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2010: The Year of State Sovereignty

February 10th, 2010 Dan No comments

The Year of State Sovereignty?
By Bernie Quigley

At a press conference last October, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was asked: “Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?”

She replied with that wild-eyed self-assurance that grew more shrill and extreme as we got to Christmas: “Are you serious? Are you serious?”

She shook her head and moved on. Her aide, Nadeam Elshami, said that questioning the Speaker about whether the Constitution authorizes Congress to mandate that individuals buy healthcare was not “a serious question.”

This week the Virginia Senate passed a bill prohibiting a requirement for Virginians to purchase healthcare insurance. With a Republican state House and governor, this bill will likely make it into law.

In an effort led by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), more than two-thirds of the states have introduced measures to stop individual mandates on healthcare. Many state attorneys general threaten lawsuits if current federal reform proposals are passed into law. The Heritage Foundation reports that state legislators across the country are considering various bills that would allow their state to opt out of key provisions of ObamaCare or provide state voters a chance at the ballot box to reject nationalized healthcare in their state.

“Regardless of legislative components of the Virginia action yesterday, conservatives should cheer the resurgence of federalism and what it means for reining in the rapidly increasing federal government. With most states starting their legislative sessions, this may be just the beginning of what could be the ‘Year for State Sovereignty,’ ” says Dani Doane, director of government relations at the Heritage Foundation.

(Editor’s Note: If this does not show how out-of-touch or even dismissive of the People and their will our Speaker of the House is, I’m not sure what would.  No one, no one disputes the need for reform.  But a cost-effective, patient-centered approach is the only way to go.  Any plan that mandates purchase of a government “option” (please!) under penalty of a fine or even jail time cannot and should not be taken seriously.  And that’s precisely why 2/3rds of the People oppose it.  ~Dan Blanchard)

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Limited Government: A Founding Principle

January 27th, 2010 Wendy 4 comments

Let the founders of America speak for themselves…and refresh our memories:

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” – George Washington

“That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.”- Thomas Jefferson

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” – William Pitt

“There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation.” – James Madison

“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.” – Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address

“A fondness for power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when acquired.” – Alexander Hamilton

“With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.” – James Madison

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

“In questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.” – Samuel Adams

(Editor’s Note: It is for these and other reasons that Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, argued for  ”a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”  This is the only approach to government that can preserve our identity as “the land of the free.” – Dan Blanchard)


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