Judge Andrew Napolitano takes a look at the Wilson fiasco from a different angle than most of the mainstream media, which tends to focus on the “respect” that the [office of the] President of the Unites States “deserves”. The Judge points out that Wilson shouted “you lied!” while the president was claiming that illegal aliens would not receive health care benefits under the “public option” proposal, and then examines this with respect to the Constitution’s “Equal Protection” provision.
The Constitution imposes on the government numerous burdens that we as individuals do not have. For example, I can tell my nephew to keep quiet at the dinner table because I don’t like what he said about grandma, but the First Amendment prevents the government from keeping him silent on a street corner when he criticizes it. Similarly, I can give a gift to some of my nephews and nieces because they are great kids, but I don’t need to give gifts of equal value, since I can spend my money on gifts however I wish. But the government has some burdens here that individuals do not. The Constitution requires that the government treat all persons similarly situated in a similar manner. This is the essence of “Equal Protection,” which the Constitution requires of the states and the federal government.
Napolitano goes on to cite case-law in which the Supreme Court has ruled that states may not deny people the right to an education based on citizenship status, and undoubtedly “an education is in the same class of social benefits as providing health care.” He points out that Obama with all his collegiate accolades certainly must know this.
Can anyone really suggest that the Harvard Law School-educated University of Chicago-employed professor of constitutional law did NOT know the law when he contended that the Congress can keep universal health care away from illegals? He must have known that, short of amending the Constitution to re-define “persons” and “Equal Protection”, whatever the Congress makes available by way of social services to the general population, it must make available to all persons.
There is no question that under the present law, Congress simply cannot pick and choose which “persons” to whom it will afford social benefits and to which “persons” it will not. How could the president not have known that?
Yesterday Judge Napolitano was the guest host on the Glenn Beck show. In the final two segments of the show he used his time to investigate Congress’ Congressional enumerated powers with his two guests.
This is Judge Napolitano in his element and it is a beautiful thing. Every single American should watch these segments and heed the call to action the panelists suggest.
When the government fails to obey the rule of law within the Constitution it is up to the people to replace those oath-breakers with oath-keepers.
In the wake of last year’s Heller decision the question of incorporating the 2nd Amendment to the states has seen some play in the U.S. circuit court system. What is “incorporation” and should the 2nd Amendment override state law?
First, here is some audio from Guntalk, a weekly radio show hosted by Tom Gresham of Guntalk.tv, a wonderful resource for all gun-owners.
Gresham reveals the details of the previous incorporation-related cases and a new development that could have a bearing on whether or not the Supreme Court takes up the question. Before it was a no-brainer for the high court to hear the case, but now the 9th Circuit Court appears to be trying their hardest to make it a “brainer”. Listen to Gresham lay it all out in the audio below.
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Originally, the Constitution and Bill of Rights were a set of restraints on the federal government. The states pretty much had free reign on the laws they could enact. The states were governing themselves prior to the ratification of the Constitution. Our Founders (for the most part) tried to avoid trampling on states’ rights to self-govern. The amendments passed following the Civil War, particularly the 14th, set the stage for the trampling to begin.
Here is yet another story about those who are supposed to serve and protect, harassing and abusing instead. One wonders how often these events occur but never rise to “Rodney King” proportions.
At least Ryan McCain’s story (included below) ends well. My Brother-in-law was in a similar situation recently. His pickup truck broke down, he fixed it on the side of the road, and to test it out drove a bit and turned down a gravel road. When he turned around 3 police cars screeched into view, cops jumped out, guns drawn yelling. Apparently they thought he had stolen his own car. Of course, checking the registration didn’t stop them from taking him to the station before releasing him. This story, the Steve Beirfeldt/TSA story, the one included below, and countless others make me believe that these are not just isolated incidents. They are a disturbing trend.
Ryan McCain shared the following “isolated incident”:
I attend a town hall discussion with my Congressman and try to help out with solutions, instead of more excuses and “politics as usual.”
by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
Originally published Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article6603.html
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” – Mohandas Gandhi
“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.” – Ayn Rand
“A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.” - George Bernard Shaw
Dear Congressman Dent -
I very much enjoyed the office hours you held Monday, July 6, 2009, in my hometown of Nazareth. As you are now aware, from the comments there are very many concerned citizens in our district and the next town hall discussion will likely require a new venue as the hall was bursting full, even though the meeting was at 10 AM on a working day.
One of the items the group discussed was the fact that you did not have time to read the recent Cap and Trade Bill due to a last-minute amendment that added 300+ pages. While it is understandable that you cannot have time to read bills that are dumped last-minute on your desk before a house floor vote, I find it completely unacceptable that you have not taken steps to remedy the situation.
As I write this right now, Republican Minority Leader John Boehner (who also is a cosponsor of HR1207) has been talking on the House Floor for about 50 minutes. He is stepping through (almost page by page) the 300+ page addition to the Cap and Trade (Climate Bill) that was added around 3am this morning.
He’s actually making many great points about the horrible details in the bill.
What he is doing right now is giving great ammunition for supporting the “Read the Bills” Act in the near future.
“Is there anything that we aren’t regulating in this bill?”, Boehner yells.
At about 20 minutes in, Henry Waxman interrupted and asked how long Boehner would be permitted to speak. The chairwoman stated that it is customary to hear the leadership speak, forcing Waxman to sit down and allow Boehner to continue (to great cheers from the GOP side of the House).
We live in interesting times folks.
Please continue to contact the Reps who are on the fence regarding the bill. For a list see this page from the NTU.
By Judge Andrew P.Napolitano FOX News Senior Judicial Analyst
The Secretary of the Treasury and the Chair of the Federal Reserve have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and the federal laws. Among those laws is the obligation of management of publicly traded corporations to inform shareholders in a meaningful way of the risks attendant upon all extraordinary corporate activity, including major acquisitions.
The acquisition of Merrill Lynch by the Bank of America was surely a major acquisition and an extraordinary corporate act. The president of B of A now tells us that the Secretary and the Chair told him not to inform his shareholders that Merrill Lynch was truly a risky investment. As it turns out, when Ken Lewis learned that Merrill Lynch was worth about $17 billion less than the $50 billion agreed upon amount, he attempted to invoke the material adverse change (MAC) clause in the contract of acquisition, which would have given him the option of getting Merrill Lynch for $33 billion or walking away from the deal.
“Ken Lewis, Henry Paulson, John Thain, Ben Bernanke, and Jeffrey Lacker, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, should all be prosecuted for extortion, conspiracy to extort, criminal fraud, and theft of honest services; and they should be imprisoned if convicted.”
I must confess. This Ron Paul supporter suffered from a temporary bout of neo-conservatism after viewing that completely horrifying video of the young woman lying in the street bleeding to death in Iran over the weekend. I will not link to it because I don’t want to infect anyone else. My long lost compassionate conservatism gene made a return as I was filled with hatred and sadness. I thought, “Something must be done!. America needs to intervene!” A few hours and a reality check later I found myself back on firm Founding Father-style non-interventionist footing once again.
Some claim taking a non-interventionist approach on the Iran election aftermath is the height of hypocrisy from someone who claims to believe in liberty. Ron Paul is being criticized for his lone “Nay” vote on condemning the Iranian government’s heinous actions on it’s own people. On the surface it appears Obama is taking a similar non-interventionist approach for now, although there are some arguing the opposite may be true. Hopefully, Obama stands his ground (this time) against the interventionist opposition.
Those clamoring for intervention need to answer a few questions, but there is one question that trumps them all.
Earlier this year the Campaign For Liberty’s Steve Bierfeldt was detained at the St. Louis airport for carrying cash. The story was reported first on Judge Napolitano’s Freedom Watch show and then other news outlets picked it up.
The ACLU has now brought a lawsuit against the TSA on behalf of Steve Bierfleldt and CNN ran a report on the story during Wolf Blitzer’s “Situation Room” yesterday.
We liberty lovers went into a bit of withdrawal last week when Freedom Watch aired a “best of” show. Yesterday it returned in stellar form with guests Ron Paul, Daniel Hannan, Lew Rockwell, Tom Woods, Peter Schiff, Shelly Roche, and Tom Palmer (CATO) joining Judge Napolitano.
Ron Paul and Daniel Hannan united in a one two punch fighting for liberty. They spoke about nullification, secession, and then compared Europe and America on the road to socialism. Another topic that they and the other guests discussed was protectionism. Peter Schiff seems to believe the U.S. need not worry too much about protectionism. Tom Palmer disagrees. Woods and Rockwell delve into the prospects for liberty in our lifetime.
Liberty Maven
Judge Andrew Napolitano takes a look at the Wilson fiasco from a different angle than most of the mainstream media, which tends to focus on the “respect” that the [office of the] President of the Unites States “deserves”. The Judge points out that Wilson shouted “you lied!” while the president was claiming that illegal aliens would not receive health care benefits under the “public option” proposal, and then examines this with respect to the Constitution’s “Equal Protection” provision.
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