There is a nasty tempest brewing here in America between the State governments and the Federal government over the issue of State rights and the 10th Amendment, and it has the markings of a major storm. With President Obama rapidly advancing socialist and Marxist agendas that flaunt and defy the U.S. Constitution, the States are clamoring to regain their 10th Amendment rights that were stolen from them by Congress back in 1913. There is also a growing and valid concern by We the People of these United States that both our State and Federal governments, to include their courts and agents, are grossly out of control—and We the People are genuinely outraged over this constitutional chaos.

The U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of our land, delegated very specific and limited powers to both the State and Federal governments. Before 1913, the concept of "dual-sovereignty" between the State governments and the Federal government was well known and respected in this country. Basically does this concept mean that while both the State and Federal governments are sovereign in their respectively delegated spheres of activity, neither are sovereign over the other or independent in function—and neither have any sovereignty over We the People (for ultimate power rests with the People and not with Government). The wisdom and beauty of the Constitution is that it cleverly established an elaborate system of checks and balances to protect State and Federal government from each other and to protect We the People from the abuse and tyranny of either. However, the problem here is that, for too many long decades now, have our State and Federal governments circumvented and neglected these checks and balances in the pursuit of unconstitutional interests and programs. With the current state of political affairs in this country, now is the right time for Americans to rise out of our apathy and restore our Constitution if we are to bring fresh sanity back to our government and its courts. Otherwise will we lose our hard-earned, blood-bought freedoms and sovereignty as a people and as a nation.

Where We the People were once the masters of our government and its courts, our public servants now fancy themselves to be our masters. With the brazen push of socialism into every stratum of our government and society, in clear and direct violation of everything that our Constitution holds dear and sacred, a day of reckoning is coming for America. While We the People must certainly exhaust all peaceful and lawful means to reign in our unruly and unconstitutional government and its courts, we dare not surrender our guns and safety to the agents of tyranny that confront and challenge us. For the greater good and welfare of this great Republic, let us pray to the Almighty that reason and peace will prevail over force of arms—but prudence demands that we prepare for the worst and keep our guns at the ready. American history has proven the wisdom of such prudence. May the forces and agents of tyranny, whether internal or external, ever fear the resolve and wrath of our great People when we are backed into a corner and forced to defend our lives, freedoms, country, and Constitution.

If our State and Federal governments are truly out of control, as most Americans now sense and fear, then the problem lies not with our Constitution but with our enforcement of it. The system of checks and balances built into the Constitution are only good when faithfully and consistently utilized. We the People have a duty and responsibility to keep a vigilant eye on our government and ensure that it respects the restraints and limits placed on it by our Constitution. When we fail in that duty and responsibility, we encourage the growth of unbridled government and tyranny—and this is what the Framers of our Constitution sought to remedy. It is our legacy and duty to monitor our government and ensure its full compliance with our Constitution, but out of apathy did We the People inappropriately transfer that responsibility to our public servants; and they were all too happy to take advantage of our apathy. Do not blame them, for money and power can corrupt even the best among us (such is human nature). This is why we have a constitutional duty to enforce the checks and balances that ensure full compliance with all aspects of our Constitutional Republic. We do not need a new Constitution to save this Republic; we merely need to enforce the one that we already have.

Before 1913, our U.S. Senators were appointed by their state legislatures and held accountable to these legislatures for their actions and conduct in Washington. The Framers of our Constitution wisely knew that the States needed someone in Washington to protect the States against intrusive regulations from Congress and the Federal government. It was Senators that originally gave states a "veto power" over the House of Representatives. If the House submitted any federal legislation that was damaging to the States' 10th Amendment rights, the Senate could veto that legislation and prevent it from being signed into law. If a Senator refused to do his job well, and to protect his state from intrusive federal legislation, that State could fire him and appoint someone else to replace him in Washington. This system was a check and balance to protect the dual-sovereignty status of both the State and Federal governments. Without this system in place, the States have no check and balance (or veto power) over the actions of Congress.

In 1913 – ironically the same year that the 16th Amendment strapped Americans with an income tax and the IRS – the 17th Amendment stripped the States of their 10th Amendment rights by requiring the states to elect their senators instead of appointing them. After 1913, the Senators were no longer held accountable to their state legislatures and the States could no longer fire them for malfeasance of duty. Congress was then able to force all manner of intrusive and unconstitutional federal regulations over the States, and the States no longer had any power to stop them. Thus the era of Big Government was born in America, and the Framers' concept of dual-sovereignty died.

In essence and in practice did the Federal government use the 17th Amendment to appoint itself sovereign over the State governments and We the People—the Constitution be damned! And out of apathy have We the People allowed our Federal government to get away with this travesty of justice for nearly a century now. The task of undoing the damage that has already been done since 1913 and restoring our States’ 10th Amendment rights will prove to be a most challenging and monumental task, but we dare not pass this challenge on to the next generation if we want our legacy and Constitutional Republic to survive now.

If the States actually want to reclaim their 10th Amendment rights and their former dual-sovereignty status with the Federal government, then they absolutely must repeal the 17th Amendment first. Until the 17th is repealed, the 10th will never be restored; and our Constitution will remain nothing more than a historical item of curiosity in the Smithsonian Library after socialism destroys the very fabric and heritage of this great country.

So remember, the key to restoring the 10th Amendment is to repeal the 17th Amendment and allow the States to again appoint and control their own Senators! Do We the People have the fortitude and courage to get this done now while we still can before socialism and federalism destroy us? I guess only time will tell, but I fear not because of what I see prancing across our nation. We the People just no longer seem to care about our Constitution or our Republic—certainly not our President, Congress, or the Supreme Court. How about you? Do you even care? May God yet spare us Divine judgment for our national sins and apathy.