With an aggregation of seven GOP candidates vying to unseat Democrat Tom Perriello in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, narrowing the field may be difficult for the average Republican primary voter.

To assist decision making, The Schilling Show Blog and News invited each of the announced GOP aspirants to address one of the Nation’s most critical issues: Importance of the 10th Amendment

Here, in 200 words or less, are the candidates’ unedited responses (or noted failure to respond), in order of receipt:

vergaLaurence Verga
For far too long the federal government has ignored the 10th Amendment. From No Child Left Behind, to the Stimulus Package, and most recently PelosiCare, the federal government is unconstitutionally forcing state and local governments to take actions that it has no authority to mandate.+ If elected your Congressman I vow to do everything in my power to restore the proper Constitutional balance between the rights of the states and those of the federal government.

I am the only candidate who has signed a written pledge to uphold the 10th amendment. I challenge my opponents to do so as well if they want to take the amendment seriously.

mortonFeda Morton
One of the United States’ mightiest accomplishments is the time-tested Constitution which our Founders gave us to limit and govern all national laws. In spite of this, we have had a judiciary which has determined that the Constitution is a “living document” and which has delegated themselves a free hand in rewriting it on a regular basis.

The 10th Amendment represents a classic example of judicial interpretation gone wild. It reads, “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.” History is clear that this amendment was added to allay the fears of many of our founders that we were in danger of having a strong, overriding central government, but because the word “expressly” was not inserted between “not” and “delegated,” the Courts have found a loophole.

The Supreme Court has continued to turn its back on the 10th Amendment and given the Federal Government more power than strict Constitutionalists have deemed to be proper. With the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Clause, the courts have “discovered” all manner of permissions to elevate Washington and suppress state and individual rights.

mcpaddenMike McPadden
The Tenth Amendment is a very simple amendment.+ It states in very simple and clear language what the founders wanted us to understand about the structure of the Constitution.+ The tenth amendment states the following:

“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.”

Very simply what this means is that the Federal Government is only allowed to do what is actually written down in the Constitution saying what it is allowed to do.+ This was referred to by James Madison as the, “enumerated powers “, of the Constitution.+ If the Constitution doesn’t say that the Federal Government can institute universal health care, then it may not.

The Tenth Amendment further states, that if the Constitution does not prohibit the States from doing something then they are free to do it.+ The states are specifically prohibited from printing paper money but they are not prohibited from enacting taxpayer paid statewide health care, so this they are allowed to do.

All power rest with the people.+ The Constitution prohibits nothing to the people, only the state can remove our liberties.

FerrinRon Ferrin
There are often times when something goes from the unknown to nearly omnipresent.

Ever notice how, when you are anticipating the purchase of a car, you suddenly see that model of a car all over? You feel like asking, “Where have they been all along?”

It was unfamiliar before, but all of the sudden, it’s everywhere?

I believe that is what we are about to experience with the 10th Amendment. To most people, the 10th Amendment is a fifth of Vodka served twice!

Many have never read it before and had no idea that the REAL power of this country was placed by the constitution in the hands of the STATES. However, I believe that is about to change. For the first time, states have the motive and popular support to challenge a Federal Government action by the parameters of the 10 amendment.

The 10 amendment can be used to stop Socialized Healthcare, Cap and Trade and the National Debt.

The liberal press has no problem quoting the 1st amendment.

People in trouble plead the 5th.

Trial defendants press for the 6th and 7th

Americans are about to declare the 10th!

With the 10th Amendment, The Federal Government is about to learn that it must answer to the governed.

McKelveyJim McKelvey
The tenth amendment to the Constitution is arguably the clearest statement in the bill of rights. There are powers and duties in the Constitution that spell out the scope of the federal government. The founders included the tenth amendment to help all of us understand where the power lies, powers that the Constitution did not impart on the government. It is clear and direct; it needs no interpretation, but it does need defending.

The Federal Government has studiously ignored it entirely. This was to be a failsafe, a binding chain wrapped tightly around the government so as to prevent them infringing on the people’s and the states’ rights. However, it is continuously avoided by excuses, and poor interpretation of other parts of the constitution.+ As it is said, the devil is in the detail, and every illegitimate law Congress passes has one of these “excuses” built in. That excuse is commonly the mandate to provide for the general welfare or regulate commerce among the States. +Congress cannot persist on this track! Our representatives take an oath to defend the Constitution, yet they try to subvert it at every turn. The damage can be fixed, but time is of the essence.

HurtRobert Hurt
The Tenth Amendment to our Constitution makes law the fundamental balance of powers between the federal government, the states and the individual. It reflects the founding principles that have made this country great – limited government; free markets; and individual liberty. Our Founders would be alarmed at the power the federal government has seized over the last two centuries.

Like many of you, I am concerned that this federal expansion of power has resulted in unlimited government and diminished individual liberty. It seems that there is not any aspect of life that is not regulated by the federal government – whether it is in our homes, our schools, in our businesses, and on our farms. Now the federal government has taken over private companies and is poised to take over our healthcare system.

In Virginia, we are standing up for limited government and individual liberty.++ In fact, as a member of the Virginia General Assembly, I have cosponsored legislation that seeks to challenge the authority of the federal government to enact an unconstitutional federal takeover of our healthcare system. If elected to Congress, I pledge that I will continue to fight to reduce the size and influence of the federal government and to restore this country’s founding principles.

Ken Boyd—Declined to participate.

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Rob Schilling is founder of the multi-award-winning Schilling Show Blog and News, proprietor of Schilling Show Media; host of both the Schilling Show Unleashed Podcast and WINA's The Schilling Show heard weekdays at noon; husband; father; worship leader, Christian recording artist and Community Watchdog.

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