The Humble Libertarian original

From my latest article at The Independent Voter Network: In the never-ending fight / dance along the partisan line dividing the Republican and Democratic brands, each side adopts the tactics suited to its position at the moment, usually accompanied by a spectacular display of mass-amnesia on the part of the fierce partisans who always give their unqualified support to their party.

Marijuana Policy Project Press Release: MONTPELIER – The Vermont House of Representatives approved a bill 98-44 Friday that would decriminalize possession of limited amounts of marijuana. The bill is scheduled for another House vote next week before moving forward to the Senate. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell and Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn testified in favor of the bill, and Gov. Peter Shumlin has also expressed support for such a proposal. "Vermont is another step closer to adopting a more sensible approach to marijuana policy," said Matt Simon, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. "The support demonstrated by members of the House reflects that of the state's top law enforcement officials and the voters." H. 200, introduced by Rep. Christopher Pearson (P-Burlington) with a tripartisan group of 38 co-sponsors, would remove criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace ...

Alternate headline: Hey Washington, even California 's getting sick of you! Ha ha ha. The Daily Caller reports : 'California lawmakers are pushing a bill that would exempt the state from federal laws authorizing indefinite detention of citizens. The California Public Safety Committee voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of the California Liberty Preservation Act, which was introduced by Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly. The bill passed the Democrat-controlled committee 6-0 with the support of a wide-ranging coalition that included the American Civil Liberties Union, Tenth Amendment Center, San Francisco 99% Coalition, San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Libertarian Party of California. The legislation is designed to free California from having to comply with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012, which does nothing to prevent the potential seizure and indefinite detention of U.S. citizens. The California bill declares such federal power unc...

In this series called " Libertarian Talking Points ," we pose a talking point that aims for the heart of an issue - avoiding the "politically safe" answer to actually try and convince people of both the moral and effectual justifications for liberty. You argue its effectiveness, or propose how to rephrase it to win hearts and minds. If a gotcha attempt occurs, questioning a candidate's belief in the elimination of the Department of Education... "I'm afraid you're confusing the elimination of the Department of Education with the elimination of education itself. The Department of Education didn't come into existence until 1980. And its removal would eliminate the guidelines, requirements and mandates that prevent individual states, districts and schools from implementing pedagogical tactics they believe might create dramatic improvements in learning. Now, if you are able to present me with evidence that the Department of Education has impro...

Yesterday the Supreme Court agreed to take up the "ObamaCare" law that many conservatives and libertarians say violates the Constitution. The Cato Institute's Ilya Shapiro explains just how landmark this decision is going to be: "the Supreme Court has now set the stage for the most significant case since Roe v. Wade. Indeed, this litigation implicates the future of the Republic as Roe never did. On both the individual-mandate and Medicaid-coercion issues, the Court will decide whether the Constitution’s structure — federalism and enumeration of powers — is judicially enforceable or whether Congress is the sole judge of its own authority. In other words, do we have a government of laws or men?" We live in interesting times. Tweet Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Now this is interesting news : "States are lining up to drop out of No Child Left Behind, the education initiative that was promoted as a historic achievement of the Bush administration. Since President Barack Obama announced last month that he would sign an executive order allowing states to request waivers from mandatory participation in the program, at least 27 have signaled that they will ask to opt out, and most others are reviewing their options." Too bad Congress won't just repeal it. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Matt Hurtt makes a great point about the Republicans' bill to repeal Washington's ban on incandescent bulbs in favor of those ugly ones that take forever to turn on, send out some wavelength of light that literally hurts my brain, and make you look green and awful in photos. Even though the Republicans' bill does the right thing in telling Americans we don't have to buy these any more, it goes a step further and tells us individual states aren't allowed to make laws regulating light bulbs. Now I agree that individual states shouldn't pass such regulations for the same reason I don't think Washington should, but that is a battle to be fought in each individual state according to that state's constitution, not in Washington. Congress, you are overreaching again, even when you're trying to remedy past overreaches. Gah, it's frustrating! Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

An excerpt from my most recent article at CAIVN: "Critics of the federal "War on Drugs" hoped that the Ogden Memo indicated a significant change in federal drug policy, and under the cover of more efficient resource allocation, would mark the beginning of a more laissez-faire approach to marijuana cultivation and use. The Justice Department's latest memo has shattered those hopes and articulated a continuation of Bush-era federal policy toward medical marijuana." Read the entire article here . And please "like" it! :) Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Video: June 29, 2011 State Rep. David Simpson, (R) Longview, delivers his "personal privilege" speech after the Texas House of Representatives fails to pass his anti-TSA groping bill. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

In my most recent CAIVN column, I write: "A battle between the town of Isleton, California and federal prosecutors over medicinal marijuana cultivation perfectly illustrates the stakes involved in the Tenth Amendment debate." Read the rest of the article here . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

At the Nullify Now conference in Chattanooga, TN, Jack Hunter gave an excellent speech to explain who the real extremists are (hint: it's not the people in the Tea Party). I had the privilege of introducing Jack thanks to Kurt Wallace (webmaster at LibertyPulse ), who offered me the opportunity to MC the event. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

"If you hate this country so much, why don't you just move to Canada?!?!" "Because I want to make this country better!!!" Ever catch yourself saying one of these two lines? If so, you probably should have ended the conversation a few minutes ago. But this classic dead-end argument brings up one of the greatest benefits of state rights. States should be test tubes . If some state has a terrible idea, they can try it and fail, without the rest of the Union having to suffer the consequences. If a state has a great idea, and it proves itself to be effective, the rest of us will willingly adopt it. We won't need a federal mandate. We'll want the benefits. In the latest issue of Reason , Tim Cavanaugh references a post-census study by Americans for Tax Reform , and looks for correlations between states slated to gain seats in the next reapportionment. In short, what states are growing and attracting movers? "They have lower taxes, less government spendin...

Phil Moffett has a message for Washington DC: Stop Trespassing in Kentucky. His message for Kentuckians? Nullify Federal Regulations. Get the Federal Government OFF Kentucky Farms. Kentucky's Tea Party candidate for governor Phil Moffett calls on Governor Beshear to declare a right of nullification against unconstitutional power grabs from Washington DC. We need a “Kentucky revolution” against Federal regulations. Simply put, “Nullification of Federal agencies” means NO trespassing in Kentucky. “Protecting Kentucky’s farmers, producers, and consumers from suffocating Federal regulations that kill jobs is imperative if we are to revive our economy,” Moffett said. "Soaring food prices make this a state of emergency. Kentuckians are more capable of taking care of themselves than far-off bureaucrats and it’s time to get the FDA, DEA and Dept. of Agriculture off our farms and defend Kentucky against this Federal choke-hold." In the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Thomas Je...

While House Republicans’ repeal of Obamacare is laudable, the stark truth is that true repeal is still elusive. An alternative some have considered -- as opposed to waiting on the courts or a new government -- is to try nullification, the oft-maligned, seldom-employed tactic used by state governments where they refuse to enforce laws they deem unconstitutional. Tom Woods of the Ludwig von Mises Institute has written not one but two recent books advocating nullification. In Nullification and Rollback Woods encourages the use of the tactic in a political landscape where choices between the two governing parties could hardly be worse. No shortage of liberal writers have denounced Woods’ book or the idea of nullification. But when scholars in reputedly conservative journals join the dog-pile of their defense of the status quo, one has to wonder why these conservative intellectuals are so intent on letting unconstitutional legislation become more easily enshrined. In the February 21, 201...

I attended the Nullify Now conference in Chattanooga this past Saturday the 23rd, and I learned all manner of 10th Amendment solutions to our problem of Federal tyranny. But I did detect something that made me uneasy- faith in politicians. To quote Mike Rothfeld, "The politician is not your friend," regardless of what level of government they are working on. City, County, State, Metro, Federal, Global, Galactic, it does not matter which. Now, when the new Federalism is achieved through nullification of any and all Federal actions not in line with Article I Sec 8 of the U.S. Constitution, we will still have a problem. Having made the Federal government's powers few and defined, the State government's powers will again be numerous and infinite just as our country was designed. However as libertarians, unlimited power for state governments is still not ok. So what does that mean? What are we to do then? Why we keep with our plan of nullification of course! Here's...

Editor's note: Here at The Humble Libertarian , we are dedicated to getting the state out of our bedrooms by getting it out of the marriage issue altogether. Our mantras are de -legalize straight marriage, privatize marriage, and stop using the tax code or any other government policy to penalize people on the basis of sexual orientation. We agree however, with Buchanan's assessment below, that finding anything about marriage in the U.S. Constitution requires a tortured reading thereof, which is why a federal judge recently- and rightly- struck down the Defense of Marriage Act on the basis of the 10th Amendment. Constitutionally, marriage is an issue for the states, not Washington. And morally, marriage is an issue for individuals, not the states. ------------- "Federal Judge Vaughn Walker is truly a visionary. "Peering at the 14th Amendment, Walker found something there the authors of the amendment never knew they put there, and even the Warren Court never found ther...

What is the proper relationship between the Federal government and the states? What ramifications does this relationship have for the recently passed health care bill? I explored this question in my live radio program yesterday evening with three awesome guests. Tennessee State Representative Beth Harwell discussed the Health Care Freedom Act she is cosponsoring to nullify the individual mandate in the State of Tennessee. Tenth Amendment Center Founder, Michael Boldin stopped by to explain the Founding Fathers' intent when they penned the Constitution. Finally, grassroots community organizer (the good kind though) Matt Collins called in to encourage grassroots participation in our political processes, lest America fall prey to more bad legislation like this health care bill. I also had a heated debate with a caller about one hour into the program, who just couldn't seem to understand how the principle of non-aggression applies to the government's actions. You can listen to...

From the most recent article at my CAIVN column : In all likelihood, California could be the very first state in the union to legalize the recreational use of marijuana this November. After legalization activists submitted nearly 700,000 signatures for a proposition to legalize marijuana, California's Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified a ballot initiative earlier this week to legalize the cultivation, possession, and sale of marijuana in the state of California for recreational purposes. The initiative will go on the ballot this November, and it needs only a simple majority to pass and become law (just as if the legislature had passed it and the governor had signed it), which should be a breeze considering that state-wide polling shows that 56% of California's registered voters support legalizing and taxing marijuana. But what does this all mean, and what deeper controversy will it ignite? Read the rest of the article here to find out.

Author: Roy Antoun / H.T. YALiberty I'm permanently moving my weekly radio program from 7 - 9 pm Central Time on Saturdays to that same time slot on Sundays. I've been getting some feedback that more people are at home and available on Sunday evenings than Saturdays, so we'll see how this works. Thanks so much for bearing with me as I make all these changes to get this libertarian blog where it needs to be (at the top of the blogosphere raining down libertarian ideas like a refreshing Spring shower and waging peace on the whole world). Like the picture above? Me too. It's a perfect prelude to announce a most awesome of interview line-ups for this Sunday's show. (Don't forget- it's this Sunday now!) Tim Daniel and I will be interviewing TN state representative Beth Harwell about her sponsorship of Tennessee's Health Freedom Act , to nullify ObamaCare. Then we'll be talking with Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center , to discuss ...

Wait a second- hear me out on this... I think their heart is in the right place and that the Democrats' health care bill was certainly unconstitutional. But what I want to see is some nullification coming from the states, not Federal lawsuits filed by state officials, which will go through Federal courts, potentially take years to be resolved, and be subject to some bad precedent in Federal jurisprudence. Instead of implicitly acknowledging Federal authority over the states by suing in a Federal court, each state legislature should pass a law declaring the health care bill unconstitutional, and instructing the state's attorney general to protect state residents from any Federal agents that try to enforce it. States, not Federal courts, have the final authority on the constitutionality of Federal legislation, and it is their prerogative to nullify unconstitutional Federal laws by refusing to comply and committing to protect their residents who don't comply. The foll...