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The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Republican bid to turn the federal food stamp program over to the states. The current program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is administered by the Agriculture Department and federal dollars are unlimited as long as recipients qualify. The program cost $78 billion last year, more than double the price in 2008. A proposal by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., to a wide-ranging farm bill would have converted the program into grants to states, which could decide how to use the money, with certain restrictions. The Senate rejected the amendment 60-36. …

Hofstra student shot in head by cop while being used as human shield during home invasion By KIERAN CROWLEY, KENNETH GARGER and KATHIANNE BONIELLO Last Updated: 11:13 PM, May 18, 2013 Andrea Rebello (r.), here with her twin Jessica in an Instagram photo, was killed by the friendly fire of a police officer during a shootout with home invader Dalton Smith. The Hofstra University student killed during a home invasion robbery was the victim of friendly fire from a veteran cop who unleashed a barrage of bullets when the armed intruder pointed a gun at him, Nassau County police announced...

Franklin Graham calls IRS probe of ministry finances ‘un-American’ Adelle M. Banks | May 15, 2013 (RNS) Evangelist Franklin Graham blasted the Internal Revenue Service probe of conservative nonprofit groups as “un-American,” saying both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the relief group Samaritan’s Purse were audited by the IRS. In a Tuesday (May 14) letter to President Obama, Graham said the two organizations he leads were notified last September that the IRS would review their records for the 2010 tax year. The IRS inquiry, he noted, occurred months after the BGEA ran ads in April 2012 supporting a North...

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg criticized the Roe v. Wade decision Saturday, stating that it overruled the democratic will by handing down a decision made by “unelected old men.” Speaking at the University of Chicago Law School, the 80 year-old justice said that the 1973 decision, together with Doe v. Bolton, which legalized abortion until the ninth month of pregnancy, was too overreaching. Ginsburg said it would have been her preference that the High Court struck down only the Texas law in question without a decision that affected other states. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Ginsburg indicated that...

The resistance to Obamacare is writing a new chapter in U.S. history. It may well become the most unpopular law since Prohibition became an Amendment to the Constitution in 1919. By 1933, another Amendment repealed it. Obamacare passed by a straight Democratic party vote on Christmas Eve in 2009. No Republican voted for it and, as one poll recently revealed, a third of Americans are still unaware it is the law of the land. A divided Supreme Court gave it a pass, calling it a tax, but it is a profoundly unconstitutional law insofar as the federal government may not...

The Hill reports that Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback just signed into law a statute that "bars the federal government from regulating guns and ammunition manufactured and stored within Kansas state lines." Moreover, the new law makes it a felony for federal authorities to attempt to enforce federal gun control laws, treaties, or rules related to firearms within Kansas state lines. Federal agents would not be arrested but will be prosecuted on "a complaint-and-summons basis." Naturally, U.S. Attorney general Eric Holder is furious. Already he has sent a letter to Brownback promising, “The United States will take all appropriate action, including...

A new law in Kansas that criminalizes the enforcement of federal gun controls in the state is unconstitutional, Attorney General Eric H. Holder said. “In purporting to override federal law and to criminalize the official acts of federal officers, [the law] directly conflicts with federal law and is therefore unconstitutional,” Mr. Holder wrote to Gov. Sam Brownback in a letter dated April 26. “Federal officers who are responsible for enforcing federal laws and regulations in order to maintain public safety cannot be forced to choose between the risk of a criminal prosecution by a state and the continued performance of...

1. What can a State – or several States – do to resist encroachments & usurpations by the federal government? 2. Federalist No. 46 (7th para) discusses how individual States or several States carry out resistance to the federal government’s unconstitutional encroachments. If a particular State takes an action which the federal government doesn’t like, but which has the support of the People of that State, the federal government can’t do anything about it unless it is willing to use force. So, in para 7, Madison contemplates that not all States will oppose unconstitutional encroachments by the federal government. But...

Illinois nets almost $6 billion more in taxes in 2012 Article posted: 4/24/2013 5:30 AM By Jake Griffin Illinois collected nearly $6 billion more in taxes and fees in 2012 than in the year before. That's the greatest increase of any state in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's annual State Government Tax Collections report released a few days Rising from $30.6 billion in 2011 to $36.4 billion in 2012, Illinois' state tax increase largely comes on the backs of workers who saw individual income taxes climb by nearly $4.5 billion, thanks to the first full year of...

Feinstein: Watertown Citizens Don’t Need Assault Weapons to Protect Themselves By Andrew Johnson April 21, 2013 1:09 PM Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) stood by her push for an assault-weapons ban when Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace pressed her on whether Boston and Watertown residents may have preferred to arm and protect themselves on Friday while the suspect was at large. “If where you’re going is, do they need an assault weapon? I don’t think so,” she said.

Bills 'nullifying' Washington overreach gaining momentum across the country It was called the strongest pro-gun bill in the country, and now it’s the law in Kansas. The law is designed to counter the push by liberal federal lawmakers for increased restrictions on gun rights. It nullifies any new limits on firearms, magazines and ammunition – whether enacted by Congress, presidential executive order or any agency. If Congress would have passed the Senate amendment expanding federal background checks, for example, the Kansas law would nullify it in the state. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 102 into law...

Why Do The Philadelphia Police Have 1,356 Full-Auto M-16s? Posted on April 18, 2013 by Robert Farago “An automatic M-16 rifle is missing from one of the Philadelphia Police Department’s main gun-storage units and Commissioner Charles Ramsey has called in federal authorities to investigate,” philly.com reports. ”Obviously, this is very, very serious,” Ramsey said. “And believe me, we will get to the bottom of it, one way or another, I guarantee that.” Cops lose gun. Cops go crazy trying to find it before it turns into another Fast and Furious Brian Terry deal. Another day, another example of why cops...

There are seven distinct ways the court could rule: If the merits are reached (meaning that the court decides the case meets the constitutional requirements to be adjudicated and a ruling released): The Nationwide Solutions: 1) The court could rule that Proposition 8 is constitutional. This would allow states to confine marriage to a union between a man and a woman. 2) The court could rule that it is a violation of the equal protections act of the 14th amendment to prevent same-sex couples from marrying. This would essentially legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states. The 8 state solution:...

Rand Paul, Kentucky’s junior Senator and Tea Party favorite, announced today of his plans to pursue the Republican nomination for President in 2016. Paul announced early Wednesday at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, that he will be visiting the primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina this summer – the first major candidate to make such an announcement from either side.....

The Arizona House of Representatives will not cooperate with the federal government in denying due process to citizens of the Grand Canyon State. By a vote of 34 to 24, the House passed HB 2573, a bill that would, among other things, prevent state officials from participating in the indefinite detention of Americans by the president as authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA). The measure would amend Title 41 of the Arizona code by adding a section prohibiting state governmental compliance with unconstitutional federal mandates. A majority of Arizona’s state lawmakers recognize that Arizona is, along...

Happy Anniversary! Today marks one hundred years of the horrible 17th Amendment. Its Progressive purpose was to democratize the Senate, and boy, did it! In a complete about face from the philosophy, experience and warnings from the Framing generation, the States no longer participate in the federal government. One hundred years ago today, the republic ceased being federal, and overnight became a single un-confederated republic that spanned a continent. It also created a temporary, partial power vacuum, and set the stage for total consolidation of authority in the national government. Once State agency was removed, all that was left were...

Army Training Session Lists Evangelicals, Catholics, Mormons as ‘Extremists’ Posted on April 6, 2013 by Tad Cronn Filed under 1st Amendment, Atheism, Christianity, Government, Military, Religion, Socialism, Terrorism An Army Reserve unit undergoing training on religious extremism recently in Pennsylvania was told by an Army instructor that Evangelical Christians, Catholics, Mormons and Orthodox Jews are on the same level with Hamas, al-Qaida and the Ku Klux Klan. The training was part of the Army Reserve Equal Opportunity program. The slide that listed examples of “religious extremism” put Evangelical Christianity as the first entry and included the Jewish Defense League, Catholicism...

The Obama Administration’s argument failed to persuade anyone. The only thing the high court seemed to agree unanimously on was that no one considered the Obama Administration’s stance on the issue convincing. The administration’s brief calls “for the nullification of the gay marriage bans now in place in California and the seven other states that forbid gay marriage while allowing civil unions.” Essentially this position asserts that for those states which allow civil unions they will be forced to grant full marriage. It takes no position on states that have no benefits for same-sex couples. Several Justices vehemently challenged the...

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy (D) ripped National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre on Sunday as someone who reminds him of “the clowns at the circus.” Malloy was responding to LaPierre’s criticism of Connecticut’s new gun restrictions, signed into law after December’s elementary school massacre in Newtown. LaPierre said the new rules won’t affect criminals but will only make things harder for law-abiding citizens. “Wayne reminds me of the clowns at the circus. They get the most attention and that’s what he’s paid to do,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “This guy is so out of whack, it’s...

Unionized government workers in Texas — including firefighters, police and teachers — don’t have the right to be accompanied by a union representative while being questioned during internal investigations, a divided Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. Such representation is a basic right for unionized private sector and federal government employees. But in a case begun by a Round Rock firefighter disciplined in 2008, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that state labor law doesn’t specifically confer a similar right to workers employed by state, county, city or local governments in Texas. “On its face, (Texas law) confers only one explicit right:...

Kansas legislators gave final passage to a sweeping anti-abortion measure Friday night, sending Gov. Sam Brownback a bill that declares life begins “at fertilization” while blocking tax breaks for abortion providers and banning abortions performed solely because of the baby’s sex. The House voted 90-30 for a compromise version of the bill reconciling differences between the two chambers, only hours after the Senate approved it, 28-10. The Republican governor is a strong abortion opponent, and supporters of the measure expect him to sign it into law so that the new restrictions take effect July 1. In addition to the bans...

In some of the most forceful testimony from a local official, Kettle Moraine School District superintendent Patricia Deklotz criticized provisions in Walker's bill that expanded taxpayer-funded private voucher schools but froze the revenues for public schools Lake Delton and Baldwin.

Provo artist Jon McNaughton is back with a new painting, 'The Forgotten Man,' which features President Barack Obama standing on the Constitution. In the new painting, a man, sitting in the throes of depression on a park bench in front of a White House, is seen surrounded by 43 presidents. On the other side, Obama is standing on the Constitution ignoring the depressed man while James Madon pleading Obama not to stand on the Constitution.

1973 REPORT OF THE ABA SPECIAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION STUDY COMMITTEERECOMMENDATIONWHEREAS, the House of Delegates, at its July 1971 meeting, created the Constitutional Convention Study Committee “to analyze and study all questions of law concerned with the calling of a national Constitutional Convention, including, but not limited to, the question of whether such a Convention’s jurisdiction can be limited to the subject matter given rise to its call, or whether the convening of such a Convention, as a matter of constitutional law, opens such a Convention to multiple amendments and the consideration of a new Constitution”; and WHEREAS, the Constitutional Convention...

Biden lobbies GOP senators to support gun control legislation By Niall Stanage and Amie Parnes - 04/01/13 05:00 AM ET Vice President Biden is calling his former colleagues on Capitol Hill on a near-daily basis as he mounts a full-court press to achieve new gun control measures. Biden has already held private meetings with Republican senators including John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.), according to a senior administration official. The official added that Biden would also be spending considerable time on Capitol Hill in the weeks to come. “There are always a lot of dark alleys...

Kinda funny how when President Bush was pressing for a federal constitutional amendment banning one-sex marriage how many (actually the lionshare) Democrats said that the issue should be left to the states. When Dems supposedly supported traditional marriage they wanted the states to decide. Now that they support one-sex marriage, do they still believe that the states should decide or do they want the courts to force one-sex marriage onto all the states? How could any Democrat be for an approach that says no to a federal ban - let the states decide - and then flip to a federal...

Seriously: of all editorial writers at the nation's major newspapers, could the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart be the least conversant with the Constitution? Back in August, we caught Capehart admitting to his unfamiliarity with Enumerated Powers Clause. On today's Morning Joe, Capehart's Constitutional confusion was on display again. Discussing the Supreme Court's possible overturning of DOMA, Capehart complained that it looked like the Court was headed toward doing so not in reliance on equal protection, but on the basis of states' rights, which Capehart called "a legal technicality." Tenth Amendment much, Mr. Capehart? View the video here.

On CNN, analyst Jeffrey Toobin predicts that "DOMA's in trouble": was repeatedly concerned that the Defense of Marriage Act violates state's rights." Toobin then got hit in the head by a falling umbrella.

In Murphy v. Ramsey, SCOTUS defined marriage as "The union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony." In Maynard v. Hill, SCOTUS spoke of marriage as being between one man and one woman. Remember, liberals, Stari Decisis....right? Chuck E. Cheese Schumer seems to like to invoke those words whenever it suits him. Marriage should be redefined, and those that are against redefining it are bigots? Then why are liberals bigotted against consenting ADULT Polygamists? Marriage is about love and equality? Then why don't liberals love consenting adult polygamists/polygamy and desire equality for them,...

Colorado sheriff says lawmakers holding up pay raises over gun stance By Maxim Lott Published March 26, 2013 | FoxNews.com One of a handful of Colorado sheriffs who oppose several gun control bills working their way through the state legislature claims lawmakers are threatening the salaries of sheriffs to punish them for their position. The clash comes as pro-gun control elected leaders seek tighter restrictions on firearms in the wake of the Aurora movie massacre last summer and the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown, Conn. El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, while saying he would be obliged to enforce...

On Fox News Sunday this morning, evangelical leader Gary Bauer and Republican strategist Nicole Wallace went head-to-head over the upcoming Supreme Court hearings on overturning Proposition 8, California’s controversial law banning same-sex marriages within the state. “You don’t advance limited government by being an anti-democratic movement that is attempting to take this issue away from the American people,” Bauer said of Wallace and other conservatives who submitted an amicus brief to the court. “What the brief is asking for and what the groups waiting outside the Supreme Court are asking for, is for unelected judges to deny the people of...

Republican strategist Karl Rove told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week that he thinks Republican presidential candidates in 2016 could be supporters of marriage equality. Rove my the comments during a discussion on the Supreme Court’s hearing on a challenge to California’s Proposition 8 schedule for later this week. “Karl Rove, can you imagine the next presidential campaign a Republican candidate saying flat out ‘I am for gay marriage,’” asked Stephanopoulos. “I could,” said Rove, before turning the discussion back to the Supreme Court’s hearing on the issue. Rove said that he thinks some Supreme Court Justices have expressed sentiments...

Outdoor Channel Blacklists Colorado Over Gun Control Laws Posted on March 12, 2013 by da Tagliare Filed under 2nd Amendment, Business, Economics, Gun Control, Jobs, Politics, State Laws Living in the Southwest for most of my life, I’ve seen just how many people go to Colorado to hunt, fish, ski, hike, camp and sight see. Combined together, these activities generate millions of dollars for businesses as well as the state government. Yet, the controlling Democrats are willing to lose a large portion of that revenue and place many businesses in jeopardy, just to push Obama’s anti-gun policies. A couple of...

Alcohol occupies a peculiar position in the culture of the United States. Like so much else besides, it is subject to the ongoing brawl between puritanism and libertarianism, two philosophies that have long jockeyed for dominance here. Americans have made many contributions to the bar — including the perfection and popularization of the cocktail. But puritanism has survived, enjoying a rich history of its own. Benjamin Rush’s inquiries into alcoholism spawned a variety of anti-alcohol movements at the outset of the new republic; in the 1850s, “temperance� overlapped uncomfortably with the Know Nothing movement’s distaste for secular principles; and...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The federal government has informed Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak that it intends to take over swaths of insurance regulation in the state to ensure compliance with the Affordable Care Act – commonly known as “Obamacare.” The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is notifying insurers in Oklahoma that it will handle enforcement of the ACA. In a March 15 letter to Doak, the agency notified the Insurance Department of its responsibility to enforce the ACA in Oklahoma because the state has declined to do so. Should Oklahoma enact“market reform requirements,” according to the letter, the...

SEATTLE -- The passage of I-502 made things difficult enough for the humans tasked with creating and enforcing the laws for legal marijuana. Now, try explaining the difference between "personal use" and "intent to sell" or the gray area between state and federal law to a dog. That's why many law-enforcement agencies around the state, including the Seattle Police Department and Washington State Patrol, will no longer be training their drug-sniffing dogs to alert for marijuana. “Moving forward, it makes most sense not to train dogs to alert to marijuana as that would likely lead to unwarranted investigatory detentions of...

Mar 19, 2013, 6:27am MDT Magpul preparing to leave Colorado Staff Denver Business Journal Magpul Industries Inc. of Boulder intends to "start out transition out of the state almost immediately" after Gov. John Hickenlooper signs into law a measure limiting the number of rounds allowed in magazines, KMGH-TV reports. The governor is expected to sign House Bill 1224 on Wednesday. The bill restricts to 15 the number of rounds a magazine can hold. But Magpul Industries makes 30-round magazines. The company's website said Magpul Industries has sold millions of its polymer magazines, or "PMAGs." Magpul Industries posted a lengthy note...

Conservatives are in an uproar over Common Core, an educational curriculum being forced upon the states by the Obama administration, which is scheduled to be mostly implemented this year in the 46 states that have adopted it. Common Core eliminates local control over K-12 curriculum in math and English, instead imposing a one-size-fits-all, top-down curriculum that will also apply to private schools and homeschoolers. Superficially, it sounds good. It creates universal standards that supposedly educate all children for college. But along with the universal standards come a myriad of problems, which the administrators of Common Core are disingenuously denying. The...

A growing number of states are moving forward with legislation to exempt them from new federal gun controls and, in some cases, brand as criminals anyone who tries to enforce them. While many of the bills are considered symbolic or appear doomed to fail, the legislative explosion reflects a backlash against legislative and regulatory efforts in Washington to tamp down on gun violence. As of this week, at least 28 states had taken up consideration of gun bills this year, according to new data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. More than 70 bills have been put forward...

I ran into this gem of American history and immediately thought that it needs to be updated. Give this a read and post your thoughts.I think it would be an interesting proposition to update this work for the 21st century while maintaining its original meaning and encompassing the changes to our constitution since 1828.Could that be a FRepper project? Are there any interested volunteers?

http://www.krdo.com/news/Sheriff-Maketa-releases-statement-regarding-gun-control-stance/-/417220/19280038/-/iykxd7/-/index.html

Ex-DEA heads: Feds should nullify Colorado, Washington pot laws CHICAGO — Eight former Drug Enforcement Administration chiefs say the federal government needs to act now or it might lose the chance to nullify Colorado and Washington's laws legalizing recreational marijuana use. The onetime DEA heads plan to issue joint statements today saying the Obama administration has reacted too slowly and should immediately sue to force the states to rescind the legislation. The Associated Press received an advance copy of the statement Monday. One of the former DEA administrators, Peter Bensinger, told the AP that the more time goes by, the...

COPS: “You’re on your own” before police arrive Video Project Veritas has hit another home run with a new powerhouse video out of an undercover reporter asked police officers in a number of New York State communities (and a few outside NY State) what he’s supposed to do between the time he would call 9-1-1 for help and the time cops show up. They all agreed he was on his own. Cops’ advice for what to do in that interim period of time before they arrive? They tell the 63-year-old reporter to scream, make noise and flee the house. “You...

More gun laws = fewer deaths, 50-state study says By By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer – 14 hours ago CHICAGO (AP) — States with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths, according to a study that suggests sheer quantity of measures might make a difference. But the research leaves many questions unanswered and won't settle the debate over how policymakers should respond to recent high-profile acts of gun violence. In the dozen or so states with the most gun control-related laws, far fewer people were shot to death or killed themselves with guns than in the...

Gun talks hit a snag in Senate over universal background checks By Alexander Bolton - 03/05/13 The centerpiece of President Obama’s gun violence agenda is in peril amid a deadlock among Senate negotiators over how to implement and enforce a proposal requiring background checks for private gun sales. With time running out for talks, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) remains optimistic about reaching an agreement. But gun control proponents have grown skeptical about whether Schumer’s main Republican counterpart, Sen. Tom Coburn (Okla.), is acting in good faith. Schumer argues — and gun control groups agree — that records must be kept...

If Gov't Can Make Bullets Disappear From Stores, Why Can't It Make Food And Medicine? February 18, 2013 By Charlie Daniels I know some of you folks don't shoot, but to the many of you who do, I would like to pose a question. Have you tried to purchase any ammunition lately? All calibers are disappearing from store shelves, but .22 long rifles, in bulk, can't be found at all anywhere, even the most dependable internet super dealers are out of stock and are making no promises about when they'll be available again, and it's my opinion that soon the...

One hundred years ago, the United States ratified an amendment to the Constitution that changed the way America chose its senators. The amendment's supporters said that senators directly elected by the people would not only be more democratic, but also less corrupt and less susceptible to special interest influence. Instead of reducing corruption, however, changing the method of Senate selection provided entirely new avenues of political exploitation by fundamentally transforming our federal government. Most importantly, the amendment destroyed the federalist structure that the Founding Fathers installed to protect state sovereignty. Today, members of the Georgia House of Representatives seek to...

Newsmax Toddler TSA Incident: Girl in Wheelchair Cries During Search Friday, February 22, 2013 10:55 AM By: Michael Mullins VIDEO A wheelchair-bound 3-year-old girl on her way to Disney World became distraught when she was patted down by a Transportation Security Administration agent apparently looking for explosives. The Feb. 9 incident at the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport was partially captured on a cell phone video. It shows the toddler, Lucy Forck, of Osage Beach, Mo., crying, "I don’t want to go to Disney World," as a female TSA agent hovers behind her, instructing the girl's mother to put away her...

Comcast pulls gun shop ads from cable network Updated: Feb 18, 2013 4:23 PM CST By Kristen Abraham (02/18/13) - A gun shop owner said firearm manufacturers, distributors and retailers are being targeted unfairly after Comcast announces it's dropping all gun shop ads from its nationwide cable network. The cable company recently acquired NBC Universal and this is a long standing policy there. When a local ad agency recently placed an order for Williams Gun Sight in Davison Township, it was denied. Owner Tom Wright said he'll take his business elsewhere. "I thought it was ridiculous, we are a legitimate...

Krugman, Death Panels, And The Disabled February 16, 2013 By Anthony 'AC' Castellitto “We’re going to need more revenue…it will require some sort of middle class taxes as well…And we’re also going to…have to make decisions about health care, not pay for health care that has no demonstrated medical benefits…death panels and sales taxes is how we do this.” -Paul Krugman