I am compelled to share with you a dirty little secret. This secret is one that the government doesn’t want you to know, especially your State legislators, that is if you have one like my dear senator Don Gaetz. You see, senators like Don Gaetz will tell you that if you believe in the sovereignty of the States, if you believe that the States bear the right to nullify unconstitutional federal law, well, you should be “shot and hanged”(yes, he actually said that, read here). These legislators will explain to you that nullifications is a “kooky” principle that will only result in a “banana republic” in which States will be allowed to nullify whatever law “they don’t like.” If you have a legislator like this, be concerned, as his ignorance has just exposed him for who he is; a tyrant at worst, wholly unqualified to serve at best.
States do not choose, as is asserted, to nullify “whatever law they don’t like,” but only those laws the States find to be unconstitutional assertions of authority by the federal government.
Such States, and state legislators, truly believe that we have a limited and defined federal government. They know those limitations are codified within the Constitution and the power of that limited government is derived from the consent of the governed. They also understand that the primary function of government is to secure the Liberty that belongs to the people. It is only logical that if the government is exerting a power, it is left to the creators of that government to judge and affirm whether that power is justly used. To assert otherwise, that the federal government through the judiciary, law, or executive order is the final arbiter of its own power is simply illogical and wholly despotic.
Forward this to Skip Stam (Paul.Stam@ncleg.net) or call (919-733-2962) in the North Carolina General Assembly.
Read more on Rep. Stam’s view on nullification.
David DeGerolamo
