September 2011
“When in the Course of human events,
it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to
assume among the powers of the earth,
the separate and equal station to which
the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God
entitles them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness. That to secure
these rights, governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed. That
whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter
or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation
on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their Safety
and Happiness. … But when a long train
of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object evinces a
design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their
duty, to throw off such Government, and
to provide new Guards for their future
security…”
-Thomas Jefferson
Texas Governor Rick Perry
On Sunday, May 17, 2009, Governor
Perry stated the following: “About a
month ago, I stood with a bipartisan
group of Texas legislators to speak in
support of a resolution honoring the 10th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The resolution simply restates the
Constitution’s principle of federalism -
that powers not granted to the national
government, nor prohibited to the
states, are reserved to the states or
the people.
“At a time when the federal government
is passing trillion-dollar bailouts,
bullying states to increase taxes and
bureaucracies, and even
taking control of private companies, Americans are increasingly reconnecting with the concept of LIMITED GOVERNMENT in that amendment. “I can’t say I was surprised that critics recast my defense of federalism and fiscal discipline into advocacy for secession from the Union. I have never advocated for secession and never will. “Like the president, members of Congress and every other state governor, I have sworn oaths to our nation and Constitution. My sincere pledge to uphold and defend the Constitution has fueled my concern and my statements about recent unprecedented expansion of our federal government. “The tea parties that rose up across the country are examples of what Thomas Jefferson, an architect of our Constitution, meant when he said, “Every generation needs a new revolution.” In our time, informed dissent is taking shape in response to Washington’s unprecedented excess. When Congress and the resident [in the White House] make plans to increase the federal debt by one-third in just the administration’s first 100 days, citizens and taxpayers should be worried. When federal stimulus bills force state governments to change long-standing laws, raise taxes and INCREASE government spending, citizens and taxpayers should be outraged. The swollen river known as the federal government has clearly overflowed its banks.
