Throw the Bums Out with Nullification

Ain’t no better time for throwing the bums out than right now.

Unfortunately, it seems Americans have been saying that since 1783.

That was the point of the Republican Revolution of 1800 and every subsequent attempt to check the power of the general government.

Throw ’em out and things will be better.

But what if that doesn’t work? I know that’s a rhetorical question.

It never works.

We can all recall a few moments in American political history when things seemed to be going the “right” way.

How did that work out long term?

Bigger government, more foreign wars, more taxes, more spending, more corruption, more “progressive” destruction of traditional society.

It never works, and “voting better” is the very definition of insanity.

But States do have an ace up their sleeve, a tactic they could use any time that has always worked.

Nullification.

“I kid,” you say.

Nope.

Think about it.

When colonial leaders used “nullification” against unjust and unconstitutional British taxes in 1765, what happened? The taxes were repealed.

When Jefferson and Madison invoked the “compact fact” of the Constitution in 1798 and both Kentucky and Virginia nullified the Alien and Sedition Acts, what happened? The Republicans swept to victory and either repealed or let the odious laws expire.

When South Carolina nullified the tariffs of 1828 and 1832, what happened? Congress reduced the tariffs.

When Northern States nullified the Fugitive Slave Law throughout the 1830s and 1840s, what happened? The Supreme Court sided with these States by ruling that States did not have to use State resources to enforce federal laws.

Nullification can take many forms. It can be non-compliance or the simple act of ignoring federal law, something several States currently have done with drug legalization.

And it works, all the time.

Throwing the bums out is great, but making them irrelevant is even better.

I talk about nullification on Episode 863 of The Brion McClanahan Show.