Ghandi had it nailed: “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. “

This is a rant. This is my opinion. Sorry, I just need to get it out.

I talked to my kids today about what happened in our country yesteraday and my four year old cries "No! We need our choices!" my 6 year old said "We should move to another country."

They are attacking us at our worst. We are tired! Most of us have been struggling to keep food on the table. We are loosing our houses and loosing our jobs. Of course it would be the best time to strike us hard, because maybe we are a little weak right now. But I say "hold on a little longer"! Dig deep and fight strong! Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: it's worth fighting for.

I am so tired of this! When did the government take over our lives? I am still proud to be an American because I know the people have the power. It is time we use that power to ensure our children have a better life than what 'they' want for us.

If you’re like me, when you call representatives, write letters or attend tea parties, you pick up the tab and sacrifice your own personal time in hopes that someone will listen. I’d much rather spend my time and money with my family, business or hobbies than hoping my actions will result in my federal representatives actually representing. And anyone that could have done anything about the health care bill is in Washington D.C., you can’t meet with them, you don’t know them and you cannot reasonably hold them accountable. How can you really expect them to feel any pressure to represent you? Yes, morally your expectations are valid because they should do the will of the people. Unfortunately, the reality is without the power to exert an opposing force, you will continue to be disregarded as a mere annoyance.In our case, the small market that we can dominate quickly is our state government. From here we can team with other like-minded states and form a block of resistance that has real legal possibilities, much more powerful than rallies, letters and phone calls. Owning our state governments is an absolute necessity.

Ignore the Feds, Empower the States

We have state governments for a reason. Regardless of what today’s media would have you believe, state representatives are not elected state paper-shufflers or federal mandates. State governments share power with the federal government as equal partners in a system designed to decentralize power and protect “we the people” from foreign and domestic threats.

Ignoring D.C. actually means that we must use state governments to defy unconstitutional federal laws, starting with the health care bill today. The federal government itself must be identified as the threat and we must use the legal power of our state governments under the 10th amendment to eliminate the threat, and formally ignore unconstitutional mandates.

Jefferson described the 10th as “the foundation of the Constitution” and added, “to take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn … is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.”

The feds took that step today.

States have many constitutional options when dealing with the federal government including court challenges, nullification and interposition to name a few. Individually, you do not have these, so you must focus on using your influence to make sure your state representatives know about and are willing to use these tools. The first steps are already moving forward as 37 states have introduced Health Care Freedom legislation. In addition, state attorney generals have already stated their intention to challenge these federal bills as unconstitutional.

Individually, “we the people” have a very important role too. We must influence our state representatives, and then encourage them. And, when the going gets tough we must stand shoulder to shoulder with them in defiance of what will be an intimidating federal response. “Ignore the feds, empower the states” must be our mantra.For the most part, the federal government has ignored any resistance to the health care bill. Tea Parties have been ridiculed as radicals of all varieties such as “tea baggers”, “astroturf”, “racists”, and “domestic terrorists”. But, they have never formally acknowledged the existence of this movement. Once we begin to focus our attention on the state governments, everything changes. The media will be unable to ignore a block of defiant states. Personally, you will be ridiculed as a “tenther” (I think this is pretty cool) but once states exhibit defiance it will not be long before the federal government shifts it’s focus to the states not the individuals. That’s when you will know that you are not being ignored anymore.

At a minimum, your state will be ridiculed as out of touch with reality, as constitutional rogues, racists, and more. The governor of your state and your state representatives will be positioned as little more than common rabble rousers and will be the target of incredible pressure to compromise. But this must be overcome before we can win and we must solidly stand with state representatives. Federal funds will be used to coerce states to comply as has been common practice for some time. This will be specifically painful with health care because defiant state’s federal funds will be used to finance compliant state’s health care. However, this cannot be allowed to stand for any significant amount of time so states must be influenced to pass state legislation that denies the federal government what they covet most, tax revenue.

From here on, resolve will be the key. Not just your resolve, but the resolve of the rest of the citizens in your state. So it’s our responsibility to educate neighbors and make sure the right state representatives are in place.In order for us to reset this country and return to spending time with our businesses, families and hobbies; we must again in no uncertain terms confirm the revolutionary message that the people are the source of power. The federal government must fear the people, and the state governments are the legal method in which to achieve this goal. Jefferson clarified the goal:

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

Ignore the Feds, Empower the States.

Brian Roberts [send him email] is the State Chapter Coordinator for the Texas Tenth Amendment Center