Nebraska

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Comment by Dennis Murphy on April 19, 2009 at 2:21pm

I would suggest the following items as an appropriate follow up to the successful tea party gatherings here in NE and nationally.

1. We need to lobby our state legislature to introduce and pass a ‘sovereignty measure’ similar to that enacted in TX, OK and AZ – and presently on the legislative agendas of more than a dozen other states. This would ratchet up the symbolic gestures sending a strong message to Washington that the states will no longer tolerate the usurpation of state authority by an over-reaching federal government.

If we are rebuffed by our legislators in this effort with excuses including - it’s too late to introduce new legislation at this point - then we need to immediately draft a statewide initiative to place the measure on the ballot for all state voters to consider.

2. Simultaneously we need to lay the foundation for the introduction and ratification of a Balanced Budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This is the only definitive way to curb excessive spending by an out-of-control federal government. And lest anyone be concerned about hamstringing our response to national emergencies, a properly crafted amendment will provide for suspension of such fiscal restraints in the event of a ‘declared’ war and other specific national emergencies.

While a constitutional amendment is clearly a much larger objective, we are closer than one might think to placing a balanced budget amendment on the national agenda. Details of state applications already delivered to Congress requesting such an amendment can be viewed at www.foavc.org