Some Letters Beating Me Up Over My Tea Party Articles

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well I’ve now written six — this makes seven — articles criticizing certain failures of the Tea Party movement thus far. They are all meant to be constructive criticisms, though, not dismissive nor derogatory of them. It’s measured introspection I employ in each of these articles. No name calling, no laughing, no hate. There is just no logical way to construe what I’ve written thus far as hate against the Tea Party movement. But this whole Tea Party thing reveals several things to me. First of all it shows that there is still a lot of passion for them and that is a very good thing. I want the Tea Party groups to succeed and I want them to become a force that can teach the GOP a lesson. The other main thing it shows me is that too many people can’t read for comprehension these days.

The sad thing is that these days even the slightest criticism of a thing is seen by too many as outright hostility. Everyone is so hypersensitive that even a mild criticism meant as an exercise in introspection is seen as an over-the-top attack. It doesn’t just happen on the right, either. Look at what happened to all those Hillary Clinton supporters during the run up to the 2008 presidential elections. The constructive criticism that Hillary fans offered the Democrats was pounded down so hard by the left that many Hillary supporters found themselves aligned — and some permanently — with the side they thought they opposed; the Republicans.

Naturally there’s the name callers and nay sayers always floating around out there. I had one guy, for instance, say, “who asked you for your opinion” of the Tea Parties? This same guy then went on to give me HIS opinion of them evoking the obvious rejoinder of just who the hell asked him for his opinion, anyway? Obviously he wasn’t bright enough to “get” that concept!
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Some Letters Beating Me Up Over My Tea Party Articles”


Anti-Gun Government Tyranny in Canada

-By Warner Todd Huston

Unlike the U.S., Canada does not have the right of self-protection enshrined in its laws. Where we Americans have the coverage of the Second Amendment to protect our God-given right to self-protection, the Canadians have to rely on the occasional good nature of their overlords in government to determine how their right to own a firearm is treated. Sadly, their ownership of firearms is usually mistreated rather than upheld.

A writer for the Toronto Star wrote an article recently that showed the capriciousness of government thugs where it concerns privately owned firearms in Canada. Joe Fiorito had a retinue of Toronto’s finest stormtroopers come beating on his door one day this month to confiscate his old rifle because the columnist had the temerity of forgetting to re-up his registration of a disassembled, 30-year-old, small caliber bird gun.

Involved were multiple police cars, half a dozen officers, judge’s warrants. All sorts of iron, jack-booted automatons of the state came down on Mr. Fioritto. It was as if he were public enemy no. 1. All of this over a beat up old rifle that was disassembled, locked in a basement, and stored in a house in which no ammunition existed.
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Anti-Gun Government Tyranny in Canada”


Luntz Misleads With New Gun Poll

-By Warner Todd Huston

Pollster Frank Luntz is trying to hawk his new poll on gun laws commissioned by the left-wing group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. He’s trying to sell the concept that NRA members are just as interested in “common-sense gun policies” as anti-gun nuts and that legislators should take this into account when crafting future anti-gun legislation. The problem is that this poll is misleading in some important ways. The problem here is that the devil being in the details is glossed over by the poll. (Download .pdf of poll here)

In an op ed penned by Luntz and Tom Barrett, gun owners are compared favorably with non-gun owners over their feelings on gun banning laws. “The culture war over the right to bear arms isn’t much of a war after all,” the pair tells us. “As it turns out, there is a lot everyone agrees on.”

And this main point serves as the biggest problem with Luntz’ poll. Of course everyone will claim they are for “common-sense” laws. But the first thing that anyone will find out when discussing concrete policies that might come to make up these so-called common-sense ideas is that disagreement quickly reigns when people start getting specific. An assumption that everyone agrees on just what common sense means disappears pretty quickly when the details are laid out.
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Luntz Misleads With New Gun Poll”


The Time Is Ripe for Divide & Conquer

-By Frank Salvato

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Obama Administration is doing everything they can to place the blame for Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senatorial Special Election on Martha Coakley. It is their modus operandi. When someone or some organization becomes a political liability, the Obama team throws it under the bus. They did it to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. They did it to Bill Ayers. They did it to ACORN. And now they are doing it to Martha Coakley. No, we shouldn’t be surprised. In Chicago Democrat politics, political liabilities are “dealt with,” and Barack Obama is a Chicago Machine Progressive-Democrat.

Martha Coakley wasn’t always a “liability,” though. In her defense it should be pointed out that as recently as 2006, Coakley won election as the Massachusetts Attorney’s General by a decisive margin, garnering 73% of the vote. By any standard, a statewide election victory tallying 73% of the vote is impressive. Coming off that kind of power victory, we can discern that Coakley knows how to execute a political campaign. Further, with such a lopsided victory achieved, it would have been logical that she would have been a strong candidate, against all comers, to safely retain the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat…if left to her own devices.
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The Time Is Ripe for Divide & Conquer”


This Aussie LOVES Guns, And I Like This Aussie

-By Warner Todd Huston

Australian Steve Lee says he likes guns. He like ’em so much he made this music video. He likes guns and I LOVE this video. It is hilarious.

Everything from .22 cal pistols all the way to an RPG and every machine gun and rifle in between! HA, I LOVE it!

Naturally the weak-kneed, liberal, scumbags Down Under are all upset by Lee’s paean to the shiny poppers that he so loves. The pasty faced president of Gun Control Australia was all upset over Lee’s great little video. But who cares what this half-wit, sniveling, snot-nosed liberal says,eh?

Steve Lee likes guns, dangit!


Dueling Illinois Policy Groups: IAFG Smacks Around the IPI

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Illinois Policy Institute recently released its recommendations for how Illinois could fix its pension mess. Titled the Pension Funding and Fairness Act, the IPI assures the state that this is the answer to its pension problems. Despite that assurance, another Illinois policy group begs to differ. In an Illinois policy group head-to-head smack-down the Illinois Alliance for Growth* has published a critique of the IPI proposal resulting.

One of the proposals in the IPI plan is for Illinois to borrow $20 billion to tide the pensions over while the state legislature makes the needed adjustments to the pension laws. IPI Director Jim Tillman is saying that his plan is a case of “responsible borrowing” a claim that the IAFG finds risible.
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Dueling Illinois Policy Groups: IAFG Smacks Around the IPI”


A Sneak Peek At Barry Obama’s Year End Grade School Report Card

-By Ann “Babe” Huggett

Punahou School Report Card – 1979
Name: Barry Obama

Performance

Effort

Reading: Daydreams in class and affects strange cadence when reading out loud.

D

D-

English: Absolutely hopeless as a writer and needs constant help in stringing together even the most basic of sentences. Failed the Public Speaking section for being too dependent on notes, refusing to make eye contact or to engage the audience in a genuine and meaningful way.

D-

F

Mathematics: Good on basic concepts but hopelessly uninterested in applying that information to real world economics or budgetary principles.

C-

D-

Geography: Interested in anywhere but the United States of America.

C-

D

History: Has regrettable tendency to rewrite American and English history to reflect personal bias but shows remarkable grasp of the French and Russian Revolutions.

D

D-

Civics: Shows little interest in US Constitution or understanding of the 3 branches of government.

F

F

Sports: Excels at basketball and is very aggressive on the court.

A

A

Social Skills: Although outwardly friendly, is secretive, oddly manipulative and does not let people know the ìrealî Barry Obama. Has a tendency to run from problems. Expects other people to clean up after him.

D-

D-

Secondary Language: Excels in Indonesian.

A

A

Elective Language: Excels in Arabic

A

A

Grade Average

D

D

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A Sneak Peek At Barry Obama’s Year End Grade School Report Card”


Left-Wing Prof Uses State Funded University To Launch Attack on U.S.

-By Warner Todd Huston

Every once in a while I like to blow off some steam and deliver a good rant. So get ready for my rant du jour…

It’s like a bad parody of the worst propensity of the American professoriate to be, well, as un-American as one can get. But here we have another prosaic example of yet another half-wit, left-wing professor — this one a prof of “international law” — using his perch in a state sponsored school, with his taxpayer’s supported (and obviously undeserved) salary to help foreigners launch an attack on his own county… if this particular pinko even bothers to claim he IS a U.S. citizen, that is. With these university pinheads it isn’t a safe bet to assume that they even consider themselves Americans.

Anyway, this particular pointy-headed geek is named Francis A. Boyle (no not boil, that is only what he is, not what he’s named) and he is a professor of International Law at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Mr. Boil… uh, I mean Boyle… has filed with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, The Netherlands, a “complaint” against George W. Bush and his whole administration. What is this little complaint whining about? Two guesses and the first one doesn’t count.

Yeah, you guessed correctly. This commie prof is trying to get Bush, et al, brought up on faux war crimes charges. Get a load of this child’s ranting.
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Left-Wing Prof Uses State Funded University To Launch Attack on U.S.”


Louisiana Legislature Floating Bill Making Obamacare Illegal in State

-By Warner Todd Huston

Louisiana State Senator A.G. Crowe (R, Slidell) is introducing a bill for the 2010 legislative session in Baton Rouge that would make Obamacare illegal if it violates state laws, effectively making Obamacare null and void in the Pelican State.

Senator Crowe states that his bill “provides that no law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer or health care provider to participate in any health care system or health insurance.”

Crowe’s proposed Senate Bill (download .pdf file) begins as follows:

HEALTH CARE. Prohibits state or local governmental coercion of any Louisiana employer, health care provider, or individual to compel participation in any health care system or health insurance plan.

Crowe insists that Obamacare violates Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and “is therefore unconstitutional.” He also feels that the president’s plans violates the 10th Amendment among others.
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Louisiana Legislature Floating Bill Making Obamacare Illegal in State”


Be Part of This Online ‘Reviving the Constitution’ Event

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is an interesting event being put on by that famous bastion of conservative thought Hillsdale College that you might find interesting to become a part of…

An Online Town Hall
January 30, 2010
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – (online or in person)

The Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship of Hillsdale College cordially invites you to participate in an online town hall on Saturday, January 30, 2010.

There are two ways to participate in this event–in person or by viewing a live video stream (“webcast”). Advance registration is required for both forms of participation.

Please spread the word to friends and family about this day-long town hall, which will feature presentations and interactive Q&A sessions led by Kirby Center faculty and Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry P. Arnn. The event will run from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and will be broadcast from the offices of TVWorldwide.com in Chantilly , VA.

More info – http://www.hillsdale.edu/KirbyCenter/programs/townhall/default.asp
Registration – http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/hillsdale/100130/
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Be Part of This Online ‘Reviving the Constitution’ Event”


Book Review: What Are These Tea Parties About, Anyway?

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new book about the Tea Party movement — and a movement it really is — will soon be hitting the shelves. “A New American Tea Party” penned by John M. O’Hara, one of the many folks that helped bring us some of those protests in early 2009, is a book that hopes that the reader will come away understanding and appreciating the Tea Party movement as a truly grassroots happening, a spontaneous outpouring of interest backed by true red, white and blue American ideals.

Author O’Hara, himself an early Tea Party organizer in Washington D.C. and the Chicago area, answers several questions with the book: what sparked the Tea Parties; is the name “Tea Party” itself a proper sobriquet; what do they mean; what does the future hold; and how do you make more?

The first thing one might notice is that O’Hara writes in a crisp, conversational style with short subchapters. This makes it ideal for reading bits at a time. This is not a dense treatment and I think his style makes the book very accessible to people of all ages — without talking down to the young or dumbing it down for the more advanced reader.
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Book Review: What Are These Tea Parties About, Anyway?”


New Hampshire Makes to Outlaw Federal Agents?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Imagine a state law that says that any federal agent that comes into said state and runs afoul of a new state law should be considered a felon! Well, that is what New Hampshire is about to do if HB1285 passes during the coming 2010 legislative session.

HB1285 is another one of those laws that exempts all firearms and firearms accessories that are made in a state from certain federal restrictions if they remain in that state. Several states have made attempts to implement these 10th Amendment laws and New Hampshire intends to be one of the next to do so.

Thus far Montana and Tennessee have passed their own firearms freedom acts and thirteen or so other states have introduced or are introducing laws that exempts local firearms industries and accessories as well as in-state firearms owners from overweening federal gun banning laws.
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New Hampshire Makes to Outlaw Federal Agents?”


Abortion Rates Rose in Illinois 2008

-By Warner Todd Huston

United Press International is reporting that abortion rates rose five percent in Illinois in 2008. Illinois doctors performed 47,717 abortions, the most in five years.

The state Department of Public Health reported 47,717 abortions in 2008, the latest year for which it has figures. In 1998, there were 49,403.

There is a law on the books that could bring this number down, of course, but extreme leftists and infanticide fans in the state have stalled its implementation over and over again. A Parental Notification Law for teens 17 and under was passed in 1995 and the left has been fighting it in court ever since. So far, every attempt they’ve made to have it declared unconstitutional has failed, yet each year they continue to find pliant, ant-constitutional judges to once again declare it “on hold” until its legal status can be “reviewed” and determined.
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Abortion Rates Rose in Illinois 2008″


Public Schools Embrace Debauchery & Apostasy Over Christmas Music

-By Frederick Meekins

Most Americans would agree that freedom of conscience ranks among our most cherished liberties. As such, the state should protect this particular right by almost any means necessary and reasonable (especially for citizens).

In California, an initiative has been undertaken to get a ballot before voters to determine the propriety of Christmas music in California public schools. Within the measure is a clause that would require schools to notify parents 21 days before the specified tunes would be played or performed so that students can opt out of being exposed to such material.

Those having embraced a rigorous interpretation regarding the separation of church and state will applaud the measure as a enlightened compromise as these voices will be among the first to point out that, in these swinging days of free thought, not everyone embraces the Christianity espoused by these Yuletide harmonies. One must ask then would the exponents of the unsullied conscience be as outspoken in defense of those wanting to be excused from exposure to more progressivist causes and material.
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Public Schools Embrace Debauchery & Apostasy Over Christmas Music”


Chgo Sun-Times Says Healthcare is a Right

-By Warner Todd Huston

It has come to this. A newspaper in one of America’s biggest cities has so sold out to extremists, left-wing ideology that it has throw logic, facts, and reality to the four winds in order to sell Obama’s socialist healthcare policies. In a recent editorial the Chicago Sun-Times has absurdly determined that healthcare is a “right.” Unfortunately for truth and reality, the Sun-Times is simply wrong.

As we all know, the Senate has been engaging in a debate on Obamacare. But back on June 16 before the lesser light of the Kennedy clan passed away, Senator Edward Kennedy included a bit of foolishness in a statement issued in his role as the Chairman of the Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, or the HELP committee.

In that statement we saw the assumption that is popular on the left and one the Sun-Times just echoed, but it is one that should give pause to any liberty loving American. (See pdf file)
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Chgo Sun-Times Says Healthcare is a Right”


Where Are You Frum, Anyway?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Canadian David Frum is like the cross-eyed marksman, he can see the target but just can’t ever hit it. The self-styled conservative has been the Old Media’s leading conservative in attacking, well, other conservatives. Naturally his Dec. 25 piece on theweek.com is no exception. Not only does he attack other conservatives, as is his wont, he so badly misreads the Constitution and certain other facts in the healthcare debate, it makes one wonder if he’s muffing it all on purpose? He does, however, get one salient fact right: the U.S. has already so ignored the U.S. Constitution that this socialist Obamacare plan will likely be declared wholly constitutional.

Frum’s latest frumble asks the question whether or not Obamacare is constitutional? He determines that it is constitutional mainly because Congress and multiple Supreme Courts have already ignored the Constitution so often as to make it likely they will all do so again to OK the illicit intrusion into our lives that is Obamacare.

OK, with his basic premise Frum is right. It is likely that our out-of-control federal establishment will again warp the Constitution to cover yet another socialist abomination. But how he gets to this conclusion is so filled with missteps that it is laughable and further this lapse of sense does not make it actually constitutional. It just makes it a done deal.
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Where Are You Frum, Anyway?”


The Choice Between Prosperity and Decline

– By Jeff Lukens

This land of a free people and a free-market economy has generated a great wave of innovation that has benefited all of humanity. The essence of freedom and prosperity that moved around the world in past 200 and some years has been driven primarily by the United States. With our economy now stagnating, it has become more important than ever to return to the basic Constitutional freedoms that have made prosperity possible.

My son came home from college to visit recently. After some time of catching up on things, the conversation turned to topics that interest him — and that means all things electronic. He explained to me why I needed the latest operating system update for the computer and how properly to configure the surround sound system for the HDTV. I could barely keep up with it. Somewhere in the conversation, it occurred to me that in the long view of human history, we have come a long way in a very short time.

Think about it. In the 1600s, the ships that brought the first settlers to our shores, and tools for tilling the soil they brought with them, were not much more advanced than those used by people thousands of years before. In the relatively short time since their arrival in the New World, there has been an explosion in technology and the standard of living for ordinary people.

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The Choice Between Prosperity and Decline”


Why I Signed The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

-By David M. Huntwork

It is one thing to judge, and another to excuse. The Manhattan Declaration does neither. I found this to be a rather profound statement by a large number of Christian leaders taking a stand for the foundations of civilization, the family, and the sanctity of human life. People of faith have to work together to preserve and protect the fundamental principles of morality from those who seek to destroy them. This declaration brings together numerous Catholic bishops, Orthodox clergy, and Evangelical leaders and as an evangelical Christian I will gladly partner with other types of Christians on the common concepts that form the backbone of Christianity.

From ManhattanDeclaration.org:

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

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Why I Signed The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience”


5th District — Quigley-backed Chicago handgun ban: Negligible results, still unconstitutional

5th District Congressional candidate David Ratowitz responds to Rep. Mike Quigley and Mayor Richard M. Daley’s December 19, 2009, Sun-Times op-ed, “Threat to city’s handgun ban jeopardizes safety of all.”

Rep. Mike Quigley’s December 19 Chicago Sun-Times op-ed piece in defense of Chicago’s unconstitutional ban on gun ownership for law-abiding citizens displays arrogance, disregard for the facts and extremist zeal.
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5th District — Quigley-backed Chicago handgun ban: Negligible results, still unconstitutional”


My Last Straw With Bob Schillerstrom for Governor

-By Warner Todd Huston

For the most part I want my writing, opining and reporting of the GOP field of candidates in Illinois to be relatively even handed. I have avoided too much high strung rhetoric and have not made any obvious endorsements because I want all of our Republican candidates to have this forum and to get their message to Illinois Republican voters. But I will not from this point forward be loaning my forum to Bob Schillerstrom in his quest for the GOP nomination for Governor.

There are some things with which I agree with Mr. Schilelrstrom. He is generally a fiscal conservative which is good. However, he is also a pro-abortion candidate and an anti-Constitutional rights candidate. These two things are enough for me to jettison any further reporting on his campaign.

The final straw comes for me with Schillerstrom’s announcement of getting endorsed by a radical abortion advocacy group, the Personal PAC. This group claims to be “bi-partisan” but is far from it.
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My Last Straw With Bob Schillerstrom for Governor”


How the Candidates for Gov. Stand on Guns

-By Warner Todd Huston

The good folks over at icarry.org have compiled a nice little list of statements about the Second Amendment made by our candidates for Governor. On a veto of the so-called assault weapons ban, they found four GOPers stongly in favor, one is wishy-washy, and two oppose it. And on concealed carry they found three Republicans support it and three are against it.

Here is what icarry.org posted:
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How the Candidates for Gov. Stand on Guns”


Ben Franklin: On Science

-By John Armor

As most of you know, the international recognition of me as a scientist began with the day that I captured lightning with a kite. Had I done that experiment the way the popular myth says, I probably would have been electrocuted, an early end to an ordinary career.

You probably recall that my formal education ended when I was 14. After that, I bought and read every worthwhile book I could find. I died in 1790, but one aspect of the Other Side that I can share with you is that we get to read and see whatever interests us about the continuing fate of this nation we created, and started on its way.

You are in the middle of national consideration of laws that would involve more than a trillion dollars of public and private spending for purposes based, or claiming to be based, on scientific weather considerations. Now, I know the word trillion, but I never had occasion to use it. I recall the greatest warship Congress approved in my day, the USF Constitution and known as “Old Ironsides” now lies at harbor in Boston. She cost about $60,000 to build and equip. That gives you an idea of how far the value of the dollar has declined.
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Ben Franklin: On Science”


Rep. Brian Billbray: Rep. Gutierrez is Creating the Next Wave of Illegal Immigration

-By Warner Todd Huston

Representative Luis Gutierrez (D, IL) will introduce another stab at “comprehensive immigration reform” this month and it’s been given another one of those Orwellian names that you know means the opposite of what it says in the title. Gutierrez is calling this mess the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009, or the CIR ASAP — in other words Comprehensive Immigration Reform ASAP.

The simple fact of the matter is that, regardless of the name, this legislation will do nothing whatever to help our security or our prosperity. In fact it will damage both.

In his press release touting this bill, Gutierrez said the following:

“We have waited patiently for a workable solution to our immigration crisis to be taken up by this Congress and our President,” said Rep. Gutierrez. “The time for waiting is over. This bill will be presented before Congress recesses for the holidays so that there is no excuse for inaction in the New Year. It is the product of months of collaboration with civil rights advocates, labor organizations, and members of Congress. It is an answer to too many years of pain —mothers separated from their children, workers exploited and undermined security at the border— all caused at the hands of a broken immigration system. This bill says ‘enough,’ and presents a solution to our broken system that we as a nation of immigrants can be proud of.”

This morning I spoke to Representative Brian Billbray in that nation’s capitol and found him chagrined by the whole thing. Billbray is the Chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus and is from California’s 50th District which is situated in the San Diego County area.
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Rep. Brian Billbray: Rep. Gutierrez is Creating the Next Wave of Illegal Immigration”


Would Chicago Gun Rights Case Destroy Federalism?

-By Warner Todd Huston

For the Family Research Council, Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski warned in a Washington Times op ed that a case on gun rights that will soon come before the Supreme Court could “trigger the unhinging of American culture.” Not only do I think the pair went too far in their claim, I also think they missed several key reasons why their worst fear of the end of state’s rights and federalism is misplaced, even as their warning is well taken.

What Blackwell and Klukowski are worried about is that the upcoming McDonald v City of Chicago case could open a “Pandora’s box” of federal overreach to the point where any federal judge could override any state law and claim that it violates the Constitution’s Privileges or Immunities Clause. The two feel that if this challenge succeeds it could “completely change American culture, with the court having a new basis upon which to declare constitutional rights to abortion, same-sex marriage, obscene material or a child’s ‘right’ to a public-school education over his parents’ objections.”

The case is centered upon the legality of the City of Chicago to regulate away the rights of its citizens to own firearms and store them in their own homes. Of course anyone that cares about the Constitution should want McDonald to beat the City of Chicago and force the city to recognize its citizen’s 2nd Amendment rights to self-protection. But, the op ed warns that they way the McDonald lawyers are going about their challenge to Chicago could lead to undesired consequences.
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Would Chicago Gun Rights Case Destroy Federalism?”


Endorsements for Put-Back Amendment Grows

Press release from the Put-Back Amendment campaign:

The Put-Back Amendment is the only amendment that will bring real reform to Springfield. It enacts 8 year term limits so we no longer will have lifetime politicians who hold a death grip over the state. It ensures fair elections by ending gerrymandering, reforms ballot access laws and allows independents full access to the ballot. It promotes real legislative reform by requiring 7-day public viewing of all legislation and 25 of 177 legislators can force an up or down vote on any legislation so leaders can no longer exercise complete control of the legislative process.

You can learn more about the amendment here. To get this on the ballot, we need 500,000 signatures and we need your help to gather them after the New Year.

Jim Oberweis, Other Political and Civic Leaders Endorse Put-Back Amendment!
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Endorsements for Put-Back Amendment Grows”


American Liberty v. Obama’s Social Engineering

-By Frank Salvato

After the General Election of 2008 I made a conscious effort to give President Obama a chance. I wanted to give him an opportunity to be true to his word; to prove that he was committed to governing from the center. I also wanted to demonstrate that I was not of the same ilk as the Bush-hating, “he stole the election,” fact-ignoring Progressive malcontents that served to divide the country over the eight years of the Bush Administration. But now, a year after the election, and as we approach a full year of the Obama Administration, it has become abundantly clear that Mr. Obama has abandoned almost all of his campaign promises (but for his commitments to the SEIU) and is governing from the far Left. He has instituted a campaign of social engineering that can only be described as a direct threat to liberty.

Liberty
Liberty is defined as, “freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.” It was the single most motivating factor in the American Revolution and war for independence. Our Founders and Framers risked their lives to free the people of what would become our nation from the elitist tyranny of King George and his court, a tyranny that choked liberty – personal and societal – dead.

In addition to the limitations placed on religious freedom and freedom of speech, taxation was excessive and exploitative and it was imposed without representation. Many of the colonists believed the denial of direct representation in the British Parliament was an illegal denial of their rights, as colonists were considered Englishmen subject to the king’s rule. Thus the credo, “no taxation without representation,” served as the rallying cry for Patriots in each of the thirteen colonies as they coalesced into a movement toward American independence.

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American Liberty v. Obama’s Social Engineering”


Jim Ryan: Cut Aid to Township Governments

-By Warner Todd Huston

At a sit down with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board this week, former States Attorney Jim Ryan, candidate for the GOP nod for governor, said that one of his cost-cutting measures would be a state-wide cut back on state grants to local township governments.

The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, in a report last February, said capping revenue sharing and grants to local governments could save up to $300 million a year. Ryan said state cutbacks on income-tax revenue to cities and counties “will put them on a diet and also save us money.”

I say, good idea! As The Better Government Association discovered last month, many of these Townships aren’t in any way needy of more tax money. In fact, many are awash in large, surpluses in their bank accounts even as they continue to tax us to death.

In fact ABC 7 and the BGA discovered that many of these fat-cat townships don’t even spend their large surpluses on the actual, lawful purpose for which townships were created for in the first place.
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Jim Ryan: Cut Aid to Township Governments”


Is the Constitution Just a Grand Suggestion?

-By Frank Salvato

Listening to the John & Cisco morning radio program here on Chicago’s WIND AM 560 this morning, I was suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. One of the hosts, John Howell, asked Chicago Tribune editorialists Clarence Page about a contentious issue; whether candidates for the office of President of the United States of America should have to present proof of citizenship before being allowed to vie for the office. Mr. Page’s answer was not only a slight to the Constitution; it placed him firmly in the camp of the constitutionally illiterate.

When asked if vetting candidates for national office, specifically the presidency, wasn’t something that all Americans could agree upon, Mr. Page replied:

“You can never please some people, as you can see. I know Liberals who believe John McCain should be challenged because he wasn’t born in the US, because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone and…ah…they will point to different constitutional loopholes…ah…that they say would disqualify him. I remember George Romney, Mitt’s Dad…ah…went through the same thing…ah…back in the 60s. As far as I’m concerned, why can’t Madeleine Albright be a good president even though she wasn’t born a citizen? Or the governor of Michigan right now? This is the kind of thing…folks are kind of groping for any reason to disqualify a president or presidential candidate that they don’t like and…ah…I just find it to be a specious debate…I think we’ve got more important issues to worry about…maybe that’s just me (laughter).”

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Is the Constitution Just a Grand Suggestion?”


Ill. Rifle Assoc.: Oh, No We Didn’t Endorse Jim Ryan in 2002

-By Warner Todd Huston

On the Ryan FaceBook page the claim was recently made that Jim Ryan was endorsed by the Illinois State Rifle Association’s political action arm for his 2002 race against Rod Blagojevich for governor. Au contraire, says the ISRA-PVF. They didn’t endorse anyone in 2002, they say.

The ISRA-PVF issued a news release to correct the record:

ISRA-PVF Calls Upon Illinois Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Ryan to Retract Endorsement Claims

CHICAGO, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The following was released today by the ISRA Political Victory Fund (ISRA-PVF):

The ISRA-PVF is today calling upon Illinois gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan to retract claims that he received the group’s endorsement during his failed 2002 run for governor against Rod Blagojevich. Such misleading claims have surfaced on Ryan’s social networking internet sites in recent days. Additionally, individuals have made reports to the ISRA-PVF that Ryan campaign staffers have made similar endorsement claims when questioned about Ryan’s stands on issues important to law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.

The fact of the matter is, the ISRA-PVF declined to make an endorsement in the 2002 race for Illinois governor as neither the Republican candidate, Jim Ryan, nor his Democratic opponent, Rod Blagojevich, were deemed suitable for endorsement.

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Ill. Rifle Assoc.: Oh, No We Didn’t Endorse Jim Ryan in 2002″


The Turkey That Is Obamanomics

-By Nancy Salvato

Thanksgiving day progressed in somewhat the usual manner, sleeping in; savoring our coffee; reading the news; putzing around on the computer; and at least one of us (me) working out in anticipation of moderating the inevitable consequences of splurging on an inordinate amount of really good food. Soon, though, we found the afternoon getting away from us and realized we needed to pick up the pace. Our newly allotted time-frame no longer permitted enough time for us to take our dogs, Reilly and Coulter, for a long walk. With the promise that we’d take them to the forest preserve with us the following day, we grabbed the dishes we’d prepared earlier, leaving the pups to their own devices, soon to arrive at our destination.

After exchanging hugs and kisses, we got down to the business of setting out the food and carving the turkey. Sitting around the dinner table, we gave thanks for our family, friends, the meal before us and voiced our hope that the soldiers spending this Thanksgiving away from their loved ones would be kept safe in the months to come. Then, in what seemed like an inordinately short amount of time – in contrast to the time it took to plan and prepare the meal – we toasted to each other and plowed through the turkey, stuffing and other fixings, eventually chasing it all down with dessert. Now we were ready to play games.
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The Turkey That Is Obamanomics”