Combs Spouts Off

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Posts Tagged ‘nullification’

Happy Bill of Rights Day!

Posted by Richard on December 15, 2017

Today is the 226th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights on Dec. 15, 1791, celebrated by freedom-loving Americans as Bill of Rights Day. But as Michael Boldin of the Tenth Amendment Center likes to point out, every day should be Bill of Rights Day.

The US Supreme Court is currently considering a case of huge importance to the Bill of Rights, specifically to the much-neglected Tenth Amendment. Read about it at SCOTUSblog.

With various provisions of the Bill of Rights continually under threat or violated with impunity, this would also be a good time to think about what we can do about that. The aforementioned Tenth Amendment Center provides some advice grounded in the words of Madison and Jefferson. Take a look, and consider making a donation to them today.

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Castle Rock, CO, refuses federal funds

Posted by Richard on May 17, 2016

Three cheers for Castle Rock, CO (population 55,000), located about 30 miles south of Denver. Its Town Council is refusing federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) because of the onerous strings attached:

… At issue for the town was a new set of regulations, 377 pages in all, which gives the unelected HUD bureaucrats broad powers over grant recipient communities, including the power to reverse electoral decisions by local voters, change local zoning laws and force said communities to join regions against the its wishes.

Faced with the choice of refusing federal funds or submitting to increased federal intrusion into their local concerns, Castle Rock’s town government chose the former, reports SustainableFreedomLab.org. In a letter to local HUD applicants, mayor Paul Donahue explained that,

“If we continue to accept the HUD grants, we will be forced to prepare detailed taxpayer-financed studies of our schools, retail, housing, and other community aspects to HUD who will decide if our neighborhoods are “furthering fair housing.” That means that even though our town has never been found in violation of the anti-discrimination housing rules that have been law for over 50 years, HUD on a whim could force us to build low-income, government subsidized housing into our neighborhoods if HUD decides we aren’t racially balanced enough.”

In other words, Castle Rock’s town council has recognized that the new federal regulations are likely to be used not to mitigate actual instances of discriminatory behavior, but as politically-motivated means to produce politically-motivated ends. As Castle Rock’s letter acknowledged, far from being a paranoid hypothetical, this scenario has already played out in Westchester County, New York, where county leaders have been fighting a HUD directive to construct 750 affordable-housing units in established neighborhoods. But while Westchester County has sued to have this decision reversed – a suit that, to nobody’s surprise, was decided in the federal government’s favor by the federal government’s judge – it has not decided to refuse the HUD funds.

What Castle Rock has discovered, that Westchester County apparently has not, is that federal funds always come with strings attached, and the strongest string is invariably tied to local sovereignty. The Castle Rock town council has heroically identified this truth and has decided that the funds are not worth the cost. Donahue’s letter concludes,

“As a Town Council, we will resist all federal attempt to destroy our local sovereignty, be it from HUD, the EPA, or any other government agency. Council will always defend our resident’s right to make their own local decisions without federal interference. While I appreciate the many good works that are represented by your (the grant applicants’) programs, accepting onerous federal grant requirements, which harm our community, cannot be the price to pay for federal monies.”

Towns, cities, counties and states all across the country should take notice of what Castle Rock has done and should hasten to emulate its example.

Word. If you don’t take the feds’ money, they can’t attach the strings with which to control you, and you’ve effectively nullified their edicts.

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The case for nullification and the zombie arguments against it

Posted by Richard on July 6, 2010

Tom Woods, whose latest book is Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century, recently sat down for an interview with a zombie. The zombie articulated the standard arguments against nullification and any mention of so-called "states' rights" (actually, powers reserved to the states or the people by the 10th Amendment). Woods countered them rather effectively, in my opinion.

But it's hard to win an argument with a zombie. Especially if the subject of brains comes up. Enjoy this amusing and educational eight-minute "Interview with a Zombie." 


[YouTube link]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »