RJ Harris: Nullification is a States Way to Remedy a Contract Breach.

Many are talking about how to cure the damage done by the recent health care bill that will be signed into law today. Contrary to my opponent Tom Cole telling us today that we should simply accept that we are over the proverbial barrel, there is a way for us to fight back now. Of course we can also be preparing to fight long term by replacing legislators like Cole whose actions in office helped bring the current administration to power which has made the passage of this bill possible.

A fundamental element of all contracts is the ability of the non-breaching party to suspend action on the contract until the breach is cured. Consider most apartment lease contracts where the landlord fails to fix the broken plumbing and the tenant then suspends the rent payment until the plumbing is fixed.

The federal government has breached its contract (constitution) with the states by way of the recent health care bill in that it forces citizens to purchase a service and provides for severe penalties for non-compliance. The power to make citizens purchase anything appears nowhere in the constitution…not even the commerce clause. Additionally, the bill itself exceeds the Congresses power to provide only for the general welfare of the federal government by attempting to provide for the individual welfare of citizens.

Sovereigns only contract with other sovereigns which means that the act of entering into a contract with the states by the federal government concedes the point of state sovereignty.

Thus it is the sovereign right of states, as parties to the contract, to suspend action on the contract or elements of the contract until the breach(s) are cured. These suspensions are known at the sovereign level as nullifications.

Contrary to Coles comments today on KTOK, it does not avail the federal government to claim provisions of the contract, such as the supremacy clause, when the contract is in breach. That is like the landlord demanding the rent payment because the lease says it is owed while admitting that he has not fixed the plumbing. And Cole telling us to put up with the landlord’s behavior is akin to the landlords lawyer telling the tenant to shut up an pay the rent since the landlord is a rich and powerful man and us lowly tenants can’t hope to ever beat him.

Many believe that it is only the Supreme Court that can declare and cure a contract breach by deeming some action “unconstitutional.” However, this power known as judicial review/construction does not appear anywhere in the constitution and was simply taken by the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison and represents the Judicial Branch’s own breach of the contract alongside those committed by both the legislative and executive branches. Furthermore, in common contract law the aggrieved party is allowed to immediately suspend action on the contract and the courts only get to rule on that action after the fact. To continue the example, if the landlord sues the tenant for non-payment of rents, all the tenant has to do is show up in court with the proof of the contract breech to have his suspension of the contract recognized at which time the burden of proof switches to the landlord to show that he is not in breech or that he has or is going to fix the plumbing. What this means is that states should use nullification to declare a breach and suspend action on the defective portions of the contract UNTIL the court actions commence rather than initiating the court actions and then WAITING for a ruling. MAKE the federal government initiate the court actions if they dare. And even if the Supreme Court rules against our states how are they to enforce such a ruling? Sovereigns comply with contracts because they choose to or not. Short of sending the army to invade Oklahoma and 30-40 other states to enforce compliance there is nothing the federal government can do if our state refuses to enforce or prevents enforcement of the unconstitutional legislation.

To effect this remedy requires action from our state legislatures as only they have the sovereign power to declare the breach and suspend action on the contract on our behalf. In other words, only the actual signer of the original lease, not the subletting roommates, can suspend action when the lease is breached. If the primary tenant, the lease signer, refuses to take action on the breach, the roommates are stuck with no plumbing and no way to rectify the problem.

What does all this mean…call your state legislator as soon as possible and demand that they take action suspending the breached portions of the contract with the federal government until those breeches are cured. In this case the breach of contract is the forced compliance with this unconstitutional bill. This action is called nullification.

About RJ Harris:

RJ Harris is a currently serving nineteen-year Oklahoma Army National Guard Officer, two-time Iraq War Veteran and U.S. Congressional Candidate for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District. He is a University of Oklahoma graduate in Philosophy and a second year law student at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. RJ is a Constitutional Conservative Republican and Liberty Candidate. He has appeared on Fox News’ Freedom Watch twice with Judge Andrew Napolitano and been the featured guest on conservative/libertarian talk-radio programs across the country. www.rjharris2010.com

If you enjoyed this post:
Click Here to Get the Free Tenth Amendment Center Newsletter,

Or make a donation to help keep this site active.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 8:37 am. It is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.