Congress versus SCOTUS

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Humor isn't what I was looking for here.....

....but one takes what they can get, sometimes.

Scalia on severability: Making us read this entire bill would be cruel and unusual punishment.

A good summary on the third (and final) day of oral arguments before the Supreme Court.

414 nays, no ayes

Not even the House Democrats like Obama's 2013 budget proposal.

The Assault On Free Speech

As evidenced by The Plot To Get Rush:

It is a big mistake -- a really big mistake -- to dismiss what's being done to Rush Limbaugh as just some crazy guys at Media Matters.

When we work our way through what Angelo Carusone and his Media Matters comrades and others are doing when they target Rush, or went after Glenn Beck, or plan to do in targeting Sean Hannity and Sarah Palin and who knows who after that (Levin? Laura?) remember: this is the way the Left -- the global left throughout history, not simply the American Left today -- has always behaved. A fanatical intolerance is part of the leftist DNA.

Read the whole thing.

Obama about to keep another election promise

"You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."

San Francisco Doesn't Always Rally For Obama

Here's another report on a very well attended religious freedom rally on 23 March.  In San Francisco.  One of the largest political rallies thus far this year in that liberal bastion.

Nation-wide Rally For Religious Freedom!

Today's rally at Congresswoman's McMorris-Rodger's office was great! Some 75 people attended, and many good things were said.

And, as was noted by several today, this isn't just about religion, although that's the angle of the attack by the left.  It's about liberty, period.  No one wants some faceless bureaucrat deciding our healthcare for us.  We are free people, not slaves.

Photos of the event are available at Flickr.  Click on the "Slideshow" button on the top right to page through the photos.

UPDATE:  Here's a report on rallies in other parts of the country.  There is much support for this, and none of it is "Astroturf".

UPDATE:  Bumped to top, just to be sure everyone sees this!

Just sayin', is all

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Hat tip to Moonbattery.

Bringing Back American Jobs.....

....is what President Obama campaigned on.  And has promised repeated.  Is that what's actually happening with all of that "stimulus" money from American taxpayers?

Would you be surprised to hear that the answer is .....No?

From ABC News, who put down their buckets of water for Obama.  At least temporarily.

Attempt #6

I appreciate the effort to save a few bucks (no pun intended), but Congress has bigger problems than worrying about how long a paper dollar stays in circulation:

Call for change: Lawmakers push bill to switch to $1 coin

Capitol Hill lawmakers want to change the color of money amid growing concerns about the federal deficit and the constant pressure for Washington to live within its means.

Since this is the SIXTH time this issue has been tackled by Congress, with the same spectacular FAILURE the first five tries, I remind you of one definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This does not speak well of Congress.

Democrats tackle football problems, not the budget

Durbin: Bounties over budgets?

Yesterday, John Boehner complained about the irresponsibility of the Democratic majority in the Senate, which has gone three years without fulfilling their constitutional duty to produce a budget.  As the House Budget Committee worked on a markup, Boehner told the press that Senate Democrats had done “nothing” on one of their primary jobs since 2009...

[snip]

Well, to be fair, Senate Democrats have been buried in important work.  In fact, the Senate majority’s #2 leader Dick Durbin announced yesterday that the Senate would begin hearings on an emergency problem in the US:

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee will hold a hearing on the bounty system allegedly used by several National Football League teams – one day after top coaches from the New Orleans Saints were suspended as punishment for a program that awarded players with cash if they injured their opponents.

 Do read the whole thing -- it's a great summary on just seriously the Democrats take their Constitutional duties.

And vote the Democrats out of office.  Don't forget, Senator Maria Cantwell is up for re-election this year.

See you tomorrow!

 Good Evening,

Tomorrow is the *First Amendment and Religious Freedom Rally.*

Join citizens of Walla Walla who are speaking out against the new U.S.
Department of Health & Human Services Mandate.  This mandate requires all
employers to provide free contraceptives, sterilization and
abortion-inducing drugs via their health insurance plans, even when in
violation of their religious beliefs.  This is not just a Catholic issue.
This is not about contraception.  This is not a liberal or conservative
issue.  This is a blatant assault on everyone's fundamental First Amendment
Rights!

*Stand Up for Your First Amendment **Rights!*

* Join A Nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom*
*Friday, March 23, 2012*
**

*12 noon – 1 pm*

**

*29 South Palouse Street*

           (outside Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers office)

See you tomorrow!

This Cartoon Seemed Farfetched in 1948

IPAB Repeal: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

From the Tea Party Patriots newsletter:

Today, the House of Representatives is voting on H.R. 5 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) or as Governor Palin referred to them as “death panels.” The bill will NOT repeal the entire law. While the original bill initially focused on IPAB only, the bill now has medical malpractice reform attached to it, which would take the authority to create tort law (i.e. medical malpractice) from the state and hand it over the federal government. This is an outright violation of the 10th Amendment.

You need to decide if you want your Congressman to support this legislation or not.

Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Private property wins over Big Government

The war isn't over; this is but one battle. But what a *sweet* victory it is....

It’s possible to overstate the impact of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision yesterday on Sackett v EPA, which reversed an EPA compliance order that kept an Idaho couple from building a home on land expressly zoned for that purpose.  As Ilya Somin notes, the court never took up the question of the Fifth Amendment, but rather limited its scope to the Administrative Procedure Act, which means that a Congressional repeal of the APA could undo Sackett, at least temporarily.  As things stand now, however, the Supreme Court has changed the manner in which agencies have to act when issuing compliance orders, which now — despite the Obama administration’s best legal efforts — have to be subject to judicial review before the EPA can start levying massive fines as an extortive device to keep from having their orders challenged.

Do read the whole thing, but the bottom line is, the US EPA (and, by extension, President Obama) has been seriously smacked down.

Thoughts and Commentary

This came from www.inspireandignite.com, a site with good thoughts and commentary.  There's more  below the fold.

WHAT'S IN A PRIMARY

Have you been following the primaries? It's hard not to since they have been the main focus of the news for weeks.

 

With gas prices skyrocketing, foreclosures up, millions out of work, nanny state regulations soaring and Iran and Israel about to start WWIII, diverting our attention is about the only way the Obama fan club can protect their president.

 

But, there are a couple of things of interest from the recent primaries. One of the most liberal Democrats in the House lost his primary in Ohio and a Republican lost her primary for not being conservative enough. President Obama running unopposed in the Democratic primary in Oklahoma only got 56% of the vote…think he'll carry the state in November? 

 

The GOP presidential race has proven one thing…Gov Romney has yet to win the hearts of conservatives. His single biggest liability is Romneycare and if he's nominated, cannot win in November unless the Supreme Court declares Obamacare unconstitutional this summer, removing it as a campaign issue this November.

 

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SHAME

 

Whatever happened to shame?

The Battle of Athens.

Athens, Tennessee.  In the United States of America. A piece of American history that isn't generally known. What happened in Athens could happen again.

25 Secret Service agents.....

....protecting 13 pre-teen girls for a trip to Mexico?  Because one of Obama's daughters is on the trip?

Obama's daughter spends spring break in Mexico

OAXACA, Mexico - The elder daughter of U.S. President Barack Obama is spending her spring break in the historic Mexican city of Oaxaca in the company of 12 friends, a state police official said.

The young tourists, including 13-year-old Malia Ann Obama, are staying at a downtown hotel in this city famous for its colonial architecture and well-preserved native American traditions, the official said.

"We are here to block access to the hotel by other people and escort the vehicles that are carrying the visitors to tourism sites," the police official told AFP under the condition of anonymity.

Malia Obama and her friend are guarded by 25 U.S. Secret Service agents as well as Mexican police, the official noted.

The group, which arrived in Oaxaca Saturday, has already visited the architectural zone of Mitla and the tree of El Tule believed to have one thousand years.

The sightseeing plan also includes visits to Monte Alban known for its archeological research sites and Oaxaca’s famous artisan quarters.

And on the dime of the American taxpayer. 

This is what Obama is all about.  Vote him out in 2012.

Obama bests Bush's record

But not in a way that we'd like to see:

Obama debt hole deeper than George W. Bush's in less than half the time

President Obama once asked a campaign crowd in 2008 what to do when you're trying to get out of a hole. Uniformly, the crowd responded: stop digging.

Yet three years into his term, the president is digging a deficit hole that so far is deeper than the one he complained President George W. Bush had dug during his eight years in office.

From the time Bush took office in January 2001 to his departure on Jan. 20, 2009, the debt increased $4.9 trillion -- from $5.73 trillion to $10.63 trillion. The debt now stands at $15.57 trillion, up $4.94 trillion since Obama took office less than four years ago.

Tyrannosaurus Debt

Schoolhouse Rock!  lives on in YouTube.  And they tackled the national debt in a fashion that even children could grasp:

Too bad politicians aren't as smart as children.

EPA Misery Index

Courtesy of the National Mining Association, you need to read this very chilling report:

Coal Plant Retirements due to EPA Regulations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has dangerously underestimated the impact of its back-door mandates on affordable coal-based electricity generation. Instead of the 4.8 to 9.5 gigawatts (GW) of electric plant retirements predicted by EPA, 57 power plants with 25.1 GW of generating capacity have already gone on the chopping block due to U-MACT and CSAPR. That means more than 29,000 workers are losing their jobs, millions of consumers will be paying more for their electricity and the reliability of our electricity supply is being compromised.

25.1 gigawatts is enough electric generating capacity to power 18.8 million homes. All retirements based on publicly available information.

Obama.  Must.  Go.  As must the Environmental "Protection" Agency.

President Obama slurs Republican predecessor

This isn't the "dog bites man" sort of story, although most days it would be.  In this case, it's RutherfordGate:

It's not unusual for President Obama to criticize his Republican predecessors from time to time, but this morning, he targeted his scorn not at George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan, but ... Rutherford B. Hayes. As Politico reported:

Speaking about the need to develop new sources of American energy in Largo, Md., Obama used our 19th president as a failure of forward-thinking leadership.

"One of my predecessors, President Rutherford B. Hayes, reportedly said about the telephone: 'It’s a great invention but who would ever want to use one?'" Obama said. "That's why he's not on Mt. Rushmore."

"He's looking backwards, he's not looking forward. He's explaining why we can't do something instead of why we can do something," Obama said.

Burn.

Do read the whole thing. Then you can correct your friends who sincerely quote Obama's gross historical error.  And refer to New York Magazine to do so.

The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America

Brought to you by Schoolhouse Rock.

Made back in the day when Sesame Street and the television industry actually cared about American values.

Tea Party Patriots Upcoming Events

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Page 1 of a letter to Senator Murray

UPDATE:  Here's a link to a PDF of the complete letter.

This is page 1 of a letter that was sent to Sen. Murray. It's a good letter, so Martha asked that I post it for all to see.  Page 2 is on the next post.

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Page 2 of a letter to Senator Murray

UPDATE:  Here's a link to a PDF of the complete letter.


This is page 2 of a letter that was sent to Sen. Murray, continued from above. It's a good letter, so Martha asked that I post it for all to see.

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Stand Up for Your First Amendment Rights!

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The 100%

The folks who are getting the free stuff, don't like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff.

The folks who are paying for the free stuff want the free stuff to stop, and the folks who are getting the free stuff want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!

Now... The people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff, that the people who are PAYING for the free stuff, are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So... The people who are GETTING the free stuff have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff, and giving them the free stuff in the first place.

We have let the free stuff giving, go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff!

Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded. The reason?  The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 235 years ago. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumber the people paying for the free stuff. We have one chance to change that. In 2012. Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

ELECTION 2012 IS COMING
A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!

I'M 100% for PASSING THIS ON!!!

Let us take a stand!!!
Obama: Gone!
Borders: Closed!
Language: English only
Culture: Constitution, and the Bill of Rights!
Drug Free: Mandatory Drug Screening before Welfare!
NO freebies to: Non-Citizens!

We the people are coming
Only 86% will send this on.

It should be 100%.

Thanks to Daryl for sending it....

Take Back America!

 

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Works for me!

"WhiteHouse.gov hosts petition calling for Obama’s resignation".

Note:  one has to create an account with Whitehouse.gov, which means giving them a valid e-mail address.  Aside from that, I don't see the downside of this.

Olympia got a little shook up last night!

Backfire! – Senate Democrats’ Effort to Pass a Partisan Budget Results in Takeover From the Middle

Epic Miscalculation Prompts Three Moderate Democrats to Bolt, Throwing Control to GOP – Hasn't Happened in 25 Years

A decision by Senate Democratic leaders to shut minority Republicans and moderate members of their own party out of the budget-writing process ended in an epic backfire Friday night, as three moderates bolted and threw control of the chamber to the GOP.

Democrats fired back with delaying tactics that initially threatened to keep the Senate in session all night, but it appeared clear that Republicans had the upper hand and would be able to pass a GOP-written budget in the Legislature’s upper chamber. Democrats ultimately acknowledged defeat, and Senate continued to meet late Friday night to pass the bill.

The move by Democratic Sens. Jim Kastama, Tim Sheldon and Rodney Tom to join with Republicans in a procedural motion was an historic vote on a scale with the Legislature’s decision last month to permit gay marriage in the state of Washington. The last time anything like it happened was 1987.

Do read the whole thing.  The part labeled "Dems Say the Darndest Things" is especially ironic, and worth the time.

And.....I want to say THANK YOU to those senators who care more about the state than their party.  That's a rare thing these days.

(Headline gratefully swiped from TheD Man)

More on the "21 Issues for the 21st Century"

Submitted by Donna, a UN report on how to deal with the problems they think exist. I posted it as a link at the WWTPP web site; if you have an account there, you can leave comments for discussion.  If you don't have an account, but have comments, feel free to use the contact form.

I posted on this earlier; it's considered by some to be a call for global governance.  But it's certainly an extension of Agenda 21, and well worth the time to read.

Standing Up To Bullies

If you're not following how Obama is trying to demonize the Koch Brothers for being conservative, here's their response to the latest demagoguery from the left:

Dear Mr. Messina:

Although I haven’t yet received it, the Washington Post reports that you have sent me a reply to our letter of last Friday.  According to the letter that was reprinted, it appears you have reverted to the same half-truths, distortions, and outright false statements that the Administration and its allies have used for the past three years against Koch Industries, Charles Koch, and David Koch.  We have repeatedly refuted these prior assertions and will continue to do so to ensure the truth is told.  I invite you to review www.kochfacts.com for more details.

Your letter never addresses the fundamental issue I raised concerning the impropriety of a sitting President and his campaign publicly attacking two private citizens for exercising their free speech rights. While we encourage and welcome a principled and civil debate about the important issues our great nation faces, it is inappropriate and beneath the office of the President to denounce an American company like ours that employs 50,000 people here in the United States, malign its owners with repeated misstatements and distortions, and harass our effort to speak out just because you disagree with our consistent support for the principles of a free society.

Your demand, for instance, that Koch disclose the names of Americans for Prosperity donors is misguided given that AFP is a separate and independent organization. Your demand is also hypocritical, particularly given the President’s own reliance on anonymous donors now and in the past.  Koch complies with all laws regarding disclosure of political contributions.  However, given the hostile rhetoric that you, the Democratic party, and your allies have aimed at us and others who disagree with your point of view, it is easy to understand why people have valid reasons to retain their privacy.  To cite just one example, Koch and its owners have been the target of many threats of violence over the past two years by some who disagree with our view on public policy issues.  In light of that, I think most Americans would agree it is at odds with our national values for the President and his aides to single out and personally impugn private citizens for political gain.

As has been stated previously, for more than 50 years Charles Koch and David Koch have consistently advocated for principles of economic freedom and have strongly opposed policies that undermine free markets, regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican was President — and will continue doing so. Despite this most recent effort at intimidation, we will not be silenced or compromise our principled positions on issues, nor relinquish our rights to privacy and free speech.

Sincerely,

Philip Ellender
President, Government & Public Affairs
Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC

 Hat tip to Paco Enterprises

I think so

Real inflation at 8%?

 Forget the modest 3.1 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index, the government’s widely used measure of inflation. Everyday prices are up some 8 percent over the past year, according to the American Institute for Economic Research..

 As I said.....I think so.

Agenda 21: The Next Generation

UN to propose planetary regulations of water, food

An environmental report issued by an agency of the United Nations last month has some critics sounding the alarm, saying it is a clarion call for "global governance" over how the Earth is managed.

The report, “21 Issues for the 21st Century,” from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Foresight Process, is the culmination of a two-year deliberative process involving 22 core scientists. It is expected to receive considerable attention in the run-up to the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which will be held in Rio, Brazil, in June.

The scientists who wrote the report say it focuses on identifying emerging issues in the global environment, and that it is not about mandating solutions.

But its critics see an agenda lurking in its 60 pages, which call for a complete overhaul of how the world's food and water are created and distributed -- something the report says is “urgently needed” for the human race to keep feeding and hydrating itself safely.

More here.

President Obama keeps a campaign promise

As Ed Morrissey notes over at Hot Air, "We get on President Obama’s case for neglecting to keep his campaign promises, so it’s only fair to note when he fulfills them."

Fair enough.  I just hope he remembers to let us keep some change as all energy costs begin to skyrocket, not just gasoline, especially after this: 

Five PA coal-fueled power plants to close due to Obama administration regulation

GenOn Energy Inc. plans to close five of its older coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania over the next four years.

The company, based in Houston, said Wednesday that tough new environmental rules make it unprofitable to operate the plants, which generate a total of 3,140 megawatts of electricity. The plants are in Portland, Shawville, Titus, New Castle and Elrama. Two plants in Ohio and one in New Jersey will also be closed. The company said the timeframes are subject to further review based on market conditions.

Well done, President Obama.  Shut down power generation, making electricity scare, thus driving the price up.  Pennsylvania residents will likely feel the pinch soon.

And if this keeps up, so will we.

President Obama ignores the law. Again.

President Obama ignores the legal mandate for him to submit a fix for Medicare, based on a warning by the Trustees.  Why?   Try this:

"In reality, the president’s decision to do nothing to reform Medicare is a default decision to destroy Medicare — or, rather, to allow it to destroy itself."

 Obama must go.

In Memoriam: Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)

Andrew Breitbart, a conservative journalist, died last night. My condolences to his family.

Amazing......an Obama official speaks the truth

Chu: DOE working to wean U.S. off oil, not lower prices

The Energy Department isn’t working to lower gasoline prices directly, Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday after a Republican lawmaker scolded him for his now-infamous 2008 comment that gas prices in the U.S. should be as high as in Europe. 

[snip]

“But is the overall goal to get our price” of gasoline down, asked Nunnelee.

“No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy,” Chu replied. “We think that if you consider all these energy policies, including energy efficiency, we think that we can go a long way to becoming less dependent on oil and [diversifying] our supply and we’ll help the American economy and the American consumers.”

Read The Whole Thing.  Obama Must Go.