Nipping at the Heels of the Administrative State

Despite the fact that the Constitution sets forth three branches of government, each with discrete powers and limitations -- the executive, legislative, and judicial -- various agencies, boards, bureaus, departments that today make up the federal administrative state often render the roles and powers of those branches nugatory.
Read more at American Thinker Read More......

To Liberals, Changing the Constitution Is Only Outrageous When a Republican Does It

When is it outrageous to amend the Constitution?
Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination, wants to overturn the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship. Whether out of panic or sincerity, a number of other Republican candidates have joined the bandwagon. This is probably good politics for the GOP nomination and almost certainly bad politics for the general election. I am inclined against the idea as a matter of public policy, because the costs would outweigh the benefits. But I am far from convinced it is something to be outraged about.


Read more at National Review Read More......

Clarice Feldman: The Penumbra School of Law

I was watching in horror a series of Mark Dice videos of interviews in which passersby signed petitions to repeal the First Amendment toshut down criticism of Obama because it was all clearly racist. petitioned to repeal the Bill of Rights; revealed they didn’t know when and why we celebrate the Fourth of July; signed up to ban the American flag and replace it with a New World Order one.
I wanted to believe the people responding were outliers -- just ignorant San Diego beachgoers. Unfortunately there are too many indications they are not, and that this disregard for the Constitution and its protections, this lack of knowledge of our history and how it shaped the Constitution, and why it is important to us, are rife in both the states and the federal government.


Read more at Townhall.com Read More......

President Obama's Top 10 Constitutional Violations Of 2013

One of Barack Obama’s chief accomplishments has been to return the Constitution to a central place in our public discourse.  Unfortunately, the president fomented this upswing in civic interest not by talking up the constitutional aspects of his policy agenda, but by blatantly violating the strictures of our founding document. And he’s been most frustrated with the separation of powers, which doesn’t allow him to “fundamentally transform” the country without congressional acquiescence.

Read more at Forbes Read More......

Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz: Obama Suspends the Law. What Would Lincoln Say?

The Obama administration announced last month via blog post that the president was unilaterally suspending ObamaCare's employer mandate—notwithstanding the clear command of the law. President Obama's comments about it on Aug. 9—claiming that "the normal thing [he] would prefer to do" is seek a "change to the law"—then added insult to constitutional injury. It also offers a sharp contrast with a different president who also suspended the law.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal Read More......

Michael McConnell: Obama Suspends the Law

President Obama's decision last week to suspend the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act may be welcome relief to businesses affected by this provision, but it raises grave concerns about his understanding of the role of the executive in our system of government.

Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution states that the president "shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." This is a duty, not a discretionary power. While the president does have substantial discretion about how to enforce a law, he has no discretion about whether to do so.

 

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

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The Crisis of American Self-Government

'We have now an American political party and a European one. Not all Americans who vote for the European party want to become Europeans. But it doesn't matter because that's what they're voting for. They're voting for dependency, for lack of ambition, and for insolvency."

Few have thought as hard, or as much, about how democracies can preserve individual liberty and national virtue as the eminent political scientist Harvey Mansfield. When it comes to assessing the state of the American experiment in self-government today, his diagnosis is grim, and he has never been one to mince words.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal Read More......

Excepts from 'Outline of a Platform for Constitutional Government'

By Larry P. Arnn
President, Hillsdale College
At the dedication of Hillsdale College’s Allen P. Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies in Washington, D.C.

IMPRIMIS, a publication of Hillsdale College, November 2010 - In the previous greatest crisis of the Constitution, when our College was very young, we also served in its defense. In the summer of 1854, with the extension of slavery not just a threat but a reality, the people of Michigan were invited to join together “to protect our liberty from being overthrown and downtrodden.” The result of that meeting was the birth of the Republican Party on July 6 of that year, in Jackson, Michigan, just over 30 miles from the Hillsdale campus. Several College faculty and administration members were leaders of this movement. One of them, Austin Blair, later governor of Michigan, was chosen to be on the committee on resolutions. The first president of Hillsdale College, later lieutenant governor of Michigan, also played a leading role. Among the resolves of that Michigan gathering was the following:

That slavery is a violation of the rights of man as man; that the law of nature, which is the law of liberty, gives to no man rights superior to those of another; that God and nature have secured to each individual the inalienable right of equality, any violation of which must be the result of superior force . . . .

Remembering this history, we have set our minds, in beginning our work at the Kirby Center, to thinking about what a platform for constitutional government today might look like. As was the case in 1854, the specifics of what to do amidst changing circumstances, and in light of the need to enlist the agreement of the American majority, are complex and difficult and require statesmanship. Solving our deepest problems will take years, and will require imaginative policies not yet contrived. But the general principles and goals seem to us clear. They were laid out for us by our fathers. We have set our hands to begin writing them down in the document that follows.

Outline of a Platform for Constitutional Government

On June 17, 1858, Abraham Lincoln said in his House Divided Speech, “If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it.” His analysis was founded upon a profound contemplation of the Declaration of Independence and its embodiment in the Constitution of the United States. It issued in a set of proposals designed first to limit and then to extinguish slavery by strictly constitutional means.

We require a similar kind of analysis today. Our most difficult policy issues are embedded in a vast administrative state that is built without regard for the principles of the Declaration in their true meaning, or for the proper constitutional operation of government.

The Declaration of Independence articulates the place of man in nature: below God and above the beasts. It says that we may be governed only by our consent. Woodrow Wilson and the founders of modern liberalism called these doctrines “obsolete.” They argued that we live now in the age of progress, and that government must be an engine of that progress. This idea changes how we view not only the purpose of government, but also the rights of its citizens.

Franklin Roosevelt added economic security to the natural rights, as the Declaration of Independence states, of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Government grew as a result, especially under Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. And it continues to grow—all in the name of progress. Indeed, the current administration is the most aggressive proponent of the doctrines of Progressivism since they were first introduced.

Under the influence of these new doctrines, the government has grown to be, in simple quantitative terms, the largest single force by far in the land. It now consumes nearly half of all we produce, and it is soon to accumulate a public debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product equal to the largest in our history, matching our debt level at the end of the Second World War. This debt leaves us vulnerable to every mischance that may come upon the nation from abroad or at home. The burden of it stifles enterprise and closes opportunity for all but the well connected.

As the government has grown, it has become a powerful interest in the everyday affairs of the nation. Increasingly, bureaucracy is a factor in every operation our citizens undertake. In the management of our businesses, in the accomplishment of our jobs, in the rearing of our children, and in the very caring for our own bodies, there now are rules too numerous to count. Ominously, these rules now seek even to intrude into the electoral processes by which our free people choose their representatives.

These rules originate in laws passed by Congress that are much too long for anyone to read. After these laws are passed, they are enhanced, expanded, interpreted, and complicated by regulatory agencies. We forget therefore the words of the Father of the Constitution, James Madison:

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?

All these developments, so long entrenched in our politics, are presented by their proponents as a natural extension of the original principles and the original institutions of the nation. Doubtless those who argue this also believe it, but it cannot possibly be true.

Gone now is the caution about human nature that recognizes that human beings must live under law in order to protect their rights, and that those who make and enforce the law are no more likely to be perfect—or less likely to violate the rights of their fellow citizens—than others. The current tendency toward unlimited government undermines the foundation of constitutional rule in our country. That foundation is stated by Madison in a few words: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”

Men must be governed because they are imperfect—less than God, less than angels. But then so too are those who make and enforce the law imperfect. They also have interests. Therefore government must have strong powers, but these powers must be limited and checked.

If this is where we are, then it is easy to see “what to do, and how to do it.” We must return to the principles and institutions of the founding of our country. We must revive constitutional rule. To do so, we propose the following four pillars of constitutional government.

1. Protecting the equal and inalienable rights of individuals is government’s primary responsibility.

1. By rights, America’s founders meant those things naturally belonging to us, and those things earned by our own labor. The protection of rights understood in this way breeds harmony in the society, because each of us claims for himself what he can also give to all others. We may all speak, worship, assemble, and keep our justly earned property without taking from another.
   
2. Each branch of government is subservient to the Constitution.
   
3. The federal government has the constitutional duty to ensure that each state maintains a republican form of government. This obligation is strengthened and clarified in the 14th Amendment. It must ensure that no state infringes on the rights or the “privileges or immunities” of citizens. Yet it must also recognize the constitutional standing of state governments.
   
4. The duties of Congress are clearly delineated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. It should do no more, lest liberty be endangered. It should do no less, else anarchy ensue.

2. Economic liberty is inversely proportional to governmental intrusion in the lives of citizens.

The platform upon which Abraham Lincoln was elected president stated “that the people justly view with alarm the reckless extravagance which pervades every department of the Federal Government.” It urged “a return to rigid economy and accountability” that “is indispensable to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favorite partisans. . . .” Likewise today:

1. American economic recovery requires that we liberate the American people to work, to save and to invest, secure in their property, confident about the dollar as a store of value, and sure that the government will be an impartial enforcer of the law and of contracts.
   
2. In all administration of federal programs we must demand the utmost economy, and that every care be taken to avoid further growth and sprawl in the federal administrative establishment.
   
3. Our massive public investment in entitlement programs must be protected through privatization programs, which should utilize the real practices of insurance against catastrophe and of savings for future needs. In this process our investment must be safeguarded from loss, as the government must keep its contracts.
   
4. Sound money is among the most sacred of the federal government’s responsibilities, and price stability should be the aim of monetary policy.
   
5. The federal government must not subsidize corporations or individuals in its tax code or any other policy.
   
6. Philanthropy is the natural outgrowth of American principles and institutions. It should be encouraged and relied upon, along with local and state government, as the great engine of social reform and the amelioration of distress.

3. To accomplish its primary duty of protecting individual liberty, the federal government must uphold national security.

1. National defense has been for most of American history the chief undertaking of the government under the Constitution. It has been supplanted by the federal entitlement and regulatory state. This reversal of priority hampers growth at home, deprives the American people of scope for self-government, and undermines the defense of the nation.
   
2. We should pursue relentlessly every form of defense against foreign threats. Especially is this true in the case of attack by weapons of mass destruction. Therefore missile defense and a vigorous policy to combat Islamic and other forms of terrorism are urgently required.
   
3. We must overcome all international and domestic efforts to undermine American sovereignty, including those mounted through the United Nations and other international organizations, or through efforts to impose new treaties.
   
4. Promotion of democracy and defense of innocents abroad should be undertaken only in keeping with the national interest.

4. The restoration of a high standard of public and private morality is essential to the revival of constitutionalism. As the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 states, “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” The Constitution itself says nothing about education, for the same reason it says nothing about families or marriage or child-rearing: the federal government should not control or regulate these things. Parents and teachers, not the federal government, teach children. What they teach them matters most, for without proper moral and civic education a republican form of government will falter. With it, and with a strong defense of our right to religious liberty, republican government can flourish.

We close again with the words of Lincoln, from the same speech with which we began. Quoting the Bible, Lincoln said that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” We shall be governed either by ourselves, under a Constitution, or else we shall be governed by the new kind of master invented in our day, the bureaucrat, and by the impenetrable web of rules that he fabricates and enforces.

Let us stand together against the rule of bureaucracy, and for liberty and the Constitution.

Copyright © 2010 Hillsdale College. The opinions expressed in Imprimis are not necessarily the views of Hillsdale College. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided the following credit line is used: “Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.” Read More......

Is Obama's Handling of Honduras a View of Our Future?

AMERICAN THINKER, 10/5/2009 by Robert A. Bonelli - The United States is different from most other countries in many ways. One unique aspect of our country is that our elected officials, officers of the court, and the military, all pledge their allegiance to the Constitution and not to an office, individual or party. This assures continuity of the ideals set forth by the founders. ∴ The Supreme Court of Honduras in conjunction with their Congress and military reacted to defend the Honduran Constitution earlier this year, when President Manual Zelaya introduced a referendum to change the Constitution to permit him to run for another term outside of the term limits specified in their Constitution. Aside from his action being extremely unpopular, their Supreme Court ruled his move illegal and thus took action to defend their Constitution and, with the approval of their Congress, had their military remove him from office. ∴ The entire world condemned the Honduran leaders' corrective measure. It was not surprising to see countries not used to defending a written set of ideals react negatively to the Honduran action, but it is shocking to see the President of the United States and his administration join with these other nations in condemning the Honduran defense of their Constitution. ∴ The Obama administration went further and cutoff aid to this brave nation that did nothing more than take a stand that their government is subject to their people and not the other way around. Our history, our culture, our DNA clearly should have every American confused and frightened. Read more at American Thinker... Read More......

The New Republic: America's Future Recap

GLENN BECK, 8/24-28/2009 - All week on radio and TV Glenn asked the tough questions -- because our republic is being transformed before our very eyes. The time for silent dissent has long passed, and now the hard questions need to be asked. Maybe there are perfectly logical explanations for Obama's 'Civilian National Security Force' he wants funded as well as the military. But what is it? Who are the radical Czars in the White House, and why are they there? Does the President actually listen to Communist ideas? Here is the ENTIRE RECAP of this weeks shows -- the monologues, the questions, the amazing interview with Rush Limbaugh and more. Please, read it and pass it around to all of your friends. These questions need to be asked and answered. Get started! Read more at GlennBeck.com...(videos included). Read More......

A 'coup' in Honduras? Nonsense.

ALG Liberty Alert (via email/hat tip: Linda Weimer), 7/2/2009 By Octavio Sánchez - TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS: Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and much of the media have condemned the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this past weekend as a coup d'état. That is nonsense. In fact, what happened here is nothing short of the triumph of the rule of law.

To understand recent events, you have to know a bit about Honduras's constitutional history. In 1982, my country adopted a new Constitution that enabled our orderly return to democracy after years of military rule. After more than a dozen previous constitutions, the current Constitution, at 27 years old, has endured the longest.
It has endured because it responds and adapts to changing political conditions: Of its original 379 articles, seven have been completely or partially repealed, 18 have been interpreted, and 121 have been reformed.

It also includes seven articles that cannot be repealed or amended because they address issues that are critical for us. Those unchangeable articles include the form of government; the extent of our borders; the number of years of the presidential term; two prohibitions – one with respect to reelection of presidents, the other concerning eligibility for the presidency; and one article that penalizes the abrogation of the Constitution.

During these 27 years, Honduras has dealt with its problems within the rule of law. Every successful democratic country has lived through similar periods of trial and error until they were able to forge legal frameworks that adapt to their reality. France crafted more than a dozen constitutions between 1789 and the adoption of the current one in 1958. The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since 1789. And the British – pragmatic as they are – in 900 years have made so many changes that they have never bothered to compile their Constitution into a single body of law.

Under our Constitution, what happened in Honduras this past Sunday? Soldiers arrested and sent out of the country a Honduran citizen who, the day before, through his own actions had stripped himself of the presidency.

These are the facts: On June 26, President Zelaya issued a decree ordering all government employees to take part in the "Public Opinion Poll to convene a National Constitutional Assembly." In doing so, Zelaya triggered a constitutional provision that automatically removed him from office.

Constitutional assemblies are convened to write new constitutions. When Zelaya published that decree to initiate an "opinion poll" about the possibility of convening a national assembly, he contravened the unchangeable articles of the Constitution that deal with the prohibition of reelecting a president and of extending his term. His actions showed intent.

Our Constitution takes such intent seriously. According to Article 239: "No citizen who has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President. Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform [emphasis added], as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years."

Notice that the article speaks about intent and that it also says "immediately" – as in "instant," as in "no trial required," as in "no impeachment needed."

Continuismo – the tendency of heads of state to extend their rule indefinitely – has been the lifeblood of Latin America's authoritarian tradition. The Constitution's provision of instant sanction might sound draconian, but every Latin American democrat knows how much of a threat to our fragile democracies continuismo presents. In Latin America, chiefs of state have often been above the law. The instant sanction of the supreme law has successfully prevented the possibility of a new Honduran continuismo.

The Supreme Court and the attorney general ordered Zelaya's arrest for disobeying several court orders compelling him to obey the Constitution. He was detained and taken to Costa Rica. Why? Congress needed time to convene and remove him from office. With him inside the country that would have been impossible. This decision was taken by the 123 (of the 128) members of Congress present that day.

Don't believe the coup myth. The Honduran military acted entirely within the bounds of the Constitution. The military gained nothing but the respect of the nation by its actions.

I am extremely proud of my compatriots. Finally, we have decided to stand up and become a country of laws, not men. From now on, here in Honduras, no one will be above the law.

Octavio Sánchez, a lawyer, is a former presidential adviser (2002-05) and minister of culture (2005-06) of the Republic of Honduras.

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Americans for Limited Government is a non- partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms,private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org. Read More......

In Honduras, Freedom Restored - For Now

UPDATE: BREITBART, 6/30/2009 - WASHINGTON (AP)—The White House says it sees no acceptable solution to the ouster of the president of Honduras other than returning him to power. ∴ White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that State Department officials have been in touch with ousted President Manuel Zelaya, and the White House is continuing to work on the situation. ∴ Gibbs says that if Zelaya does come to Washington, he'll most likely meet with officials at the State Department. ∴ The White House spokesman says there are no plans to recall the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, because having a representative there is important.

AMERICANS FOR LIMITED GOVERNMENT (ALG) NEWS BUREAU, 6/29/2009 by Robert Romano, Senior Editor (Hat tip: Linda Weimer and Lee McLaughlin) - The story out of Honduras is that the people of that stalwart little country have now taken it into their own hands to preserve their democracy in the most courageous action since they established their constitutional republic nearly three decades ago. Just as former Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales prepared to seize full power in direct violation of the nation’s Constitution, the military leadership – with the backing of the people – removed him from power. ∴ Unfortunately, Barak Obama, after encouraging the Zelaya coup with his complicit silence, has now condemned the people’s move to uphold their Constitution and preserve their freedom. And, as expected, the mainstream media has joined Mr. Obama in censuring the restoration of democracy by censoring the full story. Yet, what actually occurred in Honduras is a case study in the survival of freedom against the most oppressive odds.

Earlier this year, in the face of strong public opposition, Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales declared that he would stage a referendum to have the country’s constitutional term limits law overturned, thereby allowing him to remain indefinitely in power. The people of Honduras had adopted the single, four-year--term limit as part of their Constitution in January of 1982. Significantly, the term limits provision is one of only eight “firm articles,” out of 375. By law, cannot be amended.

The Supreme Court of Honduras declared the Zelaya referendum unconstitutional, his own Liberal Party came out in strong opposition, and the public overwhelmingly opposed his power grab. Despite this, Zelaya, a leftwing politician with strong ties to Cuba’s Castro and Venezuela’s Chavez, scheduled the referendum for Sunday, June 28. At midnight, Wednesday, June 24, the strong-arm president gave a televised speech accusing his opposition of promoting “destabilization and chaos” by attempting to thwart his unconstitutional referendum.

As the situation in Honduras continued to deteriorate, the Zelaya’s attorney general called for his ouster; his Defense Minister resigned; he fired the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for stating that he would refuse to send out troops to put down public protests; the chiefs of the army, navy, and air force resigned; and the country’s Supreme Court ordered the nation’s army and police not to support the unconstitutional referendum.

Through all of this, Barack Obama abetted the Zelaya power grab through his calculated silence. Yet, the brave people of Honduras – enduring almost unfathomable duress – stood firm in support of their Constitution and the term limits embodied in it. Now that the will of the people has triumphed over tragedy, we believe the time has come for Mr. Obama to concede the defeat of his partner and policy, and for the U.S. media to support those who, putting principle above personal safety, have let freedom ring. We applaud the Freedom Fighters of neighboring Honduras.

xxx

Dear Friend of Liberty,

As you may just becoming aware, after attempting to dismantle the Honduran Constitution, President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales has been ousted by the Republic of Honduras' Supreme Court and Congress.

Even if Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton do not respect the independence of Honduras, we here at Americans for Limited Government applaud the ouster of any president of any nation who would so brazenly violate the principles of constitutional limited government.

Please contact your Senators and Congressmen now and urge them to make statements in support of Honduran freedom and independence. The Capitol switchboard number 202-224-3121. They need to act now to show American solidarity with the people of Honduras.

Sincerely,

Robert Romano
Senior Editor
ALG News Bureau

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Linda Weimer wrote,
The article below [above] should be an encouragement to each one of us. We can do this, too!!! The news regarding Cap & Tax is sounding a hair better, and is sounding as if it might face tougher opposition in the senate. We must keep the pressure on, keep bombarding their offices with calls and emails. We just can't let up. They need to know we will do all in our power to replace them. We must follow Jeff Kropf's lead with our state legislature as well, and keep the pressure on them, with all these tax bills they have in mind for us. We are making a difference! Have a blessed week, and keep fiercely fighting. Linda


Oregon's U.S. Senators

• Sen. Jeff Merkley (D), DC (202) 224-3753, Fax (202) 228-3997, Salem (503) 362-8102
  
• Sen. Roy Wyden (D), DC (202) 224-5244, Fax (202) 228-2717, Salem (503) 589-4555

Oregon's U.S. Congressmen

• Blumenauer, Earl, Oregon 3rd
• DeFazio, Peter, Oregon, 4th
• Schrader, Kurt, Oregon, 5th
• Walden, Greg, Oregon, 2nd
• Wu, David, Oregon, 1st

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Thomas Paine: Bravo!

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District of Columbia is a district, right?

Does the U.S. Constitution just not matter to the Democrat Congress (and six Republicans)? In the entire United States, ten squares miles were laid out, not as a state, but as a district to be the seat of government. That's it, 10 SQ MI's... the District of Columbia (D.C.). It's in the Constitution for pity sake! So who moves into a district (and it's been a district since it was established... hundreds of years ago, don't you know?) and expects it to be a state? I thought I was mad over this subject until I ran across Drumwaster at Drumwaster's Rant. I'll let him tell you about it.

Here's another subject. What statue stands atop the U.S. Capitol?






Freedom!

Wikipedia has her history... Read More......

Bearing arms for freedom

Corvallis Gazette-Times LETTERS, December 7, 2008

Bearing arms for freedom by Jim Farmer
The classic liberal response by Larry Padman of Corvallis (Nov. 30) to our rights was to turn the Second Amendment into a hunting or personal protection right. Larry, the Second Amendment isn’t about hunting or personal protection, it is about the people having the right to bear arms in defense of liberty. It is the teeth to all our rights granted by God and enumerated by the Constitution. [Emphasis added]

Governments have a way of trampling our liberties especially socialist governments. We only have to look at India to see how the people were reduced to throwing rocks at machine-gun-wielding terrorist to understand how the rights of the people were taken away. I suggest, Larry that you practice with a pocket full of rocks after the new president steps into office.

The reasons to fear the new administration are obvious if you remember history. Most of the new appointees are Clinton people who have a record of extremist positions against gun owners. It isn’t the “change” promised, but then you can’t trust a politicion and that is why we have a Constitution, a lawful document that gives us the right to real “change” should our rights be trampled.

We are going through very bad times right now and none of us know where this will lead us. Both parties in government have shown us they can’t be trusted with our money or our liberties. We would be fools to give up our ability to effect real change should our government trample the Constitution. America is strong because our people have the rights to worship as they see fit, speak freely and back up our rights with the freedom to bear arms.

Gun control is really people control and that is what socialism is all about. Once you give up your guns, government can and will run every part of your life. Put a rock in your pocket and remind yourself of that.

Jim Farmer, Albany Read More......

Ohio - Call For Constitutional Convention

Daily Herald - The 127th General Assembly of Ohio is applying to the Congress of the United States pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution to call a constitutional convention for proposing amendments.

The resolution specifies that the state of Ohio requests the Congress to convene a constitutional convention within six months after the Congress receives the thirty-fourth application from the specified states. In addition, the resolution proposes the following amendments to the United States Constitution:

(1) Require the President to submit and the Congress to adopt only balanced budgets for all federal programs and agencies, except in times of war;

(2) Grant the President the authority to disapprove any item or items in any bill presented by the Congress to the President in addition to the President's authority to disapprove entire bills pursuant to Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution;

(3) Require the President to submit and the Congress to adopt budgets for all federal programs and agencies on a biennial rather than annual basis.

Article V provides that a constitutional convention may be called by Congress on the application of two-thirds of the state legislatures of specified states including Ohio. If this resolution is approved, a constitutional convention may be called by the U.S. Congress. LSC staff are not certain how many states have outstanding applications for such constitutional convention. Read More......