Calling You to Vote
October 23, 2010 9:04 PM
“We The People …” So begins the Constitution penned by its framers over 235 years ago. Does anyone still think that this is a government of, for and by the people?
Does anyone believe we have formed a more perfect union? We have a country that has tremendous debt, unsustainable, as our president says. Special interest groups get special treatment. Laws only apply to certain people; others are exempt. Our president appoints important positions when the Congress is out of session to avoid the vetting process. Executive order has made the legislative branch irrelevant.
Have we established justice? We have a Justice Department that purportedly stated that justice was only to be afforded to minorities; the right to vote without intimidation does not apply to whites. The same Justice Department defends foreign countries, but sues one of our own states. The rights of Americans are unimportant but the same Justice Department insists on fairness for terrorists.
Is domestic tranquility insured or are we divided by race and class? In my humble opinion our leadership has done nothing but create a huge rift between us as Americans. We are told that “at a certain point, you’ve made enough money.” Citizens that proclaim they want their country back are called racist and worse. Who’s in charge here, the people?
Has the government provided for the common defense of Arizona residents? Are they safe from invasion? Are we any safer from terrorist attacks than we were pre-9/11 or are we only suffering from the illusion of safety while our Fourth Amendment rights are infringed upon?
Have we secured the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity? How can we have liberty when nothing is sacred to the government? Our bank accounts, our actions, our property, our children all are threatened by the overreach of power from the local, state and federal governments.
The Constitution, the supreme law of the land, has been mocked in Congress. Our elected leaders proclaim that they can do anything they want if they just had more power. Some have openly proclaimed that they’re not worried about the Constitution. They can’t find the time or understanding to read the bill. The oath to uphold and preserve the Constitution has become perfunctory and has lost its meaning to the elected.
Was the Revolutionary War and subsequent wars fought in vain? Did our young brave men and women die so that we could lose our liberty to the arrogant and elite? Our Country was founded on the principle of freedom from tyranny, and it’s quite apparent that it is up to we the people to re-establish the ideas espoused in the Constitution. This election may be the tipping point of our Republic. I urge you to vote for those who wish to preserve it.
Nancy Murdoch, Havelock, NC
http://www.newbernsj.com/articles/calling-91602-vote-.html
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
SUN JOURNAL NEW BERN: LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Trash spewing
October 25, 2010 9:25 PM
I cannot believe how the Democrats in the N.C. House and N.C. Senate campaigns have been so seduced by their goal of winning that they have no standards of decency by which to campaign. Between Barbara Garrity-Blake and Alice Underhill, their political campaigns reek of desperation. Both of their opponents, Jean Preston and Norman Sanderson, are intelligent, educated, caring people. These two Republicans have run respectable campaigns, and I applaud them. After the trash that has been spewed forth by Garrity-Blake and Underhill, I wouldn’t blame Preston and Sanderson one bit if they went on the attack as well. I know that if they did, it would still be more civil than what they had to endure. The two faces of Garrity-Blake and the “My daddy’s name helped get me elected to this seat” Underhill deserve to lose on the actions of their campaigning alone. Jean Preston has brought honor to the Senate, and Norman Sanderson will bring integrity to the House. I hope they will be our representatives come Nov. 2.
CCTA Member, Hazel Speciale, New Bern
October 25, 2010 9:25 PM
I cannot believe how the Democrats in the N.C. House and N.C. Senate campaigns have been so seduced by their goal of winning that they have no standards of decency by which to campaign. Between Barbara Garrity-Blake and Alice Underhill, their political campaigns reek of desperation. Both of their opponents, Jean Preston and Norman Sanderson, are intelligent, educated, caring people. These two Republicans have run respectable campaigns, and I applaud them. After the trash that has been spewed forth by Garrity-Blake and Underhill, I wouldn’t blame Preston and Sanderson one bit if they went on the attack as well. I know that if they did, it would still be more civil than what they had to endure. The two faces of Garrity-Blake and the “My daddy’s name helped get me elected to this seat” Underhill deserve to lose on the actions of their campaigning alone. Jean Preston has brought honor to the Senate, and Norman Sanderson will bring integrity to the House. I hope they will be our representatives come Nov. 2.
CCTA Member, Hazel Speciale, New Bern
SUN JOURNAL-NEW BERN, NC
Griffin supports workers, military
Mark Griffin, 28, is a Craven County Republican from a Dover-Fort Barnwell area farm in his second bid for the 12th District House seat in the North Carolina General Assembly.Read the story:
MARK GRIFFIN "I believe in small efficient, effective state government"
Wainwright, Griffin: Cut spending, create jobs
Sun Journal New Bern, 10/25/10
Sue Book
Sun Journal Staff
The 2010 N.C. House District 12 race gives voters in the district shared by Craven and Lenoir counties another chance at a clear-cut choice.
Rep. William Wainwright, D-Craven, of Havelock and Republican challenger Mark Griffin of Dover let voters choose again between a veteran politician and a newcomer trying again to unseat him with different stances on a long list of issues.
One thing Wainwright and Griffin do agree on for the next General Assembly is that, facing an estimated $3.6 billion shortfall as unemployment in the state mirrors the national average 9.6 percent, cutting state government spending and creating jobs for the unemployed are top priorities.
Asked how they would address those priorities, both said government service cuts would be part of their solution.
“I can describe myself in one sentence,” Griffin said. “I believe in small efficient, effective state government that takes care of mandated areas of construction and doesn’t overreach. Private citizens and business can do most things better than government.”
Wainwright said, “I think over the last several years we have focused on trying to make government more efficient. We have looked at our state budget to eliminate duplication. But it’s a tough process and the economic downturn has caused us to take a deeper look to eliminate any and all duplication.”
Griffin said he would also cut incentives and subsidies for businesses including those for places like the Global TransPark. “I’m not against the GTP existing. I’m against state government subsidizing it and continuing to pour money into it.”
Wainwright said he considers his work toward luring industry to the GTP among his accomplishments. He pledged in 2008 to make dealing with the economy a priority. (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)
“People want us to find ways to create employment opportunities for them,” he said. “They want to see us reduce the size of government. But they want us to preserve and protect our education system.”
“To do this without too much job loss we will be looking at it as people retire, those positions will not have to be filled,” he said. “Where we are forced to make reductions, we’ll have to make the hard choices. Nothing is exempt.”
Griffin said, “We’ll have to look at areas where we can combine administrative work – many areas of DOT could use the same administrators.”
He sees other cost cuts or revenue generators in eliminating state funding for nonprofits and privatizing the ABC system, selling the real estate to private business he says can operate competitively and more efficiently.
Wainwright anticipates restructuring the tax system as part of the way the state has enough money to operate and vows “to do it in a transparent manner.”
And he served on the 21st Century Transportation Commission that has suggested some toll roads as one way to pay for highway infrastructure. “As long as you give people option that if they don’t want to travel a toll road they have an alternative route I would not oppose it,” he said.
Griffin said he is against toll roads. The state’s gas tax and funding through the Highway Trust, if not raided for other uses, should pay for the roads, he said.
Griffin said his political philosophy supports positions that are for pro-life, limited government, lower taxes and ending wasteful spending, educational choice, immigration law enforcement, protecting laws for traditional marriage, supporting the military, protecting the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and moving the country toward energy independence.
Both candidates favor allowing drilling off the coast.
Wainwright has significantly more campaign contributions than Griffin. Asked if he is beholden to any special interests because of them, he said, “Absolutely not. I think my contributions have come because of my dedication, commitment, effective voice, hard work in the legislative process and my desire to do the right thing.”
Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sbook@freedomenc.com.
Sun Journal New Bern, 10/25/10
Sue Book
Sun Journal Staff
The 2010 N.C. House District 12 race gives voters in the district shared by Craven and Lenoir counties another chance at a clear-cut choice.
Rep. William Wainwright, D-Craven, of Havelock and Republican challenger Mark Griffin of Dover let voters choose again between a veteran politician and a newcomer trying again to unseat him with different stances on a long list of issues.
One thing Wainwright and Griffin do agree on for the next General Assembly is that, facing an estimated $3.6 billion shortfall as unemployment in the state mirrors the national average 9.6 percent, cutting state government spending and creating jobs for the unemployed are top priorities.
Asked how they would address those priorities, both said government service cuts would be part of their solution.
“I can describe myself in one sentence,” Griffin said. “I believe in small efficient, effective state government that takes care of mandated areas of construction and doesn’t overreach. Private citizens and business can do most things better than government.”
Wainwright said, “I think over the last several years we have focused on trying to make government more efficient. We have looked at our state budget to eliminate duplication. But it’s a tough process and the economic downturn has caused us to take a deeper look to eliminate any and all duplication.”
Griffin said he would also cut incentives and subsidies for businesses including those for places like the Global TransPark. “I’m not against the GTP existing. I’m against state government subsidizing it and continuing to pour money into it.”
Wainwright said he considers his work toward luring industry to the GTP among his accomplishments. He pledged in 2008 to make dealing with the economy a priority. (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)
“People want us to find ways to create employment opportunities for them,” he said. “They want to see us reduce the size of government. But they want us to preserve and protect our education system.”
“To do this without too much job loss we will be looking at it as people retire, those positions will not have to be filled,” he said. “Where we are forced to make reductions, we’ll have to make the hard choices. Nothing is exempt.”
Griffin said, “We’ll have to look at areas where we can combine administrative work – many areas of DOT could use the same administrators.”
He sees other cost cuts or revenue generators in eliminating state funding for nonprofits and privatizing the ABC system, selling the real estate to private business he says can operate competitively and more efficiently.
Wainwright anticipates restructuring the tax system as part of the way the state has enough money to operate and vows “to do it in a transparent manner.”
And he served on the 21st Century Transportation Commission that has suggested some toll roads as one way to pay for highway infrastructure. “As long as you give people option that if they don’t want to travel a toll road they have an alternative route I would not oppose it,” he said.
Griffin said he is against toll roads. The state’s gas tax and funding through the Highway Trust, if not raided for other uses, should pay for the roads, he said.
Griffin said his political philosophy supports positions that are for pro-life, limited government, lower taxes and ending wasteful spending, educational choice, immigration law enforcement, protecting laws for traditional marriage, supporting the military, protecting the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and moving the country toward energy independence.
Both candidates favor allowing drilling off the coast.
Wainwright has significantly more campaign contributions than Griffin. Asked if he is beholden to any special interests because of them, he said, “Absolutely not. I think my contributions have come because of my dedication, commitment, effective voice, hard work in the legislative process and my desire to do the right thing.”
Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sbook@freedomenc.com.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Dark clouds for Dems as Obama embarks on last push
Obama can “take his endorsement and shove it,” declared Democrat Frank Caprio
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101025/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent – 15 mins ago
WOONSOCKET, R.I. – President Barack Obama attacked Republicans with gusto Monday as he plunged into a final week of midterm election campaigning, but his party’s prognosis remained darkened by the feeble economy and his itinerary was designed largely to minimize losses.
Nor was his greeting totally friendly in Rhode Island where Obama has pointedly declined to endorse his party’s candidate for governor.
Obama can “take his endorsement and shove it,” declared Democrat Frank Caprio, battling Republican-turned-independent Lincoln Chafee in a gubernatorial race rated tight in the polls. Chafee endorsed Obama during the 2008 campaign for the White House.
In a little more than five hours in the state, Obama was booked for a factory tour and for a pair of fundraisers that party officials said would bring in $500,000.
He said Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch and then stood by and criticized while Democrats pulled it out. Now that progress has been made, he said, “we can’t have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.”
Democrats relied on more than the president’s time to boost their chances in the final days of the campaign. There was the matter of federal funds, too, in the form of hundreds of millions in grants announced during the day to provide high speed rail service in California, between Chicago and Iowa, and elsewhere. Administration officials left it to Democratic lawmakers to make the announcements, and they did, stressing the job-creating potential of the expansions.
Eight days before the election, the principal uncertainty concerned the size and scope of anticipated Democratic losses in the House, the Senate, governor’s races and state legislatures.
An Associated Press-GfK Poll showed that perhaps one-third of all voters have yet to firmly settle on their choices. But that wasn’t encouraging for the Democrats, either. Some 45 percent of them prefer the Republican candidate for the House, and 38 percent like the Democrat.
The president arrived as official figures showed more than 6.5 million ballots already have been cast in the 25 states where early voting is permitted or where absentees have been counted, underscoring the importance of get-out-the-vote programs that now begin long before Election Day.
Democrats have invested heavily in such efforts and are counting on them to help tip close races their way in states like Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid faces tea party-backed challenger Sharron Angle. Republicans are counting on campaign enthusiasm — polls agree their voters are more eager to cast ballots than Democrats — as well as their own get-out-the-vote efforts.
Even Democrats concede Republicans are poised for significant gains in Congress, and GOP officials are particularly optimistic about their chances for taking control of the House.
Based on opinion polls and the private assessments of strategists in both parties, it appears Republicans have effectively secured about two dozen of the 40 seats they need to win control of the House.
That leaves dozens of seats where races are competitive in the House and a half-dozen or so in the Senate. Republicans also look for statehouse gains.
Obama’s choice of Rhode Island for his one-day trip was partially to raise money for Democratic House candidates elsewhere in the country. Officials said the $500,000 would be split between Providence Mayor David Cicilline, who is running for the House, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The state has two House seats, one held by Democratic Rep. James Langevin, an incumbent in no apparent difficulty; the other being vacated by Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy. There, Cicilline is running against Republican John Loughlin in a heavily Democratic state.
The state’s unemployment is measured at 11.5 percent, the fourth highest in the country. In his first stop, the president visited a company that makes buckles and straps for outdoor and travel gear, saying he and the Democrats in Congress have cut small business taxes 16 times in 20 months. Republicans “talk a good game” when it comes to tax cuts, he said, but in fact they opposed several bills he labored to get passed.
“It’s not enough to just play politics,” he said. “You can’t focus on the next election. You’ve got to focus on the next generation.”
Caprio called Obama’s rebuff “Washington insider politics at its worst.” Rhode Island’s congressional delegation expressed disapproval about Caprio’s remarks, but the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association said the president’s decision was disappointing.
“Frank Caprio has spent his career fighting for the values of the Democratic Party. He deserves the full support of our party and its leaders,” said executive director Nathan Daschle.
If anything, the White House made it clearer that Caprio will not get Obama’s endorsement. “Out of respect for his friend Lincoln Chafee, the president decided not to get involved in this race,” said White House spokesman Bill Burton. It was the first time the White House had cited Chafee as the reason for Obama’s non-endorsement of a Democrat.
White House aides also arranged for Obama to tour a factory as part of a campaign-long effort to showcase efforts by his administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress to assist small businesses. In a conference call to reporters on Sunday night, they said American Cord & Webbing had been able to hire back all of the employees laid off last year and was planning on hiring more. They said the company won approval from the Small Business Administration last month for a loan to make possible an expansion of the facility.
Coast to coast, the multimillion-dollar ad war continued unabated.
The Republican Senate campaign committee announced it would put $3 million into a final-week fleet of ads designed to help Carly Fiorina defeat Sen. Barbara Boxer in a California race that is close in the polls.
Democrats hastened to Reid’s side in Nevada. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., became the latest lawmaker to send out an urgent e-mail fundraising appeal for the top Democrat.
It said the same wealthy Texans who attacked his Vietnam War record during the 2004 presidential campaign were now aiming at Reid. “These guys will say anything and spend anything to get what they want,” Kerry wrote.
Obama was returning to the White House for a few days before resuming campaigning at week’s end. His itinerary then will include Bridgeport, Conn., where party officials are hoping he can mobilize African-Americans whose votes are needed in races for the Senate and governor, as well as a re-election bid by Democratic Rep. Jim Himes.
Obama also will campaign in Pennsylvania, where polls show Rep. Joe Sestak in a close race with Republican Pat Toomey — for a Senate seat that Democrats currently hold. Similarly, there are numerous Democratic-held House seats in the state that Obama is working to hold.
Later stops are in Ohio, where Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is struggling to win a new term against Republican challenger John Kasich, and the president’s home state of Illinois, where polls show both a Senate seat and the governor’s office are in danger of falling to the Republicans.
http://randysright.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/dark-clouds-for-dems-as-obama-embarks-on-last-push/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101025/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent – 15 mins ago
WOONSOCKET, R.I. – President Barack Obama attacked Republicans with gusto Monday as he plunged into a final week of midterm election campaigning, but his party’s prognosis remained darkened by the feeble economy and his itinerary was designed largely to minimize losses.
Nor was his greeting totally friendly in Rhode Island where Obama has pointedly declined to endorse his party’s candidate for governor.
Obama can “take his endorsement and shove it,” declared Democrat Frank Caprio, battling Republican-turned-independent Lincoln Chafee in a gubernatorial race rated tight in the polls. Chafee endorsed Obama during the 2008 campaign for the White House.
In a little more than five hours in the state, Obama was booked for a factory tour and for a pair of fundraisers that party officials said would bring in $500,000.
He said Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch and then stood by and criticized while Democrats pulled it out. Now that progress has been made, he said, “we can’t have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.”
Democrats relied on more than the president’s time to boost their chances in the final days of the campaign. There was the matter of federal funds, too, in the form of hundreds of millions in grants announced during the day to provide high speed rail service in California, between Chicago and Iowa, and elsewhere. Administration officials left it to Democratic lawmakers to make the announcements, and they did, stressing the job-creating potential of the expansions.
Eight days before the election, the principal uncertainty concerned the size and scope of anticipated Democratic losses in the House, the Senate, governor’s races and state legislatures.
An Associated Press-GfK Poll showed that perhaps one-third of all voters have yet to firmly settle on their choices. But that wasn’t encouraging for the Democrats, either. Some 45 percent of them prefer the Republican candidate for the House, and 38 percent like the Democrat.
The president arrived as official figures showed more than 6.5 million ballots already have been cast in the 25 states where early voting is permitted or where absentees have been counted, underscoring the importance of get-out-the-vote programs that now begin long before Election Day.
Democrats have invested heavily in such efforts and are counting on them to help tip close races their way in states like Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid faces tea party-backed challenger Sharron Angle. Republicans are counting on campaign enthusiasm — polls agree their voters are more eager to cast ballots than Democrats — as well as their own get-out-the-vote efforts.
Even Democrats concede Republicans are poised for significant gains in Congress, and GOP officials are particularly optimistic about their chances for taking control of the House.
Based on opinion polls and the private assessments of strategists in both parties, it appears Republicans have effectively secured about two dozen of the 40 seats they need to win control of the House.
That leaves dozens of seats where races are competitive in the House and a half-dozen or so in the Senate. Republicans also look for statehouse gains.
Obama’s choice of Rhode Island for his one-day trip was partially to raise money for Democratic House candidates elsewhere in the country. Officials said the $500,000 would be split between Providence Mayor David Cicilline, who is running for the House, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The state has two House seats, one held by Democratic Rep. James Langevin, an incumbent in no apparent difficulty; the other being vacated by Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy. There, Cicilline is running against Republican John Loughlin in a heavily Democratic state.
The state’s unemployment is measured at 11.5 percent, the fourth highest in the country. In his first stop, the president visited a company that makes buckles and straps for outdoor and travel gear, saying he and the Democrats in Congress have cut small business taxes 16 times in 20 months. Republicans “talk a good game” when it comes to tax cuts, he said, but in fact they opposed several bills he labored to get passed.
“It’s not enough to just play politics,” he said. “You can’t focus on the next election. You’ve got to focus on the next generation.”
Caprio called Obama’s rebuff “Washington insider politics at its worst.” Rhode Island’s congressional delegation expressed disapproval about Caprio’s remarks, but the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association said the president’s decision was disappointing.
“Frank Caprio has spent his career fighting for the values of the Democratic Party. He deserves the full support of our party and its leaders,” said executive director Nathan Daschle.
If anything, the White House made it clearer that Caprio will not get Obama’s endorsement. “Out of respect for his friend Lincoln Chafee, the president decided not to get involved in this race,” said White House spokesman Bill Burton. It was the first time the White House had cited Chafee as the reason for Obama’s non-endorsement of a Democrat.
White House aides also arranged for Obama to tour a factory as part of a campaign-long effort to showcase efforts by his administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress to assist small businesses. In a conference call to reporters on Sunday night, they said American Cord & Webbing had been able to hire back all of the employees laid off last year and was planning on hiring more. They said the company won approval from the Small Business Administration last month for a loan to make possible an expansion of the facility.
Coast to coast, the multimillion-dollar ad war continued unabated.
The Republican Senate campaign committee announced it would put $3 million into a final-week fleet of ads designed to help Carly Fiorina defeat Sen. Barbara Boxer in a California race that is close in the polls.
Democrats hastened to Reid’s side in Nevada. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., became the latest lawmaker to send out an urgent e-mail fundraising appeal for the top Democrat.
It said the same wealthy Texans who attacked his Vietnam War record during the 2004 presidential campaign were now aiming at Reid. “These guys will say anything and spend anything to get what they want,” Kerry wrote.
Obama was returning to the White House for a few days before resuming campaigning at week’s end. His itinerary then will include Bridgeport, Conn., where party officials are hoping he can mobilize African-Americans whose votes are needed in races for the Senate and governor, as well as a re-election bid by Democratic Rep. Jim Himes.
Obama also will campaign in Pennsylvania, where polls show Rep. Joe Sestak in a close race with Republican Pat Toomey — for a Senate seat that Democrats currently hold. Similarly, there are numerous Democratic-held House seats in the state that Obama is working to hold.
Later stops are in Ohio, where Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is struggling to win a new term against Republican challenger John Kasich, and the president’s home state of Illinois, where polls show both a Senate seat and the governor’s office are in danger of falling to the Republicans.
http://randysright.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/dark-clouds-for-dems-as-obama-embarks-on-last-push/
Conservative Action Alerts
Defending the Constitution against a Radical Federal Government
“We don’t sue because we don’t like things. That is what elections are for,” Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told the closing lunch of the Fall 2010 Legal Strategy Forum, “We sue because some things the federal government has done are unconstitutional.” Speaking at The Heritage Foundation Thursday, Cucinelli urged the public interest lawyers in attendance to do all that they can to educate the public about how the federal government’s ever expanding power is antithetical to our nation’s First Principles. “These legal battles have been coming for some time. The hyper aggressive expansion of federal power did not start in the last two years. The problem stretches back into previous administrations,” he said.
While Virginia is also involved with litigation against the Environmental Protection Agency, Cuccinelli spent most of his time addressing Virginia’s suit challenging the federal government’s power to force all Americans to buy health insurance. Cuccinelli reached all they way back to before the nation’s founding to bolster his claim that an individual mandate is beyond the scope of powers the Founding Fathers intended the federal government to have.
In 1774, the First Continental Congress implemented a trade boycott against Great Britain in protest of the Intolerable Acts. When King George III asked if the colonists could boycott British goods, his solicitor general informed him it was beyond the power of the king to mandate that his subjects buy specific goods like tea. “The power of the United States government under the Constitution must be smaller than that of King George,” Cuccinelli said.
Cuccinelli also recounted an admission made by former Solicitor General Walter Dellinger at an earlier panel discussion. Pressed to identify what – if any – boundaries there are to federal government power if courts find the individual mandate Constitutional, Dellinger said the only boundary left would be politics. “Congress could force you to buy cars. Even a specific car, like an Equinox. I have an Equinox. You don’t want one.”
Cuccinelli had one word to describe such an interpretation of federal government power: “radical.”
http://conservativeactionalerts.com/blog_post/show/1378
The Constitution for the United States -- Full Text Here
http://www.conservativeactionalerts.com/blog_post/show/702
“We don’t sue because we don’t like things. That is what elections are for,” Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told the closing lunch of the Fall 2010 Legal Strategy Forum, “We sue because some things the federal government has done are unconstitutional.” Speaking at The Heritage Foundation Thursday, Cucinelli urged the public interest lawyers in attendance to do all that they can to educate the public about how the federal government’s ever expanding power is antithetical to our nation’s First Principles. “These legal battles have been coming for some time. The hyper aggressive expansion of federal power did not start in the last two years. The problem stretches back into previous administrations,” he said.
While Virginia is also involved with litigation against the Environmental Protection Agency, Cuccinelli spent most of his time addressing Virginia’s suit challenging the federal government’s power to force all Americans to buy health insurance. Cuccinelli reached all they way back to before the nation’s founding to bolster his claim that an individual mandate is beyond the scope of powers the Founding Fathers intended the federal government to have.
In 1774, the First Continental Congress implemented a trade boycott against Great Britain in protest of the Intolerable Acts. When King George III asked if the colonists could boycott British goods, his solicitor general informed him it was beyond the power of the king to mandate that his subjects buy specific goods like tea. “The power of the United States government under the Constitution must be smaller than that of King George,” Cuccinelli said.
Cuccinelli also recounted an admission made by former Solicitor General Walter Dellinger at an earlier panel discussion. Pressed to identify what – if any – boundaries there are to federal government power if courts find the individual mandate Constitutional, Dellinger said the only boundary left would be politics. “Congress could force you to buy cars. Even a specific car, like an Equinox. I have an Equinox. You don’t want one.”
Cuccinelli had one word to describe such an interpretation of federal government power: “radical.”
http://conservativeactionalerts.com/blog_post/show/1378
The Constitution for the United States -- Full Text Here
http://www.conservativeactionalerts.com/blog_post/show/702
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