Editorial by Dade Phelan

The Fourth of July is a uniquely American celebration observed in our own patriotic tradition with family and friends. A holiday marked by fireworks, BBQs and parades. Amidst your festivities, I urge you to remember the true reason for celebration.

It is a day to reflect on independence, that much is true, but not just independence from the British Empire but independence from an all powerful, centralized government. When the founding fathers of this country put their lives in immediate peril by crafting and adopting the immortal words of separation, they did so in the name of free and independent states not as “America”. In 1783 Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens traveled to France and negotiated the Treaty of Paris ending the war and establishing peace. Article 1 of that agreement reads as follows: “His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.” The individual states were named individually for a reason.

Four years after the Constitution Convention the 10^th Amendment was adopted in 1792 stating: “The 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.” The politicians of the time were doubling down on state sovereignty making it crystal clear that all authority and power not explicitly granted by the Constitution are explicitly granted to the individual states.

Through illegitimate executive orders and an overbearing Commerce Clause this nation has disregarded the true Declaration of Independence and the 10^th Amendment. We have succumbed to an almighty Washington, DC. The current administration might as well be King George III as we have lost our independence as separate states.

When the Texas Legislature convenes for the 85^th Legislative Session in January, 83% of our state budget will already be written. The bulk of that mandated by federal law and court rulings. Our free will has been supplanted by federal regulation. The State of Texas knows what is best for its people. What works here does not work in Vermont. What the people of California want is not what the people of Louisiana need. We must demand a return to state sovereignty. We can no longer accept the edicts of an overreaching President and a runaway Supreme Court.

The founding fathers knew a time like this would come. This Fourth of July please honor the independence they fought for and make a pledge to fight for it again.

It is an honor to serve the citizens of Southeast. If I may ever be of assistance, please contact me at dade.phelan@house.state.tx.us, 512.463.0706 or 409.745.2777.

 

May God bless you all and the great state of Texas,

 

Dade Phelan is Texas House Member Representative for District 21