From: Dean Taffel, Tenth Amendment Coalition

Using ROCKET FUEL to Move 10th Amendment Legislation Forward

On Tuesday night, Nov. 24, nearly a thousand people were on the Tenth Amendment update with State Senator Carey Baker and State Rep. Scott Plakon. My personal impression of Baker and Plakon is that they are very serious about taking effective action to restore the correct balance between the State(s) and the Federal government. This will not be an easy job by any measure, and they are aware of that as they press ahead. They both demonstrated a good knowledge of relevant constitutional clauses and principles. They are taking the lead on this and are asking explicitly for our help in obtaining more sponsors for all three pieces of legislation which are listed at www.FlFreedom.org:

House HM19 / Senate SM 96: The Florida 10th Amendment Resolution

House HB 21 / Senate SB 98: The Florida Firearms Freedom Act

House HJR 37 / Senate SJR 72 : The Florida Health Care Freedom Act

WWW.FLFREEDOM.ORG is the website that Senator Baker and Representative Plakon have set up to build support for these bills. So we need to and can quickly build up the numbers on that website, especially the number of Citizen Co-Sponsors for these bills. When you click on “Add Your Name”, you can sign up to be a “citizen co-sponsor” for one, two or all three of these bills.

This is a great and easy opportunity. Given the large number of people on that webinar and the large organizations with which they are associated or affiliated, we ought to be able to build up the number of citizen co-sponsors to 20,000 or more in no time from the current 2000+. That will be a ten fold increase and will make a tremendous impact on legislators who have not signed on as co-sponsors and on the people in leadership positions in the Florida House and Senate. GROWING THIS NUMBER WILL BE PROVIDE ROCKET FUEL TO THE EFFORTS OF EXISTING SPONSORS AND CO-SPONSORS OF THE THESE BILLS TO BRING MORE LEGISLATORS ON BOARD.

Here is some good news: The number of sponsors + co-sponsors listed on www.FlFreedom.org for the 10^th Amendment Resolution and the Fla. Firearms Freedom Act, are not up to date and, as shown are considerably below the actual numbers. The current numbers are better than shown. Here are the comparisons:

House HM19: Actual=60 (vs. 47 shown); Senate SM 96: Actual=5 (vs.2 shown)

House HB 21: Actual=33 (Vs. 22 shown); Senate SB 98: Actual=2 (vs.1 shown)

House HJR 37: Actual=38 (vs. 38 shown); Senate SJR 72: Actual=4 (vs. 2 shown)

Here are some answers to questions that may be on your mind:

Question A: Why are the sponsorship numbers in the Senate so low?

Answers:

1) Bill numbers were assigned to the House bills MANY weeks before they were assigned to the companion bills in the Senate. Members can't become co-sponsors of any bill until it has been published with a bill number.

2) There are only 40 members of the Florida Senate while there are 120 member in the Florida House. Therefore the number of Senate Sponsors + Cosponsors will always be lower than in the House.

3) The Senate historically has not been as Conservative, Constitutional and Bold as the House. While the dynamics of term limits and the movement of the majority party in the State of Florida further in the Conservative and Constitutional direction is already having an impact on this problem, we will have slower going in the Florida Senate in 2010. I do believe that a dramatic increase in both the number of House Co-sponsors and, ESPECIALLY, the number of citizen co-sponsors will make a difference in the Senate.

4) There is another way that citizens can make a difference. I.E., there are some current members of the Florida House who are ARE already sponsors of at least two of these bills in the House who are running for positions in the Florida Senate in 2010. Two that I know of are Bill Frishe (Tampa area) and Carl Domino (Palm Beach County). We can show our support an appreciation for these candidates in various ways, and, if they are in a primary race with another person from their political party, let their opponent know that their support of Tenth Amendment legislation will be an important factor in determining who you will support in the primary. Right now these candidates are participating in numerous fund raisers, where we can “meet and greet” them, and calmly rationally explain to them why the Tenth Amendment Legislation is important to we the people. They will listen, and very often other legislative representatives are present at the same event, where we can talk to them face-to-face as well.

Question B: Why Have some House members co-sponsored the 10^th Amendment Resolution and the Health Freedom Amendment, but not the Firearms Freedom Act?

Answer: The Firearms Freedom Act is more politically charged, because of the long term and (insanely) strong opposition to 2^nd Amendment rights. We will have to do more and better education about the meaning and importance of the 2^nd Amendment. You can quickly become and effective educator on this subject by obtaining and reading a very small, inexpensive book entitled The Second Amendment by Constitutional attorney and historian David Barton.

Sincerely yours,

Dean Taffel, The Tenth Amendment Coalition of Florida

Palin to feds: Alaska is sovereign state

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=104524

THE SARAH CHRONICLES
Palin to feds: Alaska is sovereign state
Constitutional rights reasserted in growing resistance to Washington

Posted: July 20, 2009
11:08 pm Eastern

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

Gov. Sarah Palin has signed a joint resolution declaring Alaska 's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution – and now 36 other states have introduced similar resolutions as part of a growing resistance to the federal government.

Just weeks before she plans to step down from her position as Alaska governor, Palin signed House Joint Resolution 27, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Kelly on July 10, according to a Tenth Amendment Center report. The resolution "claims sovereignty for the state 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 ."

Alaska 's House passed HJR 27 by a vote of 37-0, and the Senate passed it by a vote of 40-0.

According to the report, the joint resolution does not carry with it the force of law, but supporters say it is a significant move toward getting their message out to other lawmakers, the media and grassroots movements.

Alaska's resolution states:

Be it resolved that the Alaska State Legislature hereby claims sovereignty for the state 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 .

Be it further resolved that this resolution serves as Notice and Demand to the federal government to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.

While seven states – Tennessee , Idaho , North Dakota , South Dakota , Oklahoma , Alaska and Louisiana – have had both houses of their legislatures pass similar decrees, Alaska Gov. Palin and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen are currently the only governors to have signed their states' sovereignty resolutions.

The resolutions all address the Tenth Amendment that says: "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 Center also reported that Florida State Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, introduced a memorial earlier this month urging "Congress to honor the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and United States Supreme Court case law which limit the scope and exercise of federal power."

"Now more than ever, state governments must exercise their Constitutional right to say no to the expansion of the federal government's reckless deficit spending and abuse of power," Sen. Baker said. "With this resolution, our Legislature can send a message to Washington that our state's rights must be respected."

The full text of Florida 's memorial is available on the Tenth Amendment Center website.

As WND reported, South Carolina 's proposal, S. 424, is titled: "To affirm South Carolina 's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution over all powers not enumerated and granted to the federal government by the United States Constitution."

Essentially it's a reminder that the United States is made up of individual states; it's not a federal authority broken up into political subdivisions.

In South Carolina , the proposals remains pending in the state Senate, where Sen. Lee Bright said he still hopes that it will be adopted this year.

The proposal there notes specifically that the "federal government was created by the states … to be an agent of the states," and the states currently "are treated as agents of the federal government," many times in violation of the Constitution.

Bright told WND the movement is spreading from state to state as fast as lawmakers discover it.

Michael Boldin, a spokesman for the Tenth Amendment Center , said his organization has created a posting for all such proposals to be tracked.

Among the states where such proposals at least have been considered are Louisiana, Colorado, Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois, West Virginia, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Nevada, Oregon, Alabama, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Idaho, New Mexico, South Dakota, Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota, South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Texas, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Missouri, Iowa, Montana, Michigan, Arizona, Washington and Oklahoma.

In Louisiana , it passed the Senate in May and the House in June.

In Idaho , it passed the House in March and the Senate in April.

In North Dakota , it passed the House and Senate both in April, with the House a short time later adopting changes made by the Senate.

In South Dakota , it was approved by both houses of the Legislature and under that state's rules does not need the governor's signature.

In May, Rep. M.J. "Manny" Steele, a Republican in South Dakota, wrote that he believes up to $11 trillion is being wasted in the coming years by Washington's efforts "to duplicate and micromanage our states' affairs."

He said states should manage their own affairs and not be dependent on a federal cash cow to make ends meet. Likewise with industries, he said, citing federal cash dumps on the banking, insurance and automobile industries.

Steele told WND his dollar estimate was based on what President Obama himself has allocated in the coming years to spend on stimulus packages, industry bailouts and the like.

"If we would just let the market take care of these things," he said.

His letter noted that Alaska , Georgia , Idaho , Missouri , North Dakota , Oklahoma and South Carolina legislatures joined South Dakota 's in passing some statement on the Tenth Amendment this year. The results vary based on state procedures, however. In Oklahoma , the governor vetoed the plan and it was launched on its second trip through the legislature and has been passed by the House.

"Over the course of decades, there have been increasing federal mandates and acts designed to effectively step in and legislate the affairs of our various states from Washington D.C. ," Steele said. "Federal usurpation into state affairs severely limits the ability of state governments to operate according to their citizens' wishes."

Florida Firearms Freedom Act HB 21 Filed, But Note The Caution BELOW

Important Notice WITH CAUTION:

HB 21, the Florida Firearms Freedom Act, has been filed in the Florida House of Representatives by Marlene O'Toole. Our congratulations and appreciation go out to Rep. O'Toole for introducing this most important legislation.

At this point, the language of the bill is virtually identical to the that which was enacted in Montana. After studying the bill and related historical documents in some detail, I have concluded that the language in Section 2--LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS will likely prove an open invitation to significant problems subsequent to enactment. The most obvious defect are the words following the word "Constitution" in subsection 2(a) through the end of THAT subsection. The authors of the Montana bill agree that those words should be deleted.

Other subsections of Section 2 are in need significant rewording because they convey a materially wrong sense of the United States Constitution and/or the principles of federalism and/or a process of becoming a state. which may have applied to Montana, but which was different for Florida.

I am preparing a proposed revision to Section 2 that will, I feel confident, correct the defects noted. Contact has been made with key legislative offices about this concern, and it is my hope that they will agree the importance of making the corrections which should put the whole bill on much sounder ground. Regarding the Senate version, which has not yet been filed, it is possible that these changes to be made before a bill number is obtained. HB 21, because it has already been filed in the House, can only be changed in committee.

All other sections of the bill appear to be in good shape. It is those sections by which the legislative objective of the bill is achieved: namely to exclude from federal regulation and interference the intrastate manufacturer and sale of firearms.

So, what do we do? I recommend that we ask all representatives to sponsor both the Memorial (HM 19 of 2010) and the Florida Firearms Freedom Act (HB 21), but that with respect to the latter, we make the legislative offices aware that the defective language in section 2 of HB 21 “Legislative Findings” needs to be corrected.

Florida 10th Amendment Memorial Filed by Rep. Ritch Workman

Filed: In the Florida House, A 10th Amendment Memorial-- HM 19 of 2010
posted 17 minutes ago by Dean Taffel

The Tenth Amendment Coalition of Florida wishes to thank and congratulate Representative Ritch Workman and staff for filing a well worded 10th Amendment Memorial (HM 19 of 2010) in the Florida House of Representatives on July 1, 2009.

Although the opening Summary statement for this House memorial reads as follows: "Limiting the Scope and Exercise of Federal Power: Urges Congress to honor provisions of U. S. Constitution & U. S. Supreme Court case law which limit scope & exercise of federal power", the body of the Resolution is worded more strongly in that it “serves as a notice and a demand to the Federal Government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, from issuing mandates that are beyond the scope of [its] constitutionally delegated powers.”

As of this writing late on July 8th, the list of sponsors and co-sponsors is growing rapidly and at the moment consists of a principal sponsor, Rep. Ritch Workman (the bill filer), three associate sponsors, Representatives Plakon and Hudson and Dorworth, and 21 co-sponsors as follows:

Co-sponsoring Representatives: Adams; Drake; Eisnaugle; Ford; Grady; Grimsley; Hays; Hukill; Kelly; Mayfield; Nehr; Nelson; O'Toole; Poppell; Precourt; Renuart; Snyder; Stargel; Tobia; Weinstein; Wood

If your representative is part of the above total of 25, please thank him or her for “getting on” the bill. If your representative is not listed above, please encourage that person to do so. A good initial goal is 61 sponsors and co-sponsors. That would be a majority of the Members of the Florida House of Representatives. However, we would like a large majority, which would mean a target of 90 or close thereto.

To find the name of your state Representative how to make contact, you can use the instructions found HERE. Instructions for finding your state representative begins with paragraph A).

Now I must thank the groups and individuals who collected and the THOUSANDS of people who have signed and submitted the Memorial Resolution Petition Form that was made available. At every event at which 10Th Amendment advocates solicited signatures, the response was overwhelming throughout the state. Some friends and I were able to collect a bunch more on Independence Day. These petitions arriving at legislators' offices for months have clearly made them aware of the political popularity of the Tenth Amendment action response to Federal Tyranny.

Please continue to collect and submit the 10th Amendment petitions to maintain the awareness of support of the public for Tenth amendment action.

HM 19 of 2010

F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

House Memorial

A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging Congress to honor the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and United States Supreme Court case law which limit the scope and exercise of federal power.

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States proclaims: "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 scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more, and

WHEREAS, the limitation of power contained in the Tenth Amendment established the foundational principle that the Federal Government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states, and yet currently the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the Federal Government, and

WHEREAS, many federal laws are in direct violation of the Tenth Amendment, and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment ensures 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

WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States begins: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government," and the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States declares: "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 ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress does not have the authority to simply commandeer the states' legislative processes by compelling the states to enact and enforce federal regulatory programs, and

WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some proposals now pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States,

NOW THEREFORE, Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

That the Legislature claims 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.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this memorial serves as a notice and a demand to the Federal Government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, from issuing mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be dispatched to the President of the United States, to the President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to the presiding officers of each state legislature of the United States of America, and to each member of the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

Legislative Threats To Life, Liberty & Property

Bill Number & Title	S. 787
Sponsor	Sen. Feingold (D-WI)
NeedsSponsors	No
Needs Senate Bill
What it does	Controls ALL Water in US: Private Water included: ponds, etc
Take Action:	Ask Senators to vote “NO”
Bill Number & Title	HR 875
Sponsor	Cong. DeLauro (D-CT): Husband works for Monsanto, world’s largest herbicide manufacturer
NeedsSponsors	No
Needs Senate Bill
What it does	Controls Food Supply Controls home Gardens; Uses Genetically modified foods and lots of pesticides; Establishes Food Bureaucracy; Fines up to $1,000,000
Take Action:	NO
Bill Number & Title	HR 416
Sponsor	Cong. Lewis (D-GA)
NeedsSponsors
Needs Senate Bill	No
What it does	Asks Senate to Approve all Treaties asap; Loss of US Sovereignty
Take Action:	NO
Treaty Title	UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Effect	Removes Parental Rights and transfers to UN
Take Action:	Lobby Senate
Treaty Title	UN Disarmament Treaty
Effect	End Run around the 2nd Amendment
Take Action:	Lobby Senate
Treaty Title	UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
Effect	Gives control of our oceans to Jamaica
Take Action:	Lobby Senate
Treaty Title	UN International Criminal Court
Effect	International Law trumps all US and State Law
Take Action:	Lobby Senate
Treaty Title	UN Convention on Biological Diversity
Effect	Controls virtually ALL land use
Take Action:	Lobby Senate
Treaty Title	CIFTA: Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materia
Effect	This would take our guns away
Take Action:	Lobby Senate
Treaty Title	UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Effect	Cancels Mother’s Day; Women hired for ALL positions-regardless of capability or ability;
Take Action:	Lobby Senate
Treaty Title
Effect
Take Action:
Bill Number & Title	HR 2454 - American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
Sponsor	Cong. Waxman (D-CA)
NeedsSponsors	NO?
Needs Senate Bill	NO?
What it does	Establishes Cap and Trade Taxes on all Industry to be passed onto consumers; Estimated $3100 per family/year; Based on Global Warming Agenda HOAX
Take Action:	Lobby House & Senate
Bill Number & Title	S. 560 and HR 1409: Employee Free Choice Act of 2009;
Sponsor	Cong. Miller (D-CA)
NeedsSponsors	No
Needs Senate Bill	No
What it does	Card Check- Labor Unions pressure workers to join; fees rise for services; No private voting on Union presence; Wal-Mart prices to double or triple
Take Action:	Lobby House & Senate
Bill Number & Title	None Yet : Socialized Medicine - Healthcare for all
Sponsor	Waxman?
NeedsSponsors	?
Needs Senate Bill	?
What it does	Healthcare Rationing: Curts Off Treatment For People 55 & Older; Euthenasia, Polulation Reduction
Take Action:	Acream bollody murder; Work with Freedom Works
Bill Number
Sponsor
NeedsSponsors
Needs Senate Bill
What it does	100 billion to the International Monetary Fund; Payoff to foreign countries; To fund One World Government bureaucracy
Take Action:
Bill Number
Sponsor
NeedsSponsors
Needs Senate Bill
What it does	Value Added Tax being discussed (10 – 25%) of all purchases; Being discussed to raise revenue for deficit
Take Action:
Bill Number
Sponsor
NeedsSponsors
Needs Senate Bill
What it does	Value Added Tax being discussed (10 – 25%) of all purchases being discussed to raise revenue for deficit; Additional Taxes on purchases
Take Action:
Bill Number	None Yet: Power Grids
Sponsor
NeedsSponsors
Needs Senate Bill
What it does	No legislation yet, just intent written in newspapers: Feds feel States are too slow to decide
Take Action:

New Conference Call: Legislation Further Threatening State Sovereignty & Individual Lives

To fellowl 10th Amendment Activists,

A report of the June 3rd conference call will be forthcoming. It went well. In the meanwhile, we will be holding another phone conference tonight, Thursday, June 4th, same time (8:30 pm Eastern), same call-in number & same access code.

The purpose will be to detail legislation that is being rushed through the United States Congress that will even more grossly violate the boundaries of the Tenth amendment than previously and which will have an intolerable effect on the people and state of Florida. These involve essentials of life such as food, water and air and more.

Our objective is to HOPEFULLY distill these threats down to their essentials that can quickly and effectively brought to the attention of state legislators in a way that will draw their attention to the need for crafting preemptive, protective action.

Here is the conference call information:

Date & Time: Thursday, June 4 at 8:30 pm Eastern Times

Dial-in number: (712) 432-0075

Access code: 421685

When you call in, you will be asked to enter the access code.

Below is a list of Participant Touch Tone Commands:

			Exit Conference - pressing *3 takes the individual user out of the conference call and back into the lobby.
			Conference Commands - pressing the *4 key plays a menu of touch tone commands.
			Mute - pressing *6 will mute the line of the individual caller pressing *6 again will un-mute the line.

I am looking forward talking with you on the Thursday night call. Please call me in advance if you have urgent questions.

Sincerely yours,

Dean Taffel, Chairman, Tenth Amendment Coalition of Florida

Coalition participants:

The Constitution Committee of Florida

The 2^nd Amendment Coalition of Florida

The Republican Executive Committee of Palm Beach County

The Christian Coalition of Palm Beach County

The Constitution Party of Florida

The Libertarian Party of Palm Beach County

The Rep. Liberty Caucus of N.E. Florida

Freedom For Florida

Ronald Reagan Assemblies of Florida

The Central Republican Club of P. B. County

Speak Out Florida! Radio Show

The Glenn Back South Florida Meetup

If you want your group added to (or removed from) the above list, please send me an email.