Liberty Maven

Kentucky Republicans should be asking themselves if they want another Lindsey Graham who compromises and capitulates to the Left in the name of big government bipartisanship or if they’d like a true conservative Senator who will fight for low taxes and free markets? It’s still quite early but judging from recent comments it seems Trey Grayson is sounding more and more like Graham and Rand Paul is sounding more and more like a Republican.

A few weeks ago at a Town Hall meeting Lindsey Graham argued that he would not let Ron Paul hijack the Republican Party. Grayson seems to be taking lessons from Graham. Watch Grayson in the interview below from WHAS11 as he smugly dismisses Paul while labeling him “crazy”. Hmmm… where have we heard that tactic before?

As the news report mentions, it appears there is the potential for another establishment Republican to enter the race. That would certainly shake up the race, but I’m not sure it would be a bad thing for Paul’s chances.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Please send Congress a letter using an anti-bribery argument to oppose the cancerous healthcare bill.

You can copy or borrow from my letter to Congress to write your own . . .

Please oppose the so-called healthcare reform bill. I especially object to the fact that my tax dollars are being used to bribe members of Congress to secure their votes, or to reward powerful Senators. For instance . . .

The Baucus bill has the federal government paying the entire cost for the mandated Medicaid expansion in the following states: Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island and Michigan. This is an attempt to bribe or reward the Senators and Representatives from those states using my tax money.

Other states aren’t getting this sweet deal. Citizens in the other 46 states will have to pay higher taxes to fund this scheme.

I’m sure the so-called heathcare bill is stuffed with other sweetheart deals, designed to win key votes. You guys call this logrolling. I call it bribery. The only reason Congressional leaders get away with it is because they’re using my tax money to do the bribing, but that makes it worse, not better.

Frankly, I think any Congressional leader who offers a tax-funded benefit for a state or district in order to secure a vote, and any member of Congress who negotiates to gain such a benefit, should be brought up on charges and go to jail for violating the anti-bribery law.

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D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Some good things have resulted from our past efforts . . .

I spoke at the Williamsport, PA Tea Party on August 29th. There were over 4,000 people there! The organizing committee had a scroll full of demands for Congress to move in a downsizing direction. Hundreds of people signed the scroll. Included among the demands were our Read the Bills, One Subject at Time, and Write the Laws proposals. Since then . . .

The Williamsport Tea Party Committee has been active, including delivering four busloads of people to the 9/12 rally in Washington, DC. They’ve met several times to plan their long-term strategy. The result . . .

They’ve decided to focus on our “transpartisan,” Downsize DC Agenda proposals, the Read the Bills Act (RTBA) and the One Subject at a Time Act (OSTA).

Tom Anderson, a member of our team and one of the leaders in the Williamsport committee, sent me the following message to describe their thinking . . .

” . . . we believe that this issue (RTBA and OSTA) is the most easily addressable, bipartisan, and most helps us achieve the other demands. In contemplating how to proceed to push this demand, we reviewed DownsizeDC’s efforts . . . and decided that the most effective means toward accomplishing it is to 1) make our community aware of the problem and our efforts, and 2) get them all to push their Congress critters to sponsor the DownsizeDC legislation.”

The Williamsport Tea Party committee gets it! RTBA and OSTA are levers we can use to restrain government excess in all areas. Passing these bills will make it easier to achieve other demands.

To support their efforts the committee has invited me to speak to them on Wednesday, November 18, and answer questions about RTBA and OSTA. More than 200 people are expected to attend this meeting.

If you’re in the area on Wednesday, you’re invited to attend the meeting. I’d love to meet you.
The meeting starts at 7:30 PM at the Cinema Center in downtown Williamsport, PA.

Now, for today’s action item . . .

It’s been awhile since we’ve asked Congress to repeal the REAL ID Act. We don’t want them to think we’ve forgotten about it, because that would make them think they’ve gotten away with it. Please send Congress a letter reminding them that you want REAL ID repealed:

You can use my letter to Congress as a model for you own . . . Read More »

Ron Paul took his anti-Fed, anti-regulatory, pro-transparency message to the CNBC Squawk Box crew today. This is another winning appearance from Ron Paul. He outlines his views fairly well and makes extremely good arguments for his side of the Fed transparency debate.

His appearance was so positive that they end up telling him that he should come on the show as a special guest (as they have from time to time) for the full 2 hours of the show. Paul makes a joke in response. Check it out below.

We hear stories so often about how secret back-room deals are struck in order “secure” votes for a particular piece of legislation that the following is hardly news.  But if you’re even slightly masochistic, read on.  It certainly made me sick:

Rep. Dennis Cardoza just couldn’t take yes for an answer.

Democratic leaders thought they knew how to lock in his vote. They’d add a last-minute provision authorizing up to $500 million to create medical centers that could benefit a college in Cardoza’s California district.

He’d vote for the health reform bill.

Usually that’s enough: Give a lawmaker his “ask,” and get his vote. But according to several sources familiar with the situation, Cardoza wanted more — a guarantee that the program would actually be funded — before he would agree to cast a “yes.”

He spent much of Friday and Saturday on the phone with Rob Nabors, the No. 2 man in the White House budget office, and a good portion of Saturday holed up in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

Nabors, Pelosi and countless other administration and congressional officials worked to seal the deal. Cardoza voted for the bill and issued a Saturday press release proclaiming his victory for the local community.

The article continues on politico.com.

Each time a new member of the U.S. House Representatives is sworn into office, he or she is administered the following oath:

I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Similarly, each new Senator must submit the following oath:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

Despite this, almost none of the 535 members of Congress take this oath seriously.  Either they are atheists who do not care about the religious and humanistic consequences of violating these oaths, or they have subscribed to the faulty notion that the Supreme Court’s misinterpretation of the Constitution somehow trumps the words of the Constitution itself — which of course is impossible because it’s the Constitution that gives the various parts of government, including the Supreme Court, its powers, not to mention the fact that this governing document declares itself the Supreme Law of the Land.  Indeed, Article VI of the Constitution explicitly states:

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

So given the clear fact that the Constitution, as written, is the ultimate rulebook, and members of Congress swear to “support and defend” the Constitution, it certainly gives a rational person pause when the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives not only pushes a blatantly unconstitutional bill (in the form of health care “reform”) but virtually laughs in the face of a reporter who asks “Where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?” Without blinking, Pelosi’s immediate reply was an incredulous, “Are you serious?”

Walter E. Williams explores this exchange in his latest commentary entitled, “A Minority View: Constitutional Contempt”:

…Later on, Pelosi’s press spokesman Nadeam Elshami told CNSNews.com about its question regarding constitutional authority mandating that individual Americans buy health insurance. “You can put this on the record. That is not a serious question. That is not a serious question.”

Suppose Congress was debating a mandate outlawing tea-party-type protests and other large gatherings criticizing Congress. A news reporter asks Nancy Pelosi where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to outlaw peaceable assembly. How would you feel if she answered, “Are you serious? Are you serious?” and ignored the question. And what if, later on, someone from her office sent you a press release, as was sent to CNS News, saying that Congress has “broad power to regulate activities that have an effect on interstate commerce,” pointing out that demonstrations cause traffic jams and therefore interferes with interstate commerce?

Continue reading Walter E. Williams’ article here.

Yesterday I gave a fast-paced lecture on constitutional money and the Federal Reserve to the Lehigh Valley Tea Party.  The playlist can be found below, and the PDF of the presentation here.   I am also available to present this material at a much slower rate, with plenty of time for Q&A to groups.  Monetary economics is very crucial to understand as it underlies EVERYTHING that is going on with the economy.

There is also a lot more to learn about, like the suppression of the gold price.

Hope to see many attend the Constitution rEVOLution Tea Party on November 22nd at Philadelphia’s City Hall and at the FED.  I will be giving a campaign speech at the gates of the FED this time around, and you won’t want to miss it!!

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D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

* Thank the 215 Representatives who voted against the cancerous health care bill
* Spank the 220 House members who voted for it
* Copy our Senators on these messages so they will be reminded of where we stand

Do this . . .

* Check here to see how your Rep. voted: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml
* Use our Educate the Powerful System to send your “thank or spank” letter to Congress
* If you don’t recall who your Rep is, you can log in to our system and see their name listed below the letter space on the right side of the page

You can use what I wrote to my Representative as a model for a “spank” letter . . .

Ms. Giffords, I am very angry that you voted for HR 3962. I am copying my Senators on this message because I want them to take note of it, and oppose similar legislation in the Senate.

You failed in your responsibility to read this legislation before voting yes. You cannot possibly really know or understand what you passed, but I will be responsible for all 2,000 pages of it. I am extremely angry that, because of your irresponsibility, I may soon be forced to pay for and submit to a monstrous scheme I do not want!

Please be clear about this — legislation like this is based on force. I am threatened with violence by policemen, bureaucrats, and tax collectors if I refuse to pay for or comply with your grand designs for re-engineering my life.

This complex piece of legislation will entangle my health care in ever-expanding nets of government control, pave the way for a complete government take-over of my health care, bankrupt many businesses, foster unemployment, and increase my taxes, either directly or indirectly, despite promises that this would not happen.

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Jake Towne issues a press release challenging incumbent Charlie Dent and challenger John Callahan to debate

Originally published November 8, 2009 at http://towneforcongress.com/economy/towne-for-congress-invites-dent-and-callahan-to-debate-2

Jake Towne, running as an independent private citizen for United States Congress in Pennsylvania’s 15^th District encompassing the Lehigh Valley and parts of Berks and Montgomery counties challenged Republican incumbent Charlie Dent, and Democrat challenger John Callahan to a public debate on the issues facing the district and the nation.

In his letter, Towne noted a great need for a healthy public debate on topics ranging from our health care, the wars abroad, the economy, and the stability of the dollar. He related that many people in the district are hurting financially, and they want answers from their candidates for government now.

Towne is a Lehigh Valley native raised in Nazareth and holds a chemical engineering degree from Lehigh University. He returned home earlier this year from a nearly 4-year stint in Shanghai, China working in the semiconductor industry to run for Congress. His experiences living abroad have given him a deep appreciation for America’s freedoms and quality of life.

Towne strongly believes that the actions of career politicians in Washington, DC, are leading our country down a path of both moral and economic ruin. He has created a novel-yet-simple plan of transparent and accountable government called the “Our Open Office” concept which can be read in detail at the campaign website, www.TowneForCongress.com.

Last week Towne raised over $2700 from 74 donors in a single day in an online “money bomb” created by grassroots supporters not affiliated with the campaign. This week he will be interviewed by Judge Napolitano at the FOX News studios in New York. Two weeks ago, Towne was part of a panel of FOX’s Freedom Watch show taped on the campus of Drexel University. Towne extends an invitation to any local group to invite him to meet their members, listen to their concerns, and explain his campaign. Talks given to past groups can be viewed at [link edited for length].

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D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

The bill is an unprecedented attack on personal liberty.

Please send a letter to Congress demanding they oppose Pelosi’s bill.

Here’s what I wrote:

HR 3962 will hamstring our finances. But it’s also full of blatant attacks on individual liberty.

For instance, chain restaurants and vending machine owners will be forced to publish calorie information on their menus. That’s not interstate commerce… unless the state line cuts through a McDonald’s counter. Congress can’t order private property owners around this way, and the Free Press clause of the First Amendment also clearly forbids this mandate. Calorie reports may be nice, but that’s outside of the government’s lawful scope.

HR 3962 also violates the broad 9th Amendment protection of individual liberty, and the 10th Amendment’s requirement that federal power be limited to only those functions listed in the Constitution.

Even though the Supreme Court has blown a gaping hole through many Constitutional protections of economic freedom — and blamed their lawlessness on the Commerce Clause power to regulate interstate commerce — it’s apparent that even this wide hole is too small for Congressional ambitions. Does anyone on Capitol Hill even know what interstate commerce is?

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