Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Federalism, Accountability and the Union

The following is a position paper of The Jacksonian Party.

The compact between We the People arose in 1787 due to the problems with the previous joining under the Articles of Confederation, which left States without means to protect themselves as integral units of a greater United States and need to carry out heavy taxation for individual defense of their States. In this era the States were Sovereigns and gave very little over to the Government of the United States, including the power to raise a militia to defend the United States as a whole. The Shays Rebellion of 1786-87 gave rise to uprisings across the States due to the highly non-representative nature of many States and how they implemented laws and the harshness of placing those on the margins of society in the deepest debt to pay for the budget of the State. Those poorest of individuals saw no recompense in their taxation and, indeed, noted that it was falling disproportionately upon those least able to pay, while those in more urban areas paid far less in proportion.

With this in mind, the Annapolis Constitutional Convention of 1786 called for a greater convention which became the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787 set about to right these wrongs by forming a stronger Federation amongst the States, so that some burdens would be shared equally so that all of the States would be defended as a whole. Additionally, as paying for the Revolutionary War had still not been done, a higher commerce regulation and taxation authority needed to be set-up so that the debt of We the People could be paid in-full for help given.

As drafted and ratified the Constitution of the United States gives States autonomy *within* the United States so long as there is regularity but not necessarily identicality in due process upholding of rights for the People. Further the States cannot regulate interstate commerce, nor impose taxation one upon the other for that internal trades, save in the current instance of alcoholic beverages which is a hold over of the repeal of Amendment XVIII by Amendment XXI. And the States may keep Militia's, but they will be paid for from the Federal budget and fall under all laws set by the Federal Government for them in training and adjudication of military use. The States may call upon such forces for internal problems, as needed, but these forces are first and foremost, to protect the Union.

Further in areas of Foreign Policy, Treaties, Commerce with Foreign Nations and in protection of the Union, the Federal Government is formed to administer each of these areas and ensure that the Nation is defended and protected, and that the Laws of the Land are administered equally and without favor or prejudice for We the People. Outside of these things addressing the externals of the Nation and those few things seen as necessary to actually *have* a Federal Government to uphold these things, all other power and rights rests with the States and the People. In point of fact the Constitution ensures that the recognition is that the Federal Government is *granted* these few rights and powers By the People to do these things for the good of All the People.

When any member of the Citizenry joins the Federal Government, be it as President, Congressman or Senator, Supreme Court Justice, or even the man mowing the lawn employed by the Federal Government for grounds maintenance, each must Swear and Uphold an Oath to the Constitution of the United States of America. Be they in the political arms or in the military or the civil service in its varieties, each and every individual who takes part in the government to help oversee the Nation's needs takes such Oath and is expected to uphold such and keep all commitments that they are empowered to make by the Government as a whole. Those that are not empowered may not do so, even if they have *appearance* of power, as mere appearance is not the actuality of the thing itself as due Warrants to spend on the behalf of the People is necessary and must be shown and demonstrated on the civil service side. Appropriations and their use is carried out in the First by Congress and in the Second by the Executive as Head of Government.

Thus we come to the crux of the State of the Union by this Federal Government in this year of 2006. The years and decades leading up to this year have not been easy ones and the previous century has seen three Global Conflicts, Two World Wars by name and the Cold War, and the arising of groups that no longer abide by the Peace of Westphalia and seek to diminish or destroy the system of Nation States. Thus those individuals that come together as groups seek to give rise to Transnationalism so that the individual Nation State is no longer considered a Sovereign. A great number espouse that Progressivism in its modern form, be the basis for this broader community. For some decades these individuals have been joined by those using Terrorism to assert goals and ideology that no Nation State follows and force such upon Nations via means of terrorizing Citizens of Nations.

Progressivists work within Nations to diminish the role of the National Government and give rise to conceptions that the concept of a Nation is absurd and useless in modern times, so that such things as National Boundaries, National Sovereignty and, indeed, National Identity should fall by the wayside to a larger, global grouping of individuals via other means. By fighting all laws and activities that seek to define and protect Nations internally, the Progressivists work ardently at undermining individual Nation States so that they will become, in essence, meaningless administrative units more amenable to some form of global group oversight. And as the proponents of such, Progressivists assert that as the formularies of this conception, that they are the best and most able to be that oversight group.

Terrorists seek this very same thing, but do so from outside the context of Nation States and undermine the legitimacy of them by using Force of Arms outside of the Geneva Conventions in an effort to de-legitimize National Militaries and get reactions from Nations that are more brutal and authoritarian. In that reaction the Sovereign Government will *appear* to act similarly to terrorists and decrease their legitimacy until the Citizenry cannot tell the difference between the two and terrorist goals will be seen as just another variety of goals that have the same legitimacy as that of their Government. Once this is done, the National Identity and National Sovereignty is weakened and Terrorists can truly impose their beliefs by dint of being seen as no different from the repressive Governments they have brought about. And, as such Terrorists espouse global conceptions of the World, be it radical religious beliefs, economic beliefs and/or social beliefs, they seek to impose this broader conception upon the world via this means.

The United States of America has been specifically targeted by both of these concepts as it is the sole remaining superpower after the Cold War and that its strength of National Identity formed of radical individualism from the late 18th century is anathema to the goals of Transnationalists of all stripes and order. Being born of Revolution, they see the United States in its adherence to the goals of that Revolution to be out of step with more modern conceptions of Revolution and so seek to delegitimize its Revolution in various ways. Both internally amongst the Citizenry and externally by Terrorists the United States has been and continues to be weakened as a Concept born of Revolution to ensure the greatest Freedom to its People with the Least amount of Government. Transnationalists encourage National Sovereignty to be abridged until it is broken and that National Identity of a Free People is less important than group identities and that as power is derived from the People that smaller units of 'People Power' can be employed all though such groupings do NOT represent the People as a whole, but a sub-group or division or clustering of them.

What these Transnationalists forget, however, and that We the People must remember, is that each State within the Union is a Sovereign Entity in and of itself, within the confines of the larger Federation. By attacking the Union and diminishing it, We the People as a whole may seek to reinforce the Union via the States. In the older days of the Republic means and methods to give States broad oversight into who goes into the political arms of control of the Federal Government were set in place. The ability of the States to assert direct influence and, indeed, control over the Federal Government by these means was assured. This was done immediately in Article I, Section 2, reading in part:

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
And in Section 3 to cover the Senate:

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

[and later, skipping the 6 years and choosing thereof]


No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

[and]


AMENDMENT XVII, Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.

Note: Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

[and]


Section 4

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

Taken as a whole, the right of the People to Vote directly for their Representative and Senator is given via the States, that are to choose such means as to give voice to that vote. Notice that the State is given supremacy in deciding the manner and means that such representation of their People may be done. The burden of actually getting these means in place falls to the States. And as the earliest Congresses were chosen, lawfully and legally, by the legislatures of the States to send such Representatives and Senators. This is the entire concept of the Electoral College writ small and first: the States provide the Representatives in accordance with the People of their State in manner made by the State.

We the People have been told, time and again, that the Nation we live in is a Democracy. It is *not* a direct democracy that is the categorical necessity to be a full Democracy. The United States is a Republic that uses representational democracy as its means to create government. And as part of that representational schema, as laid out by the Constitution, the States hold the highest decision making power of who, exactly, is put in place to represent the People in the Federal Government's legislative branches and, via the Electoral College, the President. By blurring the boundaries between Representational Democracy and Direct Democracy, We the People have been ill-served in thinking that we are in the latter and not the former. In a Representational Democracy as given by the Constitution, Accountability *begins* by the States, while in a Direct Democracy accountability is only available via recall to the People for each level of Government. By placing a Sovereign and Representational layer between the People and the Federal Government, additional accountability and checks and balances of Power are available.

The Jacksonian Party adheres to this balancing of Power as given via the Constitution as it allows for speedy condemnation and accountability of the Federal Government BETWEEN elections and makes available means to adjust the Federal Power when it is not used to serve the Union and the States thereof. As a Republic that uses Representational Democratic means to give checks and balances to power and responsibility, the United States of America offers multiple means to ensure that Federal Power is not abused, nor that States become authoritarian towards their Citizenry. The goal of this structure is set out fully in the Preamble of the Constitution and Government, at all levels, is but one MEANS for the People to adhere to their responsibilities to ensure the Nation remains United and Justly administered to the good of the People.

Thusly, the Federal Government of the United States needs to be held accountable by the STATES for the following:

1) Invasion of the Union by Mexico using various incursions and seeking to move their people over the boarder to meet illegitimate *labor needs* of such organizations in the United States that benefit from such slave labor. According to the Dept. of Homeland Security, the Territory of the United States has been breached by Mexican Federal Military and Police, even unto incidents of weapons discharge by such intruders. This is covered in the here and gives evidence from the Federal Government itself that 216 incursions have happened between 1996 and 2005. Each and every incursion by the forces of one Sovereign Nation upon another without due authorization by the second Nation is known as an invasion. This entire conception of Casus Belli giving rise to Jus ad bellum is gone over for other contexts, but the overall diplomatic conception is valid globally and is part of how Nation States agree to interact with each other.

By *not* responding to each and every incident via Diplomatic means, two Presidential Administrations are at fault for not enforcing National Sovereignty and asserting the right of the United States to have its territory free from Foreign influence. This is a clear and direct violation of the Oath of Office sworn to Uphold and Defend the Constitution of the United States.

By this lack of response the individual States are given the burden to defend themselves and worry about their individual sovereignty as States. By doing so the social compact of We the People put in place in 1787 is abridged in WHOLE.

The Jacksonian Party calls upon the Governors of the States to ask this current President exactly *why* he is abdicating his Oath of Office and let this individual know that if the Federal Government cannot protect the States, then the States, themselves, will no longer be bound by this agreement and will seek to bring a New Constitutional Convention in place so as to fix this problem and ensure that the powers available to protect the Nation are actually *used*.

2) From the 99th Congress to the present Congress remains a promise by the 99th onwards that Congress shall, indeed, put in place measures to protect the National Borders so as to ensure National Sovereignty for the United States. This is to uphold their Oaths, one and all, to the Constitution. That was first solemnly promised in 1986. At the 20 year mark no Congress has done this thing nor has even proposed to do so nor has even spent the necessary funds to investigate the means and methods to secure the Borders.

Note that over these past two decades congress has changed hands and some number of seats overturned from party to party so all political parties that have sat in the majority are at fault in both houses of Congress. This is a taint that is equally shared from 1986 onwards and adheres to each and every past and present member of each and every Congress since the 99th.

The Congress, although it can set the regulation of the time and place of elections, may not overstep its bounds there. Further, as each member of the House is seen as a co-equal in stature to the member of the more numerous State Legislative bodies, they are also under the same accountability to that State as they are to the Union as a whole. And as the Legislature of each State validates that the position of each Representative is given by the People, it also serves as the stopping point to call that Representative to account and, in the end, to give writ if a member of the House of Representatives is no longer representing the State or its People. This same logic and methodology is valid and has been tested by *recall* elections from States. But the ultimate power for such is given to the Legislature of each State.

Thusly, if the State Legislature sees that its Representatives to Congress from that State are not working to the good of the Union to protect it or to ensure the Sovereignty of that State within the Union, they may give writ to recall some or ALL of their Representatives and use such necessary powers as to either appoint or elect new members.

Those States that have been ill-served by the abdication of National Security by Congress, which is to say the entire Union of States as a threat to One is a threat to All under the Federal system, can recall their Representatives from the House and deny them validity in representation of that State by an Act of that Legislature.

The Jacksonian Party supports this concept in full as the States are NOT to be supplicants to a Federal Government to *plead* for protection, nor are its Representatives to act as unaccountable Nobility to Reign over the United States instead of merely govern it. Those that have been elected to govern no longer accept that this is their foremost function as individuals and that such governance must be equally applied so that the entire Union is protected first and above all other things.

3) National Security is being abridged by the personnel of the Federal Government and by various members of Congress that have access to such knowledge as is their right by sitting within the Congress and having oversight on these parts of the Government. Over the past few years multiple and numerous *leaks* of classified information on various projects and programs have happened. The *leaking* has been directly to the press, for the most part, and has served various internal agenda's of both the leakers and the press. Each and every one of these is unlawful, and the upholding of the administration of such laws is upon the Executive Branch. The President as Head of Government has not ensured that the laws regarding National Security have been robustly administered and that guilty individuals tracked down, found, and brought to Justice.

The proper means for any individual employed within the Federal Government, when misdeeds or illegal activity may be occurring, is to go to the Inspector General that has independent oversight for that Agency and/or Branch of the Executive. If this, once done, brings into suspicion that the Inspector General has been compromised, then that individual *must* go up the chain to the *next* Inspector General, or, lacking that, go to Federal police, such as the FBI, to look into the matter. If, at that point, the individual sees an investigation being countered by higher up the chain, that individual absolutely *must* go to Congress. Executive abuse at that level needs instant Congressional investigation so as to keep the Executive from seizing power or turning Federal power to their own means.

At no point in this entire chain, which is laid out for each individual in the Federal Government, is the *press* mentioned. The press is not a part of government. The press has no oversight by the People being, instead, a means of the People to communicate with each other on things they find of interest. The press, by having no oversight function, and by having no legal place in the chain of command and accountability, sits outside the legal context for means of redress of problems within the Government on issues of abuse of power, wasteful spending and similar.

Any individual that goes to the press and gives unauthorized disclosure of Federal information is committing an unlawful act. This applies from the lowliest janitor to the highest members of Congress. And the declassification authority for classified information rests solely and completely upon the President who then appoints others to administer such and those individuals have written confirmation of their ability to do so. Congressmen do *not* get that via the laws they have drafted.

The Jacksonian Party sees individuals and groups encouraging leaks to serve political purposes which do not benefit the Nation as a whole and, in point of fact, endanger the individuals in the Military protecting this Nation. Further, by giving such information out, those that seek to undermine the United States are given knowledge on means and methods used to track them down and stifle their operations. Each and every leaker of classified information, or even normal Governmental information not released either by normal bureaucratic acts or via the Freedom of Information Act, needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for violating their Oath of Office, for putting mere partisan political views above those of the National Interest and for undermining the entire faith of the People in its Government. By degrading the National Security and Interest, such individuals put Us all at peril to personal ends, and are thus abusing their positions of trust to the detriment of the Union.

4) A number of municipal areas have declared themselves to be 'Sanctuaries' for illegal aliens. In this doing each of these municipal units have abrogated the Constitution and have declared their separation from the Union by declaring that they will no longer abide by it. As has been written previously, this is a direct abrogation of all 6 Articles of the Constitution and some number of Amendments, but most particularly Amendment XIII outlawing slavery save as a means of punishment. In a Federal Republic, all areas agree to abide by and uphold the law of the land, which in the case of the United States, is the Constitution. The Constitution and all the resultant Government and laws that come from it, are not a Chinese Menu system of 'choose one from column A and two from column B'. In point of fact it is an all-or-nothing deal with respect to the entirety of the Union. We the People are enjoined to make the Union more perfect via legal means and to adhere to even unjust laws will seeking redress to end such laws. One may not seek to enforce a law at whimsy nor to say 'it is unjust, I will not administer it'. What one must do is go through the proper channels to address such problems via the Federal distribution of powers amongst the entirety of the Union.

To seek to not uphold sections of the law that is applied to the totality of the Union is an act known as Secession. By municipalities deciding that some Federal laws shall not be upheld and that the powers granted by the People to the Federal Government are ones they do not wish to follow, these areas do not seek proper redress of grievances and bad law via legislation and the courts, but, instead, establish law by Fiat. At that point they have broken with the binding document and its backing and are no longer members of the Union, and by harboring those that are here illegally, they put at peril the entire system of laws of the Union and abdicate their responsibility in upholding the National Security. Until such laws are either over-ruled by the courts or changed by the Congress and signed by the President they remain in force for the entirety of the Union.

The Jacksonian Party supports all States in the ending of this secessionary movement so that the Union itself is not undone. For those States that contain such, these municipalities need to be brought into line via States laws for following the laws of the Union. Further, All States need to lobby the Congress and the Executive to get these secessionary areas back into the Union via any and all means, and those within them to only return to the United States as Citizens after reading an Oath of fealty to the United States and then having their right to vote and lobby government stripped from them for the rest of their lives. This is preferable to Civil War.

5) Lastly, but not least, is the mis-expenditure of the People's money by Congress. This is known as 'earmarking' and more commonly as 'pork barrel spending', or 'pork'. This process in one in which the funds of the People are put to use for projects personally inserted by a Congressman or Senator for their own State or District. This is a direct abuse of the power of the purse by Congress as such projects and programs have no legitimate need as presented to the Government as a whole. Further, these projects often are only contained in obscure and hidden Congressional budgetary documents that are *not* a part of the final budget line iteming NOR available to the public at any time.

This has progressed into a National abuse of money so that Federal funds are filtered through lobbyists and extended family of Congressmen and Senators and finds its way *back* to them either for campaigning or as personal funds. The argument is made that some States *need* some projects that just can't be made on a National level and that the State is too poor to fund itself. The counter-argument is that the State agreed to keep to its own funds except for those things in the National Interest presented openly as such so that the Nation could support them. Things that are purely local and serve no National Interest have no place in the Federal Budget or as 'off budget' items from the Federal Treasury.

The Jacksonian Party supports the Executive to take a stance that any item that does NOT show up for signature on the Desk of the President and signed off upon is NOT an official item for expenditure of Federal Funds and such funds shall be returned to the Treasury until such time as an official and public expenditure be put upon his desk. And the 'Black Budget' will suffer similar, save on the classified side. If it is not put out for perusal and reading and justification and appears no where in the budget, the actual project or program is NOT THERE. The Jacksonian Party supports this fully and that the States begin the hard process of actually getting in order those things that DO require National attention and funding and justify them.

In other areas The Jacksonian Party has encouraged States to take upon themselves those things that can help the Nation and the National dialogue so as to make a more perfect Union. On National Security there has been a call for more self-governance. Further, the plain necessity for more Representatives in the House has been an ongoing call so that the American People can have their diversity heard in the halls of power. Also there has been a call to re-examine the right of States to be protected by their lawfully armed Citizenry and thus bring about a change in the way problems of armed conflict may be addressed not only within each State but to the Union as a whole and seek redress of such things. And the founder and author of this article has looked at how States can approach Citizenship and alter the ground upon which there is much vitriolic opining and remove that ground from under them.

The Jacksonian Party cherishes the Constitution in all of its parts and in all of its outlook and adheres strictly to them. It is a fine system for making government, but requires that each level of the Compact be serious about wanting such. And the finality for all such accountability rests with We the People, as it is Our Government to have.

And Our Nation to lose if we are not serious about it.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

The 90 Seatwarmers in Congress

This is a position paper of The Jacksonian Party.

The following passed and made into law:

1) Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 - Public Law 99-603 (Act of 11/6/86), which was passed in order to control and deter illegal immigration to the United States. Its major provisions stipulate legalization of undocumented aliens who had been continuously unlawfully present since 1982, legalization of certain agricultural workers, sanctions for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, and increased enforcement at U.S. borders.

2) Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986 - Public Law 99-639 (Act of 11/10/86), which was passed in order to deter immigration-related marriage fraud. Its major provision stipulates that aliens deriving their immigrant status based on a marriage of less than two years are conditional immigrants. To remove their conditional status the immigrants must apply at an U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office during the 90-day period before their second-year anniversary of receiving conditional status. If the aliens cannot show that the marriage through which the status was obtained was and is a valid one, their conditional immigrant status may be terminated and they may become deportable.

3) Immigration Act of 1990 - Public Law 101-649 (Act of November 29, 1990), which increased the limits on legal immigration to the United States, revised all grounds for exclusion and deportation, authorized temporary protected status to aliens of designated countries, revised and established new nonimmigrant admission categories, revised and extended the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, and revised naturalization authority and requirements.

4) Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, PL 99-570, THOMAS bill citation: A bill to strengthen Federal efforts to encourage foreign cooperation in eradicating illicit drug crops and in halting international drug traffic, to improve enforcement of Federal drug laws and enhance interdiction of illicit drug shipments, to provide strong Federal leadership in establishing effective drug abuse prevention and education programs, to expand Federal support for drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation efforts, and for other purposes.

For more of the same you can go to THOMAS for the 99th Congress and type in the search area "illegal alien". It is amazing what did and did not get into some of these bills!

Now, along with this was lots of strong verbiage from Congress that they would, indeed, strengthen the borders.

And a big Thank You to Rep. C. W. Bill Young [Florida - 8th district] for trying to stop this non-sense!

And one to Rep. Eldon D. Rudd [Arizona - 4th district] to try and get folks to realize that borders with a Foreign Nation just might need the Armed Forces for some help!

And a further on to Rep. Carlos J. Moorehead [California - 22nd district] to recognizes the Border Patrol needed 50% more manpower!

And a special big Thank You to Rep. Charles E. Bennett [Florida - 3rd district] that would move illegal aliens from State and Local prisons to Federal ones where they belong as being here ILLEGALLY! Too bad that didn't pass...

Yes, indeed! Verbiage spewn and all sorts of political promises made... but actually *voting* for National Sovereignty... that was something else now, wasn't it? So Here are the folks who were sitting in the 99th Congress who are *still* around!

99th Congressmembers still in service who promised YOU they would do something about National Security and the Border:


NAMEPARTYSTATE
ABERCROMBIE, NeilDemocratHI
ACKERMAN, Gary LeonardDemocratNY
AKAKA, Daniel KahikinaDemocratHI
BARTON, Joe LinusRepublicanTX
BAUCUS, Max SiebenDemocratMT
BERMAN, Howard LawrenceDemocratCA
BIDEN, Joseph Robinette, Jr.DemocratDE
BILIRAKIS, MichaelRepublicanFL
BOEHLERT, Sherwood LouisRepublicanNY
BOUCHER, Frederick C.DemocratVA
BOXER, BarbaraDemocratCA
BURTON, Danny LeeRepublicanIN
BYRD, Robert CarlyleDemocratWV
CARPER, Thomas RichardDemocratDE
COBLE, HowardRepublicanNC
COCHRAN, William ThadRepublicanMS
CONYERS, John, Jr.DemocratMI
COOPER, James Hayes ShofnerDemocratTN
CRAIG, Larry EdwinRepublicanID
DeLAY, Thomas DaleRepublicanTX
DeWINE, MichaelRepublicanOH
DICKS, Norman DeValoisDemocratWA
DINGELL, John David, Jr.DemocratMI
DODD, Christopher JohnDemocratCT
DOMENICI, Pete VichiRepublicanNM
DORGAN, Byron LeslieDemocratND
DREIER, David TimothyRepublicanCA
DURBIN, Richard JosephDemocratIL
EVANS, Lane AllenDemocratIL
FRANK, BarneyDemocratMA
GORDON, Barton JenningsDemocratTN
GRASSLEY, Charles ErnestRepublicanIA
GREGG, Judd AlanRepublicanNH
HALL, Ralph MoodyDemocratTX
HATCH, Orrin GrantRepublicanUT
HOYER, Steny HamiltonDemocratMD
HUNTER, Duncan LeeRepublican CA
HYDE, Henry JohnRepublicanIL
INOUYE, Daniel KenDemocratHI
JEFFORDS, James MerrillRepublicanVT
JOHNSON, Nancy LeeRepublicanCT
KANJORSKI, Paul E.DemocratPA
KENNEDY, Edward MooreDemocratMA
KERRY, John ForbesDemocratMA
KILDEE, Dale EdwardDemocratMI
KOLBE, James ThomasRepublicanAZ
LANTOS, Thomas PeterDemocratCA
LAUTENBERG, Frank RaleighDemocratNJ
LEACH, James Albert SmithRepublicanIA
LEAHY, Patrick JosephDemocratVT
LEVIN, CarlDemocratMI
LEVIN, Sander MartinDemocratMI
LOTT, Chester TrentRepublicanMS
LUGAR, Richard GreenRepublicanIN
LUNGREN, Daniel EdwardRepublicanCA
MARKEY, Edward JohnDemocratMA
McCAIN, John Sidney, IIIRepublicanAZ
MIKULSKI, Barbara AnnDemocratMD
MILLER, GeorgeDemocratCA
MOLLOHAN, Alan BowlbyDemocratWV
MURTHA, John Patrick, Jr.DemocratPA
OBERSTAR, James LouisDemocratMN
OBEY, David RossDemocratWI
ORTIZ, Solomon PorfirioDemocratTX
OWENS, Major Robert OdellDemocratNY
OXLEY, Michael GarverRepublicanOH
PETRI, Thomas EvertRepublicanWI
RAHALL, Nick Joe, IIDemocratWV
RANGEL, Charles B.DemocratNY
REGULA, Ralph StrausRepublicanOH
REID, HarryDemocratNV
ROGERS, Harold DallasRepublicanKY
SABO, Martin OlavDemocratMN
SARBANES, Paul SpyrosDemocratMD
SAXTON, Hugh JamesRepublicanNJ
SENSENBRENNER, Frank James, Jr.RepublicanWI
SHAW, Eugene Clay, Jr.RepublicanFL
SHELBY, Richard C.DemocratAL
SMITH, Christopher HenryRepublicanNJ
SNOWE, Olympia JeanRepublicanME
SPECTER, ArlenRepublicanPA
SPRATT, John McKee, Jr.DemocratSC
THOMAS, William MarshallRepublicanCA
TOWNS, EdolphusDemocratNY
VISCLOSKY, PeterDemocratIN
WARNER, John WilliamRepublicanVA
WAXMAN, Henry ArnoldDemocratCA
WOLF, Frank RudolphRepublicanVA
WYDEN, Ronald LeeDemocratOR
YOUNG, Donald EdwinRepublicanAK



My thanks to the Congressional Biographical Directory!

As I count it you get 90 Members of Congress from both Houses.

While The Jacksonian Party cannot endorse *any* member of Congress, because they have refused to actually READ the Constitution so as to understand their powers, the folks on this list should be singled out for going back on their PROMISE to do something. So a few folks might want to start asking some pointed campaign questions this summer... something along the lines of:
"Congressman, you were a member of the 99th Congress that promised to enhance border security and controls to stop illegal aliens from getting into this Nation so that the Nation would be secured and our National Sovereignty assured. Why didn't you? You have had TWO DECADES TO GET IT DONE!"
A follow up of "Why should we believe ANYTHING you say when you cannot keep that Congress' promise to the Nation?" might just be a bit obnoxious but direct and to the point.

Look at that list.

Remember that Congress has set its own size.

Remember that the Two Parties divide up districts so as to have safe seats.

90 of them have been sitting there for over 20 years and ignoring National Security. That is 10 terms in the House and 3-4 in the Senate.

Are they *really* representing Your needs and Defending the Nation?

Some VERY pointed questions should go to these folks and they should show, year in and year out, how they pushed for Bills to tighten the border and end illegal entry to the Nation. And how, every year, it was *everyone else* who stopped them. Mind you, Congress has changed hands since then, and the Presidency has gone back and forth between Parties. So blaming one party or the other is NOT an answer.

It is a charade.

Only We the People can end it.

"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson

Each and every One of Us as We the People.

The clowns on this list have no courage and can form no majority.

The word for those that do nothing on a team except be present to cheer?

Seatwarmers.

And that is *exactly* what they are, all 90 of them.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Ending the pork barrel express

The following is a position paper of The Jacksonian Party.

The Republican leader of the Senate, Bill Frist, seems to have realized that People just do not like earmark expenditures and general porkrification of the Federal Budget to suit the majestic needs of the sinecured landed aristocracy upon the Hill. And he proposes three things to do about it. A big Hat Tip to Instapundit on this!

So, lets take a look at that line-up in a sweetened condensed version:

1) Line item veto! Well, hasn't *that* been the biggie for the Republican Party since before Ronald Reagan! Say, since you folks have control over both Houses, why haven't you done a DAMN THING to get one passed? You did under Clinton... and it did *not* survive, did it? Sorry, Sen. Frist, but that one is something the Republican Party has just proven to be non-serious about and your ventilating on it now demonstrates a total lack of backbone on the part of Republicans on this issue. You had plenty of time to get one passed before this and have done not *one damn thing* about it. And you folks still haven't figured out how to make it Constitutional short of an Amendment, and the good People think it shouldn't be necessary to do that.

2) Why, an Over-Spending Act!! Can We the People ask the penalties involved if it is not adhered to? Could you make it along the lines of a 'life imprisonment without possibility of parole' sort of penalty? Instead of just 'oh, if we can get 50%+1 in both Houses we can do as we wish' sort of thing that you folks in your Majesty are so prone to do. And if you had been serious about this, like the Republicans said they were way back in the... oh what was it, the 1970's? This would have been an A-#1 top priority on the first session in which the Republicans could get a majority vote in both Houses and a signature from the Executive. Hasn't happened, has it?

3) Caps on discretionary spending! Of course that is just legitimizing some pork over other pork... so really a non-starter. See #2 for the reasoning why. The Aristocrats of the Hill in the District really would just *ignore* this. Always have and always will. Ever hear of Gramm-Rudman?

So, The Jacksonian Party puts forth its own idea of what should happen to drive this silliness out of the budget process for good and all.

First - When the Executive proposes a base budget for the necessary parts of the Federal Government to keep doing their jobs and do the programs that are necessary to support the Republic, Congress should give it an up-or-down vote. Remember, this is not a pork-filled, special interest festooned budget. This is a 'keep everything going as it is, fund those things that need be funded, and let the Federal workforce get on with its actual JOB' sort of budget. Congress, can, in its wisdom, vote it down and explain exactly WHY it did so. And, upon doing so, the entire Federal Government, save for Defense shuts down and the borders are CLOSED to all Trade, Traffic and Immigration. The wheels of Government, save those necessary to keep the Nation defended grind to a complete and utter halt at the behest of the Executive. That is the one proviso attached to that budget... vote for it to keep the Government going or vote against it to shut it down.

Second - The Executive and Congress may propose *additional* things that they think the Government needs to do. This shall include special programs, agency re-alignment and reform and the such like. Each and every item gets a line number, a name, and a complete and thorough description of what is to be funded and *how*. Congress can bundle or unbundle these things as it sees fit, although it would be a good idea to put reform into a separate bill and *other things* into its own bill. These can go into effect once signed into Law.

Third - Congress can, of course, propose its *own* budget, as it is wont to do. And if passed the Executive may say that for all things that are just 'line items' with no backing in text upon the desk of the Executive, that such projects and programs will NOT be enacted. And then shut the Government down as Congress has not proven itself serious about keeping the Government working for the People... instead of their special interests and pet projects.

In point of fact, the Executive could say that TODAY and refuse all money that is not clearly and specifically outlined beyond the daily operations of any part of the Government. And this especially goes for 'earmarks' and 'off budget' items that do NOT show up in any damn bill but are buried way back in conference reports. The Executive may say the following:

"In my power as Head of the United States Government, I shall only spend money that is clearly and definitively outlined by that Government and by its Congress and myself in bills that have passed both Houses of Congress and appear upon my desk. If programs and projects are not clearly identified and given full description as to their VALUE to the People of the United States, I, as Head of the Government shall stop all such work on these items and refuse money from Congress to do these things which do NOT have clear and present statement in the actual budget. If it does not show up on my desk in clear form, it shall NOT BE DONE. And if Congress has any problem with that, it may only address myself as the Head of Government and not any constituent Agency thereof as this is my Power as President to do this and not a choice of any other part of the Government."
Now THAT should clear up this entire earmarking business once and for all!

And the Executive branch embodied in the President could do that TOMORROW.

Good government should not be something that needs to be enforced by Law, Senator Frist.

It should be worth doing as a good action in and of itself.

The fact that you propose a Law to enforce good behavior shows the exact lack of faith that We the People have in Our elected representatives in Congress to actually take care of the Union.

Consider this the: Put up or Shut up rule for Earmarks and Pork.

Show everyone what you want and put it up for a clean vote.

Or shut up and let Government do its work for the People.

That is *why* Congress is elected now, isn't it?

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Time to quit the UN

This is a position post of The Jacksonian Party.

Go to any search engine on the internet and type in the following: UN scandal

And you will get things like the following:

1) Oil for Food Corruption.

2) Calls for Kofi Annan to step down.

3) Shredded evidence.

4) United Nations Correspondents Association problems.

5) Pedophilia and selling videotapes of same by UN force in the Congo.

6) UN procurement office bribery.

7) Illegal sale of UN historic stamp collection.

8) India's Foreign Minister resigns after UN Oil for Food links revealed.

9) Marc Rich, pardoned by President Clinton, is implicated in Oil for Food scandal.

10) UN seeking to increase "voluntary contributions" with its "Digital Solidarity Fund".

11) UN Peacekeepers have long history of abusing those they 'protect'.

12) Nepotism and influence peddling by Kojo Annan.

13) Multiple sex crimes from UN staffers in Congo mission.

14) Russian ties to Oil for Food.

15) DNA tests called for UN Peacekeepers in Congo, Liberia, Burundi, Haiti and other parts of the world to find fathers of "Peacekeeper Babies".

16) Providing ambulances for terrorists in Palestine.

17) UNIFIL Peacekeepers not keeping the peace between Lebanon and Israel and allowing Hezbollah to attack.

18) Additional nepotism and lack of oversight of UN staffers.

19) UN Kosovo Scandal.

20) UN fails to stop genocide in Rwanda.

20 links in 20 minutes. It takes a bit to get past the repeats and in-depth material, but even this thumbnail of events the UN has been involved in leads to one, and only one conclusion:

The United States must withdraw from the UN, stop funding it and end its freedom from taxation from the State of New York.

All back vehicle tickets on all UN staff are to be imposed immediately and paid to the State of New York and any other State that has such outstanding.

The UN is worse than the Mafia and more brazen than the drug cartels.

It is a travesty of operation and gives NO JUSTICE in its operations.

It must go.

Period.

Let other Nations deal with it if they can stomach the place. The United States is no longer served by this organization and it can duly survive without the United States giving it any support, backing or recognition.

Indeed, it is a Transnational Criminal Organization and should be branded as such.

It harms every Nation it is in, abuses those it swears to protect and serves no purpose save to enrich itself and its staff.

It is an organization without Honor, without Justice and without accountability to the Law.

End all work with the UN as it serves no good to the US that overcomes its ills.

The Jacksonian Party calls for the complete withdrawal of the United States from the UN.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

The Reasons for The Jacksonian Party

This is an outlook paper for The Jacksonian Party.

Texas Fred has looked at the problems plaguing the Republican party and the Two Party System as a whole and is more than somewhat dissatisfied with it. He gives himself the label of 'Independent Conservative' so as to differentiate his beliefs and outlook from those in the Republican Party that are extremely staunch supporters of it.

This brings up the question of what, exactly is, the aim of modern Conservatism?

As far as can be told it is a hodge-podge of economic conservatives, social conservatives, small government conservatives, big government conservatives, business conservatives, freedom from government conservatives and those who just generally take a look at the goings on by Liberals and shake their heads for various reasons. To put it simply, Conservatism has no moorings to hold on to after Ronald Reagan, and had some big problems actually trying to adhere to any even when he was in office. This mish-mash has led to a strange admixture in which nearly anyone can say they 'have conservative values' but not have any MEANING to that.

And if you think the Conservatives and the Republican Party have problems, the Liberals and Democratic Party have had it for decades.

There is nothing to adhere to in either political party. They put forth nothing of substance that can be given as a guiding light and will change course of their parties at *whimsy* to meet up sections and factions of the voting population and their own party *base*. When one grinds any vegetable back and forth for hours on end, you tend to wind up with pap. And so the two parties have different colors and flavors of pap, but it is still unpalatable.

The Jacksonian Party places its faith in We the People as Individuals. The two parties place their faith in voter segments in an attempt to get a slim majority.

The Jacksonian Party adheres to the leanest possible government necessary to do the few things that are required of it and nothing more. EVER. The responsibilities foisted on government that has made it grow are ones that properly belong to We the People. The two parties wish to shear ever more responsibilities from the People and give them to government so that the People are diminished in their capabilities and made dependent upon government. That is the net effect of them over the entire last century and it is an abomination to the original founding concepts of this Nation.

The Jacksonian Party adheres to the fact that friends and those that help and do good work should be justly honored for those things. Neither party has permanent friends, nor permanent beliefs nor any concept *except* to reward those who vote for them. This is corruption on the largest scale and an abuse of governmental power to, again, diminish the People as a whole as a Unity. This is unjust rewards for obedience, not for doing good deeds. This encourages subservience and *not* freedom.

The Jacksonian Party adheres to the concept of Nation States as the largest necessary government for any consenting people. Since the Peace of Westphalia this has led to the creation and codification of ways Nations are to interact lawfully and have reciprocity of capability to address actions, good and bad, done by other Nations. While the advent of multinational corporations and other large, globe spanning organizations has happened, they must operate within Nation States. Sadly the Liberals by looking to Transnationalism, and the Conservatives by looking to large scale corporations, have BOTH drafted laws that make enforcement of the Nation State and its security difficult if not impossible.

The Jacksonian Party puts forth simple goals to adhere to, as has been stated many times in the Party documents. Further, being straightforward about things is seen as the best way to go at problems both National and International as doing otherwise to appease one sector or another, be it population or business, ends up slighting the People as a whole. The Jacksonian Party by having these simple goals and forthrightly asserting them in ways that are clearly understandable to the common man asserts that the best government is not only the smallest necessary but one that operates above-board and can explain itself when questioned. The two party system no longer does that and, in fact, now tries to take further liberties and rights to themselves via their elected officials so as to RULE the Nation not GOVERN it.

The Jacksonian Party asserts that wanting a small, simple and honorable government that the common man can understand and question so as to hold it accountable is something that is neither Liberal nor Conservative in its outlook. What it does do is assert that the Nation State is the highest form of representation of a People and that the rights and liberties enjoyed by the People are protected by that National government. When the government no longer keeps the Nation secure, it abdicates the primary responsibility GIVEN to it, by the People. Those asserting things to weaken or erode the National security are also destroying the very foundations upon which the People's responsibilities and rights are built upon. The very security of the individual is based upon a Nation's government willing to do those few things necessary to actually protect the Nation and all of the rights within it.

The Jacksonian Party also asserts that the modern age of communication now allows for a much stricter and closer adherence to the Constitution than has ever been possible since the Early Days of the Republic. By now being a vast People spread across a Continent and to other points on the globe, We are separated by only 1 second for communications. Thus the ability to form a distributed representative government with much denser representation is now not only possible, but NECESSARY so that the People may have their full voice in the state of the Nation. This cannot be done with a huge and complex government, but can be done with one that adheres to those few things given to it and handing BACK to the People those things that are not suited nor originally given to government.

The Jacksonian Party asserts that the true strength of the Terrible Swift Sword of the Republic is *not* its military which is the merest cutting edge and tip of that Sword. The true strength is in the People of the Republic and that strength stretches to wherever We the People, seeking to form a more perfect Union are present. The People can help bring Justice to those that seek to harm and destroy the Nation. The government is necessary to tell who those people are, but the People can then use that knowledge with the consent of government to track, hunt and bring down those enemies of We the People. The military is what is used against the avowed foes of the United States that are Nations and operate within the rules between Nation States. In times past it was We the People who hunted and tracked others, destroyed commerce with Our enemies and were given just and suitable recompense for those things.

That era of the Early Republic has returned to the World in modern guise.

Government now has trouble fighting those that are no government, raise no flag, and pursue the destruction of everything that allows We the People to be secure.

And to properly fight this, the government needs to do those things that it is given to do and only those and do them well if not PERFECTLY. A high standard for any government, but one that can serve as a goal for a Nation in which Free People take up the struggle to remain Free.

Thus the Party of One.

For as it was said, so it is true: "One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson

Each and every one of Us.

We the People.