The Patriot Post Brief 4-2-2012

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The Patriot Post Brief 4-2-2012
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation

"In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example ... of charters of power granted by liberty. This revolution in the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of its happiness." --James Madison

Opinion in Brief

"Finding herself with a bit of time on her hands, Justice Ginsburg swung by Cairo last month to help out the lads from the Muslim Brotherhood building the new Egypt: 'I would not look to the United States Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012,' she advised them. Instead, she recommended the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the European Convention on Human Rights. That's why the fate of the republic will come down to a 5-4 vote. Because four-ninths of the constitutional court think the American constitutional order is as déclassé as a 2006 BlackBerry. ... If the establishment wants to invent a new 'right' -- i.e., yet another intrusion by government -- it goes ahead and does so. If it happens to conflict with this year's constitution, they rewrite it. The United States is the only Western nation in which our rulers invoke the Constitution for the purpose of overriding it -- or, at any rate, torturing its language beyond repair. Thus, in [the] debate on whether Obamacare is merely the latest harmless evolution of the interstate-commerce clause, the most learned and highly remunerated jurists in the land chewed over the matter of whether a person, simply by virtue of being born, was participating in a 'market.' Had George III shown up at the Constitutional Convention to advance that argument with a straight face, the framers would have tossed aside the quill feathers and reached for their muskets." --columnist Mark Steyn1

Essential Liberty

"Liberal commentators were shocked this past week when in three days of oral argument in the lawsuits challenging Obamacare, five Supreme Court justices -- a majority -- asked questions strongly suggesting they think the legislation is unconstitutional. ... The justices are not the only federal officials who take an oath to uphold the Constitution. So do the president and vice president, Cabinet members and other appointees, and every member of Congress. ... That means that every federal official has an obligation to act in line with the Constitution as he or she understands it. And that doesn't necessarily mean obeying Supreme Court decisions. ... Clearly the two parties are divided on the constitutionality of the Obamacare mandate. Polls have shown large majorities of voters think the provision is unconstitutional, though one can wonder whether many have given the matter much thought. But they're certainly giving it more thought after this week and will likely give it more when the decision comes down. Voters can reasonably ask candidates for Congress their views on this and other constitutional issues and call on them to vote against measures they consider beyond Congress' constitutional powers." --political analyst Michael Barone2

Government

"'I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared,' Thomas Jefferson once wrote. 'To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.' ... Remember the clash on Capitol Hill last year over raising the debt ceiling? It may have seemed like a huge battle at the time, but it was merely a holding action -- a rear-guard maneuver to buy a little time. Because which direction has federal spending gone since then? Up, of course, soaring toward new record levels and endangering our economic future. ... Many lawmakers seem content to make meaningless trims, not serious cuts. They act as if we can allow Social Security and Medicare spending to continue growing -- and growing -- on autopilot. They seriously think we can slash defense spending, yet continue fielding a world-class military. ... No, you and I aren't paying enough, that's the problem -- or so we're told. As if past tax hikes haven't proved, time and again, that government will quickly consume any additional funds, and then some. ... 'We must make our choice between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude,' Jefferson writes. 'If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.' Lawmakers should heed the words of our third president -- and have the courage to steer us off the path of financial misery." --Heritage Foundation president Ed Fuelner3

The Gipper

"This is the real task before us: to reassert our commitment as a nation to a law higher than our own, to renew our spiritual strength. Only by building a wall of such spiritual resolve can we, as a free people, hope to protect our own heritage and make it someday the birthright of all men." --Ronald Reagan4

Re: The Left

"Once again [last] week, the president was out on the campaign trail bashing and oil and gas companies. And he continued to spread major falsehoods about this industry, which I guess is the polite way to put it. Obama is obsessed with oil and gas. He is a prisoner of the left-wing environmental groups. And really, he's extending his leftist class-warfare attack from rich people to successful oil and gas producers. What seems to have Obama especially steamed is the fact that the conventional-energy companies are profitable. Especially the five largest. So he wants to tax them. He then wants to redistribute their income to his favorite green-energy firms. Sound familiar? I don't know which is more important to the president -- the fact that he hates fossil fuel or the fact that he hates success. ... But President Obama is too busy spewing falsehoods to support his ideological agenda than to take account of the facts. And while he's at it, one of the greatest, pro-growth revolutions ever is taking place right under his nose. It's the oil and gas shale miracle, which if left unfettered will turn America and Canada into an energy-independent New Middle East inside of 10 years. ... Obama should quit the demagoguery, stop bashing oil and gas, stop taxing success and let our ingenious, creative, free-enterprise private economy spur America to a new generation of prosperity." --economist Larry Kudlow5

Political Futures

"Obama is telling the Russians not to worry, that once past 'my last election' and no longer subject to any electoral accountability, he'll show 'more flexibility' on missile defense. It's yet another accommodation to advance his cherished Russia 'reset' policy. Why? Hasn't reset been failure enough? Let's do the accounting. In addition to canceling the Polish/Czech missile defense system, Obama gave the Russians accession to the World Trade Organization, a START treaty that they need and we don't ... and a scandalously blind eye to their violations of human rights and dismantling of democracy. Obama even gave Putin a congratulatory call for winning his phony election. In return? Russia consistently watered down or obstructed sanctions on Iran, completed Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr, provides to this day Bashar al-Assad with huge arms shipments used to massacre his own people..., conducted a virulently anti-American presidential campaign on behalf of Putin, pressured Eastern Europe and threatened Georgia. On which of 'all these issues' -- Syria, Iran, Eastern Europe, Georgia, human rights -- is Obama ready to offer Putin yet more flexibility as soon as he gets past his last election? Where else will he show U.S. adversaries more flexibility?" --columnist Charles Krauthammer6