A reminder to the feds, that the United States is made up of individual States; it’s not a federal authority broken up into political subdivisions.
$11 trillion ‘micromanaging’ price sparks explosion in sovereignty movement
A movement to reclaim for states all rights not specifically designated to the federal government in the U.S. Constitution is exploding across the nation, with 35 states already acting or at least considering such proposals – and one state lawmaker estimating the nation as a whole could save $11 trillion in coming years if it would succeed.WND reported not long ago when the number of states with lawmakers considering such sovereignty efforts reached 20.Now, according to the Tenth Amendment Center,such provisions have been launched in at least 35 states. They all address the Tenth Amendment that says: “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.”
Tom Daschle is the human toe fungus of Washington — a persistent infection that may disappear from time to time, but always comes back with a vengeance.
Despite abandoning his secretary of health and human services nomination in disgrace in February 2009, the K Street tax cheat who evaded IRS rules for years remains a top White House confidante and policy strategist. In fact, he’s leading the drive to save Obamacare. He climbed up from under the bus back into the Oval Office and onto the sets of “Meet the Press” and “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” to offer his rescue plan.
CRITICAL thinking is a rich concept that has been developing throughout the past 2500 years. The term “CRITICAL thinking” has its roots in the mid-late 20th century. We offer here overlapping definitions, together which form a substantive, transdisciplinary conception of CRITICAL thinking.
As the US and Iranian governments escalate tensions in the already volatile Straits of Hormuz, and China and Russia begin openly questioning Washington’s interference in their internal politics, the world remains on a knife-edge of military tension. Far from being a dispassionate observer of these developments, however, the media has in fact been central to increasing those tensions and preparing the public to expect a military confrontation. But as the online media rises to displace the traditional forms by which the public forms its understanding of the world, many are now beginning to see first hand how the media lies the public into war.
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) is at the center of negotiations shaping a bill that he promises will add transparency to the complicated, furtive world of financial derivatives, but he cannot remember how much he paid for his house on 10 waterfront acres in Ireland. No wonder confidence in government’s competence continues to erode.
CNSNews.com – At the close of the American Revolution in 1783, Gen. George Washington composed a circular letter to the governors of all the states urging them to imitate “that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion.”
He was, in fact, asking the governors of the nascent United States to imitate JesusChrist. Indeed, Washington told the governors that if Americans failed to imitate Christ’s “example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.”
The book is based on a careful and thorough reading of Washington’s own writings, both personal and public. These words, consistent the length of Washington’s life, paint an unmistakable picture of a quiet, reserved, yet steadfast Christian.
“While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian. The signal instances of Providential goodness which we have experienced and which have now almost crowned our labors with complete success demand from us a peculiar manner the warmest returns of gratitude and piety to the Supreme Author of all good.”
– George Washington
(General of the Continental Army at this time)
[Orders issued on May 2, 1778 by George Washington to his troops at Valley Forge]
I believe my young friends, the twin brothers Brett and Alex Harris, are two model youth leaders. I consider them to be cultural heroes or generational warriors, who are willing to bear the baton of early American values and beliefs, and march forward with a battle cry to raise the expectations and contributions of following generations. They are on the frontlines of battle for our posterity. They possess the heart and gusto to reawaken their generation to our founders’ American dream.
At just 16, they were interns at the Alabama Supreme Court house. And at 19 they wrote their first book, which has now sold more than 250,000 copies since it was first published in mid-2008 – one I encourage everyone to read and give to a teenager or Millennial they know. The book is called “Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion against Low Expectations.”
United States Christian Nation
The Harris brothers summarize their mission in their book with these words (p. 25), “Our uprising won’t be marked by mass riots and violence, but by millions of individual teens quietly choosing to turn the low expectations of our culture upside down.”
I’m releasing two other secret weapons. First, in January 2010, I’m making available a paperback version of my New York Times best-seller, “Black Belt Patriotism,” revised and updated for America’s economic recession and Washington’s new administration. But it’s far more than a political book – it’s a cultural manifesto to reawaken America to our founders’ vision, faith and lifestyle.
Also, for young and old, I’ve finally fulfilled a repeated request from many publishers to produce my new book, “The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book” (released in a month on Nov. 1), in which I have chosen my favorite 101 Chuck Norris facts and share 101 humorous and inspirational related stories – many of which reintroduce Americans and particularly our youth to our founders’ America. Each of the 101 stories centers on one of the five “Fs” from “Chuck’s Code”: freedom, faith, family, fitness or fight. In a world that needs a little lightening up and direction, I’m sure you and every young person you know will appreciate the read. You can pre-order both books by pressing the links above.
On Sept. 28, 1781, Gen. George Washington led a combined force of 17,000 French and Continental troops upon Yorktown (Virginia) and encircled British Gen. Lord Cornwallis and his regiment of 9,000 British troops. Washington bombarded Cornwallis and crew day and night for three weeks with artillery and cannon fire, until Cornwallis surrendered on Oct. 17, 1781. Negotiations for peace began in 1782, with the Treaty of Paris being eventually signed on Sept. 3, 1783, formally ending the eight years of war and securing America’s independence.
The key to victory at Yorktown came when, at the mouth of the Chesapeake, the French navy helped to corner Cornwallis and his crew from fleeing by sea, while Marquis de Lafayette, who under Washington led 5,000 American soldiers, blocked Cornwallis’ escape by land. Lafayette was only 23 years old at the time.
Lafayette was only 16 years old when he joined the Black Musketeers back in France, an elite unit of royal troops that rode black horses. He started fighting in the Revolution in 1777 at only 19, at which time Congress gave him the rank of major general. Two months after the British surrender at Yorktown, Lafayette returned home as a “hero of two worlds.”
Marquis de Lafayette was one of Gen. George Washington’s secret weapons in the American Revolution. Youth are often the key to victory in many revolutions. That’s because people often underestimate their potential or perceived contributions. I believe young people will play a critical role in reawakening and returning America again to its founders’ vision, ways and principles.
It’s amazing for us today to think about how much a young Lafayette sacrificed and accomplished for our country as well as his own. We are still inspired by his example of youthful courage and heroism.
Many adults would say that type of valor rarely exists anymore. But as I meet and hear from young Americans here and around the world, I beg to differ. Though our society often denigrates the teen years and expects very little from our young people, I believe there exists a latent power in this particular generation that waits to be awakened and reveal its full potential.
If we’re going to win America’s culture wars, we need the younger generations to do it. There is no way around it. We need to reengage with our young people and plug them into America’s glorious past so they can build a brighter future. I’m not talking about selling them on a partisan platform but a patriot one (like our founders had). I’m convinced that this is why Ron Paul’s candidacy for president grew into a mighty grassroots swell – it tapped into the technologically and socially based Millennials, who possess a strong anti-imperialism and lets-take-care-of-home mentality and passion.
Much was happening in the first six months of 1961. But an extensive WND investigation into events leading up to the birth of Barack Obama, who would become America’s first black president 47 years later, leaves many unanswered questions about the whereabouts and activities of the woman he claims as his mother.
The timeline for Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, reveals an approximately six-and-a-half month interval in which there is no documentation for her whereabouts, from Jan. 31, 1961, when she concluded the fall term at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, until Aug. 19, 1961, when the University of Washington at Seattle documents she was enrolled for extension courses.
Where was Dunham when she was pregnant with Obama, and what did she do?
Her pregnancy apparently was the one time in her life she withdrew from academic pursuits.
No nation has ever existed or been governed without religion. Nor can be. The Christian religion is the best religion that has been given to man and I, as Chief Magistrate of this nation, am bound to give it the sanction of my example.President Thomas Jefferson
For 11 long years, Kay Griggs heard all the messy details from her military husband, usually while he was drinking before going into one of his drunken stupors. First going public in 1998 in an eight hour video interview with a truth-seeking Michigan pastor and FM radio broadcaster, she now is back after 9/11 to warn Americans to beware of the evil lurking within the highest levels of government, bound and determined to destroy America.
What if the greatest scam ever perpetrated was blatantly exposed, and the US media didn’t cover it? Does that mean the scam could keep going? That’s what we are about to find out.
I understand the importance of the new WikiLeaks documents. However, we must not let them distract us from the new information the Federal Reserve was forced to release. Even if WikiLeaks reveals documents from inside a large American bank, as huge as that could be, it will most likely pale in comparison to what we just found out from the one-time peek we got into the inner-workings of the Federal Reserve. This is the Wall Street equivalent of the Pentagon Papers.
I’ve written many reports detailing the crimes of Wall Street during this crisis. The level of fraud, from top to bottom, has been staggering. The lack of accountability and the complete disregard for the rule of law have made me and many of my colleagues extremely cynical and jaded when it comes to new evidence to pile on top of the mountain that we have already gathered. But we must not let our cynicism cloud our vision on the details within this new information.
Just when I thought the banksters couldn’t possibly shock me anymore… they did.
We were finally granted the honor and privilege of finding out the specifics, a limited one-time Federal Reserve view, of a secret taxpayer funded “backdoor bailout” by a small group of unelected bankers. This data release reveals “emergency lending programs” that doled out $12.3 TRILLION in taxpayer money – $3.3 trillion in liquidity, $9 trillion in “other financial arrangements.”
Wait, what? Did you say $12.3 TRILLION tax dollars were thrown around in secrecy by unelected bankers… and Congress didn’t know any of the details?
Yes. The Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves. The original copy of the Constitution spontaneously burst into flames. The ghost of Tom Paine went running, stark raving mad screaming through the halls of Congress.
The Federal Reserve was secretly throwing around our money in unprecedented fashion, and it wasn’t just to the usual suspects like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, etc.; it was to the entire Global Banking Cartel. To central banks throughout the world: Australia, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, England… To the Fed’s foreign primary dealers like Credit Suisse (Switzerland), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Royal Bank of Scotland (U.K.), Barclays (U.K.), BNP Paribas (France)… All their Ponzi players were “gifted.” All the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations got their cut.
Talk about the ransacking and burning of Rome! Sayonara American middle class…
If you still had any question as to whether or not the United States is now the world’s preeminent banana republic, the final verdict was just delivered and the decision was unanimous. The ayes have it.
Any fairytale notions that we are living in a nation built on the rule of law and of the global economy being based on free market principles has now been exposed as just that, a fairytale. This moment is equivalent to everyone in Vatican City being told, by the Pope, that God is dead.
I’ve been arguing for years that the market is rigged and that the major Wall Street firms are elaborate Ponzi schemes, as have many other people who built their beliefs on rational thought, reasoned logic and evidence. We already came to this conclusion by doing the research and connecting the dots. But now, even our strongest skeptics and the most ardent Wall Street supporters have it all laid out in front of them, on FEDERAL RESERVE SPREADSHEETS.
Even the Financial Times, which named Lloyd Blankfein its 2009 person of the year, reacted by reporting this: “The initial reactions were shock at the breadth of lending, particularly to foreign firms. But the details paint a bleaker and even more disturbing picture.”
Yes, the emperor doesn’t have any clothes. God is, indeed, dead. But, for the moment at least, the illusion continues to hold power. How is this possible?
To start with, as always, the US television “news” media (propaganda) networks just glossed over the whole thing – nothing to see here, just move along, back after a message from our sponsors… Other than that obvious reason, I’ve come to the realization that the Federal Reserve’s crimes are so big, so huge in scale, it is very hard for people to even wrap their head around it and comprehend what has happened here.
Think about it. In just this one peek we got at its operations, we learned that the Fed doled out $12.3 trillion in near-zero interest loans, without Congressional input.
The audacity and absurdity of it all is mind boggling…
Based on many conversations I’ve had with people, it seems that the average person doesn’t comprehend how much a trillion dollars is, let alone 12.3 trillion. You might as well just say 12.3 gazillion, because people don’t grasp a number that large, nor do they understand what would be possible if that money was used in other ways.
Can you imagine what we could do to restructure society with $12.3 trillion? Think about that…
People also can’t grasp the colossal crime committed because they keep hearing the word “loans.” People think of the loans they get. You borrow money, you pay it back with interest, no big deal.
That’s not what happened here. The Fed doled out $12.3 trillion in near-zero interest loans, using the American people as collateral, demanding nothing in return, other than a bunch of toxic assets in some cases. They only gave this money to a select group of insiders, at a time when very few had any money because all these same insiders and speculators crashed the system.
Do you get that? The very people most responsible for crashing the system, were then rewarded with trillions of our dollars. This gave that select group of insiders unlimited power to seize control of assets and have unprecedented leverage over almost everything within their economies – crony capitalism on steroids.
This was a hostile world takeover orchestrated through economic attacks by a very small group of unelected global bankers. They paralyzed the system, then were given the power to recreate it according to their own desires. No free market, no democracy of any kind. All done in secrecy. In the process, they gave themselves all-time record-breaking bonuses and impoverished tens of millions of people – they have put into motion a system that will inevitably collapse again and utterly destroy the very existence of what is left of an economic middle class.
Pray For Those Who Have Lost Their Jobs U6 at 18.3%, Who Have Lost Their Homes, Who Have To Wait 4 Years Before Obamacare Kicks In To At Least Have Austerity Care, and Now Are Told You Cannot Grow Your Own Food. So Lets Give A Round Of Applause To Saxby Chambliss Who Received Over A Half $Million Dollars To Subjected You To Communism By Voting For An Unconstitutional Act.
THANKSGIVING TO GOD
WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLIC THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”
NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the Service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;– for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;– and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;– to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all Sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.
Rangel, facing ethics charges in Congress, has proposed the Universal National Service Act that would require “all persons” from ages 18-42 “to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the nationaldefense and homeland security.”
REP. CHARLIE RANGEL (D., N.Y.): He is being “investigated by the House Ethics Committee in at least four areas, including his reported failure to properly report income taxes on a Caribbean villa in the Dominican Republic; use of four, rent-controlled apartments in Harlem; questions about an offshore firm asking Rangel for special tax exemptions; and whether Rangel improperly used House stationery to solicit donations for a school of public affairs named after him at City College of New York,” Fox News summarizes.
The plan also authorizes “the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, and for other purposes.”
“May Obama be d—–,” he wrote. “It reinstitutes the draft, and is for both males and females … There is no ‘opt-out’ – if you are not ‘fit’ for actual military service, or are a ‘conscientious objector,’ then you are shunted into ‘civilian service’ which is pretty much anything the ‘president’ says it is.”
WND reported when a copy of Obama’s Colorado Springs speech posted online apparently was edited to exclude Obama’s specific references to the new force.
According to the copy of Rangel’s plan, which has been assigned to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel even though it lacks cosponsors, it specifies that “national service” means “military service or service in a civilian capacity that, as determined by the president, promotes nationaldefense, including national or community service and service related to homeland security.”
“It is the obligation of every citizen of the United States, and every other person residing in the United States, who is between the ages 18 and 42 to perform a period of national service as prescribed in this title,” it specifies.
It would require that the president provide “for the induction” of people to the service corps.
“Except as otherwise provided in this section, the period of national service performed by a person under this title shall be two years,” Rangel wrote.
The exceptions provide that the term of service may be extended if the “member” needs to “compensate for any time lost to training for any cause” or “for the purpose of furnishing hospitalization, medical, or surgical care for injury or illness incurred in the line of duty.”
It gives the president the far-reaching authority to “prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out this title,” including what types of “civilian service” are required, “standards of satisfactory performance,” “penalties for failure” and “such other matters as the president determines necessary to carry out this title.”
Conscientious objectors would be ordered “to perform national civiliain service … as the president may prescribe.”
The group Operation Sit In said it is coordinating information to link up those who “have the time to go to D.C. at the drop of a hat to keep the Senate from passing the Universal National Service Act … with those who would like to go to stop it, but cannot afford to lose their jobs by taking off with no notice.”
National Director Larry Richardson said, “Most of those who have the time and freedom of time to go are out of work because of the current economy, and therefore are short on funds to go. So we match those who still have jobs with those who do not, and with everyone doing a little, no one has to do it all.
“We also are arranging for people who live fairly close to D.C., (within 50 or so miles), to let us park our cars on their property, at home or business, so we do not have to worry about them being towed while we are in D.C.,” he said.
“We need every PATRIOT to step up and help in this,” he said.
A spokesman for Rangel’s office, Emile Milne, told WND that nobody knows what such a plan would cost, but presumably those in full-time service to their country as civilians would have to be paid, how many people would be conscripted or other details.
“It would have to move through committee,” he said. “These questions … certainly would be addressed by the relevant committee.”
He said the discussion in Rangel’s office is that those in the civilian corps would work in “education, health care, they could work in our ports, various aspects of security.”
He also said the idea has been a long-term goal for Rangel.
WND reported earlier when Obama signed into law the “GIVE Act,” H.R. 1388, which massively expands the National Service Corporation and allocates to it billions of dollars.
Officials said at that time the law would allow for the “managing” of up to 8 or 9 million people.
That bill includes a “National Service Reserve Corps” whose members have completed a “term of national service,” “training” and “not less than 10 hours of volunteering each year.”
Joseph Farah, founder and editor of WND, used his daily column when the issue originally arose to alert Americans of the plans. He then elevated the issue with a call to all reporters to start asking questions.
“If we’re going to create some kind of national police force as big, powerful and well-funded as our combined U.S. military forces, isn’t this rather a big deal?” Farah wrote. “I thought Democrats generally believed the U.S. spent too much on the military. How is it possible their candidate is seeking to create some kind of massive but secret national police force that will be even bigger than the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force put together?
“Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that? If not, why did he say it? What did he mean?” Farah wrote.
President George Washington Structured The Militia System To Prevent Treason And Tyranny By Public Officials!
George Washington takes the oath of office at Federal Hall in lower Manhattan, April 30, 1789.
On September 17, 1787 George Washington was the first to sign and accept the Constitution even though it had no Bill of Rights. It was Patrick Henry with his great speeches and lectures who in 1788 forced an agreement which promised that continued ratifica- tions of the document depended upon a Bill of Rights to be forthcoming. In 1789 Washing- ton took office and was faced with the arduous task of pioneering the first presidency including the structuring of the militia system. By January 1790 the influence Patrick Henry had over him became quite apparent. When Washington chaired the 1787 Constitutional Convention, provi- sions had been made for the defense of the country against invasion and for stifling rebel- lions, but there was an insuf- ficiency of safeguards to be applied against tyranny brought on by public officials.
By 1790 Washington began work on his “Plan No. 2 for the Organization of the Militia.” By now he was more able to see the weaknesses in the Constitution. He openly discussed the threat of tyranny emanating from within the government. By then, Patrick Henry’s wisdom was spread throughout the 13 original states, and it was inculcated as the basis for the policies and functions of the militia. Henry perpetuated the people’s liberty. He sustained the ultimate authority of the people. Washington well under- stood the need to safeguard the nation from its foreign enemies. In his “Plan No. 2 for the Organization of the Militia” he
Preface
undertook to warn about the dangers of domestic enemies: tyranny in government.
Washington himself took the farmers out for practice, and he utilized the knowledge and experiences of his generals and other valuable officers in the War for Independence by having them instruct and train the citizens (the whole people) in the techniques of soldiering, and the maintenance of an ‘energetic national militia’.
His “Plan No. 2 for the Organization of the Militia” was communicated to the Senate, on the 21st of January 1790. This lengthy Plan was permeated with the proposition that it is the direct duty and responsibility of the people themselves to guard against tyranny from within government.
Washington declared that the purpose of the militia was “to oppose the introduction of tyranny.” He had come a long way from the days when he accepted the Constitution without a Bill of Rights.
To view Washington’s statement in the context in which it was delivered, please look over the following excerpt taken from Pages 7-8 of an old document published by Gales and Seaton in 1832 entitled “American State Papers – Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, from the First Session of the First to the Second Session of the Fifteenth Congress, inclusive: commencing March 3, 1789, and ending March 3, 1819”.
This excerpt is a part of Wash- ington’s lengthy Plan No. 2 of 1790. While he also made re- ference to the prevention of invasion and rebellion, Washing- ton said that “the well informed members of the community (the people) were meant to be the real defence of the country”; and “the virtues and knowledge of the people would effectually oppose the introduction of tyranny.”
He warned that “the government would be invaded or overturned, and trampled upon by the bold and ambitious” — meaning people in our own country who operated without adherence to vital principles. The absoluteness of the right of the people to keep and bear arms is a basic principle. Unless the right to arms is absolute, the people cannot remain the ultimate power. The Bill of Rights confirmed that we possess many other rights beside the absolute right to arms. All of the other rights for the preservation of their own existence, depend entirely upon the absoluteness, the force, and the reasoning that have shaped the Second Amend- ment. Washington agreed with Patrick Henry on the purpose of the militia: It was to “oppose the introduction of tyranny.” Make no mistake about it: The prime reason for the Second Amend- ment is prevention of tyranny in government.
O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul.
It is Christmas Day in Northern Pennsylvania. A freezing, exhausted group of men, led by General George Washington, march through an icy, driving rain and snow.
Barely half of them are healthy enough for duty. Hundreds will collapse from sickness and exhaustion as they march through the night.
One third of them don’t have boots. Their rag-wrapped feet literally leave a trail of blood in the Pennsylvania snow.
But on their shoulders literally rests the fate of the Revolution and the Republic.
Their password — “victory or death” — is not symbolism. It is their reality.
And they have a message for those of us living today:
The next time someone tells you we can’t turn America around;
The next time someone tells you we can’t overcome the challenges we face unless we create a “new” America and a new kind of American –
Tell them to read the story of George Washington and his men.
“While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian. The signal instances of Providential goodness which we have experienced and which have now almost crowned our labors with complete success demand from us a peculiar manner the warmest returns of gratitude and piety to the Supreme Author of all good.”
– George Washington
George Washington takes the oath of office at Federal Hall in lower Manhattan, April 30, 1789.
On September 17, 1787 George Washington was the first to sign and accept the Constitution even though it had no Bill of Rights. It was Patrick Henry with his great speeches and lectures who in 1788 forced an agreement which promised that continued ratifica- tions of the document depended upon a Bill of Rights to be forthcoming.
At the beginning of this year, President Obama decided to make good on campaign promises to homosexual activists and commissioned a year-long study to see how he could overturn the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the U.S. military. Military leaders were to conduct the study, and report back with their findings.
This week, however, the Obama Administration and liberal Congressional leaders have made a so-called “compromise” in which Congress and the President will move forward with overturning the law regardless of the outcome of the military’s findings. Apparently President Obama and Speaker Pelosi think that our troops are incompetent to make their own policies.
The President and Congress need to hear the voice of Americans on this issue. Our military is for national defense, and is no place to advance a liberal political agenda. The time to act is now, as the House and Senate are voting this week. Please join me today in signing the petition to help keep our troops from being used to advance a liberal political agenda.
Protesters who attended Saturday’s Tea Party rally in Washington found a new reason to be upset: Apparently they are unhappy with the level of service provided by the subway system.
Rep. Kevin Brady asked for an explanation of why the government-run subway system didn’t, in his view, adequately prepare for this past weekend’s rally to protest government spending and government services.
Seriously.
The Texas Republican on Wednesday released a letter he sent to Washington’s Metro system complaining that the taxpayer-funded subway system was unable to properly transport protesters to the rally to protest government spending and expansion.
“These individuals came all the way from Southeast Texas to protest the excessive spending and growing government intrusion by the 111th Congress and the new Obama administration,” Brady wrote. “These participants, whose tax dollars were used to create and maintain this public transit system, were frustrated and disappointed that our nation’s capital did not make a great effort to simply provide a basic level of transit for them.”
A spokesman for Brady says that “there weren’t enough cars and there weren’t enough trains.” Brady tweeted as much from the Saturday march. “METRO did not prepare for Tea Party March! More stories. People couldn’t get on, missed start of march. I will demand answers from Metro,” he wrote on Twitter.
Brady says in his letter to Metro that overcrowding forced an 80-year-old woman and elderly veterans in wheelchairs to pay for cabs. He concludes that it “appears that Metro added no additional capacity to its regular weekend schedule.”
The health care bill that Congress passed recently is now being challenged by 18 states to date. The constitutionality of the bill will be a close call, with strong arguments on both sides. As former staff director of the bipartisan Commission on the Bicentennial of the U. S. Constitution, I wish here to present – as impartially as possible – both sides of the case, believing along with John Stuart Mill that “he who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.”
2+ Million - Tea PArty Marches Upon Washington
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reported that its counsel opined that the individual mandate requiring all to purchase health insurance is constitutional under the commerce clause. True or wishful thinking? The nub of the controversy seems this: Will the Supreme Court, citing the commerce clause, permit Congress to regulate inactivity – that is, the absence of commerce – by forcing citizens to buy a certain private-sector service or product?
But to this argument, defenders of the bill will counter that the aim of the commerce clause is not to regulate economic inactivity but to regulate health insurance and health care – an altogether different focus.
In response, opponents of the bill will argue that health insurance is a 10th Amendment states’ right, not a federal government right. States currently regulate health insurance.
As if matters aren’t confused enough, the Supreme Court has taken polar positions on the commerce clause. In Gonzalez v. Raich (2005), it ruled that the commerce clause can be used to regulate home-grown marijuana even if only for personal use. But in U. S. v. Lopez (1995), it ruled that the commerce clause does not authorize federal law banning guns in local school districts.
The constitutionality of the individual mandate will also be tested under the 16th Amendment, which grants Congress the broad “power to lay and collect taxes on incomes.” Opponents of the individual mandate will argue that the mandate is not a tax, but a premium to insurance companies or a fine. Defenders of the mandate will counter that this premium or fine amounts to a tax, falling under the jurisdiction of the 16thAmendment. Also cited will be the enumerated power of the “general welfare” clause.
Opponents of the individual mandate will argue that the 16th Amendment, if used to permit the mandate, discriminates against freely choosing citizens who don’t want health insurance. But defenders will counter that the 16th Amendment already discriminates broadly: a graduated income tax is discriminatory. Mortgage deductions or deductions for children are discriminatory. We see a host of other discriminatory taxes whenever we file our yearly taxes.
Defenders of the individual mandate will argue that there are well established precedents for government coercion. Few people these days think that coerced social security payments or withheld Medicare premiums are unconstitutional. Car insurance is often cited, though that analogy fails: such is a mandated liability insurance for driving on roads and possibly getting into an accident – quite different from a mandated health insurance for simply living and breathing on American soil. And car insurance is a 10thAmendment states’ right, not a federal government right.
There is another unknown that could well enter into the matter of the constitutionality of the health care bill. The Supreme Court may elect not to meddle – on such an enormous, radical scale – into the domains of two constitutional branches of government: the presidency and Congress. Marbury v. Madison established the court’s power to rule an act of Congress unconstitutional, but the court in the health care matter might opt for recommending legislative relief.
Defenders of the bill will argue that the Constitution’s supremacy clause states explicitly that federal law shall be the “supreme law of the land.” Opponents will counter that federal law cannot be the supreme law of the land if that law is found unconstitutional, as in Marbury.
If any part of the health care bill is found unconstitutional, the whole bill fails because it contains no severability clause. Consensus holds that it will take two years for the constitutional challenge to progress through the federal district court, then the appellate court, and finally the Supreme Court. In the meantime, it is possible that an injunction from the district or appellate courts could put the entire bill on hold until the injunction is lifted or the case finally resolved.
My own view is that the Supreme Court will rule the health care bill unconstitutional because never in the history of jurisprudence has the court required a citizen to buy a certain private-sector product or service and never has it defined an insurance premium or resulting fine as a tax.
Ronald L. Trowbridge, Ph. D. is a Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. He served as chief of staff to the late U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger and to the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.
American Citizens Receive Death Threats And Property Damage, By Domestic Left Wing Terrorists!
In November 2008, Californians went to the polls and voted in favor of a referendum to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Instead of celebrating the victory, supporters of the referendum became targets of an intense backlash that included death threats and property damage. The retaliation was enabled in part by a California law requiring contributors of as little as $100 to publicly disclose their names, addresses, occupations and employers. The information, which is made available on the Internet by California, was combined with an online map, providing would-be harassers with directions to supporters’ homes. And the retaliation was as much about trying to influence the next vote on same-sex marriage as it was about anger over what had just occurred in California.
On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States will consider a case that can begin to put an end to such campaign tactics. The case, Doe v. Reed, involves that next vote, a referendum from the state of Washington to repeal a statute granting domestic partners the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. Protect Marriage Washington, the group that sponsored the referendum, submitted a petition containing the names, addresses, and signatures of more than 138,000 voters who felt the issue was too important to leave to elected representatives.
Rather than embrace the opportunity to publicly debate the merits of the recently enacted statute, opponents threatened to make use of Washington’s public records law to access copies of the petitions in an effort to prevent the debate from even occurring. The opponents hoped to place the names and addressees of the petition signers on the Internet to encourage “uncomfortable conversations.” But after what transpired in California, it is clear that these are confrontations, not conversations, and that they chill political speech.
Petitions have not been routinely released throughout Washington’s history. Sam Reed became the first Secretary of State to release copies of petitions when he released two initiative petitions in 2006, and R-71 would be only the ninth petition of more than 1,100 petitions filed with the Secretary of State since the public records act was adopted in 1972. Now, he is willing to allow access to petitions knowing that they will be used to harass and intimidate individual citizens. Protect Marriage Washington refused to let harassment and intimidation influence the debate about an important social issue and obtained an emergency court order to prevent the release of the petitions. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted that order, and only an emergency stay by the Supreme Court on the eve of the election prevented opponents from using tactics usually reserved for the schoolyard bully.
George Washington takes the oath of office at Federal Hall in lower Manhattan, April 30, 1789.
On September 17, 1787 George Washington was the first to sign and accept the Constitution even though it had no Bill of Rights. It was Patrick Henry with his great speeches and lectures who in 1788 forced an agreement which promised that continued ratifica- tions of the document depended upon a Bill of Rights to be forthcoming. In 1789 Washing- ton took office and was faced with the arduous task of pioneering the first presidency including the structuring of the militia system. By January 1790 the influence Patrick Henry had over him became quite apparent. When Washington chaired the 1787 Constitutional Convention, provi- sions had been made for the defense of the country against invasion and for stifling rebel- lions, but there was an insuf- ficiency of safeguards to be applied against tyranny brought on by public officials.
