By Mark David Blum, Esq.

Thirteen separate nations, now 50, once came together to establish a system of resolving disputes among them as well as to work for their common good. The original intent was to maintain the separateness of the countries while at the same time creating a single nation. As the United States of America, we are conceived as a single nation comprised of 50 States. We are not a single State with a single government. From the first Republican Abraham Lincoln through today’s incumbent, we see a long train of abuses by federal officials as they slowly steal power from the States and invest it in strengthening a federal government.

Central to our constitutional history is the premise that the Founding Document guarantees to all Americans, born and naturalized, certain basic rights and freedoms. It is the responsibility of the Federal Executive and Judiciary to see that these basic laws and protections are available to every American citizen. That is the sole mission of the Federal Government and for no other reason does it exist.

Last year, during a horrendous thunderstorm, airline passengers sat in planes on runways for hours and hours. They had no food, no water, no working bathrooms. The air conditioning inside the plane was turned off. People were trapped and held against their will. Airlines refused to return to gates or let people disembark.

In response, first New York and now California legislated a Bill of Rights for airline passengers. Not obnoxious documents; these passenger Bills of Rights assure that New Yorkers and Californians no longer have to suffer as prisoners of greedy merciless airlines. While certainly lacking in any real relief for the airline passenger, these Bills were a good start.

This week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals declared the New York law invalid. Properly holding that the F.A.A. (read: Federal Government) determines policies and practices of airlines using the nation’s air space, the Court held that New Yorkers no longer have a passenger Bill of Rights. California’s law will suffer the same fate.

A vital plank of our constitutional republic is the understanding that while we are all American citizens, we are likewise citizens of our respective States and Commonwealths. Nowhere is a State prohibited from providing greater rights and benefits than assured by the Federal Constitution. The Federal Constitution establishes the bare minimum. States are free to go above and beyond that.

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution makes the premise clear. In recognizing that only certain powers had been surrendered by the People and the States for the greater good in the creation of a Federal Government, our Founders made it clear that but-for those enumerated powers and limitations, EVERY other right and freedom belongs to the States and to the People.

In the Passenger Bill of Rights situation, this clash becomes most clear. The nation’s airlines are regulated by the Federal Government and as such, said the Court, only the Federal government has the authority to regulate and legislate rules and regulations for airlines. At the same time, New York and California have the absolute right to provide more protection and rights to their citizens than does the federal government.

For example: California and ten other States legalized medical marijuana. The federal government opted to round up these Americans and prosecute them under Federal narcotics trafficking laws; the toughest in the world. The Supreme Court said Federal law trumps State law. Compare that with laws enacted in Oregon which legalized assisted suicide. When confronted with the issue, the Supreme Court went the exact opposite direction and upheld Oregon’s law notwithstanding the same act being illegal under federal law.

No longer is a State free to regulate the health, education, welfare, and policing of its citizens. Now all States must surrender any rights and benefits conferred which are above and beyond protections recognized by Congress. Since Congress cannot even shield Humvees in Iraq, how much can we trust them to protect our rights as New Yorkers? The Supreme Court has already given carte blanche to the Federal Government to dismantle every right in every State that is more protective than how the Federal government interprets them.

Since the federal government has taken a position opposite to the wishes of the people of the several states, the issue is resolved by the Supremacy Clause and Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The Feds win.

From my perspective, if the federal government is going to strip away rights of the People of the several states, then fair is fair. Get the federal government’s airplanes out of New York. Ban landing rights for any airline that will not volunteer to comply with New York law. Impose tariffs and taxes on passengers who patronize airlines that do not comply with New York law. Better yet, order the airlines and F.A.A. to be compliant with State Law that is not inconsistent with Federal law notwithstanding that New York citizens may have rights than do our federal overseers.

The alternative is to keep surrendering States rights to the growing Republican monster. New York, California, and the remaining 48 States will cease to exist beyond their good name. Should this trend continue, we will indeed become ‘One Nation, Under God’. I can not think of anything more anti-American in principle or idea.