"Enumerated Powers Act"

Great bill proposed in the house by Representative Shadegg (of Arizona):
H.R. 450 Enumerated Powers Act
"To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes."

Somehow I don't see Congress tying their own hands -- but its certainly a bill most of us would like to see passed into law!

More Great Government Related Quotes

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Thomas Jefferson

"Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.” Daniel Webster
"Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin
"A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson

"The Sneeze"

After their "CPSIA report", I've become much less a fan of www.snopes.com. But I do check facts there now and again, if only as a starting point. A friend sent me a forward of "The Sneeze" -- a class's way around the school's recent prohibition on prayer, and I was curious if Snopes had anything on it.

They did...and their bias is very obvious...but the story is still cool, if you can get past that.

The Tale of Two Bows

I really wasn't paying much attention to the whole "bow issue" until I saw this video. The difference between President Obama's bow to the Queen of England versus his bow to the Saudi King is pretty remarkable. I would love to hear his "explanation" for the difference.

"Day of Silence" Propaganda

If your child's school allows "Day of Silence" propaganda, keep your child at home April 17

The Day of Silence, which is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), fast approaches. This year it will take place in most public schools on April 17. On this day, thousands of public high schools and increasing numbers of middle schools will allow students to remain silent throughout an entire day-even during instructional time-to promote GLSEN's socio-political goals and its controversial, unproven, and destructive theories on the nature and morality of homosexuality.

Parents must actively oppose this hijacking of the classroom for political purposes. Please join the national effort to restore to public education a proper understanding of the role of government-subsidized schools. You can help de-politicize the learning environment by calling your child out of school if your child's school allows students to remain silent during instructional time on the Day of Silence.

Parents should no longer passively countenance the political usurpation of public school classrooms through student silence.

If students will be permitted to remain silent, parents can express their opposition most effectively by calling their children out of school on the Day of Silence and sending letters of explanation to their administrators, their children’s teachers, and all school board members. One reason this is effective is that most school districts lose money for each student absence.

School administrators err when they allow the classroom to be disrupted and politicized by granting students permission to remain silent throughout an entire day.

Visit this website for complete information on opposing the Day of Silence.

Freedom2Care

Defending the conscience rights of health care professionals and students: http://www.freedom2care.org/

What is the "conscience regulation"?

The regulation simply implements three civil rights laws passed by Congress over the past 35 years defending the conscience rights of health care workers to make ethical decisions on controversial issues.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized the conscience regulation on December 19, 2008.

The laws forbid discrimination against healthcare professionals who exercise their conscientious rights related to participation in certain controversial medical procedures--most notably, but not limited to, abortion and sterilization. The regulation applies to recipients of American tax dollars through certain HHS funding.

The HHS regulation notes that the intent of the regulation is to educate, raise awareness of, and provide for the enforcement of three existing laws protecting the conscience rights of health care workers and students: the Church Amendments (enacted at various times in the 1970s), section 245 of the Public Health Service Act (1996), and the Hyde-Weldon Amendment (first enacted in 2004 and then in every subsequent year).

Why is the new administration planning to rescind--get rid of--this regulation?

The introduction of the conscience-protecting regulation was met with violent opposition by abortion special interest groups.

Some commentators followed the talking points of these groups and distorted the scope and intent of the regulation, claiming that it was somehow a backdoor attempt to restrict access to contraception. That proved an implausible charge against an agency that in the same year budgeted over $1.6 billion for "family planning" programs, but protests continued regardless of the facts.

These inaccurate commentaries and the pressure of special interest groups, unfortunately, appear to have had an impact on administration policy.

It is our hope that public outcry and focusing attention on the actual language of the regulation and the positive impact of protecting conscience on health care will help the new administration recognize the benefit of keeping the regulation intact.

Some administration officials and abortion advocates have maintained that the regulation will somehow decrease women's access to health care. On the contrary, the regulation makes clear the protections that allow conscience-driven healthcare professionals to rebuff discrimination and continue to practice medicine. In doing so, the regulations help provide healthcare security, quality and quantity.

In reality, the effect of rescinding the regulation threatens to cause a crisis of access to health care. Many healthcare professionals faced with discrimination are likely to choose to leave medicine if forced to choose between their careers or violating cherished ethical standards.

Removing regulatory protections-or perpetuating the lack of awareness of legal protections--for healthcare professionals will have the net effect of decreasing access to healthcare. Consider, for example, estimates that between 15-20% of health care in the U.S. is provided by Catholic institutions, which historically have refused to participate in abortion. Imagine the impact on health care access if those institutions, which reportedly provide care for up to one in six hospital patients, are forced to shut down in order to honor conscience and ethical standards.

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009

Very disturbing article! If this bill goes through, privacy is gone! (Someone remind me, when did the 4th amendment disappear?)

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009: "To ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cyber security defenses against disruption, and for other purposes." (Another "appropriate sounding" bill!)