Time to Exercise the 10th Amendment, Virginia

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. - 10th Amendment of US Constitution

What does this mean? (Don't worry, I had to read this about a dozen times to get it myself)

The US Constitution clearly lays out the powers granted to the Federal Government (what they can and can't do).

• The powers that are not listed in this document are reserved to the States, or to the people (locally).
  
• The powers that are not prohibited by this document are also reserved to the States, or to the people (locally).

The Framers of the United States Constitution were very concerned about forming a Federal Government. They saw a need for it (to protect the nation at large, to legitimize their nation, etc), but they wanted to limit its powers for fear of tyranny. They wanted the people to be able to govern themselves.

DEBATE OVER US SENATOR COUNT

For example, there was grave concern over how many US Senators each state would have represented in the US Congress. Some, James Madison in particular, wanted it to be proportional based on population similar to the House of Representatives because of his desire for the "people" to govern the nation. Others were concerned that certain states would carry more power because they were so large in comparison to the others, while the smaller states would be left virtually powerless at the Federal level (ie. Virginia vs Delaware).

After much heated debate and Benjamin Franklin's famous call to prayer, it was determined that each state would be given two Senators to represent each state in the US Senate, so that each state would have an equal say in the Union. However, the people still held all the power in each state with both State Senators and Delegates being proportional to the population and elected by district.

The idea was since the Federal Government or the "United States" would be limited in their powers as these were clearly laid out in the US Constitution, the individual states would still maintain its unlimited powers...and the people would still have the power.

The 10th Amendment as stated above was added to the US Constitution in order to further protect the states from tyrannical rule. So, should the Federal Government overstep its bounds (or try to) by exercising powers that are not stated in the US Constitution, then this amendment could be exercised.

IT IS TIME TO EXERCISE THE 10th AMENDMENT!

There is clear evidence that the Federal Government has clearly overstepped it's bounds, when it decided to "bailout" private industries. The US Constitution does not authorize this behavior. There are several other infractions that many may argue, but the takeovers of private businesses by the Federal Government is without a doubt not delegated by the Constitution.

Virginia's legislature has tabled a bill (HR 61) that seeks to exercise the 10th amendment by declaring our State Sovereignty. The current legislature is on recess, and is not expected to address this bill again until 2010. We need to contact our State Representative offices (both Delegates and Senators) today, demanding they vote "YES" on this bill. We want to protect our state from tyrannical rule at the Federal level. We want to keep the power within our state to govern ourselves.

Also, please sign the "Support HR61, VA State Sovereignty!" petition today!