By Michael Oberndorf, RPA ——Bio and Archives--March 27, 2011
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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 other words, if what the federal government is doing is not specifically authorized by the Constitution, states have the power to opt out. Thus, when the federal government tries to force a clearly unconstitutional law, like Obamacare, on the states, the states can tell the federal government to go suck an egg. Unfortunately, we need many more state legislators with enough patriotic backbone to stand up and “just say NO”. And this is where We, the People, come in. There is a growing movement to enforce the Tenth Amendment and return power to the states, as was originally intended by our founders (tenthamendmentcenter.com). Several states are moving in this direction, led by Oklahoma. Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, and Utah have also challenged the right (or wrong) of the federal government regarding gun laws, “endangered” species and other environmental issues, illegal immigration, and federal “ownership” of vast tracts of land. What is needed from us and our Tea Parties is to lessen our focus on federal elections and to greatly increase our involvement on the state and local level, electing conservative, patriotic, constitutionalists to our state houses and senates, to our county commissions, as county sheriffs and attorneys general, and to city and town councils. This is, as originally intended, where our power actually lies. These are the elected officials – our friends and neighbors – who have the power to tell the elitists in Washington to take their borrowed billions and stuff ‘em, to close the border, to leave our right to keep and bear arms alone, to stop interfering in the internal commerce and legislative affairs of the sovereign states, and myriad other daily violations of states’ rights. And these are the elected representatives of We, the People, who if all else fails, have the power and right to say, “Enough. We want out.” This is what our constitutionally guaranteed republican form of government is all about.
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The son of a German immigrant, I am an archaeologist by profession, with a BA from Metropolitan State College of Denver, and an MA from Leicester University, in England. Over the years, I have lived and worked all over the country, and traveled in Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. I sincerely believe in the old saying, “America, love it or leave it.”