ShackledNation
Libertarian
Many Americans do not like the idea of nullification. I find this unfortunate. The writers of the Constitution understood the threat of having a government. This is why they separated powers among three branches. The hope was that if one branch tried to gain too much power, the other would bring it in line.
But the founders were not stupid. They feared what would happen if all three branches sided together to expand their authority (fears that have been realized). And so a federal system was desired, in which multiple governments (states) could check the central three branches even further. The primary tool of the states to check federal authority was nullification.
If a state felt a law broke the Constitution it had entered into, it could claim that law null and void. This power was vital in defense of 3 branches uniting together to expand their power. I would argue it is the most important power of the states. Yet it has been lost.
And we wonder why the government has only continually grown in the economic sphere with bailouts and welfarism, grown in the foreign sphere with nearly 1,000 military bases around the world and constant warfare and nation building, and the personal sphere by banning drugs, passing laws such as the Patriot Act, allowing the TSA to grope passengers, and countless other examples.
If only we had the power to nullify it all.
But the founders were not stupid. They feared what would happen if all three branches sided together to expand their authority (fears that have been realized). And so a federal system was desired, in which multiple governments (states) could check the central three branches even further. The primary tool of the states to check federal authority was nullification.
If a state felt a law broke the Constitution it had entered into, it could claim that law null and void. This power was vital in defense of 3 branches uniting together to expand their power. I would argue it is the most important power of the states. Yet it has been lost.
And we wonder why the government has only continually grown in the economic sphere with bailouts and welfarism, grown in the foreign sphere with nearly 1,000 military bases around the world and constant warfare and nation building, and the personal sphere by banning drugs, passing laws such as the Patriot Act, allowing the TSA to grope passengers, and countless other examples.
If only we had the power to nullify it all.