March 16, 2010 in Idaho

Idaho calling for expanded states’ rights

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BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and GOP lawmakers are calling for amending the United States Constitution to broaden states’ rights.

“Too often, we find ourselves bemoaning the erosion of our state sovereignty because of the imposition and intrusion of federal programs,” Otter wrote in a letter to Idaho House Speaker Lawerence Denney. “If we want change, we must change the very document from which the federal government derives its power: the United States Constitution.”

Rep. Ken Roberts, the House majority caucus chairman, presented a resolution Monday to a House committee calling for just that, and the panel voted – largely along party lines – to move it to the full House on a fast track.

The measure urges Congress to approve amendments to narrow the scope of the Commerce Clause and broaden the 10th Amendment on states’ rights. Among other changes, the proposal calls for adding a sentence to the Constitution declaring that “any power claimed by the Congress shall be construed narrowly by all courts so as not to infringe upon or limit the powers reserved to the States,” and adding that Congress has “no authority … to regulate matters that are primarily intrastate.”

Roberts called the resolution “a significant step towards bringing the control back to the individual states.”

Four of the House State Affairs Committee’s five Democrats voted “no,” with state Rep. Mary Lou Shepherd, D-Prichard, the lone exception.

A similar measure passed the Wyoming Legislature at the urging of that state’s governor, Democrat Dave Freudenthal, and he signed it into law last week, according to his press secretary, Leigh Anne Manlove. Otter said in his letter to lawmakers that he and Freudenthal want to persuade other Western governors to endorse the move, which would require two-thirds approval from each house of Congress and then ratification from three-quarters of the states.

Three comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  Liberty_Bell on March 16 at 7:13 a.m.

  The Confederate Party, has always wanted their previous States Right’s back.

  Thats so they can have the same government as the pre 1868, Fournteenth Amendment Model, after Abraham Lincoln???

  The Stars and Bars Party of loosers, shown best after General Grant, drove old dixie into the dirt.

  Now there dressed up in disguise as the so called GOP?

  And I suppose President Buchanan was a Republican too?

  Where exactly this Governor attended school, is a more important question?

  Must have been Trickey Dick’s GOP, school of Dixie Democrats, dressed up as Republicans, after the 2nd of July, 1964!~

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  force_vector on March 16 at 9:17 a.m.

  Hey Liberty Bell,

  There is no logical comparison to the Confederates and “old dixie” and the current attempt by some states ro reaffirm that this is in fact a republic we live in. The Confederates ran affoul of the constitution when they sought to deny the god given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to certain groups. States rights cannot trump the underlying foundation of the country as a whole. However, the federal government cannot impose upon the states crippling legislation that makes each state unviable on its own, without federal aid.

  Your argument has no validity whatsoever, and your point can easily be dismissed as foolish and uninformed.

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  JVC on March 17 at 11:39 a.m.

  SO…you want the fed’s F35 fighters but you don’t want the feds? Clarity is a very precious commodity these days.