Under an unconstitutional proposal by Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn (R), just two people in the state of Texas — the state house speaker and the lieutenant governor — would effectively have the power to suspend any federal law within Texas’s borders, at least temporarily. The legislation creates a 14 member “joint legislative committee on nullification” that is co-chaired by the speaker and lieutenant governor…. [B]y stacking the committee with loyalists, Texas’s speaker and lieutenant governor could effectively pick and choose which federal laws they wish to nullify, so long as they can agree with each other about what laws to target. Or, at least, they could do so if this proposal were constitutional.
I’m always amused by Conservatives who believe in the sanctity of the Constitution…as long as it can be used for their own selfish ends. When it ceases to be useful, the Constitution becomes, in the words of George W. Bush, just “just a g——-n piece of paper.” Dan Flynn’s hypocrisy is no different, though it’s arguably worse and more craven, because his bill would essentially allow Texas to secede from the Union one law at a time. Flynn’s proposed committee doesn’t mean that Texas will expect less from the feds…just that they’ll gradually consider Texas less beholden to the federal government even as they demand full benefits.
I’d devote a whole lot of energy to ridiculing Flynn and debunking his absurd bill…but it’s patently unconstitutional, so why bother. Flynn’s premise is “nullification”- the long-since recognized as unconstitutional idea that a state can declare a federal law null and void within its own borders. The problem with that theory is that the Constitution declares that federal “shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.” State legislators or executives simply don’t have the legal right to pick and choose which laws they agree with and will thus enforce.
There’s some sound political calculus behind Flynn’s nullification bill. By painting the federal government as the “Big Bad Wolf,” politicians can deflect voter attention from the more serious and intractable problems they lack the leadership and wherewithal to face and focus on the “bully” in Washington. If only the federal government would just leave us alone and let Texans take care of business…but they’d damned well better continue sending us our checks.
Flynn’s bill containing his proposal was only filed earlier this month, so it remains to be seen whether it will gain steam in the legislature. There is, however, at least some signs that a grand proposal for nullification will be taken seriously in Texas — in 2011, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed a law purporting to nullify a 2007 law signed by President George W. Bush that gradually phases out older, less energy efficient light bulbs.
It sure is nice to know that Conservatives in Texas have no problem with doing the heavy lifting of governing, isn’t it? What’s next- demanding the return of leaded gasoline? Banning electric cars? Making incandescent light bulbs the official light source of the Lone Star State? Making Ted Nugent director of the Department of Child Protective Services?
