Supreme Court Nominee Struck Dumb on Commerce Clause


Kagan-35
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Another shining example of educated morons. Harvard Law is on a roll with all their graduates apparently illiterate when it comes to matters of our own Constitution. It is no wonder, the study of the Constitution is not a requirement in Harvard Law school, international law however is.

Makes sense we are turning out international lawyers who are now running our country according to the laws of third world dictatorships.

I wonder how much Federal Money goes to Harvard Law School?

Sen. Tom Coburn asked Elana Kagan a simple straightforward question: can the government, under the guise of the Commerce Clause, pass a law requiring Americans to eat three vegetables a day? The video of this exchange, which you can see
Ms. Kagan’s response is one of stupefied, stunned silence. A long awkward pause follows the question. Her reaction was so blank that it would be uncharitable to our antlered friends in the forest to describe her facial expression as that of a deer caught in the headlights.
James Madison, who, as you may recall, is the Father of the Constitution and therefore may be presumed to have more right to speak to this issue than the mind-numbed Ms. Kagan, made it clear in Federalist Paper Number 42 that the purpose of the Commerce Clause was to prevent states from imposing import and export taxes on goods shipped across their borders from neighboring states.
Merchants in the days of the founding, in order to get their goods to metropolitan centers or to shipping ports, would often have to transport them across state lines. States had taken to charging import taxes on these goods when they came into their jurisdiction and slapping export taxes on them when they left.
Madison and the Founders recognized the threat this posed to harmony among the States of the newly created Union. Said Madison, if this practice were allowed to continue, “it would nourish unceasing animosities, and not improbably terminate in serous interruptions of the public tranquillity.” So the Commerce Clause was added to prevent this pernicious practice.
Let’s be clear: the Commerce Clause, as framed by the Founders, gives Congress no authority other than to ban the imposition of import and export fees by the various States. That’s it.
The fact that Dean Kagan does not understand this is alone reason enough to disqualify her from sitting on the highest bench in the land.
It is perhaps unsurprising to find that it is possible to graduate from Harvard Law School without ever once taking a class in constitutional law. Dean Kagan made a class in international law obligatory, but a class in constitutional law is still just an elective.Read more at action.afa.net

Happy 234th America


We only become divided in extent in which God is removed from our society. The evil one comes to steal and destroy, but the Lord comes to give and restore. God is Love and without God we have strife and division. Allow the Lord to unify us under the banner of His love. I pledge allegiance to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.
Founding Fathers: The Shaping of America
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Confusion in the Gulf


Some people shouted one thing while others shouted something else. The crowd was confused. Most of the people didn’t even know why they had come together. Acts 19:32 (GW)
Classic shield logo, designed by Raymond Loewy...

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It is BP’s problem some cry, no it is the Government’s problem cry others, while many claim  the problem is America’s addiction to oil. This one tries to out shout the other, while the average American citizen and especially those living in the Gulf region simply want the problem to be dealt with effectively and efficiently. Stop pointing fingers they cry and roll up your sleeves and get to work on finding a solution, quickly.

Confusion seems to be running the clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico. The whole scene is like watching an episode of the Keystone Kops in which the authorities are running in every direction and no one seems to have a clue on what to do.  The Keystone Kops make great movie comedy but a tragic display of leadership.

After our government claimed that we did not need or could not obtain larger ships to skim the Gulf oil spill, a giant-capacity skimming ship has arrived in U.S. waters.  Yet our government has us wondering whether it will permit the ship to join the cleanup effort.

The problem is not simply the Jones Act; it’s also that our Environmental Protection Agency may squelch the ability to use this giant ship.

The S. S. A-Whale is not like the mere 4,000-barrel-a-day vessels we’ve been using.  Its owners say this ship, a converted oil tanker, can gather 500,000 barrels a day.  By comparison, say the owners, the entire fleet our government has authorized for BP has only gathered 600,000 barrels—TOTAL—in the 70 days since the Deepwater Horizon explosion.  (NOTE:  500,000 barrels equals 21-million gallons.)

Adding insult to injury here is another report concerning the Dutch’s offer for help which came in 3 days after the spill occurred. Here we are 70 days and counting into this major oil spill and the situation goes from bad to worse.

The crisis and the chaos surrounding the Gulf oil spill makes a nice smoke screen to hide true aims and intentions behind. Although I can not say with absolute certainty I do believe the age old adage would apply here: “Actions speak louder than words”and Obama’s inaction shouts loud and clear his intentions. Of course Obama’s words have been pretty clear about exactly what he wants America to think about this oil spill. He would like very much for the population to grow extremely impatient with and angry at BP for this mess and their apparent lack of expedience in cleaning it up. All this gives Obama cover to enact even more of his freedom stealing agenda items with the help of his cronies in congress.

The arrogance and the wilful negligence of this administration is painfully obvious to anyone who cares to stop long enough to objectively assess the situation. I really do not care if BP is to blame or not for the cause of the spill. I do know that not everything that can be done is being done to clean up the mess. There will be plenty of time to point fingers and assess blame after we have done all we can to stop the spill and clean up the mess. All technologies, and all who are willing to help with the cleanup, should be engaged. If the Jones Act has not been revoked then it needs to be pronto. However all of this should have been decided on day one. All hands should already be on deck like Obama said they were.

The fact that this mess and the consequent inaction of the government has only gotten worse and not better proves that too much money and power is going to the federal government and it is time for states to assert their independence and act accordingly. Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida are the states affected the most by this disaster and they should be the ones coordinating the cleanup measure. If the federal government is to be involved at all it should be to make sure that the states are given all the resources they need and are free to act in their own best interests, which would be in the best interest of the country.

This is a view from the nest, what say you?

The Stars and Stripes


Here are 5 fascinating facts about our grand old flag.

Did you know?
General George Washington’s first battle flag carried the British Union Jack in its upper left corner. American Revolutionaries combined the Union Jack with 13 red and white stripes to demonstrate that while loyal to England, they were also committed to justice for the 13 colonies.

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men; and so it must be daily earned and refreshed — else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

Betsy who?  Betsy Ross : Designer of Our Flag
Most historians now discredit the legend that Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross produced the first American flag in 1776. It is a fact that the pre-Union Pennsylvania government asked Betsy to sew flags for its navy—but others whose names are now forgotten were also asked to do so.

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” (Mark Twain)

Grand Old Birthday
On June 14, 1777, the new Continental Congress resolved “that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

The American Revolution : Campaign 1776

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” (Harry S. Truman)

Indivisible
During the Civil War, Lincoln‘s advisers, reflecting the view of many Northerners, wanted him to order the removal of the 11 stars representing the rebellious states. Lincoln replied that his mission as President was to preserve the Union at all costs. How could he allow the stars of the Confederate states to be stricken from the flag when so much blood was being spilled to keep them?

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

The Civil War – A Film by Ken Burns

“The real democratic idea is not that every man shall be on a level with every other, but that every one shall have liberty, without hindrance, to be what God made him.” (Henry Ward Beecher)

For All
The Pledge of Allegiance was first published in The Youth’s Companion children’s magazine in 1892 as part of a national public school celebration. Written by Francis Bellamy, it has gone through several revisions over the years, including the addition of the phrase “one nation under God,” which President Eisenhower signed into law on Flag Day 1954.   http://www.guideposts.com/print/13425

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There are None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See


Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor.

Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”

A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

Wisdom, mural by Robert Lewis Reid. Second Flo...

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Prov 1:20-33 (AMP) Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets; She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: How long, O simple ones [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge? If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [ Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it, And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic— When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord, Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.

The evidence is everywhere. Truth is blaring from the loud speakers all around the world. Countries are failing, here at home states are finding it harder and harder to meet federal mandates and public sector pension obligations. On capital street one company take over after another and yet nothing changes. The national debt will exceed 13 trillion dollars this year and only the sky is the limit into the future. Medicare and Medicaid along with Social Security are all in the red, let’s face it folks America’s entitlement programs are bankrupt and yet many refuse to change course or even acknowledge the direction America is heading is wrong.

Add to the mix Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are still running deficits as far as the eye can see. Nothing is working on capital hill. And to be honest not much is working in the private sector either. The unemployment rate seems to be the only thing going up in an otherwise downward spiral.

Many have seen their personal nest eggs reduced or depleted with the recession of the stock market. Tax revenue is falling off rapidly because more and more people are not working. And yet many think all is well and the captain of the ship of state bellows full speed ahead on one socialist agenda item after another. Waiting in the wings are tax hikes along with the huge budget busting Obamacare plan still to be enacted.

Yes my friends the truth is out there, but can you handle the truth? Can you open your eyes and ears to listen to the sound of wisdom shouting aloud in the streets, and the marketplace? What must we do to stop this insane rebellion against the truth and sound fiscal policy? Our country is out of control. Fools are running the ship of state straight into an iceberg of ruin.

Ezek 12:2 (GW) “Son of man, you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they can’t see. They have ears, but they can’t hear because they are rebellious people.

The irony is that America is now adapting the European model just as the evidence of its failure is becoming clear even to the New York Times. As Charles Murray wrote in “The Happiness of The People”-“If we want to know where America is headed—its destination—we should look to Europe.” The Times has now given us a harrowing picture of that destination. For the left leaning New York Times to see the handwriting on the wall it must be blatantly obvious. The truth is screaming from everywhere, the question is are we willing to heed wisdom’s warning or destined to suffer the fate of fools?

But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey