Who is behind the "Tenth Amendment Center" ??

So a few threads have been popping up lately, about cutting water services and power to NSA operations centres which is being backed by a national think tank called, "the Tenth Amendment Center".

You will find a few threads on it. And while I find it applaudable that states move to nix and type of illegal spying which may be carried out in their state. I also question the money and motives behind the push.

The Washington State campaign to cut off all utilities and services to the National Security Agency (NSA) facilities in that state achieved its first success on Wednesday, according to a national think-tank based in Los Angeles.

According to officials at the Tenth Amendment Center, Washington became first state with a physical NSA location to consider the Fourth Amendment Protection Act, which was written and proposed specifically to make life extremely difficult for the powerful and super-secret spy agency.

www.examiner.com...

Sources close to the Tenth Amendment Center indicate lawmakers in several other states will introduce the bill in the coming weeks.

tenthamendmentcenter.com...

ATS Thread on Tennessee

The bill was drafted and lobbied for by the Tenth Amendment Center, a national think-tank, which seeks to impede

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The founder seems to be Michael Boldin:

The odd man out was Michael Boldin, the founder of the Tenth Amendment Center, a tiny California think tank that cosponsored the event. Unshaven and dressed in jeans, an untucked button-down shirt, and hipster glasses, Boldin stood out from the crowd, which included the obligatory Tea Partier in a tricornered hat. The 37-year-old Wisconsin native told me that the Moore who'd inspired his activism was Michael, not Roy. Boldin describes himself as a "recovering Catholic" and reads Mother Jones. He got into politics because of the invasion of Iraq and has come to believe "that most of what the federal government does, from foreign to domestic policy, is a constitutional violation."

www.motherjones.com...

Some issues/arguments that the Tenth Amendment Center supported in the past was also supported by Fox News, and the John Birch society.

Nullification is back. And it is getting heated.

For the uninitiated, nullification is a theory of constitutional Tenth Amendment powers wherein states are said to have the power to declare federal law that it deems unconstitutional to be null and void within the boundaries of that state.

Yes, that nullification. The one that compelled Congress to authorize military force and Andrew Jackson that same year to mobilize the armed forces against South Carolina to execute a federal tariff law in 1833.

The same nullification that has been struck down as unconstitutional every single time it has come up in federal court, in United States v. Peters (1809), Osborn v. Bank of the United States (1819), Ableman v. Booth (1859), Cooper v. Aaron (1958), and others, as recently outlined in an Americans for Limited Government Foundation paper by Dr. Bradley Gitz of Lyon College.

The same nullification that had James Madison almost to his dying day speaking out against the doctrine, and defending himself against the charge that he had ever supported it. Of nullification, in 1834, he wrote, “A plainer contradiction in terms, or a more fatal inlet to anarchy, cannot be imagined.”

You know, the doctrine that outright defies the Constitution’s supremacy clause and attempts to overthrow the federal judiciary as the final arbiter of what is and is not constitutional.

Most recently, the issue has come up between nationally syndicated talk show host and best-selling author Mark Levin, arguing against nullification, and the Tenth Amendment Center, the Washington Times, Fox News’ Judge Andrew Napolitano, and the John Birch Society’s New American arguing in favor.



Read more at NetRightDaily.com: netrightdaily.com...

Now, the reason I ask this is because any time a cause or issue seems to gain traction in the public consciousness, it tends to get usurped by some larger entity which will inevitably use the cause for their own goals. So I am curious, what kind of big money, has started backing this group, as it seems to be founded by meagre means. But must have some lobbying power. (At least at the state level.)

Whats also interesting is the leaks and the information coming out about spying programs, seems to indicate that a lot of spying power was used over private business and possibly stock market manipulation, currency manipulation, etc.

If this is true, that means there are private industries out there which have suffered because of information being used for something it wasn't intended to. If a company has suffered because of this, the entire spying program becomes a target for anyone allied with these companies.

Making a large influx of money into a campaign like this, not so suspect in nefarious objectives, but perhaps just to right a wrong or two.

So, anyone have any good info or theories on this one?

I'm not sure what it's all about but as soon as I read this it raised a red flag in my mind....

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tenthamendmentcenter.com...


The fees are $50.00 per year, $200.00 for a five year membership or $1000.00 for a lifetime membership.

I'm a member of ATS and not one time have they asked for $$$$ in order for me to be a member.

Just saying I would like to know how my money is being used before I write a check.

Proudly wear the Tenther label with pride and become a card-carrying member of the TAC. Your membership support helps us continue the pressure,

I seem to recall a certain political party in Germany tried this once... It didn't end well... Something something judas star..

reply to post by justreleased

The fees are $50.00 per year, $200.00 for a five year membership or $1000.00 for a lifetime membership.

I'm a member of ATS and not one time have they asked for $$$$ in order for me to be a member.

Actually if anything that is not a red flag, it's the opposite. Many different interest groups that are grass roots make you pay for memberships. Even professional associations. But, if that's how they are raising their funds it means they don't have large corporate interest donors deciding their mandates (for the most part.)

I do think it's possible it's simply a grass roots campaign.

It would be interesting to see if they end up getting the full wrath of the federal government though, if it is…

MessageforAll

Proudly wear the Tenther label with pride and become a card-carrying member of the TAC. Your membership support helps us continue the pressure,

I seem to recall a certain political party in Germany tried this once... It didn't end well... Something something judas star..

Didn't WWF (the wildlife fund) have the same thing back in the 80s?

No reason to make associations like that without adding a lot to support it.

I probably should have read this earlier:

Michael Boldin is the founder and executive director of the Tenth Amendment Center (TAC), an organization that favors “nullification” of federal laws it considers unconstitutional. Founded in 2007, the TAC is based on an expansive reading of the Tenth Amendment, which says that those “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Boldin describes the TAC, which offers model bills and resolutions on its website, as “a non-partisan think tank that supports the principles of strictly limited constitutional government.” Boldin evidently runs the organization from his home, which also houses Webstores, LLC, where he is listed as manager.

www.splcenter.org...

The organization seems to be put together on a shoe string, with some articles citing hundreds and in some cases thousands of volunteers* that have helped in causes they've pushed for.

Past issues they have lobbied against include NDAA*, Real ID*.

I can't find ulterior motives nor can I find a large industry pushing this group. Which makes me curious how many of the "alternative news" outlets, as well as the interest groups, who are going to give them press coverage.

To me, actions are far more telling than words. So if the TAC is solely focused on limiting overstepping federal gov, it's interesting how others who've been touting those lines will react. Etc, etc.

I guess it's still possible the gun lobby, could either be supporting or planning to usurp it. But I don't have anything to indicate that. Merely that 2nd amendment was an issue they were focused on, but probably deserves more attention.**

edit on 23-1-2014 by boncho because: (no reason given)

When something becomes an issue in media, I don't ask myself if it's true, I ask myself, "Why do they want people to be thinking / reacting about it in this way?"

Who is they? I don't know but they are at a supra-national level if historical consideration of news and following events matters.

Do I think they want state independence, such as via 10th amendment claims? God no. That doesn't mean they don't want the chaos / turbulence that such claims might generate though.

One can't impose certain things without an excuse. Our people have failed to behave like Egypt or Spain to provide excuses of that nature. The worst we did was gather a bunch of people with signs and celebrities with guitars to sit outside the banks. And that was only a very tiny few. What would it take to inspire us to rebel enough to need to be curbed? Well apparently bad stuff doesn't do it, given the amount of ## we've put up with the last decade. Ah, but will *good* stuff inspire us to rebel? To think we have a chance?

wiki on martial law:

when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively (e.g., maintain order and security, or provide essential services), when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law becomes widespread. Fundamentally it is a requirement put on civilian government when they fail to function correctly.