SPRINGFIELD, Ill - Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will be deciding if his state will become the 20th to defy and nullify the unconstitutional federal ban on marijuana  after the state Senate approved legislation on Friday.

The Illinois House passed the bill legalizing marijuana for medical use by a vote of 61-57 in April, and the Senate concurred by a vote of 35-21.  on Wednesday.  Passage into law would nullify, as 18 states are already doing, unconstitutional federal bans on the plant.

Congress and the president claim the constitutional authority to ban marijuana. The Supreme Court concurs. But sharing an opinion on something doesn’t necessarily make it a fact. You can claim you are a unicorn, but you’re not. Clearly, the Constitution delegates no power of marijuana regulation to the feds. And the so-called war on drugs rests on the same legal authority as all of the other modern-day undeclared wars.

None.

So, more and more states continue to do exactly what they should do when the federal government tries exercise power it does not legitimately possess.

Ignore it.

Nineteen states have done just that, legalizing marijuana for either limited medical purposes – or as done by the People of Washington State and Colorado last fall, legalize the plant for the general public. The wave continues to build, with even more state legislatures considering medicinal marijuana legislation in the current session, and more likely to follow suit this year and next.

The message?  When enough people say NO to unconstitutional federal “laws” – and enough states back them up, there’s not much the feds can do about it. (more…)

A small city in Kansas stepped up and added another level of defense in the battle to protect the right to keep and bear arms in the Sunflower State this week.

Kansas was admitted to statehood in 1861, affirming its commitment to the Second Amendment by adopting Section 4 of the State Bill of rights. It provides for the right to keep and bear arms, for the defense of self, family, home and state. With that right under assault by an overzealous and overreaching federal government, state officials moved in to interpose. On April 16, Gov. Brownback signed “The Second Amendment Protection Act” into law.

The passage and signing of the 2nd Amendment Protection Act represented a huge step in protecting the right to keep and bear arms in Kansas, but local support will play a vital role in the ultimate success of the new Kansas law. The town of Herndon did its part to add another layer of protection for its citizens, passing an ordinance refusing any local cooperation with federal efforts to infringe on the Second Amendment. If other cities, counties and towns follow Herndon’s lead on this, blanketing the entire state with local governments refusing to enforce, federal gun control measures will be rendered toothless throughout the state. Judge Andrew Napolitano affirmed that such widespread noncompliance can make federal laws “nearly impossible to enforce” (video here). Quite simply, the federal government absolutely cannot enforce gun control in Kansas without the help of Kansas.

On May 7, the Honorable Mayor Kenny Chartier, introduced  Ordinance # 510 to the city council. The council did not even wait for the presentation of the ordinance before making a motion to adopt. It prohibits any agency or person in the employ of the City of Herndon from enforcing, providing material support for, or participating in any way in the enforcement of any act, law, treaty, order, rule or regulation of federal government regarding personal firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition with the city limits. (more…)

by Michael Cannon, CATO Institute

ObamaCare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board is everything its critics say and worse. It is a democracy-skirting, Congress-blocking, powers-unseparating, law-entrenching, tax-hiking, fund-appropriating, price-controlling, health-care-rationing, death-paneling, technocrat-thrilling, authoritarian, anti-constitutional super-legislature. Its very existence is testament to government incompetence. It stands as a milestone on the road to serfdom.

The Congressional Research Service has now confirmed what HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pretends not to know but what Diane Cohen and I explained here:

[I]f President Obama fails to appoint any IPAB members, all these powers fall to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

That’s an awful lot of power to give any one person, particularly someone who has shown as much willingness to abuse her power as Sebelius has.

I would also like the Congressional Research Service to address a feature of IPAB that Cohen and I first exposed. According to the statute, we write:  (more…)

When the most current occupant of the White House was thwarted by Congress (as well as preempted by many states, aka Nullified before the fact) in his attempt to further remove the natural right of bearing arms, he decided he would write Executive Orders.

So what are Executive Orders?  The Constitution does not clearly give the President an authority called “Executive Orders”.  However, in Article II, Section 1 and in Section 3 we do see phrases such as “[the President] take care that the laws be faithfully executed”.   The purpose is generally thought to mean these orders would be the means by which the President would direct the heads of departments in carrying out the laws or regulations enacted by Congress.

President Washington, issued 8 of what are now called executive orders; President Lincoln issued 48; President T Roosevelt; issued 1,081;  Franklin Roosevelt produced 3,522 and Mr. Clinton created 364.

Have some Presidents used the “Executive Orders” to end run around Congressional checks and make law by fiat?  We all know of the infamous Order number 9066 wherein Franklin Roosevelt delegated military authority to “remove any or all people (used to target specifically Japanese Americans and German Americans) in a military zone”. The authority delegated to General John DeWitt paved the way for all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast to be sent to internment camps for the duration of World War II. (more…)

In a short You-tube video, former senate candidate for the 2nd Congressional Seat of New Hampshire, and current cancer patient Hardy Macia, pleading his death bed case for the ability to cultivate and use Medical Marijuana to New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan. New Hampshire passed House Bill-573, March 20, 2013, when the house voted in favor, 286-64, allowing individuals the ability to use, and cultivate marijuana for medical use. Provisions of HB-573, allow patients to access marijuana from one of five state regulated health centers and/or cultivate up to three cannabis plants. According to the bill, the state regulated dispensing centers will not begin serving patients for two years, which makes the cultivation aspect of the bill very important for today’s patients in need of this very useful medication.

This is where Hardy Macia’s video comes into the story. Apparently, under the duress of the state law enforcement community and it’s unions, Governor Maggie Hassan has decided the only way she will sign HB-573 is if the cultivation provision is removed from the bill. This obviously puts Mr. Macia and other patients in a legal conundrum.

The video begins with an emaciated, and obviously very ill Hardy Macia whispering his introduction to Governor Hassan. Mr. Macia offers he has been an advocate for the use of medical marijuana for over ten years, due to a cousin’s car accident which left them a quadriplegic. ” (more…)