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Item: Not enough to do? Harwood wants Idaho to declare sovereignty from federal government/Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press
More Info: The Idaho Legislature is in a slow state right now, for understandable reasons - more needs to be done on the matter of budgets and revenue before the pace can pick up to normal. But that seems to be allowing all sorts of … creative … stuff to take up some of the quiet time and committees. Like the special from Representative Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, introduced today (Tuesday) in the House State Affairs Committee (the vote was 13-4). It would have Idaho “declare its sovereignty” from the federal government. Declare its sovereignty? As in independence, as in sovereign nation? Well, no.
Question: What do you think of Rep. Harwood’s proposal that Idaho declare itself sovereign from the federal government?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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Sisyphus on March 04 at 9:48 a.m.
Its a ludicrous and hypocritical waste of time when Dick should be spending it trying to plug stimulus money into the budget. Its political grandstanding in a time when we need pragmatic solutions.
JBelle on March 04 at 9:48 a.m.
Hell,no, I don’t think Idaho should be a sovereign nation. But NORTH IDAHO should. Every Thanksgiving our family toasts to THE GREAT STATE OF NORTH IDAHO. Weddings and funerals, too.
Cabbage Boy on March 04 at 10:06 a.m.
Well done Rep, Harwood. Oh, and 31 other states have introduced these bills, so save us the “faux embarassment.”
So, we get $1.21 back for every $1 sent to washington. Where is this extra $.21 coming from? I have heard this before from other states too. Someone must be making up the extra, right?
Right?
Wrong. You think New York and California aren’t getting “theirs”?
We are stealing from our kids. Considering nothing in DC happens for free and the bureaucrats are first in line for the pork, how much are we spending to get every $1 back?
JamesBond on March 04 at 10:17 a.m.
Between Moscow’s obsession with “transgender” discrimination and Dick Harwood’s jones for “sovereignty,” I am feeling a whole lot worse about whether our elected officials have any clue about the economy.
Arpie on March 04 at 10:25 a.m.
This is meaningless. No one in Washington even reads these memorials our legislature continuously sends them. This bill and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee.
Frum Helen Back on March 04 at 10:40 a.m.
Maybe Harwood should be recalled. Or maybe he can get St. Maries declared sovereign.
Sisyphus on March 04 at 10:41 a.m.
Oy that’s what this is about, the stimulus package, isn’t it CB? 1) This resolution will do nothing to change that. 2) He’s in the wrong arena, the tenth amendment will first and foremost be interpreted by the Courts and there are precious few opinions divining its intent because its ultimately a political question. 3) The debate is over and the legislation passed. As one pundit put it, Republicans and their policies were repudiated in the last election. They can’t lead, they won’t follow, and they need to get the hell out of the way.
Cabbage Boy on March 04 at 11:10 a.m.
No this isn’t about the porkulus bill. It is about the continuing trend of the FedGov to overstep its constitutional bounds. It certainly didn’t start with Obama. It went way out of control with Bush W and Obama isn’t looking the change that course.
I don’t give a rat about which party is in power, they both are goring oxen right and left. Many are just fed up and some of Obama’s stated goals (as opposed to Bush’s UNstated goals) are finally pushing people far enough to act on it.
Playing the “the courts will decide” the meaning of the 10th amendment is lame. The 10th amendment is pretty clear. And it is time for some push-back.
Sisyphus on March 04 at 11:29 a.m.
LOL, alrighty then. Given we’ve had one civil war on the subject I reckon ol’ Dick is reaching for the second. That’s some mighty fine bipartisanship.
My point was that Harwood’s legislation will do nothing in part cause its in the wrong arena. Ultimate power in interpreting and enforcing the tenth amendment is in the Courts. Of course, the other arena, Congress, can use it to guide where those lines are in passing legislation. But the federal legislation is already passed, isn’t it? And there ain’t nothing the state legislature can do about it. Except of course Dick’s sternly worded resolution. Its hardly push back. Its grandstanding.