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SCOTUS 2012 — How Our National “Circuit Breakers” Have Failed Us

3:02 pm in 100 years, absurdity, chief justice, circuit breakers, citizenry, conservative pundits, critical case, doctrine of last clear chance, electrical panel, founders, freedoms, john roberts, justice roberts, Obamacare Report, reading john, SCOTUS, spotlight, supreme court, taxation, US Constitution, wake up call, wakeup call by David Leeper

After reading John Roberts’ opinion in the PPACA (Obamacare) decision and the Conservative pundits’ articles thanking him for the wakeup call, I decided to hold a meeting with my family and make the following announcement:

It’s up to us as individuals to make sure that we use electricity responsibly in this house.  The whole house could burn down if we aren’t careful.  Our circuit breakers are no substitute for diligence.

Therefore – 

As a wake-up call, I am going to do our family a “favor” by removing the circuit breakers from our electrical panel, wiring the circuits straight through without any protection at all.  Now it’s up to us alone to be diligent.

Absurd?  You bet it is.  But that’s the metaphor I offer to illustrate the absurdity of the message that Chief Justice Roberts sent us on June 28.

Our Constitution was created by the Founders to limit the power of government over its citizenry.  The SCOTUS Justices were intended to be our national “circuit breakers” for the US Constitution. In the event that Congress were to run amok with its taxing power, even with most of its citizenry seduced or asleep, the black-letter law of the Constitution was to be there to protect us, and the Justices were to make the call when Congress went too far.

Well, the SCOTUS circuit breakers failed to trip as they should have on the PPACA decision.  And it’s not Justice Roberts’ fault alone, although under the “doctrine of last clear chance,” he is certainly responsible.  Dusty, tired, and corrupted by 100 years of leftist / progressive / liberal / redistributionist / collectivist / neo-Marxist infestations, those old numbed SCOTUS circuit breakers failed to provide the intended protection.

Worst of all, by failing on this most critical case, SCOTUS has set the precedent that they will almost surely fail again when Big Government next tries to control our lives and freedoms through taxation.  And thanks to PPACA, that day is right around the corner.

Limiting federal powers of taxation was one of the prime motivators of the Founders in drafting the Constitution itself. Indeed, “Taxation without representation is tyranny!” was the battle cry of the American revolution.  Now, SCOTUS has aided and abetted taxation by misrepresentation.  What a letdown.

Thomas Sowell, as usual, put it well when, on July 4 of all days, he wrote:

Betrayal is hard to take, whether in our personal lives or in the political life of the nation. Yet there are people in Washington — too often, Republicans — who start living in the Beltway atmosphere, and start forgetting those hundreds of millions of Americans beyond the Beltway who trusted them to do right by them, to use their wisdom instead of their cleverness.

How far do you bend over backwards to avoid the obvious, that ObamaCare was an unprecedented extension of federal power over the lives of 300 million Americans today and of generations yet unborn?

These are the people that Chief Justice Roberts betrayed when he declared constitutional something that is nowhere authorized in the Constitution of the United States.

One of the Chief Justice’s admirers said that when others are playing checkers, he is playing chess. How much consolation that will be as a footnote to the story of the decline of individual freedom in America, and the wrecking of the best medical care in the world, is another story.

There are many speculations as to why Chief Justice Roberts did what he did, some attributing noble and far-sighted reasons, and others attributing petty and short-sighted reasons, including personal vanity. But all of that is ultimately irrelevant.

What he did was betray his oath to be faithful to the Constitution of the United States.

Who he betrayed were the hundreds of millions of Americans — past, present and future — whole generations in the past who have fought and died for a freedom that he has put in jeopardy, in a moment of intellectual inspiration and moral forgetfulness, 300 million Americans today whose lives are to be regimented by Washington bureaucrats, and generations yet unborn who may never know the individual freedoms that their ancestors took for granted.

Some claim that Chief Justice Roberts did what he did to save the Supreme Court as an institution from the wrath — and retaliation — of those in Congress who have been railing against Justices who invalidate the laws they have passed. Many in the media and in academia have joined the shrill chorus of those who claim that the Supreme Court does not show proper “deference” to the legislative branch of government.

But what does the Bill of Rights seek to protect the ordinary citizen from? The government! To defer to those who expand government power beyond its constitutional limits is to betray those whose freedom depends on the Bill of Rights.

Amen, Dr. Sowell, amen.

Should we give up?  Of course not.  Has the past week been enough time to rationalize and agonize over Roberts’ June 28 betrayal?  I think so.  I’ve had enough.  Dr. Sowell’s article tied a ribbon on it for me.

The next step for Conservatives is to pound away at that Obamacare bill, making it clear to We-the-People how deeply in debt we already are, how close we are to the edge of Obama’s seductive cliff (see cartoon at right), and how a Congress run amok with no SCOTUS circuit-breaker protection is going to set our house ablaze in debt just before we sail off that cliff into darkness.

Forget the differences among mandates, penalties, and taxes, America’s voters need to understand what Obama’s regime will do to them and their families through the freedom-robbing leverage of taxation, over-spending, and over-borrowing.  With SCOTUS now having abdicated, getting this message out to all Americans is the best November election strategy to win back a positive future for our republic, our children, and our grandchildren.

EGYPT: Muslim Brotherhood voters are exactly like Barack Hussein Obama voters

11:52 pm in Al Qaeda, Coptic Christians, Foreign Affairs, founders, free government, hussein obama, islamist, Muslim Brotherhood, Sharia Law, White House by TPTsubmissions


Source: BareNakedIslam.com

Posted: May 27th, 2012

The Al-Qaeda founders of the Muslim Brotherhood campaigned on practically the same issues as Obama – hope, change, and lots of free government handouts, not to mention throwing Israel under the bus. No wonder these Islamist brothers have been honored guests at the White House recently.

As for that sharia law thing…coming soon. Coptic Christians had better head for the hills.

Avatar of Toria

by Toria

INCIDENT: I Am A Threat

9:35 am in border patrol, Border/Immigration, bureaucratic nightmare, enduring re-entering the US, fight for better moral, founders, founders of conservative daily, freedom fight, freedoms, I Am A Threat, IRS forcing me to close my business, Joe Otto, lack of freedoms, loss of freedom, Obama is a bad president, ottoi, princess louisa inlet, Satan, trust and power, us border patrol, violating our constitutional rights, we could fight for freedom, your rights as an american by Toria

This is not an isolated case. Life as we have known it will cease to exist unless we all pour our efforts into this next election. Those who are “not interested” in politics will wish to God they had put efforts into this. The truly evil ones are less than 10% and follow satan. Those who have an entitlement mindset are about 35% (but they are also devoid of passion and essentially lazy). Our country was founded by 20% of the colony population. Which percentage will you be?

My personal experience with U.S. Border Patrol.

By Joe Otto

I am a threat.  This is not about any loss of freedom you are about to experience but is about the lack of freedoms you currently have.  The following account just happened to me, personally, as I recently crossed the border from Canada to the US.  Many of you do not know me, but I am one of the founders of Conservative Daily.  As a founder, I set out to create an environment where we could fight for freedom, fight for better moral and ethical direction, but even more importantly fight to hold those in positions of trust and power accountable.  Every day, we research, draft and develop new ways to fight against the bureaucratic nightmare that we face as a nation, and to reveal the shame many that we call leaders have brought to our great nation.

I went to Canada to attend the Malibu Young Life Camp, a camp that is the definition of God’s paradise.  The camp sits on the Princess Louisa Inlet, and has some 5500 visiting campers a year.  It is a Christian camp that seeks to give teenagers a week of fun, faith, and fellowship.  A week, that as I discovered, brings people back some fifty years later. We were there to help get the camp back in order for the forthcoming summer season, which as it turns out, led me to 6 days of very hard labor laying about 30 tons of slate for a pathway to one of the newly donated buildings.  I would complain, but the truth is, no matter how sore my knees are (or the rest of my body for that matter), the friendship and fellowship we experienced this week made it all worth it.

We headed back to the US through the CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) station at Aldergrove.  I was traveling with my in-laws, as this was my first time at Malibu “volunteering”.  Now, I am a regular traveler with a passport that reads of trips to Africa and the Middle East.  I have worked on several projects in pretty controversial areas, and with sometimes very controversial people.  I do so, to seek understanding, and to seek peace.  My motivations are never about money and do not put me in any situations where I could or would compromise the US or our standings on foreign policy or domestic policy regardless of how right or wrong I may see the current direction.

A couple of years back, I made it onto a list.  I have no idea how I made it to that list, or what prompted their adding me to the list, but nonetheless, I get “special” treatment, every time I re-enter the US.  The agents are always courteous and respectful, and they are always just as stunned as to why I would make it on anyone’s list.  Normally, I answer their questions and after about an hour, I am free to go.

This time, though… this time it was very different.  This time, they searched the car we were riding in three times.  They interrogated me four times.  They took my wallet, and made copies (in plain sight) of every credit card in my wallet.  They took my computer, and made copies of the contents of my entire hard drive, including intimate letters between me and my wife, emails, pictures, and other writings and documents.  They went through my cell phone, and disappeared into a “lab” in the back after asking me if it was password protected. They gawked over the three of us (my in-laws as well) as they all poured into the “lab”.  Several of them pointed at us over and over again as other agents (12 or so in total) came in to watch as they interrogate their suspect.

Suspect of what?  Maybe they discovered that I in fact did some charitable work in Malibu.  Or maybe they discovered that every year, my wife and I donate a wedding on the 4th of July to an active military couple as a symbol of our gratitude toward all the men and women who serve our great country.  Maybe they discovered that I am a father of two honor students, or that I am the volunteer (unpaid) Executive Director for a Non-Profit that the IRS has taken two years to neither approve or deny.  Maybe they discovered that I am a founder of Conservative Daily, and that I stand for our rights under the Constitution.  Maybe they do not like the many times I spoke (albeit respectfully and honorably) about the loss of those rights and the lack of accountability of the “middle management” of our government.  Not just our federal government but our state and local municipalities as well.  Maybe someone on the other end of the state department has deemed me a threat, because I stand for you, as you stand for your neighbor.  Maybe they just figured out that Americans are waking up from a deep slumber of complacency and inaction.

Any way you interpret what they did to me, they personally violated my rights as an American, and they did so with reckless impunity.  As I watched my mother in law become increasingly concerned as they searched the car a second time, and then a third.  They watched as they took me into a room and after three hours attempted to sneak my computer bag back into the car.  My computer does track transfer or copying of files, and they could have been smart enough to realize that most people want to know when people are looking at their private information.

Over the years, I viewed the questions and answers that I have endured when re-entering the US as a minor inconvenience.  I had not been concerned and I certainly have not let them control my emotions.  I have learned to carefully space my final flight home in the US long enough to accommodate this inconvenience. They were not going to get me angry or upset, for a certainly have nothing to hide.

Now, I see it quite differently.  I see what they did as an escalation of things to come.  A new barometer of what they see as acceptable.  Violating our Constitutional rights is the new norm.  The law states that you have no recourse, as they can decide whether you have a right to sue.  Then when you do sue, you have to prove damages.  After wading through the legal implications and bills associated with holding them accountable, the reality is you may not be able to sustain the fatigue of the fight.  Neither can most of us afford it.

This brings up a whole new dynamic concerning your rights as an American.  You have freedoms, until someone violates those freedoms, and then you are supposed to have options.  What options do you really have?  They will issue a memo denying wrongdoing, and you will cry foul.  They will call you a delusional person with a victim complex, and you will fight, until you realize that fighting alone… is lonely.  It is tiring, and it is depressing.  Then they will say that when you were 21 you got arrested in a bar for fighting, or you got three speeding tickets, so obviously you’re a demon, who is trying to act innocent.  Then they will say, you have been divorced, so you have to be bad.  Or that you once went fishing without a license so we know what type of guy you are… Then the white noise of what really happened will be overshadowed by warts you really do not have, and what will be left, is you, holding the bag, wondering if the fight was ever worth it.  By the way, I was not arrested for fighting in a bar or fishing without a license, although the other two things are accurate.

This is a story, I wish everyone would read.  This is not a story of the IRS forcing me to close my business because of ridicule and persecution, but that could happen now.  This is not a case of Obamacare destroying my ability to make a living, but this does happen.  This is not even a case of injustice because I was beaten by authority.  This is a case of social injustice, an invasion of privacy and a theft of information.  This is the essence of our loss of freedoms as Americans.

When does it stop? And where does the rabbit trail lead?  The definition of what happened to me, just yesterday is what each of you should be afraid of.  I am not going to ask you to fax congress, or write a letter on my behalf.  I am sharing this with all of you.  1.6 million people across the US who get our message so that you can understand the big problems are daunting but the ones you do not see, those are the ones that you should be afraid of, because those are the ones that take your freedoms long before big new laws have a chance to.

In the next two months we will be launching a campaign across the US with coalitions and partnerships with organizations that stand for those freedoms.  We are going to ask people to stand at intersections, at grocery stores, and in public places telling about stories that have little meaning individually but collectively paint a picture of our country that we all need to see.  Obama is a bad president, but our government is so big, and out of control, that if we do not stop it, and replenish and replace our leaders, we will face a certain future that is devastating and tragic.

So stand with me, forward this to friends, and join me as we stand, together.

- Joe Otto

 

 

Provision #15 of the Constitution from the Making of America

8:00 am in American History, british parliament, Congress, congressional districts, constitutional convention, founders, george mason, House of Representatives, inhabitant, instances, paragraph, parliament, requisites by Paul Colts

PROVISION 15 (From Article I, Section 2, Paragraph 2) A person cannot be elected to the House of Representatives unless he is an inhabitant of that State which he will be representing. This provision gives the people the right to not have any person sitting in Congress representing a State unless he is an inhabitant of that State. Taking the lesson from the British parliament, the founders did not want a person to represent a district without living there. At first, the Representatives were elected at large. It wasn’t until 1842 that Congress required the States to form Congressional districts so that each region of a State would be more adequately and fairly represented. George Mason had anticipated this necessity in the Constitutional Convention, saying …

[The House of Representatives] ought to know and sympathize with every part of the community; and ought therefore to be taken not only from different parts of the whole republic, but also from different districts of the larger members in it; which had in several instances … different interests and view arising from difference in produce, of habits, etc. We ought to attend to the rights of every class of the people. … The requisites in actual representation are that the representatives should sympathize with their constituents; should think as they think, and feel as they feel; and that for these purposes should even be residents among them.