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T CT Founders’ Focus Securing the Blessings of Liberty for Tomorrow
P.O. Box 25155 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80936 719.260.7776 Board of Directors Lana Fore-Warkocz, Publisher lana@theconstitutionalisttoday.com Julie Ayers, Editor-in-Chief julie@theconstitutionalisttoday.com William T. Gillin, Founding Editor bill@theconstitutionalisttoday.com Teddy M. Otero IV, Online Editor web@theconstitutionalisttoday.com Joan Eich, Board Secretary joan@theconstitutionalisttoday.com Editorial Advisory Board
Bob Adelmann Chuck Graybill Alfred C. Maurer SALES Lana Fore-Warkocz, Sales Manager ads@theconstitutionalisttoday.com
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Featured Writers: Bob Adelmann Matt Arnold Douglas Bruce Jeff Crank Chuck Graybill Mike Holler Michelle Morin Jim Pfaff Ellis Posey Dwan Rager
Writers/Columnists Brian Beck Jimmie Butler Jay Cadillac Rich Eleuterio Pat Francomano Kyle Getchey Leah Hotchkiss Sid Huston David L. Kelly Brad Kerstetter Cindy Lyons JM Peterson Jacek Popiel Helen Sabin Dave Skiver Courtney Stuard Staff Photographer Jimmie Butler
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Yes, We are Angry Julie Ayers, Editor-in-Chief
Like any publication we have faithful readers who love us and readers who have a love/hate relationship with us. Of course we can’t please everyone, so it’s not surprising that feedback about TCT runs the gamut from “too much fluff” to “too high brow,” “too much opinion” to “not enough investigative news.” We are, for the most part, an opinion journal that supports conservative ideology. We do not tout ourselves as being an investigative paper. Our goal is to educate and inform anyone who is eager to learn about their constitutional rights, our country’s founding principles and the liberty movement (please refer to “Our purpose” on this page.) The comments that really confound me are “you are too angry!” My first thought is, why are liberals reading our paper? Hey, I’m glad they want to educate them-
selves about their constitutional rights, God knows they need to, but obviously they are socialist-loving people who voted for the kind of hope and change we are trying to prevent. Seriously, how can you not be angry about what is happening to our country? Are you happy that our nation’s debt of nearly 14 trillion dollars will be inherited by our great grandchildren (and beyond)? Are you happy that our country’s unemployment has reached a staggering 9% leaving 500,000 jobless? Are you happy that our government continues to dole out stimulus packages—currently totaling $800 billion—like candy at a parade? If you’re not angry and you’re still smiling, then you’ve definitely been brainwashed by our leftist administration. But there is hope for you because you are reading TCT! The comment that makes more sense to me is “you’re not angry enough!” If you are not fuming about the fast track to-
Take a Stand!
Julie Ayers has worked in the journalism field for 13 years. As a former Army wife and great niece of five WWI vets, she is an avid supporter of our troops. She is the proud mother of two sons and strives to give them a better future.
About Our Content:
Lana Fore-Warkocz, Publisher
September 11, 2001… that day will remain in my heart forever. I had just dropped off my daughter at school and come home to start laundry, clean the house and prep the evening meal. After all, my husband was on another deployment and it was another typical day as an Army wife. As I watched The Today Show, my heart sank while questions poured from my mind: Was this really happening to us? Who is responsible? Where’s my husband? I have to go get my daughter! I called the school, but was told by the secretary not to come, that all of the children were fine. So I ended up glued to my television set and didn’t move at all. At 3:30 p.m. I picked my daughter up from school and told her, “something terrible happened.” At that moment, my 10-year-old looked up at me and said, “Mama, I couldn’t be in a safer place. We were in church all day and we prayed for America.” My daughter went to a private Christian school and that little sentence was the cutest and most sensible thing I’d
ward a socialist government the Obama administration has us on, you may as well kiss your country goodbye, tie it up with a pretty bow and hand it to them. You need to get angry, get involved and wake up from your complacency. I am not promoting that we form a violent, screaming, cursing mob. That kind of anger only gets negative results. We must remain calm and resolute on the surface while our anger courses through our veins motivating us to act, not react. Don’t let the leftist taunts of “you’re too angry” distract us from our mission to take America back and restore its founding principles!
heard all day! We went home, said lots of prayers, and lit candles and put them in the windows. My daughter got me through that day; her innocence and her love of country were unsurpassed…a 10-year-old taught me so much! Have we forgotten? It was only a mere nine years ago, but I believe that we have truly forgotten. I remember watching the Senate and Congress holding hands at the capitol steps and singing, God Bless America. We don’t see that anymore, do we? This year, take a stand. Join us at Freedom Congress on September 11, at 9 a.m. at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. For ticket information or to find out more on this fantastic event, please visit www.freedomcogress.org. Let’s unite and set the standard! A military wife of 21 years and the daughter of a WWII veteran, Lana ForeWarkocz is completely devoted to those who have served our country. She has been involved in the broadcasting and publishing industries for nearly 20 years.
The Constitutionalist Today provides a voice for freedom-loving Americans and urges them to action. Our aim is to educate citizens about our nation’s founding documents and to analyze current events based on their principles. At the present, we do not offer investigative, in-depth hard news reporting. While lovers of liberty share many common values, our opinions sometimes differ. This paper’s staff and writers possess a range of worldviews from religious to secular and from conservative to libertarian. A diverse group, our Founding Fathers also had their differences. However, those who established the greatest free nation on earth were united in their love of liberty and resistance to tyranny. Today, we are likewise united in our love for those founding ideals. That said, the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the staff of The Constitutionalist Today.
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Correspondence Getting the Word Out What an awesome publication! A coworker brought The Constitutionalist Today back with him from Colorado while on vacation. We are Tea Party Patriots here in Wichita Falls and continue to have our voices heard in north central Texas. Your paper helps me gain more knowledge. -Gary and Karen Barlow, Wichita Falls, TX Darn you, The Constitutionalist Today! I just discovered your “digital edition,” and couldn’t stop reading. Now I’m late for an appointment and it’s all your fault! Seriously, you have set the standard for what a paper should be. Congratulations on a job well done—I’ll be spreading the word so more people can enjoy and appreciate your quality work! -Katie, via theconstitutionalisttoday.com Ed.-So glad you enjoyed our August edition online, Katie! All of our back issues are available to read online, download, or print at www.issuu.com/tctoday. It’s sad when lies and distortions change the course of an election. Thanks so much for being a voice for truth! -Marie, via theconstitutionalisttoday.com I just moved here with my family, and I was thrilled to pick up this paper. I am extremely grateful to TCT’s endorsements. I want to see these candidates for myself, but chances are, I’ll vote for them in November (we missed the deadline for the primaries). -Todd Chaddon, via theconstitutionalisttoday.com
The Primary Electorate I was a poll judge at one of the polling venues on Aug. 10, and I must say that I was thoroughly impressed with the dedication of the citizens who came to vote. There was some frustration for voters who were used to voting at one place for years and going to that familiar place only to find that their particular precinct had been moved. This did not detour them and they did come to the right place. Some had been to two different places before ours and one had spent two hours looking before finding his precinct at our location. Examples of other electorates: a 90-year-old woman, a man who had fallen down stairs landing on his back the night before and in severe pain, a man with a cane who would be having two knee replacements three days later, moms with children, new voters who were eligible to vote for the first time. These were just some of whom I was aware, among all the others who came to cast their ballots. I have helped with other primaries, but this was the first time that so many undeclared voters declared a party affiliation to be able to vote. All this that I witnessed gave me hope that the citizenry does realize that having the freedom to vote is one our most precious freedoms. Maybe our representative democracy will prevail with concerned and dedicated people such as these. -Erna A. Haring, Colorado Springs, CO I think [the primary results are] a great showing for those of us who want real change, not empty promises and a spiral downward. Victory will come, but with a price. If our price is to put up with the tolerant, liberal left until November, so be it. It’s a small proce to pay for Freedom. The point is that the polls were active and our opinions do matter!
To the rest who didn’t get out there shame on you!!! If we don’t vote, eventually they’ll stop asking us to! Put up or shut up! -Dave in CO, via theconstitutionalisttoday.com Bad idea to endorse before the primary is over…The important issue you should address is how we will need to rally together behind either Maes or McInnis after the primary and not allow Tancredo to destroy Colorado’s election process. That would be most admirable. -Conservative4Colorado via theconstitutionalisttoday.com
Not Backing Down I am not a politician; I am just a man who is trying to do the right thing. I have taught my children, my grandchildren, and my Sunday school kids to stand up and fight for what is right and to not ever back down in the face of adversity or evil. During the last several months of our campaign, our signs were stolen and vandalized; our home was under surveillance; a police radio and weapon were stolen from my police vehicle while parked in front of my home (a sheriff’s report was initiated for this theft); my wife and daughter were followed as they left our home (eventually this became so aggressive and dangerous that a harassment report was initiated); my friends were covertly photographed while leaving our political events (luckily an observant friend confronted them as they drove away in a rental vehicle, I reported the incident to the District Attorney’s Office and I was eventually advised, after they completed their investigation, that we were not in any danger during this specific incident). I don’t know who committed these scare tactics and criminal acts, but I do know that we did not back down. If they were politically driven by some fanatical individual(s), we won the battle. If we were targeted because of my 35 years of law enforcement, we will not be intimidated by criminals and we will legally defend ourselves. I am very proud of my wife and daughter who, like me, when confronted with cowardly acts only become more committed to standing tall. Protecting and serving the community has been my life. Protecting and serving my family is my passion and I will continue to do both with vigor and honor. Thank You. -Chief Jake Shirk, Monument, CO
IB Curriculum The header “International Baccalaureate Who has Control and What does it Really Teach?” suggests that these questions will be answered in Helen Sabin’s article (August issue, p40). Alas, they are not. Instead, the article misleads your readers about the structure of IB. Citing one incident of controversial literature assigned to students in Port Richey, Florida, Sabin hints, with her questions, that IB is secretive about its curriculum and, further, that “Swiss Law governs and overrules US Laws.” As a retired IB teacher, I can assure you that these accusations are unfounded. Parents and students considering IB receive detailed information about the program. Having worked with hundreds of parents, I know that those choosing IB do so because they welcome the rigor applied to the study of history, science, mathematics, languages, literature, and the arts—and they believe in preparing their children to function effectively in our interconnected world. IB was founded in Geneva, but is not connected with Swiss law. Currently 139 countries participate in the program. IB parents want
this international education for their children. They want their children to understand other cultures. They—and I— reject the head-in-the-sand jingoism that is ultimately self-destructive to a nation. Thank you for considering my point of view. -Wylene Carol, IB Teacher (retired) Colorado Springs, CO I taught IB and AP chemistry and biology at several international schools. IB and AP should not be seen as the same, especially the IB Standard Level (SL) courses, which are very rudimentary in both chemistry and biology. The Higher Level (HL) courses are only slightly more difficult and only touch on college level topics. These topics are not at the same depth as those in the corresponding AP courses. The IB is getting far too much credit (undeserved) for being at the cutting edge in education. However, my biggest problem with IB is their internal assessment portion of the course. The process is contrived, very subjective and is in my opinion an enormous waste of time for both students and teachers. -Sal Pietromonaco, Eugene, OR
Stand Up For Life I invite all who are pro-life to stand up and be heard in the Tea Party, GOP or any other party with a clear voice that pro-life must be part of any successful campaign. How honorable is a person who abandons his/her principles for a vote or a candidate? We saw betrayal by democrats who said they were pro-life but caved to party leaders just to get the Healthcare bill passed. This was done with the hollow promise of an executive order to disallow abortion funding from the bill, which can quietly be rescinded. This administration is full of pro-abortion advocates who push for euthanasia, infanticide and even forced abortion. There are no pro-lifers in Obama’s staff. The federal government and most states have been in violation of the 14th Amendment…”nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty…” etc., by funding abortion. The feds have been quietly giving Planned Parenthood free cash (currently 1/3rd billion dollars/ year). Planned Parenthood uses a bookkeeping slight-of-hand to circumvent the Hyde Amendment. If we are deprived of the right to life what rights remain? Liberty, property, happiness, free speech/ assembly, religion, self-defense, due process, etc. all disappear if you are dead. As of 1/22/73, unborn people’s rights have been forfeited, and lives put in danger in what once was the safest place in the world. To all those who say, “I am pro-life, but…” I assure you that we can genuinely refute all arguments which are used to justify this horrible crime, and put your mind and conscience at ease. To get directly involved with the prolife movement, contact Colorado Right to Life at: 303.753.9394, or join sidewalk
Send Letters to the Editor to:
Editor, The Constitutionalist Today P.O. Box 25155 Colorado Springs, CO 80936 -ORletters@theconstitutionalisttoday.com Letters must be 250 words or less. Letters from readers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TCT. counselors each Saturday morning at 7:30 in front of Planned Parenthood at 38th Ave. and Pontiac Street. Or e-mail me at ssivigliano@gmail.com. -Stephen Sivigliano, Lakewood, CO
Remind You of Anyone? I picked up a copy of your publication in my doctor’s office. I was very impressed with articles in your paper. I only wish everyone would take the time to read the truths you have written. I have submitted several items to the local paper and needless to say very few were ever printed. I’m sure they were afraid it might offend someone. I feel the time has come where we need to worry less about offending and look at the truth. The enclosed article is yours to do with as you see fit: After World War I, Germany was in shambles with a wrecked economy and unemployment rate was in excess of 50%. The people were losing hope of ever recovering. From the ashes of despair came a man who had been a minor politician in his local area. He had one outstanding asset; he could make a great speech. He told the people he had the answers to all their problems. As Chancellor in 1933 he brought change to the people of Germany. He took control of the banks and nationalized all of industry. He quickly closed down any newspaper that opposed his ideas. He appointed people who answered only to him and not the people of Germany. He established an elite military force outside of the Army. He established government run health care. He surrounded himself with people who had been in trouble with the law; crooks and thugs. He set out to find someone to blame for all of Germany’s problems. As he didn’t have a Bush to blame it on, he decided it must have been the Jews. This man who brought change to Germany decided if the Jews were gone the problems would also be gone. We all know the rest of that story. So now I wonder if our present day politicians will view the Tea Party supporters the same way the Jews were viewed long ago. We need to figure out how today’s story is going to end. As for myself, I served 27 years in this nation’s military. Some of that was in war-zones, I have known fear. However, I never dreamed that my greatest fear in life would be my own government.
May God bless the work you are doing. -Jerry Proctor, Colorado Springs, CO
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We the People | Grassroots Perspective
Get Involved in a Local Liberty Group Now! Compiled by Joan Eich
Can I make a difference? How can I get involved? Which organization fits me best? These are the questions we hear most often from our readers, so we want to make sure it’s clearly answered online and in every issue. What follows is an alphabetical list of liberty-loving groups and organizations in our area. Also visit wwwlibertyevents.org for a calendar of upcoming events. Sign up, step up, speak up! 9-12 Pikes Peak Patriots www.freeandunited.com • donrodgers@hotmail.com • dwan.rager@yahoo.com An organization for like-minded Americans who believe in 9 principles and 12 values as they apply to our government and in our own lives. We provide members with the platform and resources to pursue any project or cause of their choosing: from education and discussion to community activities or action. The American Café theamericancafe.blogspot.com • homeinspections@pcisys.net • 719.573.2193 This group gathers each week for Constitutional studies, political action and prayer. Please contact us for information on how to get involved. American Majority www.americanmajority.org • facebook.com/AmericanMajority • 719.573.2193 Attending a rally is no longer enough; from organizational structure to advanced new media, our Activist Training prepares you to make substantial changes in your community. Americans for Prosperity, Colorado Chapter www.americansforprosperity.org • infoco@afphq.org • 719.494.0797 Americans for Prosperity, Teller County Chapter AFPTeller@gmail.com • 719.684.2180 An organization of grassroots leaders committed to educating, engaging and mobilizing citizens in the name of limited government and free markets on the local state and federal levels. Clear the Bench Colorado www.clearthebenchcolorado.org • info@clearthebenchcolorado.org A grassroots movement to hold Colorado’s Supreme Court justices accountable to the Colorado Constitution and to the people of Colorado. Coalition for a Conservative Majority www.ccm-cos.com • info@ccm-cos.com • 719.351.6075 We unapologetically espouse the nation-shaping values embodied in the Constitution and detailed by the philosophies of our Founding Fathers. Colorado Springs Republican Women amymit@quixnet.net • 719.260.0283 This group wants to educate and inform all Americans about the principles and values which make the Republican Party what it is. El Paso County Tea Party www.epcteaparty.com • amy.mitchell@epcteaparty.com A local movement of American Patriots from all walks of life dedicated to uphold and defend the United States and Colorado Constitutions. Our goal is to give voice to the people and hold government officials accountable for their oaths to uphold those constitutions. El Paso Republican Headquarters www.gopelpaso.com • info@gopelpaso.com • 719.578.0022 The party of the open door; the party of liberty; the party of equality of opportunity for all and favoritism for none; the more socially conservative and economically libertarian of the two major parties, generally supporting lower taxes, limited government and more economic freedom. Elbert County Tea Party/9-12 Group www.elbertteaparty.com • 303.601.7608 We work to restore constitutional government, control government spending, and to vet candidates to insure their goals and values match. Equal Justice Foundation ejfi.org • facebook.com/ejfi.org • ccorry@ejfi.org • 719.520.1089 We are a non-profit 501(c) 3) public charity supported entirely by members and contributions. Our areas of interest and activism are the courts, civil liberties, prohibition, and open, fair and honest elections. For What Is Right www.forwhatisright.org • dlewis@forwhatisright.org • dkelly@forwhatisright.org An online community whose purpose is to educate the American citizen in matters of civic and political knowledge. Our intention is to have a well informed electorate who will keep and preserve the rights guaranteed us by the U.S. Constitution and by our Creator. Get Out Of Our House (GOOOH) www.goooh.com • goooh.co.05@gmail.com • 719.321.5123 A bottom-up organization without a platform; NOT a political party. A system allowing you and your neighbors to choose a true citizen representative, an independent candidate to represent their district. Green Dragon Tavern http://RonPaul.meetup.com/310 • admin@GreenDragonTavern.com • 719.330.1358 Our Founding Fathers met at the Green Dragon Tavern in Boston, MA to plan the Boston Tea Party. We work to re-establish the Founders’ vision of political and economic principles inherent in nature’s right by fostering understanding and respect for the Declaration of Independence and state and Federal Constitutions. Guffey Tea Party guffeyteaparty@gmail.com • http://sites.google.com/site/guffeygroupteaparty We are a local movement of non-partisan American Patriots who uphold and defend the Constitution of The United States of America. Our core values include limited government, fiscal responsibility, and free market economy. Kickoff rally is scheduled for September 18, 2010 at the Bullmoose Restaurant in Guffey, CO from 1:30 to 4:00 for lunch, if desired, and an inspirational Constitutional message by Mike Holler, author of The Constitution Made Easy.
6 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010
Liberty on the Rocks, Colorado Springs Chapter www.libertyontherocks.org • david@libertyontherocks.org • 719.237.4598 A grassroots organization whose goal is to provide a social environment to unite libertyminded individuals with one another and with freedom-based organizations in their local communities. Tavern-style politics in the tradition of our Founding Fathers! Limited Government Forum www.limitedgovforum.org • sean@limitedgovforum.org • 719.576.9055 Works closely with UCCS Center for the Study of Government and the Individual and Cheyenne Mountain Civic Solutions to promote the ideas of individual responsibility and freedom. Local Liberty Online www.locallibertyonline.org • sean@LocalLibertyOnline.org • 719.576.9055 An online community that focuses on local issues to expand freedom, opportunity and prosperity close to home. Our goal is to educate rather than indoctrinate, while conducting ourselves in the spirit of civility and good humor. Pikes Peak Economics Club www.pikespeakeconomicsclub.com We promote economic and civic literacy. It is our contention that you cannot have a controlled economy and maintain a free society. Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition www.ppfc.org • info@ppfc.org • 719.596.3921 A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. —Amendment II, U.S. Constitution Pikes Peak Young Professional Republicans Eli.bremer@gmail.com • 719.213.3428 Network with other young professionals, ages 20-40, who share the same goals and aspirations. Please come and join us! Politics on the Rocks www.politicsontherocks.com • nina@pinnaclepros.com • 719.533.0571 We link like-minded professionals together in a monthly power networking mixer where they can network, socialize and hear directly from prominent politicians and successful business leaders on matters of social, economic and public importance. Royal Gorge Republican Women (Fremont County) www.RoyalGorgeRepublicanWomen.org The purpose of our organization is to increase the effectiveness of women in the cause of good government through political involvement, to encourage women to run for political office, promote an informed membership and electorate through political education and activity and to work together for the election of Republican candidates. Southern Colorado Tea Party www.socoteaparty.com Committed to restoring our state and our federal Constitutions to our Founders’ original intent. Diligent in our restoration and preservation of freedom. We hold our elected officials accountable to their oath of office. Sunrise Republican Women www.coloradosrw.com • lindarshannon@gmail.com • 719.598.1305 We promote an informed public through political education and activity, and increase the effectiveness of women for the causes of good government. All ages are welcome! Teller Tea Party www.tellerteaparty.com • tellerteaparty@gmail.com A local movement of non-partisan American patriots who uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. We are dedicated to protecting freedom for all, promoting truth, limiting taxes and government, and preserving our inalienable rights UCCS College Republicans • 719.251.7765 Vote Trackers (Fremont County) www.votetrackers.com • penknife101@yahoo.com A nationwide group, providing free 1-page charts for each of the 50 states, showing how that state’s U.S. senators and representatives voted on the Banker Bailout Bill, The Stimulus Bill, Cash for Clunkers, Cap and Trade, and the Health Care Bill. No fluff. Just facts. These charts can be printed out and taken into the voting booth, lest we forget. We Are Change Colorado Springs wearechangecoloradosprings.org • chris@wearechangecoloradosprings.org • 719.209.3118 A grassroots organization, neither left or right, dedicated to informing the public on matters of government corruption, malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance.
The Constitution Made Easy
Seven Deadly Myths, #7 of 7 Mike Holler, Featured Writer Doctor, my eyes! Tell me what is wrong. Was I unwise to keep them open for so long? -Jackson Browne Our seventh, and perhaps deadliest myth, is that it can’t happen here. Not in America, the land I love, the home of the free and the brave. Poverty and shortages, people living in fear, not free to travel or speak their minds. Money not worth the paper it is printed on, children with that sad gaunt look, parents who can no longer choose their own future, feeling despair for their babies. Surely this could not happen in America, the land of promise, the shining city on the hill. Please God, tell me no. It can happen here, it is happening here, and the desperate scene you just saw in your mind is coming upon us apace. Pieces of this surreal film have even been played out in America before, in the dark years seldom spoken of in polite company. And these were preludes to the perfect storm now brewing. The bootsteps of tyranny are now on the march in earnest, headed right for your town, your kitchen, and bedroom, and boardroom, and bank account and doctor’s office. In fact, the pattern we now see in America, of centralizing all power over the people into the hands of a few ruling elite, is all too familiar in world history; the design easily visible to the willing. Those of us who have studied history with our eyes open, sometimes long to close them and make the images go away. We did all that we could “to see the evil
and the good without hiding” and now wish a doctor could help us awaken from these dreams. The truth is so unpleasant that honest students recoil over it, but they carry on.
ress that made their own lives happy. Today the federal government controls over a third of the economy and borrows 43% of all it spends. But that is not the worst part. Of greater concern is how they spend the money. It is spent creating agencies that control our lives. Every morsel of bread we consume is regulated (and supposedly inspected) by an agent of the federal government. Every wire and pipe and toilet and light bulb in every residence in America must comply with an incomprehensible maze of government standards. Every child’s education is being coerced to meet national criteria. This list could go on for weeks. All of this stands in sharp contrast to the limited powers granted to the federal government by the states who formed it. Our founders feared centralized command of civilian lives and wrote the Constitution to prevent it. They were so concerned that they even required a solemn oath from every state and national official swearing that they would stay inside its boundaries. But human nature being what it is, enterprising despots have aspired to throw off these restraints, and generations of prosperous citizens did not know what it meant to be vigilant, or understand who or what the vigil was to be against. Thomas Jefferson said, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.”
In fact, the pattern we now see in America, of centralizing all power over the people into the hands of a few ruling elite, is all too familiar in world history… Patrick Henry said, “For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.” Our founders were great students of history and human nature. The honest inquiry into both is sadly missing in public education. Of our 55 top universities, not one requires a course in U.S. history. And it shows. American college graduates know almost nothing about our heritage, except that the best and brightest people all despise it. They are sheltered from the facts that show how American morality and the Judeo-Christian work ethic built a marvelous country. In less than 200 years we eclipsed the accomplishments of every other nation that ever existed by nearly every standard that could be measured. Over that same time, believers in biggovernment command and control have been busy concentrating power into the hands of central planners. They have begun to grab the levers of power in a way that would have prevented the very prog-
We are reaping the whirlwind. The Obama-Pelosi-Reid coup was made possible by decades of permitting, even wanting and expecting the federal government to solve every problem that we, or they, could identify. And that is not the worst part. Fixing things was seldom their intent. Power and control were always the primary objective. Overwhelming our system until it collapses is the next stage. Then the transition phase of anarchy and chaos will appear. The economy will collapse, food and other necessities will be in short supply. And that is not the worst part. Citizens who have been enervated by years of living under democratic socialism will look for a savior. History tells us that they will look to the very people who destroyed their former securities to provide new ones. They will sell their souls and surrender every right they once enjoyed if someone can just get the trains to run on time. Doctor, my eyes! Tell me what you see. I hear their cries. Just say if it’s too late for me. Mike Holler writes and speaks about freedom and the United States Constitution, is a frequent guest on talk radio, and travels with the Tea Party Express. Contact Mike or view his recent book at: TheConstitutionMadeEasy.com.
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Just ask Randall & Rego The Ongoing War on Terror
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TCT: The ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is this month. Do you worry about another terrorist attack on American soil? Do you think our government is doing enough to prevent one?
George W. Bush, and other conservative leaders view terrorism as a problem that needs to be dealt with. Liberal Democrats like Obama think it is a problem you live with so “we’ll do our best to protect the airports etc. and we’ll just try and live with it.”
Richard: I worry about it. But I think our intelligence community and our security forces have done such a great job since September 11, 2001. I don’t think we will understand for another 10 to 30 years just how many potential attacks they were able to thwart. But I don’t think you have a big press conference and betray how you gathered the information or stopped the event as we’ve seen from the Obama administration. There are a lot of people in this world who still hate us as much or more than when they did on September 11. We still have a sieve of a southern border. We still have a system that allows some of these people to come into the U.S. legally. I have no doubt that there are cells of people here, that are homegrown coming out of the prisons or growing up here in the United States who would commit that sort of terrorist attack in an instant if they could.
Richard: We’ll try to appease them. It would be like sitting with a mass murder who is psychotic and who hates and wants to kill you and your family. And you think, if only I could sit down and talk, I could somehow make him understand that it is really a bad idea.
Jarred: I am worried about another attack, absolutely. You hear liberals and Democrats over the last nine years try to take away that worry through statistics. They’ll say, “Statistically your odds of dying in a terrorist attack are similar to being struck by a bolt of lightning.” But it’s not about our personal safety here in Colorado, it’s about the psychological damage that’s done to the country, people don’t really know how to process it. Our country can only handle so many psychological traumas like that.
Richard: What’s wrong in calling it a ‘war on terrorism?’ That is exactly what it is and it’s going to be with us for a very long time. George Bush understood that. It’s a war against terrorism from fundamentalist Muslims who hate us and they’re not going away. They are trying to spread their word and they are in a lot of countries, including the United States. TCT: What positive effects do you think 9-11 has had on our country? Jarred: It’s a threat that people are not ignoring anymore. I’m talking about regular citizens, not someone writing for the New York Times. It has given the country absolute respect for the military that it
What’s wrong in calling it a “war on terrorism?” That is exactly what it is and it’s going to be with us for a very long time.
Richard: I would rather we combat the terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia or Kenya than in Omaha, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, or Colorado Springs. People rarely talk about the fiscal impact. It was absolutely devastating and was part of the goal of Al Queda. The problem from the Obama Administration is they try to avoid all that by extending the olive branch. They send a Muslim cleric from the state department (who wants to build a mosque at Ground Zero) as an ambassador to the Muslim nations. You know what? These little kids who grow up learning lifelong hatred from Madrases,’ hatred of the great Satan, the United States. They’re not going to be persuaded. I mean how naive are we to believe that? Jarred: John Kerry talked over six years or so ago about how terrorism needs to be viewed as a law enforcement matter. Conservatives and Republicans like
8 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010
Jarred: And when that doesn’t work you say, “Well people are going to be killing people anyway. So I’ll just lock my door at night and try to make sure he doesn’t kill me?”
hasn’t had since World War II. There are dangerous external threats to this country and our way of life. Liberals don’t really believe that. Richard: If you talked with Pearl Harbor veterans they would say that it was a wake-up call. My concern is that it wasn’t very long until politicians began to come in and spin it. It was the Democrats that did that…bashing Bush. I have no respect for them having done that. Plus they say it’s our fault. I don’t buy into that mentality and it is NOT our fault! I don’t think Democrats have really gotten the wakeup call or else they wouldn’t be ashamed to call it a “war on terrorism.” The Richard Randall Show airs weekdays in Colorado Springs from 8:30am to 10am and on Saturdays from 6am to 8am on KVOR radio, 740 AM. The Jarred Rego Show airs weeknights from 10pm to 11pm on KVOR radio, 740 AM.
The Colorado GOP Primary A Liberty Perspective
Alfred C. Maurer, Assistant Editor August 10 made for some interesting TV, watching the talking heads who had never covered any of the GOP primary events, debates, etcetera. holding mics and trying to sound as if they knew what they were talking about. August 10 also came none too soon; things were getting pretty crazy in the political arena. I spent the last two years immersed in these kinds of events, from meet-andgreets, to fundraisers, to activist training, to Tea Party protests. As a result, I think I have a perspective that might be worth sharing.
The governor’s race was different but followed similar lines. I liked Josh Penry early on and he made some headway with liberty activists, but in December Scott McInnis convinced both Penry and Tom Tancredo not to run. That narrowed the field to McInnis and, businessman turned upstart politician, Dan Maes. I liked Maes and so did the grassroots. That was apparent at the state assembly where he pulled off a narrow upset over McInnis. The twist in the governor’s race was that after the McInnis plagiarism scandal broke, Tancredo decided he wanted to run after all. He first demanded that both Maes and McInnis drop out in favor of him; when that didn’t happen, he switched to the American Constitution Party and will make the general election a three-way race, likely ending in a Democrat victory. There were other races worth watching as well. In Senate District 6, Republican House Representative Ellen Roberts beat Tea Party-supported Dean Boehler with the unasked-for help of a shadowy Democrat PAC—help she will no longer have in the general election against her Democrat opponent. In Congressional District 7 Ryan Frazier beat Lang Sias. Frazier seemed to me to have more grassroots support, but both ran good campaigns. In CD3, political newcomer Bob McConnell lost to Scott Tipton, mirroring the result of the assembly. The important thing to remember is that, with the possible exception of Boehler, not one of these candidates were recruited by Tea Parties to run for office, nor did any of them refer to themselves as “Tea Party candidates.” The liberty groups on their own decided to support them. Why? Because they felt that these candidates best fit their views. What does it take to win in 2010? Veterans will tell you it takes name recognition and money—the money to advertise your name and something of your message. Consider this: McInnis raised $2.1 million and spent $1.8 million. Maes raised $190,000 and spent $173,000. That’s 9% of what McInnis spent and less than half of what Walker Stapleton spent on the treasurer race. It seems to me that to win in 2010 you still do need money but, more importantly, you need conservative ideals and you need to be able to sell that to the grassroots. That bodes very well for the liberty movement and for the future of the Republic. The GOP is coalescing around their candidates and will add muchneeded experience to the mix. Just as in the French Revolution it took the disciplined experience of the old regular army combined with the enthusiasm of the National Guards to defend the new Republic—neither could have done it alone—it will also take experience of long-time Republicans combined with the passion of newly-minted liberty activists to win in November. En avant, mes amis!
The Tea Parties, however, are a more independent and varied group. The mass media miss this entirely and may never get it right. While the top-down directed Democrats have sought to avoid primary contests, the grassroots-oriented GOP has welcomed all comers. In free-market capitalistic style, anyone willing to figuratively throw their hat in the ring and literally undergo the rigors of campaigning was welcome to do so. The party, following its bylaws, remained neutral. The Tea Parties, however, are a more independent and varied group. The mass media miss this entirely and may never get it right. I’ve come to call it the liberty movement instead of the Tea Party movement because Tea Party groups are only a part of it. In Colorado there are well over 100 groups with tens of thousands of active members. The liberty groups, as a rule, remained neutral, but individual members worked hard for their preferred candidates. Groups invited candidates to speak and debate in front of them but let individual members decide who to support and how. The big thing going on was the support that many—though clearly not all— groups gave to the GOP itself. At caucus trainings, at the caucuses themselves, and at the assemblies, a majority of people were getting involved for the first time and most of those were liberty-oriented activists. I heard much sentiment along the lines of: The GOP has gotten badly off-track; we don’t fully trust the GOP; we’ll give the GOP one more chance. I think that taking that chance has paid off so far. Ken Buck emerged as a Tea Party favorite at the state assembly. This was a result of the vetting process and of Buck’s courting of the grassroots movement. Buck didn’t come out of nowhere; he’s been the Weld County District Attorney and a long-time Republican. He knocked the other senate hopefuls out of the race, except Jane Norton who chose to bypass the assembly and petition on to the ballot. Norton chose a more traditional route by gaining endorsement early on from the RNC and John McCain, for whom she was state chairman in 2008. This was not the year to go the traditional route. There was a great deal of resentment against Norton from within the grassroots because of what was seen as the national party telling Colorado what to do. The same applied to Michael Bennet on the Democratic Party side. But while there is a strong conservative grassroots movement that ultimately propelled Buck to win, there was not nearly so strong a movement on the Democratic side and Bennet’s challenger Andrew Romanov lost.
Al Maurer is a former military officer and political science professor called once again to serve the cause of liberty.
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I Need a Reason to Vote! Michelle Morin, Featured Writer The primaries are behind us, and Colorado Republicans have chosen our 2010 candidates. Both before and since the primaries, I’ve been confronted by some passionate and principled voters. They tell me they might not vote in November since their favorite candidate didn’t get elected. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve heard: “I need a reason to support THAT Republican besides the fact that he is a conservative.” “I’m not supporting THAT Republican, I would rather let it all fall and work harder to find the very best candidate for the next election cycle.” “Those who voted for THAT Republican are an uninformed electorate. He is unelectable.”
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If you are one of those who share these sentiments and are tempted to leave your ballots blank in November, I urge you to read on and reconsider.
We’ve Only Just Begun—and We’re Late to the Game
cal election year? Is it possible you are walking right into the liberal playbook and giving them easy victory?
Someone has Freedom’s Best Interests in Mind— But it’s Not the Left As free citizens in a democraticallyelected republic, it is our duty to keep our elected officials accountable. That accountability starts their first day in office and doesn’t end until their last. Recent history has demonstrated that Democrats will continue to cram their anti-capitalist, anti-God, anti-freedom agenda into our lives and destroy our individual freedoms. They will do it with little to no regard for their constituents’ protests and threats to unseat them next election. While the Republicans we chose may not align perfectly with your expectations, putting them in office to regain a conservative majority provides at least two significant benefits. First, we will have valuable time to find and recruit candidates for 2012, 2014, and beyond. More importantly, freedom will have a
This liberty movement is key to freedom’s survival in the United States…I predict it will steadily develop as the noose that chokes freedom continues to tighten around us
Step away from 2010 with me, and let’s take a big picture look. The progressives have been chipping away at American freedoms for about 100 years. This current liberty movement we’re experiencing has really only been engaged and mobilized since the 2008 “Triple Crown” of Democrat victories. That’s not a long time compared to the progressive involvement. This liberty movement is key to freedom’s survival in the United States. I don’t foresee the movement stalling. Instead, I predict it will steadily develop as the noose that chokes freedom continues to tighten around us. If you’re unhappy with the primary results, ask yourself: In one election cycle, is it reasonable to expect a movement that is less than two years old to undo 100 years’ worth of damage?
The Opposition Will Love You If you haven’t yet read The Blueprint by Adam Schrager and Rob Witwer, I urge you to pick up a copy and read it now. You will learn how since 2004 the left has developed a well-oiled machine that has turned Colorado and many other states from Republican to Democrat majorities. They know what they are doing, they seem to be doing it legally, and each election cycle they are getting better at winning. Their goal is to build Democrat majorities at all levels of government. That means they aim to remove as many key Republicans as they can. Their simple yet successful tactics primarily involve turning voters against conservative candidates. They target well, they move quickly, and they’re effective. So, I ask: What exactly are you helping if you choose not to support and not to elect the Republican candidate this criti-
fighting chance, since almost any Republican in office now will serve freedom’s interests better than a Democrat. It’s simple. If we choose to let Democrats win, freedom’s crash is inevitable as they will continue to inflict more irreversible damage. Those wiser than me have already warned us. John Adams said, “Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” Ronald Reagan said, “Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.” I know of no nation in history that has recovered freedom once lost. Do you?
It’s Up to You 2010 could prove to be the most critical election in our state’s and nation’s histories. Some have said this is a “do or die” year for freedom. The progressives have made huge strides and damaging strikes against freedom. If Democrats are allowed to retain a majority this cycle, we all have reason to dread what’s coming: be prepared to be ignored and watch your freedoms disappear right in front of your eyes. If you’re still tempted to leave your ballots blank and let Democrats win, my final questions are: How far will they go? Are you willing to risk losing more freedom and find out? Can we get those freedoms back? Freedom’s fate: That’s a reason to vote. It’s up to you. Michelle Morin is Mom4Freedom, a blogger, and External Communications for Coalition for a Conservative Majority. Sign up for updates at www.Mom4Freedom.com.
The 9/12 Project: Living Out Our Memory of 9/11/01 Dwan Rager, Featured Writer September 11, 2001, is a day filled with memories that will be engraved in the minds of many for the rest of our lives. By September 12, the mood of the country was beginning to change. While still shocked beyond belief, rising up within the hearts of Americans everywhere was a sense of righteous anger mixed with patriotism not seen in our country in many, many years. United as one, people from all political persuasions and religious backgrounds, joined together in defense
to return to being a people of honor, integrity and courage; people who are willing to put the common good above their own needs and to live out the values of humility, hard work and personal responsibility in our daily lives. We desire to see the principles of our Founding Fathers—smaller government, fewer taxes, more accountability and leaders who lead not rule over us—once again become part of the fabric of Washington as well as our state and local governments. For many 9/12er’s, a belief in Divine Providence and His unmistakable hand in the establishing of our nation is an integral principle upon which all other actions and beliefs are based and along with that an acknowledgement that America is just as dependent upon Him today as we were back then. A tyrannical government may not have the power to destroy our freedom as quickly as another terrorist attack, but it can do far more long-term damage to the heart and soul of freedom loving people than any terrorist attack. A tyrannical government, especially as it develops in a country used to incredible freedom, has more of a frog in a pot of boiling water effect. Drop the frog in a pot of boiling water (terrorist attack) and he jumps out to save his life. If you put a frog in a pot of cool water and turn up the heat gradually, he will die before he realizes what has happened to him. The 9/12er’s and other like-minded people who love this country and cherish our freedom recognize the danger we are in. We are not about to let the scalding water coming at us by way of our government kill us. We have a voice and we are using it. We still have the right to protest what we see happening in D.C. and within our own states and we’re speaking out against it. We are holding our leaders accountable and if they won’t listen we are working to get them voted out and replace them with people who understand what it means to work within the context of a government that is “of the people, by the people and for the people.” Come join us. You, too, have a voice and it deserves to be heard. For the sake of yourselves, your children, your grandchildren, your parents and your friends who may not yet understand that the water is getting hot. Do more than never forgetting September 11, 2001—ACTIVELY REMEMBER!
Never forgetting what happened on 9/11 is one thing; actively remembering is quite another. of our country and what she stands for – “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” What we could not do for ourselves, our enemy managed to do for us—remind us that we were a nation of E pluribus unum, “out of many, one.” In those moments and hours following the attack we cast aside our differences for the sake of the common good and the welfare of this country, to promote and defend our freedom and liberty, more precious and dear than ever before. We made promises that we would never forget that horrible day nor those who died, or the horror of the attacks and the meaning behind them. We would never surrender our liberty or our freedoms! It has been nine years since that horrific day and in spite of the sincerity of the promises made, some have forgotten. With no other terrorist attacks on our soil, (at least according to our government) the threats in the minds of many seemed to have dissipated. Yet, there is no doubt that the threat to our freedom and cherished liberties is greater than ever. The greatest threat to our liberty and freedom in the not too distant future is more likely to come from within our country than from without. It will come at the hands of those, who though elected by the people to serve them, will choose power and control over humility and servitude. Never forgetting what happened on 9/11 is one thing; actively remembering is quite another. Those in the 9/12 Project both in Colorado and around the country have chosen to actively remember who we were on September 12, 2001 and are resolute about who we want to be on September 12, 2010 and beyond. We long to see a resurgence of values and principles, upon which America was founded, that lead to its incomparable greatness creating a beacon of hope and freedom that once shone brightly for the rest of the world to see. Our goal and what we work so passionately to accomplish, is for America
Dwan Rager is an RN but is currently working to promote the values and principles so important to her and others in the 9/12 Project. She is a local leader with the 9/12 Pikes Peak Patriots in Colorado Springs and is excited about the impact they and so many others are having on the local, state and national level.
As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure anything which we may bequeath to posterity. And by a plain method of argument, as we are running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, we should take our children in our hand, and fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will present a prospect, which a few fears and prejudices conceal from our sight. —Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
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Tancredo Out of the Race—No Joke, Fluckiger Kyle Getchey, Contributing Writer Much to the chagrin of the Colorado Tea Party movement, Tom Tancredo has officially entered the governor’s race as the American Constitution Party’s candidate. Despite the outcry of liberty groups from across the state, often times boiling over into direct, heated, no-nonsense exchanges with the former congressman at his public appearances, Tancredo has remained adamant about staying in the race even if it means the election of Democrat John Hickenlooper. There is only one problem with Tancredo’s position though: Colorado state law. Colorado Revised Statute 1-4-1304 declares that “Nominations by a minor political party, to be valid, shall be made in accordance with the party’s constitution or bylaws.” The law then proceeds to outline certain conditions that must be met in order for a nomination to be valid. One of these conditions is that the nominee must have been registered as affiliated with the minor political party (i.e. the ACP) no later than the first business day of the January immediately preceding the general election. In other words, gubernatorial nominee Tom Tancredo should have been registered as a member of the ACP on January 1. 2010. Another condition under the law, similar to the previous condition, states that in order for a nomination to be valid, the candidate must not have been registered as a member of a major political party (i.e. the Republican Party) at any time after the first business day of the January immediately preceding the general elec-
tion for which the person was nominated. Thus, gubernatorial nominee Tom Tancredo could not have been registered as a member of the Republican Party at any time after January 1, 2010. There may be a problem here given that Tom Tancredo recently admitted to having conversations with GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams prior to the state assembly about how he might exploit his supporters by becoming a write-in candidate for the Republican Party in order to keep Dan Maes off the ballot. (e.g. The Peter Boyles Show, 7/26, www.khow.com). There is one catch however, and that is the limiting language of C.R.S. 1-4-1304 itself. Contained within the aforementioned conditions of C.R.S. 1-4-1304 is limiting language that provides that the law itself is limited by the bylaws of the minor political party. That is, at the end of each condition there is language that states, “Unless otherwise provided in the constitution or bylaws of the minor political party.” Fortunately for Dan Maes and the Republican Party however, the American Constitution Party’s bylaws incorporate all of the provisions of C.R.S. 1-4-1304. Under Article 4 of the Bylaws of the American Constitution Party of Colorado, a document approved by unanimous consent at a meeting called for that purpose on January 31, 2010, it states that “All applicable provisions of the Colorado Elec-
tion Laws shall be a part of these bylaws to the extent they apply to the external requirements and deadlines of the election process.” For the non-lawyers out there, this means that there are no exceptions in the ACP’s bylaws to the rule on party affiliation deadlines that are found in C.R.S. 1-4-1304, since the party declared in its bylaws that they will be bound by all applicable provisions of the Colorado Election Laws that apply to deadlines of the election process. Again, C.R.S. 1-4-1304 states that “Nominations by a minor political party, to be valid, shall be made in accordance with the party’s constitution or bylaws.” Since the ACP’s bylaws are bound by all applicable provisions of the Colorado Election Laws that apply to deadlines of the election process, then the conditions of C.R.S. 1-4-1304 apply to nominees of the ACP even despite the limiting language of the Colorado Revised Statute. Thus, Tancredo should have been registered as affiliated with the ACP back on January 1, 2010, and could not have been registered as affiliated with the Republican Party at any time after January 1, 2010. There can be no question that the ACP was not only aware of C.R.S. 1-4-1304 when the party crafted its bylaws, but also that the ACP expected to be bound by the statute’s conditions for nominations. We know this because under Article 10 of the party’s bylaws it states, “Nomina-
tions and voting at the state nominating convention shall proceed…in compliance with 1-4-1304, C.R.S.” Voila! There is one final piece to this puzzle however. One argument that might be raised by a cunning lawyer and supporter of the ACP’s nominee could be that the bylaws contain a waiver to being bound by C.R.S. 1-4-1304. This would be an extremely trying argument to make however, and it may not pass the laugh test in a courtroom outside of Colorado’s Supreme Court. Under Article 11 of the ACP’s bylaws, requirements on registered affiliation with the ACP and good standing as a dues-paying member “may be waived on an individual, case-by-case basis by a 2/3 vote of the whole membership of the Executive Committee.” Two things about this waiver need to be said though: • One, the waiver provision almost certainly applies only to nominations at the state nominating convention. This is because the waiver immediately follows the eligibility of candidates at the state nominating convention, and by the very language of the waiver it corresponds directly to the immediately preceding paragraph (i.e. “the above requirements may be waived….”). • Two, the waiver continues on to say, of all things, “Unless required by state statute.” That is, the requirement on registered affiliation “may be waived on an individual case-by-case basis by a 2/3 vote of the whole membership of the JOKE on next page
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Prop 101 Lowers Car, Income, Phone Taxes Natalie Menten, Guest Writer Tired of the government calling taxes “fees” so you can’t vote on them? Car registration fees tripling? Phone bills so cluttered with fees that phone companies now levy a new fee to collect those government fees? In short, have you had enough of fees? If so, Proposition 101 is for you. In half a page, it solves those problems and more.
0.1% rate savings; that is no loss. In 15-20 years, the state-estimated phase-in period, it will gain billions more in yearly income taxes. This relief benefits everyone equally. We have the second highest minimum income tax rate of all adjacent states, which is bad for jobs. Let’s lower it very gradually to 3.5%, but only if future revenue growth allows it.
Vehicle Taxes
Phone Taxes
Cars are now triple-taxed—sales tax to buy it, yearly ownership tax to own it, and newly-tripled yearly registration and other fees (taxes) to drive it. These fees can total 12% on a new car. That’s crazy! Currently, you might pay $85 or more in registration/license/title fees. Proposition 101 makes it a $10 yearly fee. That seems fair since the state pays county clerks only $4 for the simple computer act of registration, do-able online. E-470’s $10 fee, which creates no registration data, will also end. Five million cars at $10 apiece means $50 million to make entries which usually show no status change. It’s enough! Government now skims off the excess for pet projects. Proposition 101 lowers vehicle ownership and sales taxes gradually over four years. That money is not earmarked for roads, nor will it affect school funds; state law already requires 100% state replacement of all school district tax savings.
All state and local government charges except 911 will end under Proposition 101. You currently pay 30% or more in phone taxes; taxes that were never voterapproved. Millions are wasted in phone subsidy (welfare) fraud. This telecommunications tax ban covers all forms— phone, fax, cell, pager, cable, satellite, Internet, etc. Let’s simplify and reduce complex phone and cable bills now. Cars and phones are basic needs, and taxing them heavily hurts fixed-income citizens. This targeted tax relief means the most to those who have the least. Even the liberal Denver Post admitted in an editorial on July 12 that we already have, “a government we can’t afford.” We agree. Proposition 101 helps solve this problem statewide. Proposition 101 stops politicians from imposing more car and phone fees. It defines such charges as taxes, so they must legally ask us for a car or phone tax increase. Opposition is funded by 80 special interest corporations (26 outside the state or country). Only 0.1% of funds come from individuals. The opposition claims tax relief hurts the economy. What nonsense! Read “Opposition Funding” and
Income Taxes Under Proposition 101, our 4.63% income tax rate is rounded to 4.5%, then lowered 0.1% in later years, but only if income tax revenue grows over 6% that later year. The state gets over 6% more before we get a
“Fibs by Foes” at COtaxreforms.com. See where their millions for their false, scary ads come from, and why. The gradual tax relief introduced under Proposition 101 will create jobs and boost the economy. After-tax business profits will rise, spurring hiring and expansion. Customers will have more money to spend and invest. Our foes assert businesses want high taxes, which is nonsense! Then they claim 21,000, then 8,000, and other round numbers of teachers will lose jobs. More nonsense. With no loss in school funds (full state aid guaranteed) and with more money for you to spend, the true result is more jobs for Colorado. State spending charts shows it was $3.4 billion in 1984, and $19.6 billion this year. It has never declined. That burden costs almost $16,000, directly and indirectly, for an average family of four. The state can thus afford 0.5% to increase yearly aid to our schools. Proposition 101 will save an average household $500 tax-free in the first year alone, even without buying a car. See the Sample Savings sheet at the site. Tax relief is the best way to end the recession; it will ignite the state economy, creating more jobs. Let’s simplify tax law, reduce tax forms, and urge government to curb wasteful spending and set budget priorities. The flat $10 car registration fee alone is reason enough for you to vote “yes” on Proposition 101. For more information, on Proposition 101, visit www.COtaxreforms.com. Natalie Menten is a small business owner in Lakewood. Contact her at 303.914.1000 or info@COtaxreforms.com.
JOKE continued from previous page Executive Committee, unless required by state statute.” Imagine that. Thus, there can be no question that the ACP sought to be subject to Colorado state law, even in the case where the law itself deferred to a minor party’s bylaws. So, who will reign in this invalid candidacy? Under Article 8, “the chairman shall enforce the observation of the bylaws and rules of the ACP.” But obviously this isn’t happening. So, if the ACP’s Western States Area Chairman Frank Fluckiger (no joke) will not enforce the principled party’s bylaws, then maybe some nice Republican should mount a legal challenge. Perhaps this distinguished member of the GOP could pursue action against the ACP, Tancredo, and Fluckiger, all three. That could make for good sport. Joking aside, this may be just the ticket to leveling the playing field this general election. So long as the Colorado Supreme Court doesn’t get its hands on it. Because we all know, the high court is not in bed with any political party, and thus it would have absolutely no incentive to craft an opinion that would help Democrat candidate John Hickenlooper, by keeping Tom Tancredo in the race (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). In the end, we may have to chalk it up to more “Tom” foolery. Kyle Getchey is a third year law student at Regent University, in Virginia Beach, VA. Contact the writer: kyle@theconstitutionalisttoday.com
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Appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet has never won a general election. Despite this fact, he could decide the direction of America—even if it is contrary to the will of the voters in November. Michael Bennet should commit today that if he loses to Ken Buck in November he will immediately resign and allow the duly elected Buck to be sworn in as Colorado’s Senator. Bennet is now the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate but he is the nominee because of an appointment by Governor Bill Ritter and if he loses in November, he will have been rejected by the people of Colorado. In 1924, Colorado held a dual election for this very U.S. Senate seat in this same situation—one for the unserved time of the unexpired term and another election for the new term. Illinois is doing just that this year for the unexpired Senate term of Barack Obama. Colorado has decided not to hold such a dual election but there is an easy solution to this problem—Bennet should promise to resign if he loses. This would allow the voters of Colorado to be represented by their choice in the U.S. Senate. Consider the earth-shaking consequences of potential lame duck session legislation: job-killing cap and trade, the recommendations of the president’s debt commission which likely will include gigantic tax hikes and massive changes to entitlement programs. Still hanging out there are card check and a union pension bailout. In fact, the purpose of such a lame duck session would be to make the major changes that couldn’t be accomplished before the election but without the political consequences our founding fathers intended. Some have described a potential lame duck session as Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi lighting a match and throwing it over their shoulder as they walk out the door. The American people deserve better. So many elected officials treat voters with disdain. Many act as though they are entitled to the office they hold and the arrogance with which they passed a government takeover of healthcare and the failed economic stimulus bill has shown a complete disconnect between America and her elected officials. Nothing would illustrate that disconnect more than the arrogance of a lame duck session where
inan unelected Senator casts votes while a duly elected successor waits to be seated. Michael Bennet has the chance to rise above partisan politics and show that, at least in this instance, he put the people of Colorado ahead of the agenda of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. There is ample precedent for such a
Nothing would illustrate the disconnect between America and her elected officials more than the arrogance of a lame duck session wherein an unelected Senator casts votes while a duly elected successor waits to be seated. move. If Bennet loses, he will be in a situation—an appointed senator defeated in his first election bid for a full six-year term—last seen in 1988. That year in Nebraska, David Karnes (R) lost to Bob Kerrey (D). Karnes resigned on election day. It happened twice in 1978, in Minnesota where Wendy Anderson (DFL) lost to Rudy Boschwitz (R) and in Montana where Paul Hatfield (D) lost his primary to Max Baucus (D). Both appointed senators resigned in December. Has the debate become so shrill, so partisan that a U.S. Senator would put the will of his political bosses ahead of the will of voters? Do those who are supposed to serve us ever look back to our founders and ask what they might do in such a situation? So far, Michael Bennet has chosen to side with party leaders instead of the people of Colorado. Bennet’s decision about whether or not to promise to resign immediately if he loses will show whether he has more respect for the people of Colorado or for Harry Reid. With such weighty and important issues to be brought up during a lame duck session, the citizens of Colorado deserve to be represented by someone they elected—whether that is Michael Bennet or Ken Buck. There really is no good reason for an unelected senator to continue serving while the people of Colorado have elected someone else to serve them. If Bennet refuses to pledge he will resign immediately if he loses in November it will demonstrate that he has no regard for the people of Colorado. Jeff Crank is the Colorado Director of Americans for Prosperity and is the host of The Jeff Crank Show on KVOR 740 AM.
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Selecting Colorado Supreme Court Justices Who Decides? Matt Arnold, Featured Writer One of the most frequent questions posed by Colorado citizens when they become aware of their constitutional right to vote “no” on the three justices of the Colorado Supreme Court who must face the voters this November is: “What next?” What happens after we vote them out, or if they quit? Since “We The People” do not vote for their replacements, who gets to decide? Misconceptions, misinformation, and misunderstanding about the process for selecting the judicial branch officeholders in Colorado is, unfortunately, all too common. It is largely a result of the lack of attention paid to the issue by the mass media, which frequently prefer to focus on the horse race aspects of political competition rather than inform and educate the public. This article is an attempt to inform the electorate on this important issue. First, unlike the process for selecting U.S. Supreme Court justices, there is no role under Colorado’s merit selection process for the legislative branch to provide a check or balance to executive power via “advice and consent,” confirmation hearings or the like. The Colorado General Assembly does not weigh in on the process in any formal or legal way (although individual legislators may make their thoughts known to the governor, who has the final say). Instead, the front-end check is provided by the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, which reviews applicants for vacancies, as described in this entry in the Judgepedia website: The Supreme Court Nominating Commission recommends candidates to serve as judges for the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. The chief justice of the Supreme Court chairs the commission
and is a non-voting member. This commission includes one citizen admitted to practice law in Colorado and one citizen not admitted to practice law residing in each of the state’s seven congressional districts, and one additional citizen not admitted to practice law in Colorado.
Vacancies. (1) A vacancy in any judicial office in any court of record shall be filled by appointment of the governor, from a list of three nominees for the supreme court…such list to be certified to him by the supreme court nominating commission for a vacancy in the supreme court
Commission members serve six-year terms. Non-lawyers, who are the majority of every nominating commission, are appointed by the governor. Lawyer members are appointed by joint action of the governor, attorney general, and chief justice.
Article VI, Section 25 of the Colorado Constitution defines the process by which vacancies are created via the judicial retention election process:
Not noted in the Judgepedia article, but specified under the constitutional language (Article VI, Section 24, Judicial nominating commissions) is a requirement for some partisan balance on the commission: No more than one half of the commission members plus one, exclusive of the chief justice, shall be members of the same political party.
Although not widely known, the members of the commission are a matter of public record (as appointed officials). Law Week Colorado recently published an informative summary (including brief bios) of the current members of the state Supreme Court Nominating Commission (“Meet The People Who Will Help Choose Mullarkey’s Successor”), who can now look forward to several busy weeks reviewing applicants for the state’s highest court. The commission reviews applications (in theory, based on qualifications and merit) and submits a list of three names from which the governor can select to fill a vacancy. Under the Colorado Constitution, Article VI (Judiciary), Section 20:
Section 25. Election of justices and judges. A justice of the supreme court or a judge of any other court of record, who shall desire to retain his judicial office for another term after the expiration of his then term of office shall file with the secretary of state, not more than six months nor less than three months prior to the general election next prior to the expiration of his then term of office, a declaration of his intent to run for another term. Failure to file such a declaration within the time specified shall create a vacancy in that office at the end of his then term of office. Upon the filing of such a declaration, a question shall be placed on the appropriate ballot at such general election, as follows: “Shall Justice (Judge)…of the Supreme (or other) Court be retained in office? YES/…/NO/…/.” If a majority of those voting on the question vote “yes,” the justice or judge is thereupon elected to a succeeding full term. If a majority of those voting on the question vote “no,” this will cause a vacancy to exist in that office at the end of his then present term of office. Newly appointed justices “shall hold office for a provisional term of two years
and then until the second Tuesday in January following the next general election” after which they enjoy full 10-year terms: Section 7. Term of office. The full term of office of justices of the supreme court shall be ten years.
Colorado voters have a critically important choice this year; three incumbents on the Colorado Supreme Court (Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, and Nancy Rice) are seeking reelection to an additional 10-year term of office. All three have repeatedly ruled against the constitutional rights of Colorado citizens, and do not deserve to be retained in office. Those weak-spirited souls who throw up their hands and say, “Why bother? They’ll just appoint more of the same anyway” are not only wrong (since, whatever its faults, the nominating process will at least weed out the worst of the bunch, now that the spotlight of attention is on them) but wrongheaded. If “We The People” fail to hold these Colorado Supreme Court justices accountable when we have the once-in-a-decade chance to do so, we would be throwing away not only that right to vote, but our rights under the Constitution itself. Now more than ever, it’s time to Clear The Bench, Colorado! Matt Arnold is the executive director and primary spokesman for the grassroots effort to restore accountability to Colorado’s judiciary, Clear The Bench Colorado. Matt launched the effort following the Colorado Supreme Court’s violation of the Colorado Constitution, citizen’s rights under TABOR, and their duty to uphold the rule of law in the infamous “Mill Levy Tax Freeze” case.
Senate Candidates: Rubber Stamp or Representation Erika Chaves, Contributing Writer
Primary season is officially over, and the race for Colorado U.S. Senate is gearing up to be a heated battle on the road to victory for election day November 2. The grassroots victory of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck, and the “I’m not part of the mess” win for incumbent Michael Bennet, has set the stage for a very entertaining campaign season. Both political parties have set out to prove that their Senate candidate is “fit for the job” and “ready to serve” the people of Colorado. Let’s take a look at where the candidates stand on key economic issues and why they think they’re, “best fit” to represent Colorado. Michael Bennet, Colorado’s current U.S. Senator, was appointed in 2009, by Governor Bill Ritter to fill the vacancy left when then Senator Ken Salazar took an appointment to President Obama’s cabinet. Bennet, former superintendent of Denver Public Schools, and political puppet for the Obama administration, espouses the progressive liberal lingo wildly used in our current Senate majority. His canned e-mail replies to the concerns of his constituents leave one wondering if his loyalty is to Washington D.C., or the people of Colorado. Now that the race to the general election has begun, Bennet has taken a much softer stand on
the issues both on his website and the campaign trail. Bennet does not believe the federal government is over spending; we have been under taxed the past 10 years, according to his campaign website. “We cannot hope to achieve longterm economic growth and prosperity in the face of a crushing debt and deficits” Says, Bennet’s website. Bennet, while running on the campaign slogan, “Solving Problems not Playing Politics,” and talking about the negative effects of massive amounts of debt, has a “more than solid” voting record to prove he speaks one way while on the campaign trail, and votes entirely different when in the Senate. Although, having served only one year, Bennet has voted consistently for more debt to be placed on the American people. His “Yea,” vote on legislation like, the
Stimulus Bill and the healthcare overhaul, two monstrous pieces of legislation, have placed trillions of dollars of debt on America and her future generations. The failed stimulus bill had little recovery affect, if any, on the recession in America, other than to put our nation deeper in debt. The inconsistences Bennet displays with his leftist rubber stamp “Yea” vote on all of Obama’s grandiose ideas while preaching a “Clean up Washington” message while on the campaign trail, will only hurt him and make him a more vulnerable target in November. Ken Buck, current Weld County district attorney, raced to victory out of a crowded field of candidates to win the Republican primary. After spending months traveling around the state campaigning on hot button issues like federal spending, Social Security and
healthcare, Buck displayed his reputation for being fiscally responsible, consistently principled and effective in hearing the grassroots voice. Buck’s down-to-earth demeanor and concern for issues facing Colorado families has helped reach voters of all ages and economic levels. Buck believes …”Congress and government are out of control. They are not standing up for the principles that the people in Colorado and taxpayers across the country share.” Buck’s plan for helping get the economy back on track includes supporting a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget and cutting congressional spending. He will also work, to make agencies such as Medicare and Social Security more efficient and effective, while still providing the care owed to the people who have earned it. Buck supports policies that promote economic growth, and will be stimulating to the economy, like domestic energy production to lesson America’s dependence on foreign energy sources. With early stages of polling showing Buck with a 5% lead over Bennet, one thing is for sure, President Obama’s hand–picked candidate faces an uphill battle to keep his rubber stamp seat in the U.S. Senate.
www.TheConstitutionalistToday.com | 15
The Centennial State | Colorado
Tancredo: Not a Conservative Before He Was Not a Republican Elliot Fladen, Guest Writer The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom. -Ronald Reagan
An improbable Tancredo victory will not result in a principled conservative being our next governor. Although Tancredo stopped being a Republican this past month, he stopped being a defender of free market conservative principles long before. The heart of being a conservative is to defend free market capitalism. However, in the past several years Tancredo’s supposed defense of free markets suffers the following blemishes: • He voted for TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program)—twice. • He declined to vote against the automobile bailouts. • According to Citizens Against Government Waste, in 2008 he supported $17,558,700.00 more in earmark spending than John McCain. While these votes are damaging to one who claims to be a principled conservative, they in fact pale in comparison to the quasi-socialist justifications that Tancre-
do has been hiding within his signature issue: immigration. In January of 2010 he put forward an op-ed piece in World Net Daily that appeared to deal with the subject of immigration. In it, Tancredo called for a three year moratorium on all legal (not just illegal, but legal) immigration—and this the key—justified the moratorium on “protecting” American workers’ jobs. In other words, Tancredo, the alleged defender of free market conservatism, advocated a government economic intervention of business X (who would have fewer workers to choose from) for the express purpose of protecting person Y’s paycheck. Regardless of your feelings on the topic of immigration, how can one justify the restriction of immigration to protect the “right to a job” as possibly being compatible with being a conservative? Simple—one cannot do so. The Tancredo op-ed advocating for, essentially, the right to a job ensured through government regulation was not an isolated incident. On July 5, 2010 while sitting in for Peter Boyles on KHOW 630 AM, Denver, Tancredo said that he was against immigration because it suppresses wages. Subsequently, he spoke with a representative from NumbersUSA, which he lauded as the premier organization to deal with legal immigration. Encouraged, the NumbersUSA representative clarified that they believe, “Legal immi-
gration needs to be reduced for a variety of reasons including quality of life reasons because the more people you add to this country to the population the more infrastructure you need, the natural resources you need to use, the more farmland you need to pave over and all the things that come along with population growth…we also believe that American workers have the right to not to have to compete with third world workers and third world wages.” Did Tancredo, our supposed defender of free market conservatism, tell the NumbersUSA rep that “use of natural resources” was not an appropriate reason to restrict immigration? Did Tancredo, our supposed defender of free market conservatism, tell the NumbersUSA rep that “paving over farm land” was not a legitimate reason for restricting immigration? Did Tancredo, our supposed defender of free market conservatism, tell the NumbersUSA rep that there is no “right” to not to have to compete with third world workers and third world wages? Well, if he were a true conservative he would have done so. Tancredo in fact did not tell his esteemed guest that she was wrong on any of these accounts. Instead, he both appeared to agree with the representative throughout the interview and also said at its end how proud he was of the organi-
zation. A true defender of conservatism would have done neither, regardless of their feelings on the topic of restricting immigration on other bases (national security, political equilibrium, government expenditures, etc.). Nor can Tancredo’s interview of NumbersUSA be excused on the basis that it constituted popular “tough on immigration” talk; a candidate who calls himself a principled conservative cannot hide logic that is quasi-socialist in nature behind issues that conservatives may otherwise be passionate about. So when you hear that Tancredo is the only free market, conservative candidate running, or something to that effect, remember that a principled conservative would have voted against TARP, would have voted against the General Motors bailout, and would not support a quasi “right to a high paying job” ensured by government regulation. Remember that Tancredo can only call himself a principled conservative if the term is stripped of its core meaning. Elliot is a libertarian graduate of Stanford Law School and a former DOJ attorney in the Bush administration. He writes on a variety of issues at People’s Press Collective, a group blog that can be found at www.peoplespresscollective.org.
The Centennial State | El Paso County
El Paso County GOP Unites Behind Conservatives Bob Adelmann, Featured Writer
The El Paso County Republican Party’s Executive Committee unanimously endorsed a resolution to support Dan Maes and Ken Buck, among other Republican candidates who won the primary election August 10. The resolution was presented by El Paso GOP Chair, Andy Merritt at the executive committee meeting Aug. 16. A similar resolution was passed earlier by the Colorado State GOP Executives. The committee meeting, run by Merritt, started off with a brief presentation by Maes who applauded efforts by local supporters of Scott McInnis and Jane Norton in an attempt to bring the party together after bruising primary battles. Telling the overflow crowd that “this is our time, this is our year,” Maes pointed out that the independent voter must be the target of efforts leading up to the
mid-term election in November if Republicans are to be successful in capturing seats currently held by Democrats. Maes also said “this is our agenda, our environment” for victory and warned that major efforts will be required to be successful. Maes’ race for the governorship is clouded by the late entry of Tom Tancredo of the American Constitution Party who some are claiming could split the conservative vote and thus hand the election to the Democrat candidate, current Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper who is supported in his bid by the Denver Post. Maes took the opportunity to address the partisan crowd on the dangers of Tancredo, reminding his audience that Tancredo was “just another politician”, having broken his vow to limit his mem-
bership in the House of Representatives to just three terms (he served five terms), and voting for the bank bailouts. Although strong on the issue of immigration, Maes said that otherwise Tancredo “isn’t what the public thinks he is, and that is the message we have to get out.” The only jarring note at the meeting was the statement in the state’s resolu-
tion that was endorsed unanimously by all members of the executive committee present, that Ken Buck supported “mainstream conservative principles.” Noted one unhappy Tea Partier in attendance, “Those ‘mainstream’ principles are exactly what got us into this pretty mess in the first place!” Calls for unity were met with enthusiasm as Merritt and others expressed optimism that Republicans would “take over all the seats possible” in the upcoming election. A unity party sponsored by the county GOP to support Ken Buck was held Aug. 23 at Wolf Ranch subdivision. Bob Adelmann writes for The New American magazine, and lives in the Colorado Springs area.
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Kitchen Table Politics Feet to the Fire Leah Hotchkiss, Senior Staff Writer
Election season is upon us, and signs are populating every green space across the state. New names, and old names that appear year-after-year, are everywhere. Many times voters vote for name recognition, and sometimes they simply vote for the politician that had the best color scheme on their sign. Then there are the political names that stick out because they have done something bad, or something good. As informed voters, we should know who voted the way we wanted, who voted against our ideals, and even if the person is not up for re-election, we should question their votes and hold their feet to the fire. So let’s see who voted for the worst-ofthe-worst, applaud the ones who stood up against big government, and scratch our heads at the ones who voted ‘yes’ on one of the most useless bills ever passed into law. We are going to start with the dirty dozen tax bills. If you remember, these bills took away tax exemptions from businesses, small and large. Essentially, these raise taxes without having to deal with that pesky TABOR thing, and hopefully will fill the state’s coffers with over $425 million in new tax revenue. I am happy to report that no Republican voted for any of these bills. Whew…thankfully they still understand that business is what drives the economy and punishing business with more taxes only makes a bad economy worse. Too bad that state Democrats and the federal government haven’t figured this out. Kudos to the Republicans. The next batch of bills isn’t so easy. The “green” bills HB10-1365, 10-1001, 10-1182,
10-1333, 10-1342, and 10-1052 implement a whole host of green initiatives that will cripple the state in order to prop up the green industry. So here’s a quick reminder what each “green” bill does (along with a few other bills), and a list of Republicans who, sadly, voted ‘yes’ for each one. • 1365: This bill has been passed in anticipation of the forthcoming Federal “Clean Air Act.” It requires the conversion of coal-burning electric generators to natural gas, whether or not it is cost effective. It also contains wonderful socialist statements like: “…it is imperative that Colorado utilities continue in sound financial condition and remain attractive investments so that sufficient capital is provided to achieve the state’s goals”. House and Senate Republican ‘yes’ votes: Acree, Balmer, Bradford, Brophy, C. Gardner, Gerou, J. Kerr, Kester, Liston, Massey, May, McNulty, Nikkel, Penry, Priola, Roberts, Scheffel, Sonnenberg, Stephens, Summers, and Vaad. When asked, my district representative said she voted for this bill because we had to do something before Cap and Trade did it for us. She reasoned that this was the way Colorado could maintain some control. I didn’t think that was a great reason to vote for something that mirrors the green plan in Spain that killed three jobs for every one it created. If you ask, maybe you will get a better answer than I did. • 1001: Incentivized the installation of new distributed renewable energy. House and Senate Republican ‘yes’ votes: None.
• 1182: Expands the powers of the Colorado Clean Energy Development Authority to include the ability to finance electric facilities, and the authority to make commercial loans for power interconnection projects; connecting clean energy resources to the transmission grid. Republican House and Senate ‘yes’ votes: Brophy, B. Gardner, S. King, Looper, Massey, McNulty, Penry, Roberts, Summers, and Vaad. • 1333: Creates Green Jobs Colorado Training Program, the Green Jobs Colorado Advisory Council, and the Green Jobs Colorado training fund. Republican House and Senate ‘yes’ votes: Kester, Massey, and Penry. • 1342: Encourages investment in solar energy facilities and authorizes community solar gardens. Republican House and Senate ‘yes’ votes: Acree, Balmer, Bradford, Del Grosso, C. Gardner, Gerou, J. Kerr, S. King, Massey, May, McNulty, Murray, Nikkel, Penry, Priola, Roberts, Stephens, Summers, Swalm, and Waller. • 1052: Extends the funds for the Recycling Opportunity Fund and will support the building of a recycling infrastructure within the state. It created a whopping 63 new jobs at a cost of $2 million, so why not extend it? What a boon to our economy…Republican House and Senate ‘yes’ votes: Acree, Balmer, Bradford, Del Grosso, B. Gardner, Gerou, J. Kerr, Kester, S. King, Liston, Looper, Massey, May, Nikkel, Pri-
ola, Roberts, Spence, Stephens, Swalm, Tipton, Vaad, and Waller. • There were eight Republicans who voted ‘no’ to all of these and they deserve a round of applause: Cadman, Harvey, K. King, Lambert, Mitchell, Renfroe, Scheffel, and Schultheis. • Remember the bill (SB10-028) to extend unemployment benefits to people who were not fired but only had their hours reduced? Only two Republicans voted for it: Penry and White. • How about the Poverty Reduction Task Force? The bill (SB10-009) that creates a task force that reports on the model that will be measuring the effectiveness of poverty reduction programs, not on the actual effectiveness of the programs themselves. Yeah, that complete waste of time and money. Republicans voted for that too, ridiculous as it sounds: Brophy, C. Garder, Gerou, Harvey, Kester, Penry, Roberts, Spence, and White. If we kept digging I’m sure there would be a lot more head scratchers. It is beyond me how Republicans can go around campaigning on the old “I’m for reduced spending and smaller government” line, then vote for bills that don’t cut spending, expand the size of state government, and simply throw good money after bad. But it is election season and the politicians are out-and-about campaigning around the state, so ask them about their votes and hold their feet to the fire.
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To Advertise your Restaurant Here Please call: 719-260-7776. THE AIRPLANE RESTAURANT Our centerpiece is a Boeing KC-97 where passengers can eat. Our menu features burgers, pastas, salads, fresh fish and steaks. We also have a full bar. Located near the intersection of Fountain Blvd. and Powers Blvd. Just look for the plane! 570-7656
KRESSA’S KITCHEN Family style restaurant with good ole home cooking. Hours: Monday 9:00 am–2:00 pm, Tuesday–Friday 6:00 am–2:00 pm, Saturday 7:00 am–2:00 pm, Friday and Saturday dinner 5:00–9:00 pm. Located at 660 Peterson Road (just off E. Platte between Marksheffel and N. Powers). 719-550-0324.
AUNT NELLIE’S Aunt Nellie’s uses the finest ingredients to create delicious products. We use real butter, pure vanilla, quality chocolate and natural ingredients like nuts and dried fruit. 5901 Delmonico Dr., 531-5170, www.auntnellie.com.
LANNA THAI All dishes prepared with the fresh ingredients. Try the famous Pad Thai or Pa-nang curry. Best Thai beer selection in town. Located at 8810 N. Union in the Albertson’s Shopping Center in Briargate. Open Monday–Saturday. Call for hours, 282-0474.
BAMBINO’S ITALIAN EATERY & CATERING CO. Family owned and operated for 32 years. Italian buffet offered daily for lunch and Wednesday & Sunday evenings. Kids eat FREE on Monday & Tuesday. Homemade pizza, pasta & sandwiches. Sports bar, banquet room. Military appreciation Monday. SE Corner of Platte & Circle, 630-8121. BILLY’S PIZZA Billy’s takes pride in the fact that everything is handmade, on site, from scratch in order to provide you with the freshest dining experience possible. Located at 308 S. 8th St. Dine-in or carryout. Catering available. Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 11:00 am–10:00 pm, closed Sunday and Monday, 719-630-3400.
LOUIE’S PIZZA Subs, Salads and More. Same great taste and quality we’ve been serving Colorado Springs for 25 years. Try our new Take-N-Bake Pizza! Five locations in Colorado Springs. Monday–Thursday 11:00 am–11:00 pm, Friday & Saturday 11:00 am–12:00 am, Sunday 11:00 am–11:00 pm.
R E S TA U R A N T A N D P U B
BLACK BEAR DINER Our founders’ concept sprang from a desire to bring home-style cooking and personal service back to the dining experience. Our entire menu is available to go, 314-3616. Located on the SE corner of Academy and Galley, 975-A N. Academy Blvd.
THE MASON JAR American comfort food served in a casual Colorado lodge atmosphere with full service bar. Two locations: 2925 West Colorado Ave, 632-4820; 5905 Corporate Dr. and I-25 (Exit 148). Call for hours, 260-6555. MCCABE’S TAVERN Traditional Irish pub with some of the best Irish fare in town. We broadcast soccer games from the MLS to the English Premier League on our big screen TVs, 520 South Tejon. Call for hours, 633-3300.
BLACK FOREST BISON Direct from the ranch sales. All natural/organic, 100% grass fed bison meat, “Gourmet to Go” heat and eat bison dinners, award winning bison jerky, farm fresh eggs & local raw honey. 1234 E. Woodmen Rd., 488-3898, www. BlackForestBison.com
MEADOW MUFFINS We are famous for our hamburgers and chicken wings. The atmosphere is decorated with old movie artifacts with many items from Gone with the Wind, Superman, fans from Casablanca and many more. 2432 West Colorado Ave., 633-0583
BUFFALO WILD WINGS Award-winning wings, 14 signature sauces, full bar, 39 HDTVs to watch your favorite sports, free wi-fi. Hours: Monday–Thursday, 11:00 am–1:00 am; Friday & Saturday, 11:00 am– 2:00 am; Sunday 11:00 am– 12:00 am, 7425 N. Academy Blvd., 594-WING
MY SISTER’S KITCHEN Since 1989. JULY SPECIAL: Jacque & Jill will give you 10% OFF when you mention this ad. Open for breakfast and lunch Monday–Saturday 6:00 am– 2:00 pm. Located at 2416 East Boulder St., 719-475-2621.
CAPTAIN D’S Come in and enjoy our delicious seasoned tilapia, flaky wild Alaskan salmon and classic 2-piece fish dinner. Sit down quality food at a price that won’t break the bank. Five locations in Southern Colorado. (See our ad this issue.)
NOCON’S GELATORIA Italian Gelato is a healthy treat! Our fruit flavors are gluten and lactose free and our cream based flavors are gluten free. Located at 8816 N. Union Blvd, 282-3135. Open Monday–Saturday, 12:00 pm–8:00 pm.
CASPIAN CAFÉ Step through the entrance of Caspian Café and be transported to an exotic land where a variety of beautifully prepared and incredibly delicious culinary creations tantalize your senses. East of I-25, south of Garden of the Gods Rd., 4375 Sinton Rd., 528-1155.
NORTH END DINER Colorado Spring’s Old-Fashioned American Diner Since 1958. Dine-In, Takeout, Local Delivery, Catering, Call Ahead. Hours: Monday 6:00 am–4:00 pm, Tuesday–Saturday 6:00 am–10:00 pm, Sunday 7:00 am–4:00 pm. Located at 3005 N Hancock. 719-442-1833.
COFFEE AND TEA ZONE The best in coffee, bubble tea, pink berry frozen yogurt, smoothie’s, ice cream, free wi-fi. Internet Café with 4-hi tech computers. Four locations: Rockrimmon/ Delmonico (599-8841), Voyager Pkwy (488-8893), downtown on Tejon (6323887), and our NEW LOCATION at First and Main Town Center (550-1243).
OLIVER’S DELICATESSEN This cozy neighborhood deli located in the Rockrimmon area is the place to be anytime Monday through Saturday for breakfast and lunch. 6602-A Delmonico Dr., Hours: Monday–Friday 6:00 am–4:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am–2:00 pm, 599-9411
COPPER CREEK COFFEE Your conservative coffee shop with free Wi-Fi! Home of the “Palin Mocha” and the “Butter Rumsfeld.” We serve baked muffins, smoothies, pastries, and breakfast “Breggos.” 3315 W. Carefree Cir. Hours: Monday–Friday 7:00 am– 6:00 pm, Saturday 7:00 am–2:00 pm, 597-4189
PATSY’S CANDIES We believe the best confections start with the best ingredients: real butter, pure chocolate, real cream, no additives, or preservatives. Most candied popcorn is made with burnt sugar. Patsy’s is made with pure butterscotch. 1540 S 21st Street, 633-7215
DAT’S ITALIAN! Family recipe cuisine that’s been passed down four generations. You’ll enjoy delicious affordable meals with a warm and friendly atmosphere. Located at 2514 West Colorado Avenue, Old Colorado City. Call for hours, 632-3287.
RITA’S MEXICAN KITCHEN We serve a great variety of traditional Mexican dishes, all prepared with only fresh ingredients for a delicious home made taste unlike any other. Dine in or carry out. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Located on the corner of Union and Boulder, 719-667-7268.
ERIC’S MONUMENT GRILLE Our casual American menu offers flavorful food cooked to order in a timely manner at a reasonable price. Enjoy murals of Colorado while you eat. We offer an extensive kids’ menu. 1455 Cipriani Loop, Monument, 594-4300
ROCCO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT Italian restaurant with fresh pastas, home-made lasagna, mouth-watering charbroiled steaks and seafood. Full bar and banquet room. Located at 3878 Maizeland. Call for hours: 574-1426.
EXTREME PIZZA Handmade the way it should be: fresh cut vegetables—not canned, dough made in our store—not frozen. We deliver honestly good tasting pizza loaded with toppings. Delivery, pickup, or dine in. 7340 N. Academy Blvd. For more info: www.extremepizza.com, 522-1515
ROCKY MOUNTAIN DOGS ‘N FAT BOYS Vienna Beef Chicago style dogs and huge Fat Boy sandwiches. Located at Nevada and Fillmore, 2907 N. Nevada. Open 7 days a week, 11:00 am–4:00 pm. Come hungry and come today! 719-473-2502
FAIRWAY GRILL & PUB Menu includes burgers and guilt-free fries, stacks, wraps, soups, salads, pizza and more! Our food is always fresh, never fried. Open 7 days a week. Sand Creek Golf Course, 6865 Galley Road. Call for hours: 597-5489. FIX-A-FEAST We prepare quality “Take & Bake” Meals. Just call ahead and we will have them ready for you. ALL NATURAL meats, fish & poultry, amazing DELI and CATERING for all your office/private party needs. 5901 Delmonico Drive, 531-5170. FLYING W STEAKHOUSE Old Western Town—Chuckwagon Suppers and an Original Western Music Show. Open Monday–Saturday during late May–September. Reservations Necessary. 719-598-4000. Visit www.flyingw.com for directions.
MAGGIE MAE’S RESTAURANT AND PUB Homemade from scratch! Biscuits and gravy, mouth-watering soups, handcut steaks and prime rib, hand-formed burgers, hot beef sandwiches, awesome French dips, and the best green chili this side of heaven. 2405 Pikes Peak Ave., Call for hours: 475-1623
SCHNITZEL FRITZ Serving the largest traditional variety of Schnitzel’s, Bratwurst in Colorado Springs. Check out our daily specials. Homemade German Potato Salad, Sauerkraut, Red Cabbage, Authentic Cakes. “Bringing the BEST of Germany to Colorado”. Located at 4037 Tutt Boulevard. 719-573-2000.
South Jersey Subs
SOUTH JERSEY SUBS Want a real sub with only the finest deli meats, cheeses and toppings? Our subs are loaded with goodness in every bite. Your mouth will be watering and you’ll come back for more! Located at 1726 Brookwood. Call for hours, 531-5100.
FRANKIE’S SPORTS BAR & GRILL This casual neighborhood sports tavern and grill offers delicious food, good service, big screens & pool tables. Two locations: Powers & Galley in Colorado Springs, 574-4881; Woodman & Meridian in Falcon 495-8707, www. FrankiesBarGrill.com
SOPA’S RESTAURANT Soups, Salads, Sandwiches, Pastas, and Roasted Chicken. Smoothies and Milk Shakes made with real fruit. Open daily from 7:00 am–8:00 pm. Breakfast served until 11:00 am. Located in the Cheyenne Montana Shopping Center at South Academy and Hwy 115. 719-538-7672.
FRONT RANGE BBQ Southern-style slow smoked BBQ & home cooked meals from scratch. Two locations: 2330 W. Colorado, 632-2596; 4935 Templeton Gap Rd., 598-8895. Visit our website for menus, catering, live music & events schedule: www.frbbq.com
THUNDER AND BUTTONS Gourmet pub fare featuring elk chili, buffalo burgers, and more. Serving Colorado beers on tap. Entertainment nightly, karaoke, live bands, comedy and more! 2415 W. Colorado Ave. For hours and entertainment info: 447-9888, www.thunderandbuttons.com
JAKE AND TELLY’S We offer an array of traditional and family recipes such as lamb dishes, casseroles and mezzedakias (appetizers) and world-class wines. Located in Old Colorado City, in 26th block of Colorado Ave. Hours: 11:00 am to 10:00 pm, 7 days a week. JOEY’S PIZZA From pizza by the slice, specialty pizzas, calzones, stromboli, subs, salads and more, there will be a taste of New York in every bite. 1829 Briargate Blvd (across from Chapel Hills Mall), 265-6922
18 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010
VIETNAMESE GARDEN We serve authentic Vietnamese cuisine made from scratch, no MSG, gluten free meals and take out available. Military discount. 3043 W. Pikes Peak Avenue. Hours are 11am–8pm Tuesday–Sunday, closed Mondays. 520-9299, www.vietnamesegarden.net
The Centennial State | El Paso County
Strong Mayor Equates Accountability, Stability Kyle Getchey, Contributing Writer Citizens for Accountable Leadership is a Colorado Springs based group seeking to change the Charter of the City of Colorado Springs from a council-manager to a council-mayor (i.e. strong mayor) form of government. In order the accomplish this, the group is attempting to place an initiative on the November ballot that will require a majority vote of the electorate of Colorado Springs to change the city’s form of governance. In order to place the measure on the ballot, the group must first collect 25,091 signatures of registered voters in the city of Colorado Springs (or 10% of all registered voters in the city) and submit those signatures to the city clerk’s office for certification. On August 2, the group
council-manager to a council-mayor form of government, with a purported trade-off of a more efficient, stable, and accountable form of government. Certainly there has been consistent turnover of the city manager position in Colorado Springs over the past two decades, however several other factors motivate the Citizens for Accountable Leadership’s advancement of the strong mayor initiative. Chief among these is the city’s $25 million shortfall going into the 2010 budget and the accompanying proposal of the city manager to place a tax increase on the ballot that would have provided for a $10 million pay raise to city employees, for the reason that the city of Colorado Springs needed to reach parity with other cities in the country. Second is the group’s disapproval of the city manager’s general management of the budget over the years. Third is the recent fiasco of camping on the creek by the homeless that took place between the chief of police and the city attorney. Finally, the group argues that this is the perfect time to put the initiative forth and that the November general election ballot is the right place to subject the initiative to a vote of the electorate, since Mayor Lionel Rivera is term limited and the people will know going into the April municipal election just what kind of mayor they will be voting to put into office. If the initiative is approved, the current council-manager form of government will remain in effect until April, then following the April election the provisions of the initiative will go into effect. Thus, the newly elected mayor will propose the upcoming budget to the city council. Once the city council approves the budget, it will re-submit to the mayor who can then exercise a line item veto power over specific expenditures within the budget. The Citizens for Accountable Leadership is comprised of 150 community leaders from across political lines, with Andy McElhany, Mary Ellen McNally, and Chuck Murphy serving as spokespeople for the group. Initially, 120 people signed-on to sponsor the initiative. For these two reasons, the group identifies itself as a grassroots organization. According to Kevin Walker of the Citizens for Accountable Leadership, the group has held one town hall meeting on the initiative, a series of on-line chat feedback sessions, and has put in roughly 400 volunteer hours scrutinizing the language of the proposed law.
Mayor Lionel Rivera is term-limited and the people will know going into the April municipal election just what kind of mayor they will be voting to put into office. submitted 36,305 signatures for certification to the city clerk’s office, however only 23,647 of those signatures were certified as valid, leaving the group 1,444 signatures short of the required number. Under a provision of the city charter, the group was given 30 days to cure the defect and re-submit the required number of valid signatures to the clerk’s office for certification. At the time of this writing, the group was attempting to acquire another 3,000 signatures to submit to the clerk’s office before the filing date. Under the initiative that is being proposed by the Citizens for Accountable Leadership, the mayor will no longer function as a figure head of the city council and will no longer be paid a stipend of $6,250 for his public services. Rather, the mayor would assume the traditional responsibilities of the executive branch of government, become a full-time elected official, and be paid a salary of $96,000 per year with benefits. The stipend paid to city council members would remain the same and the city manager position would be eliminated once the provisions of the initiative went into effect. Former Colorado Springs City Manager Penny Culbreth-Graft was hired at a salary of $210,000 per year with benefits in 2008. If the initiative is passed, the fulltime mayor will have the option of appointing a chief of staff with an annual salary ranging from $150,000– $170,000 per year with benefits. Thus, from a strictly monetary perspective, the electorate will be voting to increase the annual budget by roughly $56,000 excluding benefits, in order to make the transition from a
Kyle Getchey is a third year law student at Regent University, in Virginia Beach, VA. Contact the writer: kyle@theconstitutionalisttoday.com
Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without a government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. —Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
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The Centennial State | Fremont County
Fremont County Commissioner Fiscal Responsibility First and Foremost Dusty Foster, Guest Writer
Debbie Bell of Cañon City, Colorado, won the Republican nomination for Fremont County Commissioner, District 2, with a comfortable 60 percent of the vote. She recently sat down with contributing writer Dusty Foster for a one-on-one conversation. TCT: Debbie, why did you decide to run for county commissioner? DB: This is something I’ve considered doing since I was 17 years old and a senior in high school. Many decisions I’ve made since then have been geared toward serving my community in this way. For the past 5 years I’ve been a newspaper reporter here in Fremont County. I’ve attended the same meetings as the commissioners, studied the same budgets, and had to truly understand the issues before I could report on them accurately. The very nature of my job required me to pay close attention to what was happening in government.
As you know, our entire country has entered a difficult period. There’s a heightened concern about the direction things are headed. Speaking for myself, I’m very concerned. So I decided this was the right time to run for a position where I could be the most effective. Since I’m so familiar with the job of commissioner, I entered this race. TCT: What is your platform? DB: First and foremost, fiscal responsibility. The funny thing about government spending is that it’s not the government’s money – it’s our taxpayer dollars. We can’t spend money we don’t have, and when we have it, we must spend and invest it wisely. Second, economic development must return to Fremont County. We need to create an environment that will be attractive for new businesses to start up here. And we must make sure that existing busi-
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nesses are not hindered by government in any way. Third, I would like to see increased twoway communications between Fremont County government and its citizens. TCT: Give me an example of what can be done to attract new business to Fremont County. DB: We can offer incentives to lure new businesses and industries here – sales and use tax abatements or deferrals, job training and recruitment, informational resources, education… the list goes on. Those incentives must also be available to current businesses looking to grow and expand. Of course, we must evaluate the benefits to ensure they outweigh the costs before we move forward. It will take creativity and work to put such incentives in place, but it’s time. People are very concerned about the economy, and rightly so. Many storefronts in our downtown area are empty. This has been causing a downward spiral—fewer jobs are available, therefore less money is spent in our community. Fremont County residents want this problem solved. There are many workable solutions. We need to move away from being reactive and take a proactive stance – instead of simply answering questions and sending
out information about Fremont County, we need to actively recruit business and industry to come here. We shouldn’t wait any longer. TCT: Why is it so difficult to open a new business in Fremont County? DB: Current regulations, specifically the Site Development Plan, are a serious burden to entrepreneurs looking to build or expand. I have heard many refer to this Plan as the “Employ an Engineer for Life” plan, because it can require several engineered studies, which are incredibly expensive. Of course entrepreneurs expect certain start-up costs, but it should not be more expensive to locate here than in other Colorado counties our size. Realtors and bankers are compiling a list of businesses that had hoped to open here only to change their minds because of the red tape and financial hardship to meet all the requirements. That list is appallingly lengthy! These policies must be revisited and tempered to be reasonable. As the county’s policy-making board, the commissioners have the final say on such regulations. Instead of putting up obstacles, we should be clearing the way and extending our hand in welcome. As a county commissioner, I can help achieve that. BELL on next page
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(719) 275-9160 20 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010
BELL continued from previous page Permits and regulations are not the only problem. We need to look at the whole process, from start to finish, that entrepreneurs have to go through to start up a new business here. We have to make it simpler. For example, what if we assigned one staff member to walk entrepreneurs through the entire process from start to finish? That staffer would know the procedures and could direct applicants to the appropriate person in the right office during each phase and could answer questions along the way. The applicant would have a single point of contact, which would greatly simplify the process and enhance the entire experience. When applicants get discouraged or overwhelmed, we all lose. Unfortunately, this has been happening here and we can’t afford to let it continue. Then, once we make Fremont more attractive for new businesses, we have to find ways to let the world know we’re open for business. TCT: Would you work with the Chamber of Commerce to deal with these problems? DB: Absolutely! I hope to strengthen current partnerships with all three local Chambers of Commerce and other agencies, such as the Fremont Economic Development Corporation. We also have a variety of experts who live here and are willing to come to the table as volunteers to help us improve the situation. TCT What kind of experts? DB: One local resident owns a consulting business and works with counties across Colorado on their road and bridge issues—he actually works with half of Colorado’s 64 counties right now. He has offered to provide the same services to Fremont County free of charge. That would be wonderful! People have asked me how we can stop the tax increases. One way is to take full advantage of the volunteer spirit we have right here. Look at the volunteer fire departments we have. My dad was a part of the Penrose Volunteer Fire Department throughout my childhood, so I know what heroes they are. We even have a volunteer ambulance service in the western part of the county. These great people save us hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax money every year. The people involved in these emergency services organizations donate a huge number of man-hours and save lives and property in the process. We should expand that concept and tap into other types of expertise. Fremont County is a great place to live. People want to make their community the best it can be.
I personally know several people who retired here after a lifetime of working with economic development agencies from across the country. They are willing to volunteer their time. I also know several retired Colorado Department of Corrections wardens who have offered their time and services to assist at the Fremont County Detention Center. Why should we ignore these generous offers? TCT: It’s clear you have a plan. Now I’d like to get a sense of who you are as a person. Tell me more about yourself.
If you’re not already registered to vote, you must do so by October 4 in order to vote in the November 2 election. If you are not sure if you are registered to vote, contact your County Clerk and Recorder. To be a Colorado voter, you must be a US citizen, Colorado resident, and be 18 years old by November 2, 2010.
Federal Vote Trackers Chart Colorado Federal Vote Colorado Trackers Chart
Primary Voting August 10, 2010 November Voting Date: Primary Voting Date: Tuesday, August 10,Date: 2010 Tuesday, November Voting Date: Tuesday, November 2, 2010Tuesday, November 2, 2010
DB: Well, I’m a mother, wife, daughter and grandmother. I’m a native Coloradan who List up of politicians was fortunate enough to grow in Fresent from this state to Washington DC mont County. I had an all-American childhood. I rode horses and bicycles year round, loved school, and ate dinner with my family every single night. I graduated from Sen. Michael Bennet Mark Florence High School andSen. hold a Udall degree Representatives: in Computer Information Systems from Diana DeGette Colorado State University, Pueblo. I’ve had Ed Perlmutter a variety of life experiences Jared that IPolis think has John Salizar prepared me well for this position. Betsey Markey TCT: Such as?
Mike Coffman Doug Lamborn
List of politicians Bailout Cash for Clunkers Stimulus Cap Bill and Trade Cash for Clunkers Banker Bailout Stimulus Bill Banker Health Care Cap and Trade sent from this state $700 Billion $820 Billion $700 Billion $820 Billion “Clean Energy and “Consumer “Clean Energy and “Consumer to Washington DC “Patients Assistance to Security Act” Assistance to Security Act” TARP “American TARP “American Protection and Recycle and Save (Increases taxes and Recycle and Save Recovery (Increases andtaxes and “Troubled Assets Recovery and“Troubled Assets Affordable Careunemployment) Act” Act” unemployment) Relief Program” Reinvestment Act Relief Program” Reinvestment Act Act” of 2009” of 2009” 2010
“Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act” 2010
09 yet)YES-Aug in office) 6, 09YES-Feb 6, 0924, 09(no vote yet) Sen. Michael Bennet YES-Feb 13, 09(not YES-Aug YES-Dec (not in office) (no13, vote no as a 6, 09 YES-Feb 09 yet)YES-Aug 6, 0924, 09(no vote yet) Sen. Udall 13, 09 Voted Voted no as a MarkYES-Feb YES-Dec YES-Aug (no13, vote
YES-Dec 24, 09 YES-Dec 24, 09
Representatives: 13, 0926, 09 3, 09 9, 09YES-Feb YES-Jun 9, 09 21, YES-Jun 26, 09 YES-Feb 13, 09YES-Oct YES-OctDiana 3, 09 DeGette YES-Jun YES-Jun YES-Mar 10 13, 0926, 09 3, 09 9, 09YES-Feb YES-Jun 9, 09 21, YES-Jun 26, 09 YES-Feb 13, 09YES-Oct YES-OctEd 3, Perlmutter 09 YES-Jun YES-Jun YES-Mar 10 YES-Feb 13, 0926, 09 YES-Mar no 26, 09 Jared PolisYES-Feb 13, 09(not in office) (not in office) no YES-Jun 21, YES-Jun 10 09 no YES-Jun 9, 09 21, 10 no YES-Feb 13, 09 noJohn Salizar YES-Jun 9, 09YES-Feb 13,no YES-Mar 13, 0926, 09 no YES-Jun 9, 09 21, YES-Jun 26, 09 YES-Feb 13, 09 noBetsey Markey YES-Jun 9, 09YES-Feb YES-Jun YES-Mar 10 (not in office) no no no no no Mike Coffman no (not in office) no no no no no no no no noDoug Lamborn no
YES-Mar 21, 10 YES-Mar 21, 10 YES-Mar 21, 10 YES-Mar 21, 10 YES-Mar 21, 10 no no
representative
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DB: In addition to being a To government To check facts or and to download copy states, of this go chart and charts for other states, go to www.votetrackers.com check these facts or to download a copythese of this chart charts foraother to www.votetrackers.com several of this chart and hand out. Takewith thisyou chart the voting booth with you as a reference guide. Make several copies Iof this chart Make and hand themcopies out. Take this chart into thethem voting booth asinto a reference guide. reporter right here in Fremont County, served as Executive Director of the Adult Literacy Program of Fremont County, which gave me administrative experience. I prepared and managed the annual budget, hired and evaluated all tutors, wrote grant proposals and managed the money that came in from them. I was actually When you purchase $50 or more of responsible for all the fundraising for this perennial flowers at regular price. organization. No combination discounts. Must present coupon I also have a great deal of budgetary and at time of purchase. Expires 9/30/10. policy-making experience through my 00 99 service on various boards of directors, including Family Crisis Services Inc., Heart Most Important Feeding of the Year! of Colorado CASA, Cañon City Noon Li(Top Soil, Sheep & Peat, Cow & Compost) Limit one coupon per customer, per day. Must present ons, Church Council at First United Methcoupon at time of purchase. Expires 9/30/10. odist Church and many others.
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TCT: So people know you pretty well. DB: I suppose you could say that. I certainly like being with people. In fact, as county commissioner I would like to begin a series of town hall style meetings all across the county, from Penrose to Swissvale and everywhere in between, on a quarterly basis. I can picture a brief update on what the commissioners have been doing, followed by lively discussion initiated by the citizens. Their concerns are my concerns, and I want to hear what they have to say. For more information, visit www.Elect DebbieBell.org.
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The Centennial State | El Paso County
Freedom Congress Kicks Off in Colorado Springs Julie Ayers, Editor in Chief It’s an event for people of all ages and will headline renowned speakers such as Oliver North and Senator Jim DeMint. It’s an event that will “equip people of every generation with the knowledge and inspiration they need to bring this nation back to the vision of our founders and the God of the Bible they revered.” Freedom Congress intends to educate and mobilize their audience to become involved in local and national issues. The event will feature four keynote speakers: Oliver North, Senator Jim DeMint, Dr. Stu Weber and retired Lt. General William Boykin. Oliver North is a former combat decorated Marine, host of Fox news “War Stories” and author of the best seller, American Heroes in the Fight Against Radical Islam. South Carolina Senator DeMint is one of the most conservative leaders in our nation’s capitol. He advocates smaller government, individual liberty, strong national defense and traditional values. He is also the author of Saving America:
We Can Stop American’s Slide into Socialism. LTG (retired) Boykin commanded Delta Force and Special Forces troops during his 36 years in the Army. He was also the deputy undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence at the Pentagon. He is the author of Never Surrender: A Soldier’s Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom Against Radical Islam. Dr. Weber is a former Green Beret, Vietnam veteran and the recipient of three bronze stars. He is an international speaker and the author of Tender Warrior and Four Pillars of a Man’s Heart. Following the speakers the event will have workshops for adults and a program for children that will “provide engaging events in conjunction with Freedom Congress, fun and useful tools for education, a unified base of knowledge in religion, history, and civil government, for the next generations of American citizens.” Freedom Congress will take place at the Colorado Springs World Arena, Saturday, Sept. 11 from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. For tickets go to www.freedomcongress.org. Ticket prices are $30; $20 for military.
But ambitious encroachments of the federal government, on the authority of the state governments, would not excite the opposition of a single state, or of a few states only. They would be signals of general alarm…But what degree of madness could ever drive the federal government to such an extremity. —James Madison, Federalist No. 46, 1788
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Free Markets | Economy
Federal Debt Increases by the Minute Chris Davis, Guest Writer As I write this, our federal debt is 13.219 trillion dollars. By the time I am finished, which will take less than an hour, it will be 13.312 trillion dollars. For decades, deficit spending has been growing exponentially. Our children and grandchildren will be unable to meet this debt unless the U.S. Congress and the president take action. A failure to act is
2000) the federal debt was 5.674 trillion dollars. The Republicans controlled both the executive and the legislative branches between 2000 and 2006. When the Democrats controlled the legislative branch in 2006-2008, the debt nearly doubled to 10.024 trillion dollars. Eighteen months into the Obama administration, that debt has grown to over 13 trillion dollars and the current administration says it will grow another 4.5 trillion in the next nine years. In 2010, we will have, roughly, a 1.8 trillion dollar deficit in one year. Those numbers just don’t add up. Enough with the doom and gloom. It’s not worse than it has ever been, it’s not beyond repair and the sky is not falling. In fact in 1945 our annual deficit was 24.07% of GDP and the overall debt was 87% of GDP. If we recovered then, we can recover now. We must however, take action to correct this course. The first step towards getting us on the right financial track is to pass a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. There are bold leaders on both sides of the aisle that are trying to get this accomplished. Jim Marshall (D-GA) and Mike Coffman (R-CO) have formed the first balanced budget amendment caucus in the U.S. House or Representatives. Congressman Goodlatte has reintroduced HJ 1, a half page amendment to the Constitution that would mandate a federal balanced budget. In fact, it’s the same amendment that was introduced in the 1990’s under Bill Clinton that passed the House twice and failed the Senate by one republican vote. The economy and jobs are the number one issue in this country right now. In order for us to be able to build a stronger economy, we must have a financially sound government that can sustain itself. The time to act is now and part of the solution is sitting in the U.S. House committee today. It’s time to do what’s right for the United States of America.
The first step towards getting us on the right financial track is to pass a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. nothing short of perpetrating generational theft on unborn Americans. First, this is a problem that has been created and propagated by both political parties. The national debt has doubled in the last eight years. According to the current administration’s 10-year budget forecast, the national debt will raise to 17.5 trillion dollars by 2019. Let’s look at two metrics. First the annual national deficit, what the treasury spends above and beyond what it takes in annually. Second, let’s consider the overall federal debt, which is the cumulative damage that is done when annual deficits are piled on top of each other. The debt is what we are forcing subsequent generations to deal with. One way to look at our debt is through annual deficit spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (the entire output of all goods and services in the U.S. economy). In 2000 when President George W. Bush took office, the annual deficit as a percentage of GDP was – 2.37%. We were experiencing budget surpluses and the economy was healthy. The federal treasury was actually taking in more than it was spending. By 2002, our budget surpluses were gone. The spending increases were on. At President Bush’s exit in 2008, our annual deficit was 3.18% of GDP. Spending was now growing faster than our economy. This trajectory has only increased under the current administration. In only two years our annual budget deficit has increased to 10.64%. These rates of increase in government spending are unsustainable. Let’s consider the federal debt. At the end of the fiscal year in 2000 (Sept 30,
Chris Davis is a small business owner from Greenwood Village, Colorado who has done business in metro Denver for 17 years. He is also the president of Americans for Budget Reform and a Young Life Committee member.
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Free Markets | Energy & Environment
Warm Earthers’ and Environmentalists’ Pagan Roots Dave Skiver, Contributing Writer
America’s founders understood that we are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights, and that the rejection of this truth ultimately breeds tyranny. As history has shown again and again, rejection of our Creator doesn’t bring enlightenment, but only darkness instead. There is no better evidence of this than modern-day environmentalism. Amazingly, environmentalism’s birth was foretold in Scripture nearly two millennia ago by Paul of Tarsus in his epistle to the Romans (1:19-25). There he warned that when people reject their Creator, sooner or later they will end up worshiping and serving creation instead. It is appropriate to be faithful stewards of this God-given world. But when carried to the extreme, stewardship morphs into environmentalism with all the characteristics of a pagan religion that worships the earth as god. And if the United Nations had its way, environmentalism would be the world’s only religion. According to a 2007 UN Environmental Program (UNEP) report, “The environment should compete with religion as the only compelling, value-based narrative available to humanity.” Throughout history, pagan priests have relied on deceit and fear-mongering to extract from the masses their sacrifice of treasure, labor, and even their very lives or the lives of their children. The paral-
lels to today’s environmental movement are uncanny. Environmentalism’s leaders and their political puppets continually deceive the masses in order to advance their agenda. Take, for example, Colorado’s former U.S. Senator Timothy Wirth: “What we’ve got to do in energy conservation is try to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, to have approached global warming as if it is real means energy conservation, so we will be doing the right thing anyway in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.” To “ride the global warming issue,” environmentalism’s high priests must also strike fear into the hearts of the masses. So environmentalism’s false prophets preach lies of impending doom with the mainstream media as their megaphone and worship choir. The people must be duped into believing that the most dire consequences await them if they do not bow to the will of the priests. As “Climategate” has proven, even science is twisted and perverted to advance their cause. Once the masses have succumbed to the lies and fear-mongering, the priests can extort an ever-increasing sacrifice of treasure by pursuing their most holy grail: cap and trade. By artificially increasing the cost of energy use and pro-
duction, this scheme would drive up the costs for every American household by hundreds, even thousands of dollars a year. Environmentalism’s priesthood covers up the true impact by focusing just on household utilities bills. What they omit is the obvious fact that raising the price of energy impacts every sector of
…the priests extort an ever-increasing sacrifice of treasure by pursuing their most holy grail: cap and trade. our economy, not just utilities. Prices will soar, while the temple coffers and priests’ pockets overflow with our hard-earned treasure (think Al Gore). And despite its rhetoric about compassion for humanity, all too many environmental spokesmen have a far different view (from environmentalism.com and related links): Human beings, as a species, have no more value than slugs…I suspect that eradicating smallpox was wrong. It played an important part in balancing ecosystems. -John Davis, editor, Earth First! Journal Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental. -Dave Forman, founder, Earth First!
We have become a plague upon ourselves and upon the Earth. … Until such time as Homo sapiens should decide to rejoin nature, some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along. (source: “Mother Nature as a hothouse flower,” Los Angeles Times Book Review, October 22, 1989, p. 10.) -David Graber, biologist, National Park Service
Though all environmentalists may not be this extreme, there is still plenty of propaganda about the need to control human population levels. This has led to such abominations as forced abortion/ sterilization, the unnecessary death of millions in developing nations from malaria thanks to the criminally bogus ban on DDT, the reduction of the world food supply by burning it up as ethanol fuel, etc. So the masses not only must bring their sacrifice of treasure, but also their lives and the lives of their children. America’s conservation policy has to be based on true science, real compassion, and the highest view of human life. Only when we see all people as precious in the eyes of God and created in His image will we be truly equipped to care for His beautiful creation. Dave Skiver, a retired Air Force officer, is now a pastor, adjunct university professor, and freelance writer/editor.
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24 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010
Give Me Energy, or Give Me Death
Brian Beck, Contributing Writer
The American economic machine is reliant upon the earth’s natural resources which are exploited and utilized to manufacture and produce goods and services. These in turn help to generate profit which in turns helps develop wealth. If you are a Communist or a recent college graduate, you probably have not been taught the capitalist economic model and your head is about to explode.
Who says there is a water shortage? Amazingly, someone thought to cover the earth’s surface with over 75% water. The management of water in this country is a manipulation and hoarding of an essential natural resource, particularly in the West. Why is it that we as a nation, who built the Hoover Dam, constructed the Alcan highway, executed the Manhattan project and put men on the moon, can pump oil almost a thousand miles in Alaska, but we have not figured out a way to tap the oceans that surround our country and pump clean water into the heart of it? Again, it is an idea problem, not a lack of water. While we in the west squabble over water rights, we could be pumping billions of gallons of water per day to be used for drinking, agriculture, irrigation and industry. This should be one of our nation’s next great public works projects. Taxes are about to deal a crushing blow to the entrepreneurial spirit in this country. How many times must it be stated that when taxes are high, economic performance is low? It has been proven many times that when taxes are low, both the people and the government experience greater cash flow. Imagine a win-win situation that actually works. High taxes and big government restrict our economy. The manipulation of natural resources in the name of “environmentalism” is a perversion of the existence and purpose of natural resources. They are meant to be utilized to better the human condition. The tyranny that is growing in our country is an affront to the principles that this country was founded upon. Scarcity mentality with our natural resources and the unrestrained acquisition of power by the government are serving to undermine this country’s true potential.
If you are a Communist or a recent college graduate, you probably have not been taught the capitalist economic model and your head is about to explode. Get the duct tape, because the rabbit hole is about to get a lot deeper. In his book God Wants You to be Rich, Paul Zane Pilsner, a Fortune 500 CEO by the time he was 25, describes a mindset regarding natural resources. You either operate in the realm of scarcity mentality, or you subscribe to abundance mentality. If you were alive during the later part of the 18th century, you would have been all too aware of the conventional belief that the world was about to experience a lack of energy. The newspaper read out loud in bold print, “WORLD TO GO DARK, WHALE OIL SHORTAGE.” This was the epitome of scarcity mentality. Soon after that, petroleum was discovered and the rest is history. There is no shortage of energy, there is only an idea crisis. America needs cheap and abundant energy to run the largest economic engine of the free world. We have enormous energy potential that we are not being allowed to utilize. Coal, oil, nuclear, natural gas, wind, solar, ethanol (the Brazilians told OPEC to jump in a lake back in the 70s; it works), hydrogen and many other sources that can be used to maximize energy potential. We must exhaust every avenue that is available to us.
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Common Defense | National Security
There is No Substitute for Victory! Col Jimmie H. Butler, USAF Ret, Contributing Writer
Approaching the ninth anniversary of the most deadly attack on American soil, I’m reminded of another quote I learned as part of 4th Class Knowledge for USAFA basic cadets in 1959: From the Far East, I send you one single thought, one sole idea—written in red on every beachhead from Australia to Tokyo—‘There is no substitute for victory!’
Unfortunately, in a time of great danger, we elected a commander in chief who opposes using the word victory relative to our enemies. On July 23, 2009 President Obama stated, “I’m always worried about using the word ‘victory,’ because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur.” Interesting coincidence. Most of us recognize right way whether Obama or MacArthur had a much stronger understanding of what makes America safer. The president continued, “We’re not dealing with nation states at this point. We’re concerned with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, Al Qaeda’s allies. So when you have a non-state actor, a shadowy operation like Al Qaeda, our goal is to make sure they can’t attack the United States.” Sounds like a defensive plan for keeping America safe. As a child reading about World War II, I came across another applicable quote for another of America’s five, 5-star generals. General “Hap” Arnold stated, “The best defense is attack.” We know what America achieved under difficult circumstances in World War II under such great leaders as MacArthur and Arnold. Obama has set a much lower bar for success—and has failed to achieve it in his 19 months as commander-inchief. Last November a cowardly, Al Qaeda-inspired attacker murdered 13 Ameri-
cans at Ft. Hood. Consider the years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11. Seldom have our enemies killed that many Americans in a single battle. Add in the Christmas Day bomber and the Times Square bomber, and you have two more dangerous attacks on American soil thwarted only by the incompetence of the attackers. We will not continue to be so lucky overcoming all the murderous plots already in the works against American citizens. Obama’s lack of leadership, experience, and common sense in facing our true enemies will get more American killed by attacks here in the homeland. Related to the lack of commitment to victory against America’s enemies is the political decision not to control America’s southern border. Obama, Holder, and Napolitano are failing to live up to their responsibilities to keep Americans safe. Sheriffs in Arizona routinely report on how deeply armed smugglers penetrate into America to escort their cargos of drugs and illegal aliens. Trash that lines these smuggling corridors should cause an uprising by the environmentalists—but they have a political agenda. The trash and discards tell us some invaders who cross our southern border with relative impunity are from terrorist groups committed to attacking America. Unfortunately, our president maintains his oft-promised laser-like focus on gaining political advantage on all critical issues. A victory in this growing “border war” would make clear that rampant violence in Mexico isn’t permitted to cross into America. However, the president is more concerned about stirring up the Hispanic voting block to try to save Democrat congressional seats this year and to improve his sagging reelection hopes in 2012.
On August 10, Senate Majority Leader Reid turned to race baiting to try to save his Senate seat in November saying, “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, okay?” Answers come quickly to mind, Mr.
How many more innocent Arizonans must die before Obama feels enough political pressure to defend Arizona by closing the border? Reid. Many Americans of Hispanic heritage established an enviable record of heroism in battle. Medal of Honor recipient Roy P. Benavidez comes immediately to mind for his extraordinary valor during the Vietnam War. Today’s Democrat party of Reid, Obama, Pelosi, etcetera, has no honor. The party under the influence of Saul Alinsky’s teaching has an ever-growing record of hostility to people of faith—except perhaps for the Muslim faith. So, Mr. Reid, Americans of Hispanic heritage who have strong values of faith and honor are much more aligned with
today’s Republicans. The more pertinent question is: How can anyone with integrity have any interest in being associated with today’s Democrat party? While our president doesn’t like using the word victory in dealing with America’s true enemies, I suspect he has no such reservations as he continually plots how to vanquish those on his personal enemies list. With the likes of Obama and Reid so focused on self-serving political victories, my number one question is: How many more innocent Arizonans must die before Obama feels enough political pressure to defend Arizona by closing the border? An even more critical question is: How many more innocent Americans will die because Obama’s flawed policies allow trained terrorists to enter through our open southern border? Jimmie H. Butler is a retired USAF combat veteran who flew 240 combat missions in Cessnas, mostly over the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos. He is the author of A Certain Brotherhood and two techno thrillers.
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26 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010
U.S. Government Violates Constitution Over Arizona’s Immigration Law
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George Koukeas, Guest Writer News articles have been mentioning the U.S. government’s attempt, through the justice department, to negate Arizona’s new immigration law. Further, District Judge Susan Bolton has recently ruled against certain provisions in the immigration law so they can not be enforced by Arizona. On the questional basis that federal law has supremacy over the states in making immigration laws, justice department lawyers allege that Arizona has no constitutional right to enforce its own immigration law. In other words, Arizona has no right to protect its residents from foreign thugs. However, according to the U.S. Constitution and its corresponding documents, a state’s law cannot be nullified if it does not violate the Constitution. As such, the federal government cannot legally override Arizona’s immigration law because it does not contradict the Constitution’s guarantee of the protection of citizens from foreign– or domestic-born criminals. Arizona’s immigration law protects, rather than violates, the citizens’ rights, by repelling illegal invaders. Therefore, Arizona can make and enforce this law without interference from the federal government. This is part of the sovereignty of states that is recognized by the Constitution’s predecessor, the Articles of Confederation. In protecting people’s rights from foreign thugs, Arizona’s law actual meets the otherwise unmet requirements imposed by the Constitutional onto the federal government itself. Hence, the government can not justifiably interfere with any state’s efforts in this regard. The federal government would violate its constitutional mandate to protect people’s rights by knocking down Arizona’s law, thereby fostering more illegal entry. Obviously, this policy would endanger— not protect—Americans’ rights. Allowing foreigners to bypass the naturalization process via illegal entry enables drug dealers and terrorists to follow undetected behind the petty trespassers. The dramatic emergence of drug cartels in Arizona and
Texas has been frequently reported, and illegal entrants were behind the plot to detonate explosives at Fort Dix in New Jersey. In light of the fact that the government’s negligence towards illegal entry jeopardizes individual rights of Americans, Arizona has every constitutional right to safeguard its residents by separating the criminals from the law-abiding immigrants. Overturning Arizona’s law through arbitrary judicial decisions will prevent that state from defending its citizens from victimization by foreign criminals, thus violating the citizens’ Constitutional protections. This subversion of the Constitution, the basis of all of our laws, is a tyranny that renowned Renaissance writer Baron De Montesquieu warned about. He wrote, “There is no greater injustice than that which perpetuates itself under the guise of law and in the name of Justice.” This is the tyranny that Judge Bolton is promoting; rather than quote constitutional laws and purposes, her public statements merely convey her personal opinions. Had Bolton been more mindful of the Constitution, Arizona’s law would have already gone into effect, requiring officers to check the immigration status of law-breakers they normally arrest and deporting or incarcerating those found to be illegal aliens. This legitimate method of penalizing unchecked illegal entry would protect citizens from further crimes that may otherwise have been committed. Bolton’s decision has enabled illegal aliens who would commit crimes in Arizona. The U.S. government should help Arizona reinstate its immigration law to protect the peoples’ rights. States should also follow Utah’s decision to continually challenge the government’s endangering negligence. In the meantime, the Minute man Civil Defense Corps must continue their work helping the Border Patrol. These steps are essential to end the tyranny yielded by a corrupt legal system that is jeopardizing the safety of Americans.
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Hometown Hero Nick Kneebone William T. Gillin, Founding Editor
When I met Nick at the World War II veterans’ luncheon, the eight stripes on the forearm of his Army uniform caught my attention. Each stripe represents six months of overseas duty, totaling four years during the World War II. When he was eighteen, Nick joined the Army National Guard in his home state of South Dakota in September of 1941. A young man just out of high school, he was eager to find excitement and adventure. He could not have imagined what war would be like for him. His artillery battalion was part the 158th Regimental Combat Team called the Bushmasters. After training at Fort Ord, CA, his unit left San Francisco in November 1941. Nick joked that when their ship stopped at Alcatraz it was to pick up their officers! They sailed to Honolulu and enjoyed a short stay then shipped out just days before Pearl Harbor was bombed. After spending Christmas in Brisbane, Australia, they moved north to Port Darwin. In February 1942, the port was bombed by large formations of Japanese planes which sank eight ships. Nick remembers the Japanese pilots flying so low that he could see their white scarves and helmets. When his unit left Australia, they landed in New Guinea to defend against the Japanese invasion. One of Nick’s favorite stories is the time he and his buddies were washing their clothes in a jungle river. They noticed columns of water rising out of the river, and suddenly realized the Japanese on the other side were shooting at them. They left their clothes and took off running. Nick ran behind a buddy who was 6’4” tall, stark naked, and says that he was “scared as hell, and laughing at the same time.” When they left New Guinea, Nick’s unit made combat landings on several islands, including Biak, Buna, and New Britain. After the bombardments and heavy fighting, he saw many dead Japanese soldiers and remembers the stench of decaying bodies in the hot tropical sun. He summed up much of his experience in the Pacific war as “being hot, hungry, dirty, scared, and bored with monotony.” Much of their time was spent on labor detail unloading ships. Flies and sand fleas were constant companions. Dysentery was a common ailment in the primitive jungle conditions. The 158th RCT participated in the liberation of the Philippines, and landed on the island of Luzon in January 1945. He remembers seeing General Douglas MacArthur near Baguio, with his famous pipe in his mouth. Nick sadly recalls finding his friend Charlie MacLaughlin dead with his legs blown off. He discovered a prayer card that Charlie carried which read, “Lord, take my arms, take my legs, take my soul.” This prayer was a powerful
message to Nick, and he says events like that change a man for the rest of his life. Another incident made a lasting impression on Nick. His father had died when Nick was eleven, and he still remembers the powerful aroma of roses at the funeral. One night on Luzon, crouched in a slit trench and scared, Nick smelled roses for several minutes. He felt like his dad was with him and all would be ok. Nick told how he lost five stripes in one day. He was on patrol and had set up a forward perimeter. It was quiet, and he was invited to have dinner with a wealthy family in a large house. The rest of his unit returned to base, but Nick had his eye on the family’s beautiful daughter, of “high Castilian Spanish” heritage. In the early morning he made his way back and discovered his unit had moved during the night. When he caught up with them, his commanding officer was furious and busted him from platoon sergeant to private. Nick laughs about it now, and when he returned to the United States, his rank was restored. In July 1945 he was one of the last two of his unit to be shipped home. He thought he would land in San Francisco where a girlfriend was waiting for him. But his ship went through the Panama Canal, and he ended up in Virginia. He left the Army as a master sergeant. The Bushmasters compiled an admirable record during WWII. In three operations in the Philippines alone, they were credited with nearly 4,700 Japanese soldiers killed and 584 captured. Out of 3,000 men, they lost 216. In a speech to the Bushmaster East Association, General MacArthur said, “In time, you Bushmasters will be gone but
“…events like that change a man for the rest of his life.”
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your military record will live forever! You are among the bravest of the brave! In every battle, you have defeated the Japanese who had never been defeated in modern history. I am proud to say—no greater fighting combat team than the 158th Regimental Combat Team has ever been deployed for battle.” Nick became a civil servant and made his career in Colorado Springs working for NORAD and the Air Force Academy. At 88, Nick is still bright and lively. Like most of the “Greatest Generation,” he doesn’t consider himself a hero for his time spent in the war. But he and all the others who fought in World War II deserve our gratitude for the sacrifices they made to keep America free. William T. Gillin grew up in Montana and graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1973. Now a commercial pilot, Bill wants to see our government return to the constitutional republic envisioned by our Founding Fathers.
NCOA Honors WWII Legacy Vets Cindy Lyons, Senior Staff Writer Are you a World War II veteran? There is a special honor that Jane Rodgers and the Air Academy chapter of the NCOA (Non-Commissioned Officers Association) would like to bestow upon you to honor your loyal and faithful service in WWII. There will be a beautiful ceremony at the Cheyenne Conference Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs on Saturday, October 23 with social hour at 6:30 p.m. and a dinner that follows, at no cost to WWII veterans. Rodgers got involved initially with WWII veterans after hearing veteran Bill Edwards’ WWII experience. Edwards passed away last year but his legacy lives on in a three part story on the “WWII wall” at the Peak Grill in Colorado Springs. Edwards was with the Eagle Squadron, a group of Americans that fought for England in WWII. Most transfered to American squadrons once
veterans and give them a truly special moment at a presentation ceremony honoring their military service during the war.” “Even if the veteran is in a nursing home or lives alone, every vet of the greatest generation of war heroes is deserving of a medal,” Rodgers said. “So please, people, call your neighbor and ask him or her if they are a WWII vet and tell them what we are trying to do for them. Have them call me today. We don›t have much time left, October 23 is coming soon.” Contact Rodgers to get the “Ceremony Worksheet” sent to you or you may pick up the forms at Peak Grill. Forms need to be submitted by October 1. To make reservations for the Legacy Medallion Ceremony, call Rodgers at 719.638.1770. Cost is free for WWII vets and $30 for all others. In addition to meeting the veterans, WWII reenactors will attend and bring along jeeps and other WWII memorabilia. Peak Grill hosts a monthly meeting for WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans to come together for good company and good food. It begins at 11 a.m. on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. There are special discounts for veterans so please call Peaks Grill for details. The next meeting is September 14.
“So please, people, call your neighbor and ask him or her if they are a WWII vet and tell them what we are trying to do for them.” the U.S. entered the war. Rodgers gave Edwards a special tribute at the Shriner’s Place of Remembrance. “I wanted to work with WWII veterans and I naturally fell into informing all WWII vets about the Legacy Medallion once I saw it around the neck of Duke Boswell and in the case Harvey Visnaw carried while they were celebrating Pearl Harbor Day last December at Peak Grill,” Rodgers said. She had contacted the local chapter of the NCOA to find out more and met Jerry Zoebisch. Rodgers has been trying to find WWII veterans to honor with the medal for the last four months. According to an NCOA flier, “the presentations have taken place at family reunions, conventions, military unit reunions, retirement homes, and in formal bouquet settings. And the medal may also be given to a surviving family member.” The NCOA website states that “[we] made a commitment to honor Veterans of World War II and developed the Medallion Honor and Remembrance Presentation. The intent is to honor these special
Cindy Lyons is a twenty-six year disabled veteran of the US Army Reserves. Considering the U.S. Constitution the cornerstone of our republic, she has become a citizen blogger, self-trained out of deep concern for her nation and in passionate opposition to the progressive onslaught. Visit www.aancoa.org for more information on the NCOA and Legacy Medallions. Peak Grill 4423 Centennial Blvd Colorado Springs, CO, 80907 (719) 260-6905 Cheyenne Conference Mountain Resort 3225 Broadmoor Valley Road Colorado Springs, CO 80906 800.428.8886 • 719.538.4000
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Bill of Rights | Second Amendment
Clarence Thomas: Contemporary Hero of the Constitution Richard Eleuterio, Contributing Writer The Supreme Court on June 28, 2010 reaffirmed the right of individual citizens to own and possess firearms anywhere in the United States. Even states and municipalities cannot impede this fundamental right. Two years earlier in the District of Columbia v Heller this same right was recognized in all federal jurisdictions.
Thomas saw the “due process” clause of the 14th Amendment as a catch-all and a much more subjective part of the Constitution and, therefore, much easier to overturn. The terms “rights,” “liberties,” “privileges,” and “immunities” were often used by our Founding Fathers to describe the unalienable and inherent government-protected rights delineated in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Due process was procedural. How did Justice Thomas come about his strongly independent inclinations? First he was raised primarily by his grandparents in poor, segregated, rural Georgia. They taught him by example the values of honest hard work, self-sufficiency, persistence, and, despite terrible injustices suffered daily by blacks in the South during the 1950s, love of this country. He also acquired from them a fierce independence and ambition to succeed, which impelled him to earn degrees at Holy Cross College and Yale Law School. After law school he worked on the staff of John Danforth at the Missouri State
Justice Antonin Scalia has said that Thomas follows neither legal precedent nor case law. The legal challenge to the restrictive gun control laws of Chicago in McDonald v Chicago was advanced by Otis McDonald, a 79-year-old resident of a Chicago suburb. McDonald felt that his life and property were threatened by neighborhood thugs. He had experienced several burglaries in the past 10 years or so. Of the 5-4 majority in the case, four of the justices used the “due process” clause of the 14th Amendment in their opinion. Clarence Thomas used the more intrinsic clause of “privileges or immunities.”
Attorney General’s office. He then joined the legal staff of the Monsanto Chemical Company. His next career move was on to Washington D.C. where, with the sponsorship of the nowSenator Danforth, he was hired to head the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Reagan administration. After 10 years in Washington, President George H. W. Bush selected him to the Federal D.C. Court of Appeals where he joined his future Supreme Court colleague Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Within two years, he was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to the Supreme Court. The confirmation process likely would have destroyed a lesser man. For many years after his assumption of the office, he was shunned by much of the black community. Often,
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when invited to speak before a group, the invitations were rescinded due to pressure from black progressive organizations. His friend and ideological ally on the court, Justice Antonin Scalia, has said that Thomas follows neither legal precedent nor case law. Case law or prior legal rulings are a mechanism which courts have used for over 100 years, with past decisions taking precedence over the Constitution. This has caused major deviations from the original meaning of the Constitution. Thomas has emerged as the most consistent originalist on the court. In his independent opinion he cited the antebellum laws by southern THOMAS on page 32
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THOMAS continued from page 31 states such as Virginia in which it was a crime, notwithstanding the 1st Amendment, to speak out against slavery. He also cited the postbellum white racist groups’ use of gun control laws to disarm innocent blacks. Because of state and local gun control laws, many unarmed blacks were killed in massacres. In the 80 years following the Emancipation Proclamation, approximately 3,400 (mostly unarmed) blacks were lynched. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution revolutionized government’s role as a protector of our natural rights. The Case Law concept does nothing to further these sacred values and instead allows our courts and government leaders to broadly deviate from them. Thomas’s opinion was like a laser guided shot through the 223 years of murky and inconsistent constitutional Supreme Court rulings to the ultimate source by way of the 14th Amendment to Article
IV, Section 2, Clause 1 of the original Constitution which declares: The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. It is a historic rarity for a person to resist the tide of prevailing precedent and opinion to stand for principle. Thomas, the greatest constitutional originalist of our generation, should be revered by all lovers of liberty. A child of Portuguese immigrants with limited formal education and means, Eleuterio perceived in his parents a strong work ethic as well as a deep and abiding love of this country and its incomparable opportunities. In addition to a love of classical music, he became strongly drawn to the ethics of fair play and honorable competition in sports. He has been intensely interested in politics and economics for many years, finding the current state of affairs cause for concern.
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Eternal Vigilance | The Fight Against Tyranny
9/11 and the Patriot Act Loss of Innocence, the 4th Amendment, and Brandon Mayfield Bob Adelmann, Featured Writer It took the Bush administration’s lawyers at the Department of Justice just two weeks after 9/11 to come up with the 350page bill expanding the already unconstitutional Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the Right to Privacy Act, and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and to provide an appropriately Orwellian cover title for it: “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.” We now know it better as the U.S. Patriot Act. The Patriot Act dramatically expanded the government’s ability to search telephone, medical, financial and other records, and to monitor e-mail communications of individuals; expanded the Secretary of the Treasury’s power to probe financial transactions; and expanded the definition of “terrorism” to include American citizens. The major incursion was the elimination of “judicial oversight” on such searches, as mandated by the 4th Amendment, which guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The bill passed with minimal floor debate in the Senate and no floor debate in the House (House members were given
only 30 minutes to read the bill), according to Judge Andrew Napolitano, senior judicial analyst for FOX News Channel. The Patriot Act, along with its offspring the Intelligence Authorization Act and the Intelligence Reform Act, “permits the execution of self-written search warrants [without a judge…and allows] federal agents to obtain records about you
house and law offices had been searched at least twice following the September 11 attacks, although nothing was stolen. A few days later, the FBI arrested him without charging him with any crime, kept him in confinement for two weeks with no access to his family, and only limited access to his attorney. His family found out where he was being held when the local FBI leaked the nature of the charges to the local press and the information appeared on the nightly news. Mayfield was first held at a Multnomah County jail under a false name, and then was transferred to another location after the news broke. The case against Mayfield stemmed from his fingerprints having been found on a bag of explosives after the Madrid, Spain bombings in March of 2004. Following an internal review of the case by the FBI, Mayfield was released without apology or explanation. Mayfield brought suit against the FBI, during which trial it was discovered that the FBI fabricated and concocted the fingerprint proofs. Judge Ann Aiken of the U.S. District Court for the District Court of Oregon said in her September 2007 44-page opinion that the government defended its actions under FISA, holding “that the Constitution need not control the conduct
As a result of the tragedy that was September 11th 2001, it is important to take terrorist threats seriously, but under no circumstances should we have to fear what we say, write, or type. This is America, isn’t it? —Judge Andrew Napolitano from your accountant, bank, boat dealer, book store, car dealer, casino, computer server, credit union, dentist, HMO, hospital, hotel manager, insurance company, jewelry store, lawyer, library, pawn broker, pharmacist, physician, postman, real estate agent, supermarket, telephone company, travel agent…and use the evidence thus obtained in any criminal prosecution against you.” The most egregious and insidious provisions provide for National Security Letters (NSL), often referred to as “sneak and peek” authorizations, to enter and search private premises without a search warrant. Brandon Mayfield learned about NSLs the hard way. An attorney in Washington County, Oregon, Mayfield suspected that his
of criminal surveillance in the United States.” Aiken responded, “In place of the 4th Amendment, the people [of the United States] are expected to defer to the Executive Branch and its representation that it will authorize such surveillance only when appropriate.” In other words, Aiken continued, the government “is asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any meaning. The court declines to do so.” She added: “It is critical that we, as a democratic nation, pay close attention to traditional 4th Amendment principles. The 4th Amendment has served this nation well for 200 years, through many other perils.” In his latest book, Lies the Government Told You, Napolitano commented, “The cynically named Patriot Act is a revolting and unconstitutional example of the Federal government taking advantage of people during times of crisis. To pass the Act in the wake of September 11, 2001 was one thing: to reauthorize it after it has proven to be wildly unconstitutional and phenomenally ineffective is quite another…As a result of the tragedy that was September 11, 2001, it is important to take terrorist threats seriously, but under no circumstances should we have to fear what we say, write, or type. This is America, isn’t it?” Bob Adelmann writes for The New American magazine, and lives in the Colorado Springs area.
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Living Under Alinsky’s Long, Dark Shadow Seventh in a Series on Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals An American Patriot, Contributing Writer Starting this series in March, I envisioned listing Alinsky’s main rules and justifications one by one. That would have been too boring as Marxist-style writing typically is. The more significant concept to start with was Alinsky’s declaration that truth was relative and changing for a community organizer. Couple that with a full chapter of Alinsky explaining how the ends justify the means and you can recognize Alinsky’s fingerprints all over many of today’s damaging issues. So, watching current events—be they a community-organizer-trained president
babbling lie after lie, corruption among political elites in congress, the administration, states, and cities run by Alinskyites, or our national security being undercut significantly—we see teachable, dangerous examples of Alinsky’s rules applied by ambitious, self-serving liberals in America. Alinsky-ite corruption: Speaker Pelosi promised to drain the corrupt swamp in the House of Representatives. For her, truth is quite relative and changing. She let investigations of corrupt liberals languish until the reality of gutter-level
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approval ratings for congress made her fear the aroused electorate. Longstanding charges against Congressman Rangel would have put any of us common people behind bars well before now. Try not reporting many thousands of dollars in income on your tax return. Unless you’re a member of the liberal, ruling elite, you don’t get the free pass. Remember, learning that ignorance of the law was no defense when you were caught violating it. We have the top liberal on the committee that writes tax laws arguing he was ignorant of tax laws he inflicted on other Americans. While liberals wrestle over whether to reprimand or even expel him from Congress, common Americans are thinking jail time. Congresswoman Waters’ case about arranging bailout money for a failing bank her family had a financial interest is suddenly in the news. Her main defense seems to be the race card. That seems both a claim that Speaker Pelosi is only addressing corruption by members of the Congressional Black Caucus and a suggestion that black corruption should get a free pass. Back in 1995, when criticizing Newt Gingrich, she harangued that no one should be so big and powerful as to be able to get away with violating the rules of the house, and there should be no double-standard. But, for Congresswoman Waters, truth is relative and changing. America should tolerate no corruption by members of the Congressional Black Congress or by anyone in the wellentrenched liberal ruling elite. Treasury Secretary Geithner and former Senator Tom Daschle, both white men, should be penalized as much as you or I if we failed to report significant income to the IRS. All liberals scurry to remain safe under the long, dark shadow of Alinsky. Judicial system: Under an Alinsky-ite president and senate, we now have a new justice whose major qualification is that for the next 30-40 years, she will be a Supreme Court vote for all things Alinsky. Beware of the Alinsky-ites getting one
more seat. Agitators (a basic Alinsky role) will bring cases giving the court an opportunity to overturn Constitutionallyguaranteed rights and freedoms based on 5-4 votes. Ruling against the will of the people: Instead of offering positive leadership, the president remains on the wrong side of terrorist trials in New York City, a highly provocative and emotionally hurtful mosque near Ground Zero, preventing offshore oil drilling, and the Arizona law aimed at protecting Arizonans from the invasion of armed drug cartel troops. When Obama’s poll numbers first began to fall, spokesman Gibbs alibied that poll numbers drop when you’re making tough decisions. The president’s poll numbers have plummeted because he continues making the wrong decisions or no decisions at all on tough issues. Colorado elections: Grassroots voters picked two strong conservatives, Dan Maes and Ken Buck, for the November elections in spite of possible Alinsky-ite mischief making. I saw various e-mails and blog-postings with senders claiming to be conservatives and attacking the most conservative candidates. We know Alinsky-ites targeted Colorado with a big-money blueprint this decade to turn Colorado into a blue state, much to the loss of us all. It’s coming again and will be characterized by a campaign of lies against Maes and Buck and other conservatives trying to take Colorado back at all levels. Be ready. When you see some wild accusatory claim in the Denver Post and other liberal newspapers, or in e-mails from people you don’t know, assume they are lying. Colorado Alinsky-ites will be lying from now through November 2. Shadows are longest at sunrise and sunset. In evening they usher in a long period of great darkness. The long dark shadows of morning are vanquished by the stronger light of day. Let’s make the November elections like the light of a new day and vanquish the socialist, Alinsky darkness from Colorado and America forever.
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34 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010 9/30/
Liberal Bullies Losing Their Campus Playgrounds
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In August, many a parent sent off a kid to college for the first time. And many parents will fear the worst, that lurking there on campus is a many-headed Hydra monster, fierce guardian of all things Politically Correct, ready to devour their precious child. It’s easy to imagine this. It happened to me. Despite coming from a strong family of traditional values, despite surviving many a duel with bullying liberal high school teachers, and despite emerging as a young teen madder than ever from a bruising, brutal, and losing campaign for my idol, Barry Goldwater, it took little more than three semesters on the CUBoulder campus for the Hydra to find me. In my first days at college I feistily de-
with thousands to sing “We Shall Overcome” when Joan Baez limousined into Red Rocks. Being a cool CU-Boulder student at the time I even traveled to Greeley and helped the hick UNC kids there organize their own antiwar rally. But hard as they tried those UNC rebels never quite measured up to Berkeley or Boulder protest standards—the best they could muster was to repeatedly push the pedestrian buttons at key crosswalks, triggering the “Walk/Don’t Walk” signs and hopelessly clogging traffic. My Boulder values survived, for a long while, my graduation and leaving Boulder. Which wasn’t surprising since my journalism career kept me surrounded by colleagues who basically think alike. Then along came a cowboy from California. Ronald Reagan. I abused and ridiculed the man at first, but my frontal lobes were maturing and it wasn’t too long until I told myself, “This guy’s making sense.” It took a sharp, but short, recession, but Reaganomics eventually turned things around. After those long, awful years of Nixon, Ford, and Jimmy Carter it was morning again in America. Morning came again to Eastern Europe, too, after President Reagan set in motion events that led to Mr. Gorbachev tearing down that wall, and then the virtually unthinkable happened—the Soviet Empire crumbled away. Today I shudder to think how I let the Hydra beast from long ago get me and steal a decade of my life when I went off to college. I shudder, too, when I think of gelatin-brained youths headed off to campus today. But today’s college-bound conservative kids have something I didn’t—a support network that abounds with conservative magazines, alternative media websites, Fox News, talk radio, best-selling books, and Tea Parties. Most of these didn’t exist back then. There’s good news, too, on campus itself. Just last month the University of Virginia announced a new course called Conservatism 101, which will offer a perspective rarely found at any college and which supporters predict will set a trend nationwide (the course quickly filled up and a second section was added). Make no mistake, the many-headed Hydra of Political Correctness still lurks on campus, fat and nasty as ever. But Hercules managed to slay the Hydra of his time. The beast of our day is surely not invincible, either.
The Vietnam War was going badly and Nixon turned out to be a creep…and the hippie chicks would never date a square. bated the potty-mouthed pioneers of the New Left, whose core values seemed to be, “if it feels good, do it.” I spoke up for my country and left bleeding many a foe who was foolish enough to praise Castro and Che and Ho Chi Minh. But in Year Two on campus I slowly surrendered. I wanted to be “in.” It was no longer fun not being one of my noisy peers, the cool and the hip who were so impressively outraged at everything. The Vietnam War was going badly (politically, not militarily) and Nixon turned out to be a creep. And besides that, the hippie chicks would never date a square. To a young lad whose frontal brain lobes were only partly developed it wasn’t hard to reject all I had believed in when I convinced myself that my generation was going to be the first in the history of the world to
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Then along came a cowboy from California. I abused and ridiculed Ronald Reagan at first, but it wasn’t too long until I told myself, “this guy’s making sense!” bring the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Harmony and understanding, crystal revelation, peace guiding the planets, love steering the stars. And like many of my fellow baby boomers I got stuck in the Sixties, stuck worse than a baby in the tar. More than a decade I spent protesting perceived racism, sexism, capitalism, imperialism, materialism, and everything else the alleged evil Establishment symbolized. I grew my hair long and proudly helped seize Boulder’s 28th Street bridge when Nixon mined Haiphong Harbor, went to shout down Spiro Agnew when he held a campaign rally in Denver, and joined
Jay Cadillac is a former newspaperman and currently a freelance writer. Contact him at jaycaddy@yahoo.com.
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As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed. As long as the connection subsists between his reason and his self-love, his opinions and his passions will have a reciprocal influence on each other. —James Madision, Federalist No. 10, 1787
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Realists and Idealists JM Peterson, Contributing Writer
Many people may have noticed that conservatives and liberals/progressives seem to occupy different worlds, viewing even the simplest matters in vastly different ways. Republicans have received the nickname of “The Party of No,” casting them in a pessimistic and negative light, an ingenious move by the progressives who push the idea that they are open to progress and towards approving measures that will help the People (with a capital P). However, the supposed pessimism of the Republican party is a lexical sham. The true difference between conservatives and progressives is that conservatives are realists, and they operate in the real world on every level. In contrast, progressives are idealists who operate in an almost fantasy world, a utopia, where there is no need for pessimism because everything always goes as planned and things are vastly oversimplified. Nowhere is this truer than in the arena of national defense. Progressives tend towards pacifism without isolationism, meaning that they wish us to be involved in world affairs, but not to get involved in any foreign conflicts. This is usually accompanied by their desire for us to step down as a world power and cede our sovereignty to a collective international government, such as the United Nations. They tend to be overly optimistic when it comes to international affairs, believing that talk and diplomacy can solve more problems than war ever could. They abhor violent conflict and would prefer to stay with economic sanctions. When they do enter into a conflict, they develop so many rules of engagement (ROE) that are out of place with today’s fast-changing battlefield that they essentially ask our soldiers to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. They hesitate to fund our soldiers, or hold their funding hostage in order to pass other legislation that is attached to it. They hesitate to answer the generals in charge of operations when they request more troops. That was the case when General McChrystal’s request for more troops went ignored for several months while Obama focused on trying to get the Olympics to come to America. Progressives operate in a world in which war does not exist, terrorists are criminals, not enemy combatants, and mere talk can smooth over relations with an area that has been turbulent since civilization began.
In contrast to this idealized view of national defense, conservatives realize that war is embedded in human nature. They understand that if an enemy is willing to die to see us killed, we are at an inherit disadvantage unless we match his ruthlessness with our own. They do not wish us to cede our superpower status, and instead believe we should use our military as a force for good throughout the world. Conservatives respect diplomacy, but realize it is much more effective when we have the military strength to back up our demands. The differences between idealism and realism extend beyond national defense. Take for example government healthcare. Progressives have an idealistic view
Conservatives are realists and operate in the real world on every level. of such legislation, thinking that people will not abuse the system and that it is not necessarily an excuse for the government to expand. On the contrary, conservatives realize that Medicare and Medicaid are subject to millions of dollars in fraud every year. They understand that with expanded government control of health insurance, even more fraud is likely. Progressives consider the extension of unemployment benefits as necessary and truly helps people out, with very few abusing the system. Meanwhile conservative realists understand that by incentivizing unemployment, more people will choose unemployment over a job offer, and therefore wish to limit unemployment benefits in most cases. While some people consider realists to be negative and pessimistic, this is a mistake. Realists are simply those people who understand that bad things happen to good people, that not everything will work out as planned, and that there really is evil in the world. More danger actually arises from those who refuse to acknowledge that we do not live in a utopia and that things can, indeed, go horribly wrong. In today’s world, with the current administration’s fanatical government spending, ever-deepening deficit, and fanciful take on foreign policy, it would be nice to have some real change, and to finally get some more realists in office this November. A military brat, JM Peterson was politically aware at a young age and hopes to let other young conservatives know that they are not alone. Peterson is currently pursuing a doctorate in psychology and enjoys training horses.
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Chuck Graybill, Featured Writer For the first 48 years of my life, September 11 was a special day for me, a day of celebration, my birthday. That day was forever desecrated nine years ago, September 11, 2001, by a group of Muslim extremists, modern day terrorists, now called radical Islamists. It was the vilest in a long list of terrorist attacks against the United States in radical Islam’s quest to rid the world of infidels. Now, the way has all but been paved for a mosque and community center to be built within a stone’s throw of Ground Zero. A proposed shrine to a divine victory, as many radical Islamists call it, is a global reminder of a disgraceful, gutless massacre of unwitting, innocent, unarmed Americans and an affront to common decency. It should not be built. According to radical Islamic apologists like Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam who is spearheading the Ground Zero mosque, and many other progressives, the U.S. was complicit in the 9/11 massacre. In their opinion they had no choice but to attack us, the great satan and leader of the infidels. According to radical Islamists, the holocaust never happened and its inclusion in history books is offensive. It appears the truth is often offensive to the Über-sensitive jihadists who follow the letter of Sharia law, but refuse to confront and admit their acts of treachery. How long before they object to any reminder of the World Trade Center massacre and demand the account of their cowardice be stricken from history books in the name of political correctness, and in accordance with Progressives never-ending quest to offend no one? Leading up to the 2008 presidential elections, we were told not dig too deeply into the background and past of Barack Obama. We were told it was racist to discuss his Marxist connections, his radical upbringing, writings, voting record, circle of friends and associates, speeches and teachings, denunciation of America, Americans and our flag. We were told it didn’t matter that he sat in Reverend Wright’s church for 20 years and that Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn were acquaintances. Now, we are being told the same things about Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and the proposed Ground Zero mosque. After all, the Imam is an emissary of our state department. The nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives at Ground Zero would probably say that it does matter! The site selection for the mosque is carefully calculated, with historical significance, to be as close as possible to radical Islam’s most recent divine victory. Throughout history, radical Islam has celebrated highly-prized conquests with a shrine to their perpetual jihad and quest to eradicate all non-believers. Transformation or takeover, innocence or evil, you decide, but don’t be fooled again! Islam for the true believers is not a religion. It is a complete political and propaganda system. It is a judicial and economic system. It is an ideology with military and religious branches. For radical Islam, our laws for freedom of religion do not apply because they want to supplant our laws with Sharia law. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of people coming into our country and using our laws, freedoms and liberties against us; our sense of fair play against us; our live and let live, turn the other cheek upbringing against us. It’s time we stand up and say we don’t care if it’s legal, it’s wrong! Building a mosque at Ground Zero isn’t moral, ethical or right—it’s just plain wrong! We bend over backward today to protect the rights of
the disenfranchised, illegal immigrants, permanently entitled and every conceivable radical opinion holder and criminal, but what about the rights of the majority and the real, not manufactured, victims? Contrary to recent comments by President Obama, building the Ground Zero mosque is not about religious freedom. Property rights and zoning ordinances, perhaps, but not religious freedom. I can’t open a bar anywhere I want, or a Planned Parenthood clinic, or a porn shop, or a factory. I’m not saying they can’t worship. Just not at Ground Zero, where the chants of allahu akbar five times daily will echo a constant reminder of the desecration of 9/11.
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Many years ago I read a novel by Thomas Wolfe called You Can’t Go Home Again. He was right! Three years after September 11, 2001 I returned to New York, almost 50 years after I had left. The city I saw was no longer the one in which I was born and lived most of my first 14 years. Things happen in the space of time. The place you called home many years ago exists only in your memories. The people are different, they have aged, some have died, many have moved away, and many new people call the city home. The most incongruous part of the picture I observed was that most of the old architecture remained intact. I remember the Irish neighborhood where I grew up and the fragrance of corned beef and cabbage that often permeated the hallways of my tenement. My playmates had surnames like O’Brien, Sullivan, Leddy and O’Neil. We were one of only two Portuguese families within a three or four block area. The other Portuguese family owned the building next door and a successful restaurant on the ground floor. We used to played stoop ball on the cornerstone of a building. That cornerstone was now covered by a metal grate but the restaurant, with different owners, was still in business. When I was a kid I could see the Empire State building, the emblem of New York, from my bedroom window. Over the years some buildings, mostly nondescript, had been replaced by new landmarks. One example of that change was the construction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. After traversing much of my old neighborhood, I decided to go to Ground Zero. I took the subway but the closest I could get to the Ground Zero site was six or seven blocks away. A sign said the trade center station was closed because of tunnel blockage. Emerging from the subway, my first impression was the sterile nature of the very narrow side streets. Those streets, once teeming with Bowery Bums, the alcoholics who lived amid the many warehouses and flophouses of this section of lower Manhattan, then New York’s skid
row, were nearly empty. That area south of Canal Street was now called Tribeca. Ironically, Tribeca is now the home of many wealthy New Yorkers connected with the entertainment industry. Hurrying down the street I noticed a gap in the skyline – Ground Zero. As I approached the actual site I noted new construction. They were the buildings on the periphery of the impact that had been severely damaged and had to be rebuilt. My anticipation increased as I approached the fence surrounding the site of the most cataclysmic attack on United States territory. Viewing through a small gap in the fence I was impressed with the huge size of the chasm. It was ap-
That ugly cavity is all that was left of the many lives snuffed out and buried in the debris… proximately 250 feet deep by 2,500 feet by 3,000 feet. No apparent reconstruction had begun. Using heavy equipment, about 20 construction workers appeared to be sifting through the debris on the parts of the huge excavation not covered by a lake of muddy water. That ugly cavity was all that was left of the many lives snuffed out and buried in the debris of the once proudly standing symbols of the center of commerce in the western world. I felt the rage shared by most Americans for this insipidly vile act perpetrated by people who despise us and our unique, exceptional character as the world’s leading nation. Three years after the attack that hole represented an insult, a tribute to people unwillingly martyred to the cause of market economics and liberty on September 11, 2001. As a child of Portuguese immigrants with limited formal education and means, Richard perceived in them a strong work ethic plus a deep and abiding love of this country and its incomparable opportunities. In addition to a love of classical music, he became strongly drawn to the ethics of fair play and honorable competition in sports. He has been intensely interested in politics and economics for many years, finding the current state of affairs cause for concern.
E-race Racism
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Sid Huston, Contributing Writer In 1955 Jill Jackson and Sy Miller seemingly got the whole world singing: “Let There be Peace on Earth.” Their words just might get you singing too. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. Let there be peace on earth the peace that was meant to be. With God as our Father Brothers all are we. Let me walk with my
took one look at this boy and felt fear. I am sure he was uncomfortable with me too, after all I probably starred and gawked at him. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful but I am sure I came across that way. We learn from the Holy Scriptures that God’s perfect love drives out fear. Showing appreciation to other people is a key to being a peace-maker. We should all strive to become “good-finders” and work at regarding other people as being more important than ourselves. If each one of us would ask God to help us to be cheerleaders, talent noticers, skill enthusiasts, and assertive complimenters this type of appreciation would show a lot of love and bridge some of the divide between the races. Most people know that racism is bad, but very few know its cause. Racism is the result of comparisons and comparisons happen because of pride. Pride-filled comparisons are diabolically designed to bring about discontent and with it the temptation to threaten those we are contrasted to. In our capitalistic culture, we need to learn to embrace the competition, but take the personal/ ad hominum attacks out of it. The Bible says those who compare themselves to others only delude themselves. Our society is obsessed with comparisons. We need to get back to what Dr. Martin Luther King said about the content of our character. Think about it, either we gloat in pride and become offensive, or we sulk in failure, shrink back and feel repulsively isolated. The need of the day is for each of us to be secure in our identity in God. There is a very positive and proactive thing we can do to E-race Racism; we can look for practical ways to edify others. We can find someone who needs to be built up and then come alongside them as a friend. For me, I found that teaching young men how to throw, catch and shoot a basketball ball was a great way to build up a young person. You might have computer or business skills, maybe math skills, homemaking skills or mechanical acumen that can be used to build, not things, but people. Let’s E-Race Racism, Academy and let it begin with…
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brother in perfect harmony,” so nice. Racism is a belief that hereditary differences between people and people groups determine achievement and status. It has in its brew the proud assumption that one’s own race is superior to another’s and suggests that they then own the right to rule. The formula that eradicates racism is found in the word “race.” This is a different kind of race, a race where we all win by choosing to lose. To experience more unity in our community, we will all have to let go of some petty feelings, and lose our pride along the way. There is no magic in this formula, just heart; the heart felt love of God. Therefore this acrostic begins with reverent worship. Jesus said: “For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth.” The truth is obvious, when we operate in our own identity be that of race, class, skill, size, culture, we are acting in an idolatrous and prejudicial way. In reverent worship we lay down our idols, and lose ourselves in God’s name, and in His holy nature. The cause of racism is fear, the fear of being rejected, dominated, or slighted in some way. Or, it is the sick desire to be a fear monger and grab all the power one can. This is why love is so critical to worship and to the eradication of racism. The opposite of love is not hate, it is fear. There was a time in my life when I had racist tendencies and it wasn’t because I hated, I was scarred. I wasn’t spiritually ready for my first run-in with a black boy. I grew up in a predominantly white community and as a pre-teen I had qualified to travel to another city to compete in a football throwing contest. When I got on the bus I
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40 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010
American Heritage
For a More Perfect Union David L. Kelly, Contributing Writer Liberty: our nation’s founders believed that a form of government accountable to the people, leaving the people fundamentally in control of their own destinies, best protected human liberty. September 17 is the 223rd anniversary of the signing of the U. S. Constitution. Much has been written about the Constitution and many have praised our form of government as well as despised it. But regardless of all that has happened to our government over the years, the Constitution is still in force and the supreme law of our nation. Many of you may have your concerns and opinions about the Constitution and how it is interpreted today or how it has been usurped and what the future may hold during these interesting times in which we live. Today’s issues with our government are not much different than during the early days of our republic during the writing and ratification of the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation, the guiding light and what held the compact of states together as a nation did protect the citizens and allowed freedom and liberty to take hold throughout the land. But after several years of war and then peace, many of the state representatives, including George Washington, felt that the Articles of Confederation needed to be altered and strengthened, giving more power to a national government. Washington called the then present structure of the national government, “a shadow without the substance.” In 1785, representatives from Virginia and Maryland met at Washington’s Mount Vernon to discuss interstate trade. They requested a meeting of states to discuss commerce and trade in hopes of improving such. Five states met in Annapolis in 1786 regarding commerce. This meeting seemed to go nowhere. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton used the failed meeting of states to call for a general convention of all of the states “to render the constitution of government adequate to the exigencies of the Union.” Several states began to choose delegates when the Congress acquiesced and declared that the “sole and express purpose” of the general convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation. On May 25, 1787 the convention began and delegates met to form a more perfect union. Every state was represented except for Rhode Island which was fearful of a stronger national government. Of the 56 men who had signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, only six of those attended this federal convention in Philadelphia. The delegates met formally in what is now called Independence Hall, deciding early on to secret proceedings to encourage honest and open discussions. Madison and Hamilton had decided from their experiences in Annapolis and from numerous problems of having a weak central government under the Articles of Confederation that they would push to scrap the present government and seek to form a completely new government. Nearly the whole first part of summer was spent discussing various plans such as the Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan and Hamilton’s plan. Slavery and the issue of representation in the lower house of government seemed to be a huge sticking point. Many felt the convention was doomed to fail. Then on July 12, Oliver Ellsworth proposed that representation for the lower
house be based on the number of free persons and three-fifths of “all other persons,” a euphemism for slaves. Once this was agreed upon through lengthy debates Ellsworth’s great compromise allowed the Convention’s Committee of Detail to draft the first version of the Constitution while the rest of the delegates took a welldeserved 10-day vacation. On August 6, the Committee of Detail submitted the first draft to the convention delegates. Over the next several weeks the draft was debated over piece by piece, revised and then agreed upon. A final draft was ordered to be written up on September 15, followed with the delegates signing this final draft on September 17. Most of what we now know that took place during the convention was recorded by James Madison in his extensive notes. It was not until 1840, a little more than three years after Madison death, before these notes were published and made public as Madison had kept to the pledge of secrecy. Fifty three years had passed by before American citizens had their first opportunity to review the behind the scenes activities of the formation of the new American government. Of the 62 delegates appointed to the convention, 55 showed up. At the convention, no more than 11 states were ever represented at one time. Of the 55 members of the convention; only 39 signed the final draft. John Lansing and Robert Yates, delegates from New York, left six weeks into the convention as they were disillusioned with the ongoing process and opposed any document that would consolidate the states into one government. Patrick Henry refused to attend the convention and democratic patriots such as George Mason, Luther Martin, John Francis Mercer, and Elbridge Gerry participated in the convention but refused to sign the new constitution because it lacked a Bill of Rights and provided inadequate representation of the people. The framers of the Constitution feared opposition to ratification and inserted the provision that it would go into effect when ratified by only 9 states. Many prominent Americans throughout the states made it clear that they would only ratify the Constitution on the grounds that the first act of the new government would be to write a number of Amendments to the Constitution providing for essential civil liberties. Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Minister to France at the time, wrote James Madison that he was concerned about “the omission of a bill of rights.... providing clearly....for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, and restriction against monopolies.” The Constitution was officially ratified by the required number of states on June 21, 1788. Rhode Island was the last to ratify the Constitution on May 29, 1790. The Bill Of Rights were ratified and came into effect on December 15, 1791. This ended at least six years of civil discourse to create the foundation of this new nation.
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David L. Kelly advocates for Liberty, Freedom, Limited Government and Free Markets. He leads the Liberty on the Rocks Colorado Springs Chapter, delivering “Tavern Style Politics in the Tradition of our Founding Fathers.” (www.libertyontherocks.org) David is also the co-founder of For What is Right. (www.forwhatisright.org)
www.facebook.com/TheConstitutionalistToday | 41
American Heritage
The Tenor* of Elections
El Paso County Clerk and Recorder
John Alexander Madison, Guest Writer
D E B A T E
You don’t have to like it, but elections have turned into very ugly and distasteful annual exercises in ‘democracy.’ It is happening everywhere, even in Colorado. Often, it is no longer about leadership, nor about ideas, nor about character, nor core values, nor the greater good. It is all about politics, a modern day circus replete with clowns (candidates of all stripes) who, in many respects, are as distasteful as a carnival sideshow. Politics is, after all, about power, about controlling agendas, about winning (at all costs). The sad truth is what has evolved…a proven formula for success in politics is to attack your opponent first, putting him on defense. That’s the truth but few seemed concerned about the truth…and as Jack said “you can’t handle the truth.” What happened to the concept of a citizenship legislature,
fully, they will soon become extinct. The establishment in fact does not know what is best for us…the people do. We’ve seen it for over a year now. In 2008, a majority of Americans voted for “change they can believe in” but now they want to change it back. The T.E.A. Party and the 9/12 groups around the country no longer are satisfied with being the silent majority. They both represent non-political movements based on principles and values. How refreshing. They were the silent majority, but they have awakened. The silent majority has been referred to as an unspecified large majority of
According to a 2009 report, there were 86 citizens having served in Congress for at least 36 years.
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one made up primarily of citizens who have a full-time occupation besides being a legislator? James Madison wrote that legislators should be ‘called for the most part from pursuits of a private nature and continued in appointment for a short period of office.’ Legislatures considered to be citizen legislatures include Wyoming, Oregon, New Mexico and Idaho. Many states, by contrast, have a professional legislature. (Wikipedia)
Short periods of time? According to a 2009 report, there were 86 citizens having served in Congress for at least 36 years. Senator Robert Byrd sat atop that list at 57 years, 176 days. Strom Thurmond, Daniel Inouye, Ted Kennedy, and Ted Stevens each endured (or benefitted from) over 40 year of public service. In fact, stick around Washington long enough and you will get a building named after you (Russell, Cannon). “Poor” Joe Biden ranked seventy-second on the list with just 36 years, 12 days. I say “poor” because Vice President Biden has consistently been listed as the poorest or second-poorest member of Congress. Of course, we know how they do math in Washington when reporting net worth… ”please check here if your net worth is between $250,000 and $10 million.” Poor Joe, indeed. Strangely missing from this list are any Congressmen from the first 150 years of this country’s existence who understood the concept of a citizen legislature. I wonder how many years James Madison, my distant relative, served in Congress. The idea of citizen legislators has, in fact, morphed into a new breed…career politicians who have nothing but their own self-interest and preservation in mind. Perhaps we can save a conversation about term limits for another day. What a concept, a citizen legislature, offering oneself for the greater good, at great personal sacrifice, to serve in a temporary capacity in service to those who elected you. Wake up America, or is it too late? The citizens are fed up with our government, especially in Washington, D.C. but also in Denver, Colorado. Entrenched politicians are like dinosaurs and, hope-
people in a country who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a 1969 speech in which he said, “And so tonight—to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans—I ask for your support.” And, so today, my fellow Americans, I too ask for your support. With the 2010 Primary Election season just behind us many are asking “what happened in Colorado?” Did he/she really win/lose? There are winners and losers in every election. But what is most fascinating, especially for political pundits, is the post mortem, the analysis, the second guessing of ‘if only…” However, the results are in and what lies ahead after Colorado’s August 10 Primary is an opportunity to take back our government, step by step. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. -John Quincy Adams
EPILOGUE Some say it is too late, some say America as we know it is doomed. It’s all over and ‘the fat lady is about to sing.’ But wait…not so fast. The November 2, 2010, U.S. Senate election is not about Ken Buck or Michael Bennet. The Governor’s race is not about Dan Maes or John Hickenlooper. The November 2010 election is about principle. The November 2010 election is about values. The November 2010 election is about taking back our government from entrenched politicians who believe government is the answer. I’ve got news for you, government is not the answer. And those who believe that are wrong. The silent majority has come alive and they are speaking loud and clear. No more politics as usual…they will elect citizen legislators who truly believe in the limited role of government. That is why I believe they will elect Dan Maes, a candidate of the people and by the people, as their next Governor…and Ken Buck to the U.S. Senate. *Tenor (noun): the drift of something spoken or written John Alexander Madison is a weekly contributor to The Jeff Crank Show blog site on KVOR radio. (www.jeffcrank.com)
The Rule of Law in the Hands of Men Is America a Nation under the Rule of Law? Pat Francomano, Contributing Writer By rule of law, we mean not just any law, but law as the embodiment of the concept of limited government and of protected individual rights and liberties. It is a political system intended to protect the unalienable rights of citizens from arbitrary government power. Indeed, Natural Law tells us that an unjust law is not a law at all. Some elements of a just system of law and of legitimate government are the following: • Laws must be published, i.e., well-known. • Everyone is equal under the law; no one is exempt from it. • Government power must be exercised for the protection of citizens’ unalienable rights. Those rights must not be abused. • Government action must be consistent with published law. • The right to govern is based on the consent of the governed. This is the kind of law our Founders envisioned. It is in this sense that some citizens become outraged when the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, is described as an ever-changing “living document.” And it is in this sense that they fear the rule of men. In Kelo v. City of New London (2005), the U.S. Supreme Court turned the Fifth Amendment on its head by ruling that “public use” means “public benefit,” thereby taking property from one private party to give it to another private party. More recently a federal judge ruled that California’s law banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, construing it a violation of due process under the U. S. Constitution, nullifying the votes of over 7,000,000 Californians.
America was founded under the rule of law, not of men. But clearly its laws are in the hands of men, as these examples amply show. This is somewhat better than being under a dictator, but not much. At least it lacks a sense of permanence; it is a temporary condition that may eventually be overcome—leading to laws better aligned with our Founders’ wishes for a just society. An interesting question is in whose hands are America’s laws? The answer is found in the article, “America’s Ruling Class—And the Perils of Revolution,” by Angelo M. Codevilla, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Boston University. In the era of TARP and bailouts and takeovers of industries and health care reform which the public overwhelmingly rejected, Codevilla says, “the American people started referring to those in and around government as the ‘ruling class.’” Codevilla says of the ruling class that it claims the right to decide for others because “it knows things and operates by standards beyond others’ comprehension.” These elite, he says, whether “in government power directly or as officers in companies, their careers and fortunes depend on government.” The ruling class uses patronage to maintain its control over government. For example, it gives political favors to labor unions for their political support. It has disdain for those outside the ruling class. It has disdain for our Constitution because it limits federal government. It has disdain for religion, family and marriage because these constitute, it believes, “the greatest barrier to human progress.”
It sees law as being at the discretion of men, ever evolving to suit the purposes of a society at any given point in its history. Clearly, the men in whose hands are America’s laws come from Codevilla’s description of the ruling class. The author also describes a country class, whose members are virtually everyone not in the ruling class. “It has no privileged podiums, and speaks with many voices, often inharmonious,” says Codevilla, but it is united in its strong reaction against higher taxes, bigger government, special interests, and social engineering. While the country class comprises two-thirds of the country, it lacks “a vehicle in electoral politics,” primarily because it is “so heterogeneous.” The ruling class, on the other hand, holds the positions of power.
Codevilla asks: “How can these roles be reversed? How can voters regain control of government?” The short answer is that it will take a revolution, not a shooting one, but one which goes far beyond a single election cycle—the kind that Progressives have been waging for over a century. It is truly a battle of ideas and it will be a long battle. It will require a strong commitment to the rule of law and to our founding principles. It will require a relentless effort by the country class to “reintroduce into American life ways and habits that had been cast aside,” and to reclaim our lost institutions. Are we, the country class, ready to come together for the long haul, despite our diversity, to return America to being a nation under the rule of law?
ARE YOU READY FOR “REAL HOPE AND CHANGE?” ISN’T IT TIME TO SAY “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?” If you are one who cares enough to be part of the solution, go to www.republicoftheunitedstates.org
Get a copy of the Constitution. Read it. Study it with your kids and grand-kids. Informed Americans are essential to our freedom. www.twitter.com/TCToday | 43
Pursuit of Happiness | Book Reviews & Humor
The Blueprint How the Democrats Won Colorado, by Adam Schrager and Rob Witwer Reviewed by Al Maurer, Assistant Editor How and why did the contributions of four wealthy Democrats destroy the Republican Party’s monopoly on the state of Colorado? You’ll find out in the highly readable The Blueprint, one of the most important books you will read this year. Adam Schrager is a political reporter for KUSA-TV in Denver and a staunch independent; Rob Witwer is a former member of the Colorado House of Representatives and, as he says, a victim of the “blueprint.” The book is written in a completely nonpartisan way, and has been endorsed by people of every political persuasion. The outline of the story is simple and somewhat well-known. Four very wealthy Democratic donors donated enough money to destroy the monopoly the Republican Party had on the state government. The Gang of Four, as they have become known, comprises Pat Stryker, billionaire heiress; Jared Polis and Tim Gill, technology millionaires and gay rights activists; and Rutt Bridges, software millionaire. These four and others got involved because they were tired of Democrats losing and because they did not like the Republican agenda, which they characterized as “Guns, Gays and God.” Ironically, after they started winning, the agenda didn’t change—only the perspective. It is important to understand that what set the stage for the blueprint is Campaign Finance Reform in 2002: McCainFeingold on a national level and Amendment 27 in Colorado. By capping the amount candidates could accept from individual donors, a key segment of Re-
publican donors were cut out. There were special loopholes for labor unions. Common Cause sponsored Amendment 27, and they knew exactly what they were doing when they designed it. After 2002, the focus of funding came from outside of the party and the candidate’s own organization. It comes now from third party 527 political organizations, 501c3 charities and 501c4 social welfare organizations, to name a few. The blueprint worked because the Democrats figured this out and the Republicans did not. Democratic operatives coordinated the activities of a number of left-leaning organizations, combining their activities and information with the money of the Gang of Four to fund it. They subordinated their individual organizational goals to the common goal of winning seats for Democrats. Winning is everything in politics if you have an agenda to enact, and they approached the campaigns with a single-minded focus. The basic pattern was and is to smear the Republican candidate while at the same time figuring out how to sell the Democratic candidate to the voters. The candidate becomes nothing more than a product to be sold. Two points should be borne in mind. First, in the 2006 and 2008 elections, all of this coordination was carried out in secret. The GOP was caught totally offguard. Second, the success of this blueprint in Colorado led to its being taken nationwide by the Democrats in 2008. It is now known as the Colorado Model, and it is why the 2008 Democratic nominating convention was held in Denver.
44 | The Constitutionalist Today, September 2010
Paid for by The Airplane Restaurant Image courtesy of Daveman and FreakingNews.com The techniques are still being practiced by the left. I say “the left” because the Democratic Party is under the same restrictions as the GOP. It’s just that the left figured out how to use the new laws to their advantage. I heard Schrager speak on the topic recently and he made several points that ought to be of concern to every American. First is that the blueprint is all about power. It is about political power as a commodity to be bought and sold. Is this good for our country? Second, campaign finance laws have pushed funding outside of parties and
candidates to third-party organizations. Candidates have lost control of their own message. Third is that this money is largely untraceable. Can that be good for the future of our political system? Schrager asks. He believes there needs to be full disclosure. It seems to me that it may be time to reform the reform. The Supreme Court has already struck down a portion of McCain-Feingold—and the Democrats are hopping mad about it—but that may only be the beginning of what is needed. Read The Blueprint and decide for yourself.
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