The Constitution, Defend it or Lose it

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The above video — Thanks to CNS News TV — is just another colossal example of the constitutional illiteracy of too many of our elected representatives in Congress.  This time it is Senator Conrad of South Dakota, but he is only one of dozens of Congressmen and Senators CNS has questioned on this point and only a small percentage of them evidence any knowledge at all of the document they are sworn to defend.

The Constitution places only one individual performance requirement on members of Congress.  That is found in Article VI, “The Senators and Representatives …shall be bound by oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution [of the United States]”.  Every member of Congress is obligated, after being elected or re-elected to serve in Congress to take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution before taking office.

The actual oath members of Congress take is even more stringent than the Constitution requires.  In it, they swear to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic“. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the Constitution as to what to do when they discover, as Pogo Possum did, that “we have seen the enemy and he is us“.

Seriously, though, is it too much to ask of an employee we pay a base salary of $169,000 per year as of 2008, that they at least read and have a working understanding of their job description? Senator Conrad, as did Senator Landrieu of Louisiana and others plead ignorance and expresses a dependence on staff attorneys to insure they are acting within their Constitutional responsibilities.

Staff attorneys are not permitted to take the Oath of Office on behalf of their bosses and should not be allowed to assume the responsibility when their bosses violate that oath. The Constitution contains 4,494 words including Article and Section titles.  The average person reads and comprehends with 60% efficiency, about 200 words per minute.  That means the average reader can read and understand the main points of the Constitution is less than 25 minutes.  There is no excuse for any government official, or citizen for that matter, not to take the time necessary to familiarize themselves with the requirements of the Supreme Law governing our government.

As citizens, it is our responsibility to require adherence to the Constitution on the part of our elected officials.  Unless we ourselves are familiar with it, we are not going to know when it is violated.  Every day that passes, we are one day closer to tyranny and all because not enough of us have taken the time to understand what government is all about.  We are now to the point where we have to defend the Constitution or lose it, along with all the rights and liberty it protects.

Conservative Response to Health Care Summit

President Obama has called for a “health care summit” with the Republican leadership later this month, after their February break from destroying the Constitution.  According to Fox News “Alexa Marrero, spokeswoman for Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, one of the three committees with jurisdiction over health care, said Republicans are willing to come ‘with a blank piece of paper’ to write a bill.”

Here is a news flash for Fox News and Ms. Marrero, NO House Committee or Senate committee has any LEGAL jurisdiction over health care.  Congress only has jurisdiction over those areas of government that have been delegated to it by the Constitution.  Health care is NOT one of those areas.  The authority of Congress to make laws are spelled out in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and making laws concerning how and when American citizens are entitled to health care is nowhere to be found in that list.

The Constitutional duty of both Democrat and Republican legislators is to stop — immediately — the lawlessness that has taken over our nation’s capitol.  The SOLE purpose of a Constitution is to limit the authority of government over the lives of “we the people”.  The Founders understood this, and clearly expressed that fundamental principle of government in the Tenth Amendment.  If our elected representatives and “we the people” are too stupid, uninformed or misinformed to understand this principle, then perhaps we have come to that point Franklin spoke of as being incapable of any form of government other than despotism.

The Republicans do not need a “blank piece of paper” to take into the meeting with Obama.  If their memory span is too short to remember the word “NO” perhaps, they can simply write it on their palm as a reminder.

ISRA Alert

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ISRA URGENT ALERT – YOUR IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

DALEY FORCES LAUNCH RENEWED ATTACK ON YOUR GUN RIGHTS
LATEST EFFORT WOULD SHUT DOWN ALL GUN SHOPS

Late last week, Daley sympathizers in the Illinois House passed HB180 out of the Rules Committee and on to the floor of the House. A vote on HB 180 is expected as early as this coming Tuesday.

Should you be worried about HB 180? ABSOLUTELY!

HB 180 would include the following:

1. Require all Illinois gun shops to secure a license to operate issued by the Illinois State Police. Under this bill, the State Police may issue a license to a gun shop and would establish all rules and regulations required to keep the license. You know what that means either nobody would be granted a license, or those who did get licenses would be so burdened by regulations that they could not make a profit.
BOTTOM LINE: HB 180 would shut down all gun shops in Illinois .

2. HB 180 requires that all your gun purchases be registered with the state police.
BOTTOM LINE: HB 180 is a licensing/registration scheme designed to keep track of how many guns you own so they may be easily confiscated at a later date.

3. HB 180 allows any police officer in the state go to any gun shop in the state to conduct so-called record reviews.
BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago CAGE Unit could, and would, inspect gun shops across the state doing these record reviews. Shop owners, no matter where they are located, would be forced to cooperate with the CAGE unit or lose their licenses. The true purpose of these visits is to cost gun shops time and money and ultimately cause them to go out of business.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SAVE YOUR GUNS:

1. Starting Monday morning, call your State Representative and politely tell him/her that you oppose HB 180 and that you would like to see him/her vote against the bill when it comes to the House Floor. If you do now know who your state representative is, go to the following web site and follow the directions for looking up your legislators: Illinois State Board of Elections.  If you know who your State Representative is, you can look up the phone numbers of their Springfield and district offices here.

2. Pass this alert on to all your friends and family, ask them to make calls as well.

3. Please post this alert to any and all blogs and bulletin boards to which you may belong.

Thanks in advance for your help in this matter. The future of lawful gun ownership in Illinois depends on you!

The Tea Party Focus

The Tea Party movement is the most important political phenomenon since the Vietnam War protests in the late sixties and early seventies. However, there are some important differences between the two; the war protests were started on university campuses and were organized and led by socialist leaning youth.  The tea party movement is a spontaneous, unorganized, citizen movement that started in Middle America as a protest against an out of control government. Whereas the war protesters were mainly university students encouraged by their leftist professors, the tea party protesters tend to be older, more informed citizens from every segment of society.

The Vietnam War and its protestors changed America forever.  The tea party movement has the same potential for change, only in an opposite, more positive direction.  The original focus of tea party participants has been on taxes and spending.  As time goes on, unless it becomes over organized, it will hopefully broaden its focus from the political symptoms of taxes and spending to the root cause of those symptoms, government lawlessness.

The strength of the movement is found in its localism, spontaneity, individuality, and its “all American”, down home flavor.  If or when it becomes nationally organized, it will loose much of its effectiveness and either blend in with the Republican Party or become another of the “third parties” that dot the political landscape. Before the tea partiers follow the hippies into history and American folklore, however, they can have a lasting effect on the future of coming generations. For this we need to deepen our focus past the superficial symptoms of health care, taxes, spending, education and other crises de jour that lie on the surface to the core problem that lays underneath.

America was designed to be a “nation of laws and not of men”.  Today we have a government that recognizes no law other than political expediency and power.  Most of us believe we are supposed to be governed by a Constitution.  We are not and never have been, except in a loose indirect sense. The Constitution protects us; it does not govern us. The Constitution protects our liberty from the tyranny of government.  It does so by setting limits on government power.  The Constitution is the law for government and its purpose is to govern the government not the people.  A government that violates or ignores its constitution is a lawless government and not worthy of directing the affairs of its people.

Only when this concept is fully recognized and accepted by the people and their elected officials can we again live in freedom, enjoying the fruits of our labor and following our own course in the pursuit of happiness.

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Constitution Refresher Course
For Elected Officials, Candidates, and Citizens

A Winning Strategy For 2010

The race for the coveted prizes of power and prestige awaiting the winners in the halls of Congress and State Legislatures all over the country is officially underway.  As the nation struggles to find solutions to the myriad problems created by America’s hundred-year flirtation with socialism, those contending for the prize will be offering their solutions to the voting multitudes.  In keeping with past tradition, Democrats will claim their solutions cost more and are more comprehensive than their opponent’s therefore they will be more effective in solving the problem.  Republicans will immediately counter by denouncing the astronomical cost and consequent increase in our burgeoning debt. They will then offer a scaled down version of the same proposal and encourage voters to accept it because it is cheaper and requires less taxes.

As a public service, I would like to propose a different strategy.  My strategy is simple, straightforward and guaranteed to win whenever it is tried.  I admit to having no empirical evidence for my claim since it has never been tried during my lifetime.  For that reason, I offer it freely and equally to Democrat and Republican alike.  If in the end, it doesn’t work as advertised, the American people will still be the winners because there will have been a thorough examination of the issues and views of the candidates we finally send to Washington and the State Capitols. Furthermore, if we still opt for socialism over capitalism we can all sleep easier knowing that we have exactly the type of government we want and deserve.

My strategy is not complicated.  All you have to do is force your opponent to run against the Constitution. When your opponent suggests spending more money to solve a particular problem, demand that he or she justify the expenditure by identifying where in the Constitutional authorization to spend taxpayer money for that particular purpose is found.  In 99.9% of the cases, the opponent will be forced to admit the Constitution does not empower Congress to legislate in that particular area. This forces him or her to dismiss the Constitution as irrelevant or admit to an intent to violate its single purpose as the supreme law restricting the powers of the federal government.

This works whether debating taxes, spending, healthcare, education, subsidies, corporate or state welfare, or national defense. On the Democrat side, when your opponent calls for a smaller government, demand that he or she define the term.  Just how big of a government does the Constitution permit?  Ditto, the demand for lower taxes.  Just what level of taxation does the Constitution require? Approaching the campaign from this perspective has two definite advantages for the American people. (1) It forces candidates to broaden their understanding of the Founding Documents on which our republic is built. (2) It forces voters to consider whether they wish to live in a true Constitutional Republic or are willing to trust their welfare, safety and happiness to the judgment of their politically ambitious elected representatives.

Using this strategy does not necessarily require years of study or weeks of research.  We have already done most of that for you. There are at least five different sections of this website where you will find the fundamental information needed to carry on a campaign based on the Constitution and America’s founding principles.  For a quick refresher on the Powers granted to Congress click here.  For a more in-depth discussion for Elected Officials, Candidates and Citizens visit “Fundamentals of the American System of Government”.  Here or Here

How Strong is the Conservative Influence in Illinois?

The Nomination of Mark Kirk as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate creates some serious problems for Illinois conservative patriots.  Should he win in November it will send a message that the Republican Party need not worry about the patriot uprising that has been taking place across the state for the past year.  However, Kirk cannot win the general election without the vote of conservatives who will find it difficult to cast their vote for a pro-abortion, liberal candidate that voted for both TARP and Cap and Trade legislation, betraying both his Party and his constituents.

Another difficulty facing Kirk in November is indicated by the breakdown of primary votes for the Senate seat in February.  Democratic primary voters for the Senate seat outnumbered Republican voters by over 150,000. The Democrat machine turned out 901,000 voters while only 740,000 Republicans showed up at the polls.

Conservatives have three choices facing them in November. They can simply stay home, in which case we are likely to loose some of the gains we would otherwise make in the Congressional delegation. They can vote but leave the Senate spot blank, insuring another Democratic Senator representing Illinois.  On the other hand, they can vote for Kirk believing that any Republican would be more conservative than the Democrat would. If they take the third choice and Kirk wins, the tea party and patriot movements will lose their credibility for the 2012 elections.  The same thing happens if they vote for Kirk and Giannoulias wins anyway.  Either way the effectiveness of the conservatives in Illinois politics is diminished.

If Illinois conservatives are to have any impact on the 2012 elections they must find some way of delivering a visible message in 2010 that cannot be denied by either the media or the Republican Party establishment.  Patriot protests across the country have shown their effectiveness in influencing legislative policy and the outcomes of special elections.  2010 and 2012 well be the first tests they have faced in general elections.

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Liberty or Bondage?

“…In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, … … and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other”.
~ Ben Franklin on last day of Philadelphia Convention September  17, 1789

The nomination by the Republican Party of Mark Kirk, the liberal, big-government, pro-abortion, anti-family candidate for the U.S. Senate is an insult to every patriotic conservative in Illinois.  His nomination was a repeat of the 2008 Presidential race when the party establishment gave us John McCain as the Party’s choice and cannot be expected to end any differently than that campaign did.

A lot of voters seem to have been taken in by Kirk’s sudden conversion to fiscal conservatism and overlooked his social liberalism considering him a moderate. Fiscal conservatism plus social liberalism does not equal moderation.  It equals a morally confused individual whose views stem from ambition and convenience not principle.

The problem is that so few voters and not enough conservatives understand the fundamentals of republicanism or the role of the Constitution in our form of government.  Too many of us believe that it is the role of government to create jobs and solve our health care problems or any of the other real or manufactured problems we face.  No one would deny that these problems need to be solved, but it is not the role of the federal government to solve them.  There is two reasons why this is important.

One, the government cannot solve problems it created in the first place. The housing crisis, the energy crisis, the education crisis, the health care crisis and the prolonged recession all came about due to well intentioned but ill-advised, extra-constitutional government policies.  Specifically, they were created by policies that fall outside the proper role of government.

Two, the core principle of republicanism is the rule of law.  The Constitution is the law designed to govern the functions of government.  Whenever the government violates that law, the country suffers.  This is the undeniable verdict of two hundred years of our history.  Nowhere in the Constitution is there any authorization for the federal government to be involved in any way in education, health care, housing, banking, insurance, or manufacturing.

The futile expectation of voters for the federal government to fix our economic or other problems is only prolonging their solution, which is to return to the constitutional republican form of government our Founders intended for us to have. If the American People cannot take the time to learn about the mere 4,400 words in the Constitution and continue to sacrifice their liberty for an illusionary security they believe government can provide in their personal and financial life then perhaps we have reached the stage Ben Franklin was speaking of in the above quote.

The choice is simple.  We either return to our Constitution or succumb to the tyranny of socialism.  The two are incompatible and cannot co-exist.

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Primary a Mixed Bag

Congratulations to:

Joe Walsh – 8th Congressional District
Joel Pollak – 9th Congressional District
Teri Davis Newman – 12th Congressional District
Randy Hultgren – 14th Congressional District

We were disappointed in the outcome of the three congressional races where our candidates did not win, but not disappointed with the candidates.  Rosanna Pulido in the 5th District lost to the politically connected David Ratowitz by less than 1,000 votes; Michael Firsching in the 19th District lost to the entrenched incumbent, John Shimkus; and David McAloon in the 11th District lost to a formidable opponent that is a little more moderate than we might wish but one we can live with. All in all the Congressional races were a slight plus for conservatives.

Adam Andrzejewski’s loss for Governor was a disappointment; however, Bill Brady is a conservative we can support if he is declared the winner. The last numbers I have seen had him with a 503-vote lead over Kirk Dillard.

The big upset was in the Senate race.  Mark Kirk, the most liberal Republican candidate in Illinois, won with an astounding vote total of over 415,000 votes compared to only 320,000 for all his opponents combined. This says a lot about the Republican machine in Illinois that treated him as an incumbent because he was the sitting Congressman from the 10th District. It does not bode well for Illinois or the Nation, however.

We still believe that Don Lowery was the best candidate for both the state and the country at large. His candidacy was strictly a “grassroots” campaign with little or no recognition from the media or the Party.  Illinois runs its primary in the middle of winter to protect incumbents and hamper grassroots efforts, and it worked. I predict we have not heard the last from “The Judge”.

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Latest on Illinois Governors Race

Breaking: Adam Andrzejewski Surges to Within 2 Points in Latest Polling (Updated)

Sunday, January 31, 2010, 4:47 PM

Jim Hoft

Illinois Gubernatorial Candidate and conservative Adam Andrzejewski rallied supporters in O’Fallon, Illinois this afternoon.
It was a standing room only crowd.

While campaigning in O’Fallon the Andrzejewski team announced that Adam had just received the endorsement of the largest Chicago Polish paper today. And…. It was announced that Adam had surged to within two points in an internal poll conducted by a conservative organization in Washington DC. Andrzejewski was 8 points down earlier in the week in the Illinois race.

It may have been the endorsement by Lech Walesa that helped Andrzejewski surge in the latest polling. And this is despite the fact that the mainstream Chicago news mostly ignored Walesa’s historic endorsement.

Reprinted from Gateway Pundit

Virtual Phone Bank for Adam Andrzejewski for Governor

The latest Rasmussen poll shows we are within the margin of error of frontrunner Andy McKenna and First Things reports we are within 2 points!
Protect your investment in the Adam for Illinois campaign by joining our Get Out the Vote (GOTV) effort to stop the patronage army from buying another election.

One of the things we’ve done with your support and generous donations is set up a Virtual Call Center—the same system that pushed Scott Brown over the top in Massachusetts.

The other critical thing we’ve done is activated our volunteer army to get on that call center and start dialing for Adam. Here is how it works:

It’s very easy, effective, and doesn’t cost you a dime.  You sign in, and the system calls you.  You stay on the phone while the computer calls out to a pre-loaded list of Illinoisans.

We write the script, you do the talking!

If you get an answering machine, you click a button to leave an answering machine message. This is an easy and crucial tactic to put us over the top. Your friends and family in other states can even help with this.

Calling ends at 9 PM, but starts up at 9 AM tomorrow and through election day. Please consider taking some time to make some dials on this simple system.  You’ll see the power of your investment in action!

The greatest way to make a difference is by phoning as many people as you possibly can. If you want to participate in this Get Out the Vote effort, all you need is an internet connection, your telephone or cell phone, and access the following website:

LOGIN HERE
Campaign ID: 811139?Campaign
Pass Code: Adam2010