Today the federal government is literally everywhere. It has its
nose in everything, and it has been that way for a long, long
time. In the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798, Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison warned us that if the federal
government were to have the exclusive right to judge the extent
of its own powers, its power would continue to grow â€“
regardless of elections, the separation of powers, and other
much-touted limits on power. The principle behind these
resolutions, that the power of federal government must be
checked by state governments, has gained resurgence in recent
years, and is growing more every day. Fourteen states are now
defying federal laws on marijuana. Nearly two dozen states have
rendered the Bush-era Real ID act null and void by passing laws
or resolutions refusing to comply with it. Two states have
already passed laws to effectively nullify some federal gun laws
or regulations within their borders and more than two dozen
others are considering similar legislation. M