Local law enforcement agencies around the country are acquiring drones at a dizzying pace, often with financing from the federal government, asset forfeiture, and in some cases, private grants. According to a report released last spring by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, 347 local agencies in 43 states acquired…
In fact, there was a time in the not so distant past that two presidents...two...vetoed bills that would have provided money to drought-stricken farmers and flood victims.
The bottom line is the federal government has a very narrow range of actions that it can legitimately take against a state or local government that doesn't do its bidding.
Can the federal government just withhold all money to get state and local governments to do things? The short answer is no.
In 1817, James Madison vetoed a federal infrastructure spending bill on the grounds that the federal government had no such power under the constitution.
This question arrived in response to our new State of the Nullification Movement Report: how do you feel about sanctuary cities? Can San Francisco, for example, insist that the Federal government continue giving them money but not enforce the Federal laws that the money is supposed to pay them to do? My response (personally-identifying information…
Unfortunately many Americans confuse defense spending with military spending.
Yet another town has rejected grants covered by HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, effectively nullifying a federal program designed to gain control over local communities. Castle Rock, a city of 55,000 people in central Colorado, along with Sedgwick County, Kansas, and Douglas County, Colorado, have all recently refused funds from the federal government’s Department…
Yet another town has rejected grants covered by HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, effectively nullifying a federal program designed to gain control over local communities. Castle Rock, a city of 55,000 people in central Colorado, along with Sedgwick County, Kansas, and Douglas County, Colorado, have all recently refused funds from the federal government’s Department…
Despite growing awareness and even public outrage in the wake of unrest in Ferguson, the federal government continues to equip state and local police departments with military weapons. According to a new report by Open the Books, the feds transferred $2.2 billion worth of military gear to state and local agencies through Federal Program 1033…