From State Senator Bruce Patterson's (R-7) latest Legislative Report to constituents, which is paid for by tax dollars.
Here's a direct link to the resolution. It was passed by the State Senate on September 17, by the way.
Tenthers are people who basically think that the Tenth Amendment renders everything the federal government does unconstitutional. They also conveniently chose to ignore over two hundred years of court decisions where the relationship between the states and the federal government has been shaped.
Ian Millhouser writes at the American Spectator
These efforts are all part of a movement whose members are convinced that the 10th Amendment of the Constitution prohibits spending programs and regulations disfavored by conservatives. Indeed, while "birther" conspiracy theorists dominate the airwaves with tales of a mystical Kenyan baby smuggled into Hawaii just days after his birth, these "tenther" constitutionalists offer a theory that is no less radical but infinitely more dangerous.
Tentherism, in a nutshell, proclaims that New Deal-era reformers led an unlawful coup against the "True Constitution," exploiting Depression-born desperation to expand the federal government's powers beyond recognition. Under the tenther constitution, Barack Obama's health-care reform is forbidden, as is Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The federal minimum wage is a crime against state sovereignty; the federal ban on workplace discrimination and whites-only lunch counters is an unlawful encroachment on local businesses.
The emphasis is mine.
He concludes:
After years of raging against mythical judges who "legislate from the bench," tenther conservatives now demand a constitution that will not let anyone legislate at all.
Nationally prominent "Tenthers" include Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Senator Jim DeMint (R-NC), Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas. Now that's some mighty fine company for State Senator and State Attorney General hopeful Patterson. |
