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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released a report documenting attempted abuses of federal power by the Obama administration on Tuesday, saying the administration “knows virtually no bounds.” Cruz points to Obama’s own Supreme Court appointees, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, to make his case: "When President Obama’s own Supreme Court nominees join their colleagues in unanimously rejecting the Administration’s call for broader federal power six times in just over one year, the inescapable conclusion is that the Obama Administration’s view of federal power knows virtually no bounds,” the senator’s report said. The Obama administration’s over-reaching includes attempts to electronically track Americans...

Two centuries ago the Founders feared a strong, centralized federal government would establish a standing army, an irresistible force capable of crushing those rights of individual liberty which had been so carefully and deliberately crafted into the Constitution. Today that fear has been realized, not with the American military, but in the increasingly disturbing form of paramilitary units and heavily equipped tactical assault teams which exist in even small town police departments and bureaucracies within the federal government. In Waco, 80 lives were taken by masked SWAT team members driving armored vehicles in what one writer properly called an “…ATF...

Everyone should be very interested in whether their representative in going to support this simple act and if not why not.

How did we get there? That is the question posed by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) to Supreme Court Justice Nominee Sonia Sotomayor during her confirmation hearing. The "there" Senator Coburn was asking about is the situation where the individual's right to bear arms is explicit in the Constitution yet unsettled in law, while a woman's right to privacy (to an abortion), not mentioned at all in the Constitution, is settled in law. Thus, the perfectly reasonable question, "How did we get there?" The problem we face is that there are a lot of "theres" out there. From an early age,...

The day before last week end's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, a group of prominent conservatives gathered a few miles away at the Virginia estate of our first president. Their Mount Vernon Statement swears fealty to a "constitutional conservatism" that "applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law to every proposal" and "honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life." If only they meant it. Constitutional conservatism certainly sounds better than "compassionate conservatism," which turned out to be code for big-government conservatism. And it is easy to hope that the thread...

FUNK: GIBBONS SHOULD EXPLAIN WHERE CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY EXISTS FOR FEDS TO “BE IN CHARGE OF EDUCATION” ALTOONA – David Funk, a Republican candidate for Congress in Iowa’s Third District, today called on one of his primary opponents to clarify comments stating the federal government has the constitutional authority to control local schools. In an interview with the political blog Caffeinated Thoughts, Jim Gibbons of Perry said, “It’s fine for me where the Constitution says that the federal government should be in charge of education. Now, I understand testing, benchmarks and standards. But, a lot of that can be accomplished at...

The Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision ruled today that Federal Agents may arrest medical marijuana users in States that allow marijuana to be prescribed by a physician. The decision was not based on the marijuana debate, is it harmful or beneficial? The Federal Government claimed it has the right to regulate interstate commerce. Ten states presently have laws on the books that allow Medical Marijuana, California being one of them. California voters approved Proposition 215 in November of 1996 in a 55.6% to 44.4% vote. Do you agree with the ruling because you are against illegal drug use, or...

Showdown in Montgomery By Chuck Baldwin Food For Thought From The Chuck Wagon August 22, 2003 I was privileged to be in attendance at a rally in front of the Alabama Supreme Court building Wednesday evening where hundreds of concerned citizens had gathered to express their support for Judge Roy Moore's decision to ignore a federal judge's order to remove a display of the Ten Commandments from the building. Speakers included Alan Keyes, Rick Scarborough, and Patrick Mahoney. This case is just now beginning to draw media attention and, unfortunately, has yet to draw the attention and, yes, outrage, of...

Ore. County Set For Timber Showdown Thursday May 23, 2002 4:50 AM PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Voters in an eastern Oregon county overwhelmingly approved a measure to allow residents to cut trees on federal land without permission, setting up a potential showdown with forest officials. The measure in Grant County passed 1,512 to 745 Tuesday despite cautions that local laws cannot override federal regulations. Herb Brusman, who helped write the measure, said Wednesday it would reduce the threat of wildfire by letting residents thin trees, remove trees in danger of falling onto roads and provide income to loggers and mills....