Liberty Maven

Yesterday in Congress, sixty-five new bills were introduced.  Due to recent controversy, and for those who start reading this series of articles in the middle, I will include the following boilerplate information in every article.

When taking a look at the list below, keep in mind that the U.S. Constitution, which created our Federal Government, clearly enumerated 18 specific functions that it is given.  For all other things, the 9th and 10th amendment make it clear that the individual states have the power.  Note that it states in the Constitution that it is the Supreme Law of the Land, which can be usurped by no other.  This means that all opinions to the contrary made by the Supreme Court are technically invalid.  Throughout the past couple of hundred hears the Supreme Court has rule one way or another on some “interpretation” of the Constitution, but in fact no interpretation is necessary, as the intention of the founding fathers are quite clear.  For example, if the “general welfare” clause or the “interstate commerce” clause was intended to be used as a catch-all for any arbitrary piece of legislation, then the 10th amendments which reads:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

would be completely meaningless.  So simple logic, in addition to the writings of Madison and other founding fathers, dictates the notion that the Federal Government was set up to have very little power, and that these United States are intended to be a loose federation of sovereign states.

Only due to politician’s greed and overwhelming desire for power does the Constitution get relegated to the trash heap.

So, despite the  noble intentions of many of these bills, it doesn’t mean they are legal.

Of the bills introduced yesterday, these are ones that are clearly not legitimate functions of the Federal Government:

• S-759 – A bill to amend the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to reauthorize a provision relating to additional contract authority for States with Indian reservations.
• S-760 – A bill to designate the Liberty Memorial at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, as the “National World War I Memorial”.
• S-761 – A bill to establish the World War I Centennial Commission to ensure a suitable observance of the centennial of World War I, and for other purposes.
• S-762 – A bill to promote fire safe communities and for other purposes.
• S-763 – A bill to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, to authorize temporary mortgage and rental payments.
• S-764 – A bill to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, to increase the maximum amount of assistance to individuals and households.
• S-769 – A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve access to, and increase utilization of, bone mass measurement benefits under the Medicare part B program.

• S-774 – A bill to enhance the energy security of the United States by diversifying energy sources for onroad transport, increasing the supply of energy resources, and strengthening energy infrastructure, and for other purposes.
• HR1840 – To ensure States receive adoption incentive payments for fiscal year 2008 in accordance with the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.
• HR1840 – To amend the Small Business Act to improve the Small Business Administration’s entrepreneurial development programs, and for other purposes.
• S-770 (also HR1850) – A bill to amend titles V, XVIII, and XIX of the Social Security Act to promote cessation of tobacco use under the Medicare program, the Medicaid program, and the maternal and child health services block grant program.
• S-771 (also HR1860) – A bill to provide certain counties with the ability to receive television broadcast signals of their choice.
• HR1855 – To promote industry growth and competitiveness and to improve worker training, retention, and advancement, and for other purposes.
• HR1856 – To reauthorize the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
• S-776 – A bill to assist in creating substantive culture change in long-term residential care by establishing a small house nursing home loan program to provide for the establishment, renovation, and construction of small house nursing homes.
• S-777 – A bill to promote industry growth and competitiveness and to improve worker training, retention, and advancement, and for other purposes.
• S-779 – A bill to amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to modify provisions relating to the length and weight limitations for vehicles operating on Federal-aid highways, and for other purposes.
• S-780 – A bill to amend the Andean Trade Preference Act to add Paraguay to the list of countries that are eligible to be designated as beneficiary countries and ATPDEA beneficiary countries.
• HR1863 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose a tax on the amount of wages in excess of the contribution and benefit base, and for other purposes.
• SR97 – A resolution designating June 1, 2009, as “Collector Car Appreciation Day” and recognizing that the collection and restoration of historic and classic cars is an important part of preserving the technological achievements and cultural heritage of the United States.
• HR317 – Recognizing the region from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, and for other purposes.
• S-767 – A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants or contracts for prescription drug education and outreach for healthcare providers and their patients.
• HR313 – Supporting the goals and ideals of National Public Works Week, and for other purposes
• HR314 – Honoring and saluting Hillerich & Bradsby Co. on the 125th anniversary of the Louisville Slugger.
• S-768 – A bill to grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the soldiers from the United States who were prisoners of war at Bataan during World War II.
• HR318 – Recognizing July 2009 as “Energy Independence Month” and encouraging awareness and promoting education on energy independence in the United States.
• HR1834 – To amend the Small Business Act to expand and improve the assistance provided to Indian tribe members, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, and for other purposes.
• HR1835 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage alternative energy investments and job creation.
• HR1837 – To amend the Andean Trade Preference Act to add Paraguay to the list of countries that are eligible to be designated as beneficiary countries and ATPDEA beneficiary countries.
• HR1838 – To amend the Small Business Act to modify certain provisions relating to women’s business centers, and for other purposes.
• HR1839 – To amend the Small Business Act to improve SCORE, and for other purposes
• HR1841 – To amend the Clean Air Act to reduce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury emissions, and for other purposes
• HR1843 – To provide a mechanism for a determination on the merits of the claims brought by survivors and descendants of the victims of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Race Riot of 1921 but who were denied that determination.
• HR1844 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of comprehensive cancer care planning under the Medicare Program and to improve the care furnished to individuals diagnosed with cancer by establishing a Medicare hospice care demonstration program and grants programs for cancer palliative care and symptom management programs, provider education, and related research.
• HR1845 – To amend the Small Business Act to modernize Small Business Development Centers, and for other purposes.
• HR1846 – To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish additional payday loan disclosure requirements and preempt certain State laws, and for other purposes.
• HR1847 – To require the inclusion of coal-derived fuel at certain volumes in aviation fuel, motor vehicle fuel, home heating oil, and boiler fuel.
• HR1848 – To provide funding for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation for mortgage foreclosure mitigation activities.
• HR1849 – To designate the Liberty Memorial at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, as the National World War I Memorial, to establish the World War I centennial commission to ensure a suitable observance of the centennial of World War I, and for other purposes.
• HR1852 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4282 Beach Street in Akron, Ohio, as the “Akron Veterans Memorial Post Office”.
• HR1853 – To clarify the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir, and for other purposes.
• HR1854 – To amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 to modify an environmental infrastructure project for Big Bear Lake, California.
• HR1859 – To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants or contracts for prescription drug education and outreach for healthcare providers and their patients.
• HR315 – Supporting the goals and ideals of Alcohol Awareness Month.
• HR1862 – To cap the emissions of greenhouse gases through a requirement to purchase carbon permits, to distribute the proceeds of such purchases to eligible individuals, and for other purposes.

Each bill introduced takes countless hours to be drafted, typed up, disseminated, put through the various stages of the process, all costing time and money.  So even if the bill seems innocuous, such congratulatory ones, it costs you money.  Do you want your tax dollars being spent on this stuff?

Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to contact your representatives via telephone simply to tell them that you support or oppose a particular bill.  It’ll most likely take you less than two minutes, and it’s so very important that we stand up to our increasingly tyrannical government.

If you don’t know who your Senators are, or how to contact them, click here to found out.

If you don’t know who your Representatives are, or how to contact them, click here to find out.