States -- Pushing Back Against The Fed?

A reminder:

"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."

This is the 10th Amendment.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Now this interesting little movement, as reported by the AP: Utah Governor Gary Herbert on Saturday authorized the use of eminent domain to take some of the U.S. government’s most valuable parcels.

Yes, LBers, you’ve read that correctly: a state has invoked eminent domain in order to take back land from the feds.

According to the AP, Herbert signed a pair of bills into law that supporters hope will spark similar legislation throughout the West. Many contend that federal ownership of wide parcels of land restricts economic development in an energy-rich part of the country. Many people in Utah are still angry that President Clinton designated a large area in Utah as a national monument in 1996, a move that stopped development on the land.

More than 60 percent of Utah is owned by the U.S. government, and policy makers here have long complained that federal ownership hinders their ability to generate tax revenue and adequately fund public schools.

The fed have pushed the boundaries.

And states, evidently, are starting to push back. States in recent months have signed sovereignty statements, reminders of sorts that the 9th and 10th Amendments imbue the states with certain powers.

I submit: there is precedent for this.

Newton's Third Law of Motion? "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction"?

BZ