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Resist DC: Step by
Step Plan for Freedom Part 2
 by State Rep. Matthew Shea
(WA-4th)I, like
many people, believe that the Constitution is not a living
document. The corollary to this principle is that if it
is not living then it cannot die. However, the question of
whether the Constitution is followed and enforced depends on
you and me. We introduced the legislation outlined in
Part I of the plan and
predictably many Obama defenders in our state House began
calling us racist and secessionist. In fact, the quote from
our Speaker Pro Tem Jeff Morris (D – Mount Vernon) was
“We want to lead the state out of recession. They want to
lead the state out of the country.” Obviously, this
is absurd. The intent of the state sovereignty Bills are
to erect barriers against an ever-encroaching federal
bureaucracy, while keeping the nation unified. That said,
Washington D. C. is on a course that will destroy our
Constitutional Republic. Nationalized Health Care and a
national Cap and Trade program will not lead us out of a
recession but rather will further crush our economy. If
the federal government would get out of the way, we would be
free as individual states to fix our own problems as the
founders intended.
[i]
To that end,
recently some Attorneys General across the country are
questioning the constitutionality of Nationalized Health
Care. In fact, at least 18 states are now suing
the federal government claiming the $2.5 trillion healthcare
system reform violates state sovereignty as protected in the
U.S. Constitution and will force massive new spending on
hard-pressed state governments. Interestingly, some of
the state Attorneys General claim that only the judicial
branch may decide what is or is not constitutional but not
state elected representatives or county sheriffs.
[ii] This flies in the face of
the requirement set forth in Article VI of the U.S.
Constitution (Oath to support the Constitution binding both
federal and state representatives). To hold such a
position renders that Oath of Office meaningless, and brings
back the very scary proposition “befehl ist befehl” (an order
is an order) used as a defense by Nazi officers at
Nuremburg. It is important to know where your State
Attorney General stands on this issue because Part II of the
plan deals with state and local enforcement of
unconstitutional laws.
- Sound Money Resolution
- Legal Tender Act
The more pressure
states put on Congress to audit the Federal Reserve System,
the greater the chance is that it will be exposed as a private
group of bankers profiteering at public expense and then be
phased out. Like the state sovereignty resolutions, the
Sound Money Resolution would put the government on notice to
return to the original monetary system envisioned by our
founders.
[iii] This means an end to the
fractional reserve banking as we know it and a return to
currency that is backed by gold and silver and perhaps even
commodities.
Dr. Edwin Viera Jr., a
constitutional attorney and an expert in monetary theory who
has litigated cases involving money issues, has said that the
entire present monetary system is unconstitutional. He
proposes a precious-metals-based monetary system in which the
state government collects part of its tax revenue from
corporations in gold. New Hampshire and Indiana,
currently have that kind of legislation before them. I
would add that the next step should be to establish a private
currency exchange in conjunction with a new monetary
system. This will be the subject of a future
article.
Next, states can
require the federal government to tender all payments in gold
and silver. The U.S. Constitution in Article 1 section
10 clearly states “No State shall…coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing
but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts…”[iv] The
practical result of returning to this constitutional
requirement will likely be the federal government ceasing to
send any money to the states. What an excellent day that
would be! This would force states to budget and fix problems
themselves without relying on federal handouts. Another
benefit will be ensuring state solvency even if the federal
government goes bankrupt. Lastly, it calls the bluff of
the federal government. You will recall in Part I of the plan the
creation of a Federal Tax Escrow
Account, which would offset this loss of
money. It will become immediately apparent which states
send the federal government more money than they
receive.
Step
4: If State Legislatures Fail, Introduce the Laws
through the Initiative Process
The people are the
final check and balance because power is inherent in the
people. Many state legislatures will refuse to even hear
the above ten bills when freedom-minded legislators introduce
them. Such was the case in my own state of
Washington. No matter. In many states, the people
have reserved for themselves the final power of legislation
through the Initiative, Referendum, and Recall
Process.
Twenty-four states
currently have an Initiative process. Check here for the process in your
state. Since the legislation is already written,
it only needs to be slightly modified to include the words “Be
it enacted by the people of [your state].” Grassroots
activists should be mindful that the ballot title and summary
for an Initiative is going to require an attorney.
Identify them now (yes Constitutional freedom-minded Attorneys
exist like Stephen Pidgeon of Everett,
Washington).
Next, activists
should contact all freedom groups and bring them together into
one network on the Internet. Remember that the Internet
is to the state sovereignty movement what the printing press
was to the Bible. This is not centralized control but
merely a way to quickly transmit to, and share information
with, thousands of like-minded people. For example, in
Washington such a network called the “Liberty Groups” has
started a state sovereignty initiative drive and website,
Freedom Initiatives,
and continues to share information and coordinate on many
issues. This is not about who leads what.
Such squabbles must quickly give way to the
overarching mission of restoring our Constitutional Republic.
This is also not a Republican, Libertarian, Tea Party, or
Democrat “thing” but a “we the people” reclaiming our country
“thing.”
Before I move on, I
want to address a couple of arguments that are typically
raised by people who oppose the use of the Initiative
process. The arguments usually fall along three lines
and I will answer each in turn:
1)
Direct Democracy is a dangerous thing and usually comes
back around to bite you in the tail. This ignores the
people as the final check and balance in our system.
Furthermore, I believe we must exhaust all possible remedies
at our disposal due to the urgency of the current
situation.
2) If
the Initiative fails, practically speaking, it is impossible
to bring the issue up again even decades later. This
assumes we have decades. The many experts I have read
and talked to give our Constitutional Republic 6-10 years in a
best-case scenario[v]
and 6 months to 2 years worst case scenario.[vi]
Now is the time to draw a line in the sand…our backs
are against the wall.
3) It
wastes precious time and resources. This assumes an
initiative will fail and also ignores the benefit of being
able to educate voters through the Initiative process while
simultaneously galvanizing a core grass roots team. It
also allows you to hold elected officials accountable by
asking them point-blank “do you support the Initiative to
nullify Nationalized Health Care?”
Step
5: Contact all County
Sheriffs and get them to
commit to keep their oaths.
As described in
Part I the whole
principle of a Sheriff’s First bill is
that no one is above the law…including federal agents.[vii]
Federal agents will claim they “have the authority,
period.” This begs a great question. How will a law
passed at the federal level be enforced locally? The
answer in almost every scenario involves the county
Sheriff. This is the Achilles Heel of almost all current
federal schemes to socialize our economy. That is also why in
most states ‘Task Forces” have been established to coordinate
federal, state, and local law enforcement. If all
politics is local…it can fairly be said that so is all
enforcement of criminal and civil penalties.
Consequently, the
laws we have are only as good as those officers that enforce
them at the local level. Thus, the rise of tyranny must
first come through both the United States Military
and the County Sheriff. And this can only
happen if those same people violate their oaths to protect and
defend the U.S. Constitution and their own State’s
Constitution. As discussed in Part I, the county
Sheriff is the primary (chief) law enforcement officer in the
United States. Therefore, if you are an interested
activist, you should make a personal visit to your County
Sheriff. Here are some ideas for your
visit:
- Ask if your Sheriff will become an Oath Keeper.
Oath Keepers is a nonprofit
organization started by Stewart Rhodes (attorney and Army
veteran) which advocates that its members (current and
former military and law enforcement) uphold the Constitution of the United
States should they be ordered to violate it.
- Invite your Sheriff to publicly reaffirm his oath to
uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and
your respective state.
- Give your Sheriff a copy of former Sheriff Richard
Mack’s book The County Sheriff, America’s Last
Hope.
- Ask your Sheriff if he has a local “Safety Committee” or
similar group, which is the modern day version of a posse and what the requirements
are to join.[viii]
Become engaged with the local Sheriff’s office, it
will help them with critical manpower needs and, it will
give you an opportunity to try and influence this critical
link in our governmental chain.
Summary
5
Steps
- Reclaim State Sovereignty through key Nullification
Legislation
- Erect an Impenetrable Barrier around the 2nd
Amendment and the County Sheriff
- Restore Sound and Honest Money
- Introduce 10th Amendment Initiatives
- Help your Sheriff become an Oath
Keeper
10
Bills
- State Sovereignty Resolution
- Health Care Freedom Act
- Energy Freedom Act
- Right to Constitutional
Government Act
- Federal Tax Escrow Account
- Fire Arms Freedom Act
- Right to Protection Act
- Sheriff First Act
- Sound Money Resolution
- Legal Tender
Act
 There are many other ideas out there
but we believed these would be quickest way to restore our
Constitutional Republic. This is not to say that
securing our borders, state enforcement of immigration laws,
repealing the 17th Amendment, eliminating 501(c)(3)
for churches, reforming the elections process, restraining the
courts, or restoring grand jury presentments are not important
and worthy goals. But the legislation as outlined above
is the immediate priority. To be clear, Legislation
alone is not the answer nor do we need to change the face of
our national government to change the direction of our
country. Ultimately the survival of
our Constitutional Republic depends on the people. It
depends on the courage and boldness of each one of us.
It depends on each one of us answering “everything” to the
question “what am I willing to sacrifice for freedom?” The
fight for freedom is ultimately a matter of the heart before
it is a county or state movement. And so I pray you will
help restore our Constitutional Republic so that our children
and grandchildren may inherit, as we did, the blessings of
liberty and freedom.Matthew Shea
[send him email] is a State
Representative in Washington’s 4th District. He’s the author
of HJM4009 for State Sovereignty. Visit his website.
Copyright © 2010 by
TenthAmendmentCenter.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in
part is gladly granted, provided full credit is
given.
[i]
“Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is
considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and
only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation,
then, the new Constitution will, if established, be a FEDERAL,
and not a NATIONAL constitution.” Publius (James Madison)
Federalist No. 39. 1788.
[ii]
In a letter dated February 10, 2010,
Idaho’s Attorney General Lawrence G. Wasden wrote: “It is
simply not within the Idaho Attorney General’s or the Idaho
Legislature’s authority to declare federal laws null and void;
that authority lies exclusively with the Supreme Court of the
United States and the federal courts created by
Congress.” Notably, Mr. Wasden cites no authority for
this proposition.
[iii]
The Federal Monetary System was established in 1792
with the creation of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The first
American coins were struck in 1793. The U.S. Coinage Act of 1792,
consistent with the Constitution, provided for a U.S. Mint,
which stamped silver and gold coins. The importance of this
Act cannot be stressed enough. The Act invoked the
death penalty for anyone found to be
debasing money. President George Washington also
mentions the importance of the national currency backed by
gold and silver throughout his initial term of office and he
contributed his own silver for the initial coins minted. The
purchase of The US Mint in Philadelphia was
the first money appropriated by Congress for a building to be
used for a public purpose. It was purchased for a total of
$4,266.67 on July 18, 1792.
[vii]
Some have claimed that a Sheriff First law prevents
federal agents from arresting terrorists and/or would hamper
their ability to do so. This is absurd for many reasons
not the least of which is the Task Force example given.
Federal agents are already working with county Sheriffs and
getting permission would not “stall” an operation.
However, a clause clarifying this should be added to any
Sheriff First bill so that the issue is crystal
clear. Also, tying this legislation to the
enforcement of a specific bill like Nationalized Health Care
would remove this objection.
[viii]
Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, is a
leader in the country on the formation of a modern day
“posse.”
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