Free Republic

Happy Anniversary! Today is the 100th Anniversary of the horrible 17th Amendment. In 1787-1788, Anti-Federalists warned that history’s lesson regarding republics would result in a despotic American government. Because republics rested on the will of the people, republics demanded among their communities a certain commonality of interests, traditions and morals. Absent commonality, society was certain to disintegrate into warring factions bent on besting and oppressing each other. Only an authoritarian government of force could keep the peace and control these hostile groups. Government could be one or a few men at the top lording over the many, or it could...

Oh Happy Day! Today is the hundredth anniversary of the 17th Amendment!Lets Make a Deal. When consumers purchase goods, they expect the products to last. Everyone expects some durability to their purchases. Legislation is also a product. Retail consumers of Congressional law can only catch a glimpse at the give and take of brief public hearings and meager open debate. What we do not see is more important. An incredible amount of personal and monetary capital goes into major legislation. Various interest groups invest tremendous sums in lobbyists, polling, media, etc to get their pet interests passed by Congress. Within...

Happy Anniversary! Today marks 100 years of the 17th Amendment.To Freepers, our statist government is a daily “fingernails across the chalkboard” experience. What will the likes of Senators Schumer and Durbin or Representatives Hoyer, Lee and Pelosi try to pull next? Why did our national government morph from one designed to protect our freedoms into one that promises increasing oppression? More to the point, why did the federal government generally remain within its Constitutional bounds prior to WWI and not thereafter? Thank the 17th Amendment. It fundamentally altered the Constitution; it pulled the keystone from the arch of our Framers’...

I should start by acknowledging that repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment is hardly a mainstream issue and certainly not anything likely to come about (which is an understatement). However, the fact that there are people out there seeking its repeal is sufficient to garner comment, especially since said persons were significant enough within factions of the Tea Party movement to actually get some Senate candidates to state that they were in support of the repeal. Further, every once in a while I will get a commenter who is favor a repeal, so it seems worth some discussion.The proximate cause of...

Original provisions of the Constitution intended to prevent Congress from enacting “dumb” laws were vitiated by ratification of the 17th Amendment. Before ratification of the 17th Amendment it’s unlikely that a Senate committee would have needed to raise the sort of question posed by Senator Coburn during confirmation hearings on Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court. A Wall Street Journal editorial reports: If Congress passed a law saying Americans were required to eat three fruits and three vegetables a day, Mr. Coburn asked, would that be legitimate under the Commerce Clause? It sounds like a “dumb law,” Ms. Kagan...

Originally, although a Senator was elected by a state legislature, he was expected to represent the people of that state (rather than the legislature alone) in the Senate (See Federalist No. 62 through No.66).[Need quotation on talk to verify] Also it was believed that while an unqualified candidate might win a popular-vote majority through demagoguery or superficial qualities, the legislature, which could deliberate on its choice, and whose members had been selected by their constituents and had experience in politics, would be safe from such folly. Finally, election by the legislature was expected to insulate Senators from the distraction of...

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the federal government announced that it would preempt all state jurisdiction over airport security. The federal government preempted state powers without regard to balancing federal and state responsibilities so that these responsibilities, and related costs, could be distributed across federal, state, and local governments. To carry out this preemption, the federal government recently reported that it will employ more than 47,000 federal recruits in the fight against terrorism as newly trained security screeners at 424 airports nationwide.

The 17th Amendment is stupid: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years…. But let me start at the beginning.  Article I § 3 cl. 1 of the Constitution originally established the election of Senators through the state legislatures.  The Federalist #62 laid out numerous arguments for the Constitutional framework of the Senate and its method of selection. The senatorial trust, which, requiring greater extent of information and stability of character, requires at the same time that the senator should have reached a period of...

It may be time for White House Press Secretary Jay Carney to make a career change—again. At least that’s what many in Washington are saying, according to Mediaite columnist Joe Concha. The former journalist seems to have lost his patience with the White House press corps, Concha wrote Wednesday, pointing to three incidents in the past few weeks where Carney has become combative with seasoned reporters during the daily briefings. …

Video at link

Republican senators will refuse to confirm Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as Secretary of State until the nation’s current top diplomat, Hillary Clinton, testifies about her handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack. “The Senate is expected to take up Kerry’s nomination in early January, but multiple Republican senators have already said they won’t agree to a vote on Kerry’s nomination until Clinton testifies about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi,” The Cable’s Josh Rogin notes. Clinton backed out of testifying at a congressional hearing last week after fainting and suffering a concussion. She was the first cabinet-level...

On now.

Light bulbs are a household item that Americans don't think about that frequently. So a lot of them were surprised to learn that the government had mandated a phase out of certain types of bulbs three years ago. The legislation set new light bulb efficiency standards that would effectively ban the production and sale of the traditional incandescent bulbs and essentially force consumers to make the switch over to compact fluorescent bulbs. MRCTV went to Capitol Hill and asked folks what they thought of the new bulbs and whether the government has any business telling Americans which one they should...

House democrats blocked the repeal of the light bulb ban. A majority of Americans oppose the government’s unpopular and unnecessary ban on incandescent bulbs and infringement on choice. On January 1 2012, 100 watt incandescent bulbs will become illegal, with lower wattages to follow. The democrats just voted to give jobs to China.

Immigration's Sideshow Lee Hockstader July 19, 2009 The Obama administration, moving gingerly toward what the president has said will be a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's broken immigration system, is trying to show at the outset that it is serious about enforcing existing laws. A glimpse of the president's strategy came earlier this month, when Department of Homeland Security officials said they would scrap a Bush administration initiative, tied up in the courts, that would have used Social Security information to force employers nationwide to fire millions of unauthorized workers. Instead, DHS said it would require federal contractors to use...

This letter to the editor appeared in the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News. The letter is self-explanatory. After you finish reading this there will be no need for any further commentary:Modified community needs civil rights protections Because of my body modifications, including tattoos and piercings, I consider myself to be a member of the modified community. Due to my modifications, I not only have to deal with the daily routine of turned up noses and annoying questions from those without any body modifications, but I have to fight even harder to get a job than someone without any visible modifications.So this...

Just got back from the Georgia National Fair. Ahhhh, the fair. The addicting aroma of deep fried oreos, bratwurst, Indian tacos, caramel apples, assorted meats on a stick, 5 pound baskets of cajun fries drowning in melted cheese, and turkey legs, all set amidst a background of electronic sounds permeating from the midway, people lugging around massive stuffed animals won from a carnie game, barns full of goats and horses ready to be judged, and the most important thing of all: the commercial vendors. Here, in the vast confines of numerous warehouses, hundreds of vendors set up shop, peddling anything...

OAKLAND — Oakland Police have no information on an alleged video-taped beating of a woman labeled a "snitch" being circulated over the internet by radio talk show host and Web maven Matt Drudge. The narrated video, taken by a cheering bystander in what police said appears to be a "sideshow" atmosphere, shows a young woman being pulled out of a car by a crowd of people. She is then punched, kicked and stomped while she is on the ground.

Two brothers were shot to death and a third man was wounded as they watched an illegal race on the isolated streets near the docks of the U.S Naval Supply Center in West Oakland early Sunday. Salvador Lascon, 27, and his 20-year-old brother, Fernando Lascon -- who were best friends and lived with their mother in San Leandro -- were pronounced dead on the 1400 block of Middle Harbor Road, south of the Bay Bridge toll plaza. "To lose a son like this is horrible," said the men's mother, Maria Lascon. "But to lose both at the same time is...

Cheney Blasts Kerry for Allawi Comments By MARGARET STAFFORD ASSOCIATED PRESS ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney chastised Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry on Thursday, saying his criticism of Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi showed an appalling "lack of respect." Allawi, who was in Washington on Thursday to address a joint meeting of Congress and meet with President Bush, gave a rosy portrayal of progress toward peace in his country. Shortly after he spoke, Kerry said the prime minister's assessment contradicted his own previous statements as well as the reality on the ground. Cheney said Kerry was...