Candidates, Congress and the Constitution

I heard on the news today that the Affordable Patient Protection Act, a.k.a. ObamaCare, is causing quite a stir for the archdiocese. Within the bill is a stipulation that demands that schools provide contraceptives through the school systems, which is against the principles of the Catholic Church. By refusing to abide by the mandates in the bill, the Church faces fines and penalties. Now here is a case where the government is stepping over its Constitutional limitations and prohibitions to interfere with ethics and morals of religion. Once again it seems, the Obama Administration ignores the Constitution and instead does whatever it feels it needs to do in order to force its policies on the people.

There is another issue that seems you need be aware of although when you look at it from the perspective of common sense it seems that the justification is valid. That is the ban on weapons (arms) in public schools. Rather than dwell on the issue, suffice to say that the right to bear arms as it is in the Constitution does not specify a legal or proper age in which an individual may bear arms, but it does specifically indicate that the right to bear arms shall not be infringed by Congress. Parents must teach their children and not expect or rely on strangers to do that for them.

There is adequate room for debate whether or not a State has the right to prohibit the carrying of arms in a public school, since the funding for public schooling does emanate from the federal government and since it is a “public” facility, there is a question of authority in enforcement of such a mandate or rule.

Now it seems fairly obvious that the acceptance of federal aid has strings attached, and with the economy in a tailspin and the unemployment rate remaining above 9 percent on average nationally, that Obama's Jobs Bill may seem like the answer to the problem. Upon closer scrutiny however there is a clause which will take away all sovereign rights from the States that accept the funding of the bill. Blatantly unconstitutional and yet as we have already witnessed, many unconstitutional laws are passed and remain enforced with the court's full support.

 Many Americans feel that because the courts will uphold the federal laws even when they are arguably unconstitutional, that we must surrender to the “changes in times” as the judiciary has adopted a dangerous precedent in claiming the Constitution is a “living” document, which by definition would make it malleable. This interpretation is wrong!

Within the Constitution are the tools necessary to amend and repeal provided that is done through the procedure of Constitutional Convention. Once an amendment is passed by both houses, it then must be ratified by the States, where a simply majority is NOT enough.

Since the current administration and Congress both seem to ignore Constitutional limitations of federal government, since they also ignore the rights of States and individuals as specified in the Constitution, it is the duty of We the People, to speak our grievances and take action against those who have broken their oaths of office and do as they please. We the People are over 300 million and yet we allow 535 to ruin our Constitution and demote us to a third-world nation status.

Many of the GOP Presidential candidates talk about the unconstitutional ObamaCare and how they as President would write an executive order that will in effect render it ineffective by issue of waivers. The problem with that is the very nature of executive order itself is unconstitutional. The only candidate that understand and articulates this to the public is Ron Paul. But as it is evident right now that the President cannot force his policies on the nation without the consent of Congress, President Paul will also need a Congress that will have the courage to apply is policies and to repeal those laws that are both unconstitutional and a detriment to the free markets.

As we approach November, may I remind you that we will also be voting for members of Congress and local representatives in our cities, counties, and states. We sent a message to Washington in November, 2010 when we made an historical turn of the tide by electing representatives from the Republican Party with promises that they will correct the wrongs of the liberal left that had been in control of both houses.

After the debt ceiling debacle this past summer it seems that neither Democrats or Republicans will do what the will of the people demand. They think they know better than we do. They call themselves our leaders when in reality there are our hired hands. They vote themselves increased salaries, health benefits and pensions. They secure themselves all of these things on taxpayer money and then have the gall to force upon us these programs that they themselves do not have to participate in.

When the nation was created, the opportunity to serve the people as a representative was considered an honor, a privilege, a temporary leave from their businesses or jobs to serve their constituents, in the State or Federal Legislature. It was never thought that it can be a career.

This time we all need to become members of the “Broom Party” and take responsibility to sweep the lot of them out and replace them all with representatives who demonstrate their adherence to the Constitution. We have a bit more than a year to make those choices, so please do choice wisely.