Glenn Beck's 912 Project Gains Momentum

I wrote this post about Glenn Beck's 912 Project back in March of this year. In that piece, I opined,

"While, as I noted above, I don't expect Glenn Beck to attempt to control the movement, I do expect him, at some point in the near future, to suggest that the local groups consider demanding that candidates for office in 2010 take a pledge to uphold the 912 Project's principles and values, or face opposition from one of the group's members in that locale or district."

I also offered a few sketchy scenarios concerning what could happen in Congress due to the influence or effects of this endeavor.

However, last Friday, when Beck had another live-audience program in the Fox ground floor studio on 6th Avenue, several new developments came to light. I have to say that I was right about the 912 Project spurring political change, but wrong about where and how. No surprise there.

As if taking their cue from Jeb Bush's interview in the Wall Street Journal back in February, and Beck's project, four state legislators from Utah, Texas, Montana and another state which I cannot recall, were in attendance, discussed laws they are introducing or have passed that limit federal actions in their state, as well as a new organization for state lawmakers across the country, the Patrick Henry Caucus.

Listening to various audience members, including Fox News lead Legal Contributor, retired NJ Judge Andrew Napolitano, and a Tenth Amendment expert, it became clear that what many people feel ails our nation is not a partisan issue, but a state's rights issue.

As the Tenth Amendment expert noted, the Constitution was written in such a way as to leave most governmental power to the states, where, it was felt, you'd be electing dozens of local citizens, from small districts, to your own legislator. Accountability would be, presumably, greater in the many, smaller districts.

For example, in my own state of residence, New Jersey, the most densely-populated state in the Union, many state representative districts share a single federal Congressional Representative. Although this state was long-ago captured by liberal attorneys, in theory, what ails my state is fairly easily fixed by many, smallish groups rising up and replacing our state representatives, thus shifting policy. Because running for a state representative seat is much less expensive than a Congressional seat, it should be easier to 'take back' the state, than the federal government.

This is something which, I confess, had not occurred to me quite so clearly prior to viewing Beck's Friday program.

But it became very clear that a lot of state legislators, without partisan labeling, are serious about competing with other states to offer a hospitable, low-tax, low-regulatory climate, with which to attract new business and residents.

Additionally, states are not allowed, legally, to run deficits at all, or for very long. Thus, they tend to have to actually "work." Well, they're supposed to, anyway.

One major debate topic was the unconstitutionality of Barney Frank's call to give federal loan guarantees to California bonds. Several people, including the state legislators, repudiated the right of the federal government to make 49 other states responsible for bailing out California's messed up government and budget.

This does, indeed, sound like a serious "line in the sand" issue. And, in fact, it would seem that California is in danger of legal bankruptcy about a decade ahead of when I predicted to my daughter just last March that this would happen. New Jersey and Illinois are close on its heels.

All of this is, I think, excellent. Rather than partisan bickering about whose party has screwed up Washington more, the issue is morphing into people, through their states, desiring to have such uninfluencable activity and spending reined in by stronger states' rights. Whether Democrat or Republican, people seem to feel aghast and helpless as both parties have, since Teddy Roosevelt, made the federal government more rapacious and unconstitutionally powerful.

Napolitano, I believe, reminded everyone that there are only 13 enumerated federal powers in the Constitution, with the Tenth Amendment reserving the remainder to the states.

I think Beck's 912 Project is already facilitating a structured, productive movement, or movements, to affect federal-level problems in our country. The solutions appear to be taking on a distinctive state-based, populist flavor which will be more answerable to voters in their smaller, more numerous state representative and senate districts.

This would seem to be a very good thing.