Arizona Senate President tells Tea Party: You are not US citizens

Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearce (R) claimed last week that Americans are not citizens of the United States but citizens of their respective states.

"Most of us weren’t around when the Constitution was written," Pearce said during his speech at an Oceanside Tea Party rally. "But you remember we kind of existed before Congress, the states. We created the Congress, we created the federal government, by contract. Do you know what existed before the Congress? The states."

Members of the Arizona Legislature, led by Pearce, have introduced a bill that attempts to grant the Arizona the power to ignore federal laws it does not want to comply with.

"Do you know, you’re not a citizen of the United States," Pearce continued. "You’re a citizen of a sovereign state. The fifty sovereign states make up United States of America, we’re citizens of those sovereign states. It is not a delegated authority. It’s an inherent authority that states have over the federal government."

If passed and signed into law, Senate Bill 1433 would create a 12-member committee within the state legislature with the power to review and recommend to the full legislature laws they think are unconstitutional. The full legislature would then have the power to nullify the federal statute by a majority vote.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/21/arizona-senate-president-tells-tea-party-you-are-not-us-citizens/

Will we have to whip their asses again?

Wasn't it that sort of attitude that caused the Civil War?

Maybe it was a mistake to admit Arizona to the Union. ;-)

can I have their fed dollars?

know that the United States of America came into being in 1789?

"Most" of them weren't around when the Constitution was written? That was, what, 1787? I wonder how many folks in Pearce's audience were 224 years old, if only "most" of them weren't around when the Constitution was written.

Anyway, pretty tall words for a Senator from a state that wasn't even in existence when the first World Series was played, or when the San Francisco Earthquake occurred. We really need to fund schools better, and teach civics so that numbskulls like this can be relegated to the back bench of the loony ward where they belong.

a lot of these AZ pols seem to be zombies.

;-)

that there's a recall effort against this buffoon. Oh, btw, send your federal dollars to Cali....we could use them.....

I signed one petition, I'm looking for the other. You can't roll them over onto the other one, I need to sign both.

Can we just go ahead and let them do it?

Let's just return them to territorial status. ;-)

airspace.

We should also charge them a lease on all things like dams and aquaducts that are federal (army corps. of engineers?) property.

Show those landlocked dickheads how badly they need the union, LOL.

Also donkeys, as through the Grand Canyon. ;-)

and mexico can have them, if you ask me!

It wasn't until 1821 that Arizonans became Mexicans. ;-)

If he wants to go that far back
(before the federal government's creation).

:shrug:

Or, maybe he should petition England with his grievances ?

The states didn't go it alone then, or they would have FAILED.

"But you remember we kind of existed before Congress, the states. We created the Congress, we created the federal government, by contract. Do you know what existed before the Congress? The states."

Wrong. The states were simply colonies of England, governed by England. The correct answer to the question "do you know what existed before the Congress?" is King George, and England.

They united into the U.S. because they were not being successful either as 13 separate entities or as a loose confederation.

not the state where I reside! What a dumbass!

My US passport states: "The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid with protection."

edited to include passport info.

It seems like this kind of rhetoric comes from someone who was born and raised in a state and never wants to leave. So myopic and archaic.

Kick him out now.

And should they be deported where Arizona will lose all that revenue?

do we have to declare no loyalty to the state we left so we can be sworn into citizenship in the new state?


What a fool. We are citizens of a country and residents of states.


And I would think this law would be unconstitutional since the division of laws is in the constitution already.

or any country that will take his alien ass.

150 years ago to disprove the notions of this dim-wit.
If you do not understand the history of this nation any better
than this my adise is to SDASTFU.

to an earlier post about it. It was model legislation from ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, written with the help of representatives from the Corrections Corporation of America (ALEC brings corporate representatives and conservative state legislators together; it's a giant lobbying/advocacy group in the guise of an "educational" "charity"):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x591230#611482

ALEC is involved in a lot of these efforts across the nation to limit federal powers and nullify federal laws (especially laws that might regulate the businesses funding those politicians):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x591230#715485

This latest Arizona bill is more extreme than any I've heard of, but since they managed to get the immigration bill through, Pearce apparently thinks he can keep pushing. According to what I read on multiple sites last night, it took at least two votes to get this bill passed in the Arizona Senate. I haven't been able to find out what's happening to the bill in the Arizona House.

But the craziness of all of this has some liberal Arizonans wanting to secede from the state:

http://tucsoncitizen.com/view-from-baja-arizona/2011/03/21/baja-arizona-movement-has-its-own-web-site-start-our-state/

that's what we do with non US citizens

this was all decided long ago. Only the insane cling to the idea of States being Supreme to the Federal. Why do we give insane people so much power in this country?

All the rest of the states were created under the auspices of the U.S. (and the two 'republics' really were).

And in any case, the colonies that formed the U.S. did form a UNITED States.

I am primarily a citizen of the U.S., only incidentally a citizen of whatever state I happen to live in -- in my case the "Republic of Texas" (and formerly of the "Republic of California").

And both my current governor and the Arizona Senate president are basically traitors to the U.S.

Vermont

"Members of the Arizona Legislature, led by Pearce, have introduced a bill that attempts to grant the Arizona the power to ignore federal laws it does not want to comply with."

Fine, then you get no Fed dollars.

What a dunce.

Can you imagine?

AZ goes back to the peso. Good plan.

They're so cute when they talk stupid.

Amendment <1868> Section 1--All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

:thumbsup:

yup

Well, under Arizona law, shouldn't their whiny teabagging asses be rounded up and deported?????

i think about arizona and then i realize there are some even more crazy bastards out there

PORT?!)

Article 2, Section 1: "...a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution..." in the "Natural Born Citizen" clause.

Clearly the concept of being a "Citizen of the United States" was around well before the Constitution was adopted.