federal Government and the States • The U.S. Constitution was written to govern the federal government; not the people and not the states. • The federal government was granted in the U.S. Constitution specific limited powers. • The thirteen original states were jealous guardians of their own sovereignty. • Each state established its own constitution and would compete with one another to be the best state to attract the most citizens who were free to leave or enter any of the others. • This spirit of competition would create excellence within this nation and lead to each state to become a highly sought place to reside.

3. Founders Sentiments “Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution will, if established, be a FEDERAL, and not a NATIONAL constitution.” –James Madison

4. State CompetitionCreates Excellence • Land Resources • Farmland • Coastlines • Water • Low Taxes • Climate • Amount of Liberty and Freedom • Ease of Doing Business • Minor regulatory environment – free markets • Economic Stability "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..." -- Art. 4 Sec. 4 U.S. Constitution

5. United States ConstitutionArticle 1 - The Legislative BranchSection 8 - Powers of Congress U. S. Constitution States placed a limit on the role of Congress/ Federal Government by giving US Congress 18 specific functions they are authorized to perform • The very first sentence in the body of the United States Constitution states clearly: "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.“ The U.S. Supreme Court had often stated that every word in our Constitution holds equal weight. Therefore, when one reads the words "All legislative Powers" granted to the federal government "shall be vested in a Congress," a couple very inconvenient questions quickly come to mind: How is it that over one hundred federal agencies are also allowed to make law? And, how can the President and Supreme Court make legally binding law --- they call those laws rules, regulations, and executive orders? The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State." – James Madison

6. 10 th Amendment to the United States Constitution “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.” The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more

7. Florida Enters the Union -1842 Florida Constitution of 1838: We, the People of the Territory of Florida…. having and claiming the right of admission into the Union, as one of the United States of America, consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution...in order to secure to ourselves and our posterity the enjoyment of all the rights of life, liberty, and property, and the pursuit of happiness, do mutually agree, each with the other, to form ourselves into a Free and Independent State, by the name of the State of Florida.

8. The Federal Government and Florida • Today the federal government seeks to control every aspect of the citizens of each state. • There now exists an unlimited federal regulatory and legislative power to deal with perceived problems within The State of Florida, including unfunded mandatory regulations, that if continued can force the state and local municipalities into bankruptcy. • Additionally, the citizens of Florida are witnessing a national police overseeing federal laws that were originally reserved to the Florida Legislature and state and local police. • There are now over 3,000 federal laws and 10,000 regulations, enforced by hundreds of thousands of federal bureaucrats.

9. The Federal Government and Florida • Federal agencies conduct the Wars on Drugs and Terror and enforce worker safety, environmental, gun control, banking, land use and fish and wildlife regulations and taxes, among many others. • They also administer government insurances including health and disaster programs which gains the government more power. • More than 80,000 federal agents carry weapons.

10. Specific Federal Encroachment • Real ID ACT • US Department of Education - No Child Left Behind • John Warner Act • IRS – Oppressive Tax Structure • Unconstitutional Firearm Regulation • Regulation of Florida Farms and Fishing Industry • Unconstitutional Monetary System Imposed on Floridians – Federal Reserve Act

11. Its all about Sovereignty When we look at the source of the problem, most every problem in America today stems from a failure to respect and understand sovereignty: national, state, local and individual. • The national police state and (USDA, OSHA, FEMA, FTC, FDA, GSA, DOL, DOT, COE, DHS, IRS,HUD, DOJ, DOI, HHS, DOC, FBI, FCC, DEA, BATF, CIA, Fish and Wildlife, EPA, etc., etc.) runs rough shod over the state police, local sheriff’s offices and citizens in each state. • The dire problems in this country were created by unconstitutional, unconscionable actions of the U. S. Congress.

12. Its all about Sovereignty • These agencies undermine the liberties of all Americans, violate the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and undermine the sovereignty of each state. • These Federal Agencies there are thousands more under departments consuming taxpayer dollars and indebting all of us..

13. The Coming Crisis • National Debt including future obligations heading toward $100 Trillion • International Creditors refusal to purchase more US Treasuries • Dumping of Treasuries backed by Federal Reserve Notes rapidly loosing their value resulting in hyperinflation • Excessive Federal taxation of Floridians coupled with lack of buying power

14. The Coming Crisis • Federal Tracking of all Floridians through the Real ID Act • Federal Impediments to Florida Business and Agriculture to excessive regulations • Excessive Federal Mandates imposed on states and municipalities

15. What Can Be Done to Reverse this Trend? The financial problems created by having to feed the Federal Leviathan seem so complex and overwhelming that most Americans have developed a sense of hopelessness and despair. When it comes to dealing with issues such as the national debt, the growing federal bureaucracy and the national police state, the citizens and states have no viable avenue for redress. When citizens have more fear of the IRS and the federal government than of dying, we have a problem.

16. Only our States Legislatures Can Save us Now • States legislatures must call the US Congressmen and Senators to account to eliminate these federal agencies • States must put the Federal Government on Notice that they will again assert the limits of the federal government under Art. 1 Section 8 and the 1oth Amendment • State Legislatures must begin to refuse to comply with federal mandates • State legislatures must seek to collect all income taxes within the state then write the check to the Federal government for revenue collected. The States created the Federal Government – the People Created the States.

17. Only our States Legislatures Can Save us Now • States must begin to utilize electronic currency backed by silver or gold that allows the states to pay its debts in silver and gold as required by the US Constitution and to allow a protection of its citizens against the upcoming inflations. Our seniors and retirees will be most devastated from a devaluation of the Federal reserve Notes. • Governors and Legislators must begin to change their thinking about the relationship between the Federal Government and the States

18. What Has the US Supreme Court Stated About this? “Today we hold that Congress cannot circumvent that prohibition by conscripting the State's officers directly. The Federal Government may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command the States' officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program. It matters not whether policymaking is involved, and no case by case weighing of the burdens or benefits is necessary; such commands are fundamentally incompatible with our constitutional system of dual sovereignty.” _-Justice Scalia -Printz v. United States (95-1478), 521 U.S. 898 (1997)

19. What are other states doing? • 26 other states have 10th Amendment Resolution Groups • Over 20 states are proposing passing through their legislature 10th Amendment resolutions • Oregon has informed the DHS that they will not comply with the National ID Card

20. What are other states doing? • Montana has informed the BATF that they have no jurisdiction to regulate firearm manufacturing within their state • Wisconsin has passed a bill requiring state approval whenever the Federal Government seeks to nationalize the state guard • The Guard considers its charter to be the Constitution of the United States, and specifically mentions Article I, Section 8, Clause 15: • Clause 15 provides that the Congress has three constitutional grounds for calling up the militia — “to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrection and repel invasions.” All three standards appear to be applicable only to the Territory of the United States.

21. The Texas 10th Amendment Resolution • WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: “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”; and • WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and • WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and

22. The Texas 10th Amendment Resolution • WHEREAS, Today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and • WHEREAS, Many federal laws are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and • WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp; and

23. The Texas 10th Amendment Resolution • WHEREAS, Section 4, Article IV, of the Constitution says, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,” and the Ninth Amendment states that “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”; and • WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and • WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States; now, therefore, be it

24. The Texas 10th Amendment Resolution • RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas hereby claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States; and, be it further • RESOLVED, That this serve as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers; and, be it further

25. The Texas 10th Amendment Resolution • RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and, be it further • RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.

26. If we desire a constitutional republic and if individual liberty is cherished, this concentration of power cannot be tolerated. It is a fundamental American principle safeguarding individual rights that law enforcement accountability should be handled by those closest to home. Let us Begin Today and Let Us have the Republican Party lead us home!