States Have Powers: The Powers of the People

The founders knew that governments are necessary to secure liberty against the terror of anarchy and the totalitarianism of pure democracy. They knew as well, however, that it is necessary to prepare the foundational laws of those governments, our federal and State Constitutions, in a manner that would best protect the central sovereignty of individuals from the authoritarian repression of overbearing government and the tyranny of the majority. Our founders’ perception of repression came in the form of kings and military strongmen; since their day, we have come to know repression as often a phenomena of the collectivists, including fascism, communism, and the inexorable creep of nanny state socialism. But no matter the source of oppression, we share with the founders the hope of their vision: that our constitutions would stand fast against it and thereby secure our liberty. For years, and with notable, but temporary exceptions, the constitutional dream of our founders remained at its core a reality. In recent years, however, the Federal constitutional protections have been eroded, most often in search of security. Whether it is the individual mandate of the federal health care law, the judicially sanctioned abandonment of the Fourth Amendment by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), taxation no longer equitably or modestly calling on the support of citizens, but rather confiscating most of the labor and property of a minority for transfer to a majority, or the continuing due process violations and widespread oppression arising out of the criminalization of normative behavior, our Federal Constitution has ceased to secure our inalienable rights. Indeed, as we witness its language being used to oust religions, particularly Christianity, from the public square, we often encounter the Federal Constitution not as a means of protection of our inalienable rights, but as a tool to undermine the very source of those rights. Our founders did not leave us one Constitution, but many Constitutions to protect our liberty. Those State Constitutions remain vibrant in many instances and as the last best hope for our country. In the face of potential despair that liberty now might be irretrievably compromised, if not lost, Rep. Itse in StatesHavePowers has given us an encouraging reminder that within our State Constitutions lie the tools to do as President Reagan counseled in his speech from 1961: fight for freedom; protect freedom; hand freedom on to our children. This book is a fight by Rep. Dan Itse for freedom and to protect freedom and to hand freedom on to our children. His is a voice as old as that of St. Paul and as young as that of children yet to be born. We should heed his message.