Category Archives: Uncategorized

Chris Christie the Federal Puppet?

Chris Christie hides behind a political party principled in limited government, but always ends up showing his true statist colors.

In a recent press conference, Christie says doesn’t agree with states legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Nor does he believe that marijuana exists for medicinal purposes.

The Founders defined what form of government the United States were to become. In Federalist 39, Madison states,

A republican form of government is one of, “which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior. It is essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the honorable title of republic.”

Governor Christie hails from the favored class, the political elite, and has hijacked the term “republican.” Statists like Christie wallow in the despair when nullification chips away at this vision of consolidated states.

July 4th, 1776: A Rejection of Centralized Power

On July 4th I have had a mixed sense of wonder and loss. I suppose it’s the same way some grieve for the loss of loved ones during the Christmas season. I am torn because I have the highest level of admiration and gratitude for those that freed themselves from the grips of the British tyranny, yet I do not feel that the cause for which they fought is represented properly in today’s celebrations.

After severing the political bonds, these brave colonists confronted a corrupt government and against all odds won their freedom. The most excellent generation of Americans laid a foundation for future generations by drafting a constitution designed to strictly limit federal power and to, as Jefferson noted, “bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution”. In the era of 1776 our forefathers granted us an incredible inheritance, a historic victory of People over established government.

Unfortunately, over two centuries we have squandered much of our inheritance and every time we look to Washington, D.C. for a “national” solution we further destroy our own children’s guarantees. The legacy and spoils of our celebrated revolution slips away with every stroke of the pen in Washington, D.C. This leaves me with a great sense of loss as the freedoms and liberties that we once enjoyed and the hopes for our children’s future are destroyed by federal politicians acting outside the authority provided them and against the interest of the People. The Bill of Rights specifically denied the federal government the authority to search without probable cause, indefinitely detain without warrants, declare guilt without due process or assassinate without conviction in a court of law. Yet, in today’s warped acceptance of centralized government these are exactly the powers claimed by our general government over Americans.

Independence: May We Make the Most of It

“WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is urging Americans on the Fourth of July to live up to the words of the Declaration of Independence by securing liberty and opportunity for their own children as well as for future generations.”

Do you think he really means it?

Consider the ramifications.

Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The Declaration of Independence was radical in its time.

No less so today.

The Declaration wasn’t simply a rebellion against British rule. It declared void the old way of viewing government and authority. It boldly asserted that We the People are not subject to our “rulers.”

They are subject to us.

How to Tell If the Government Has Taken over Health Care

by Michael Cannon, CATO Institute From the Washington Post: Hedge fund executives and other investors are increasingly interested in the timing and nature of health-policy decisions in Washington because they directly affect the profits and stock prices of pharmaceutical, insurance, hospital and managed-care companies… [Former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] director Thomas Scully, who served during the Bush…

U.S. Senate short-circuits the Constitution on taxes, again

The Constitution is exceptionally clear on the origin of all taxes. “All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives,” not the Senate (Article I, Sec. 7). When is the House going to protect its powers from the Senate’s intrusive attempts to steal its power? Recently the Senate passed the “Marketplace Fairness Act” by a vote of 69-27, an Internet sales tax, giving states the authority to require on-line retailers, with no physical presence in those states, to collect sales taxes. Americans will pay more taxes with this bill than without. It is a bill for raising revenue and it did not originate in the House as mandated by the Constitution.

To put the Senate in its constitutional place the House should never take this bill up. Instead, if they feel such legislation is needful, they should originate their own bill after which invite the Senate to take a new bill through the committee process and to the floor once again. I might also suggest not doing so for a year or two just to make the message stronger. “You are infringing on our constitutional jurisdiction.” If the Senate will not do so, the House should consider the bill non-existent. Under no circumstances should they accept this bill as appropriate action on the part of their sister law-making body. Retailers, on the other hand, should refuse to pay this tax and challenge it in the courts on the constitutional grounds cited above.

The IRS Has Already Abused Its Powers under ObamaCare

by Michael Cannon, CATO Institute Over at Bloomberg, National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru writes about the Obama administration’s disregard for the rule of law, including the IRS’s $800 billion power grab: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the sweeping health-care law that Obama signed in 2010, asks state governments to set up health exchanges, and authorizes the federal government to…