I came across this paper, which is the best single source I have ever seen that clearly explains how the USA government was set up, and how it is SUPPOSED TO function.
Most people today seem to think that the federal government is at the top, the States are below, and the People are at the bottom.
The truth is the opposite: The People are at the top, the States are below, and the federal government is at the bottom -- and it has only specific, LIMITED powers.
BUT ...
They have been trying to turn it all upside down via propaganda and deception.
They have done this by utilizing two specific clauses in the Constitution, which grants to the federal government EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY to pass ANY law they want -- but this power ONLY applies within the District of Columbia and the federal territories (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands).
Regarding the 50 States of the Union, the federal government only has ENUMERATED POWERS ... written in the Constitution ... and NOTHING MORE.
But the 14th Amendment did, in fact, create a "new" class of citizenship, and everyone has been TRICKED into claiming they are that type of citizen.
That type of citizen (United States citizen) ... HAS NO RIGHTS.
That type of citizen has ONLY "privileges and immunities," but NO FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS FROM GOD.
If YOU claim to BE that type of citizen, then the government PRESUMES you are, and you have no fundamental rights. Thus, they treat you that way.
If you have ever heard or read about "State citizens," or "14th Amendment citizens" or similar, you have heard correctly, but I have never seen anyone put it all together in a clear, logical format, complete with US Supreme Court case law and other legal authorities to back it up -- until now.
This paper does it.
An important quote from the paper in the conclusion:
In any given Act of Congress, it is important to determine whether the Act is founded on some part of the U.S. Constitution whereby the States of the Union have delegated authority to the United States government and thereby bound themselves and the people who live therein to the Acts of Congress on that issue. Without the proper delegation of authority, the Acts of Congress apply only to the territory belonging to the United States and such Acts have no legal operational effect within the States of the Union. Moreover, without this delegation of authority, the agents of the United States government are without authority to enforce the Acts of Congress, Presidential Executive Orders, or regulations created by any secretary of the president’s cabinet.
It is 40 pages. If you can't take the time, over the next couple of days, to read through 40 pages, then guess what? YOU do not DESERVE to live in a free society.
So ... READ IT.
EVERYONE needs to read it. THIS is how we take back America.
We simply unravel the lies and deceipt, and assert our rightful ownership that has been taken by fraud.
"Fraud vitiates every thing." -- US v. Throckmorton
https://www.youhavetheright.com/tour1/Cooperative_Federalism.pdf
During the Revolutionary War the Article of Confederation amongst the States defined the cooperative relationship amongst the States as independent nations. That State independence was based upon the premise of realizing a collective independence from Great Britain which claimed ownership of ‘it’s Colonies’. A lack of national unity existed as only a loose confederation of States was put in place to confront a common enemy. That's why General Washington needed to plead with the States for resources $$$ to fight ‘a National War’ of independence. Minimal support was provided; soldiers starved, were poorly equipped, and poorly paid.
After Independence was achieved the States needed to decide the path forward. Whether that be best implemented as a loose Confederation of independent National States, or a unified Nation. This was hotly debated and ‘The Federalist Papers’ provides insight into why a United States NATION was the best path forward. A deeper dive into the origins of the Constitution will surface the parts that Gouverneur Morris and John Jay played, without the notoriety that Hamilton and Madison have achieved in history. It’s well worth diving into ALL the Founding Fathers when we attempt to discern and understand why the Constitution is written as it was in order to reach a unified consensus. A nation, with a NATIONAL identity to the world, required the States to relinquish National Sovereignty. Yet amongst the States Independence was established, and within that context State Sovereignty also exists. Hence a careful balance. Unfortunately State Sovereignty has been largely abdicated in modern times. Likewise the will of the people to engage in the flow down to the state and local processes for governance has been abdicated! An absent landlord results in the corrosion of the structure!!!
In My Humble Opinion, we as citizens need to better understand how our Constitutional Republic was formed and what it provides as protection of citizens freedom and liberties of our God Given Rights. Both Federal and State Rights exist and an absent landlord allows the pyramid of power to become inverted. People-Local-State-Federal becomes Federal-State-People with local not even in the equation.
The States are NOT Nations! Yet Citizens are required to engage in more than just voting (sheeple) because local-state engagement is paramount. It’s ALL about community and when everything inevitable falls apart (read the Bible), it will be state, then local, then community that will provide whatever protections can put in place. And In My Humble Opinions the 17th Amendment did way more damage to our Constitution than the 14th ever did.
The States did not abdicate their sovereignty, Abraham Lincoln declared war on the Confederate States to prevent them from exercising their right to secede. It had nothing to do with slavery. That was just a cover story.
There is a lot more to it, but that is where the loss of States Rights began.
My friend Dave used to rail all the time about Lincoln being a tyrant, and that slavery was a cover story... LOL... If this is Dave hello :-)
In today reference frame both the States and the Citizens are absentee landlords. And both the States and Citizens started losing their rights in 1798 when President John Adams pushed through the Alien and Sedition Acts as a means to suppress criticism. It was the 1st Federal overreach and it was generated by a Founding Father, while other Founding Fathers fought against it. A lot more there as you would say.
Nowhere in the Constitution do I see a Right for a State to secede, which unfortunately was the price that was paid when the Articles of Confederation were exchanged for a Constitutional Republic. States are not independent nations, and the use of State as an independent nation is a misnomer.
I am a strong supporter of State Rights, but IMHO the question of nullification was answered way before the Civil War which itself answered the question of secession.
I would be thrilled if the sheeple awoke and turned into citizens, and the States reclaimed their rights and protected their citizens from blatant government overreach. It takes time and effort to use the system, more so when there is rampant corruption. In today's instant gratification, quick fix society are the citizens willing to be involved anymore??
The British king didn't thing the colonists had a right to secede, either.
Declaration of Independence declares that ALL people have a right to alter or to abolish their government, whenever their government is abusing them.
If you disagree with that, then you side with the tyrants.
States actually ARE independent governments. Each passes its own laws. They have, however, granted a part of their sovereignty over to the federal government, to act as their agent for international and a few internal issues, which the States determined (rightly or wrongly) would be beneficial for one voice.
The same is true of the European Union -- many countries ("states") joined together to have one voice on certain issues. Of course, we can see that all that did was attract a monstrous, tyrannical group of people who want to be dictators over the People of Europe.
The same has happened in the USA.
So, maybe it wasn't such a good idea.
But it is what it is.
If we didn't have a federal government at all, we probably would have been at war with each other before 1861.
Nevertheless, each State is definitely its own country, subject only to allowing the federal government to have LIMITED powers over ENUMERATED subjects.
Yes, that is what is needed.
Let's not forget:
"That to secure the blessings of liberty, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it." -- Declaration of Independence
The British king didn't thing the colonists had a right to secede, either.
Declaration of Independence declares that ALL people have a right to alter or to abolish their government, whenever their government is abusing them.
If you disagree with that, then you side with the tyrants.>
Abolishing a government through a war (REVOLUTION) is NOT the same as quietly telling the government that you are part of that as a State you are exercising your Right to secede. Great Britain did not quietly allow its colonies to leave. A price was paid for the right to secede.
And a civil war was already fought once over this, so yes I do side with Lincoln for saving the Union, as a National Leader should. The south knew that war was inevitable through their declaration of secession, just as our Founding Fathers knew that war was inevitable when they signed the Declaration of Independence. If you believe that States need a Right to quietly walk away from the Nation, without war, then maybe its time to work on an Amendment that puts that into the Constitution. Use the system in place or expect another war. And in these times we live in, war is a Deep State objective.
You are mistaken, the States always had the right to secede. Our Republic was established with a voluntary confederation of independent States. Each state had the right to leave that confederation, if they so chose.