PoliticalAction.com Blog

Oh yes, those legislative busybody scanners are at it again, mandating that full body imaging x-ray devices be installed in every airport in the nation by 2013, under the illusory premise of increasing safety.

This is another unconstitutional tactic that Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to, but that doesn’t bother Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) who introduced S. 3536, the Securing Aircraft From Explosives Responsibly: Advanced Imaging Recognition Act of 2010, (SAFER AIR Act). “To enhance aviation security and protect personal privacy, and for other purposes,” is the leading line of the SAFE AIR bill text.

The goal of the bill must be “for other purposes,” because there will be no personal privacy when more and more travelers, both adults and children, are singled out for an extra security check that is in reality a revealing sneak peek at their anatomy, minus their clothes. Spending millions and millions of taxpayer dollars on more machines will do little to “enhance aviation security,” either, as it as already been established that the Detroit bomber’s explosives would not have been detected by such a machine, and even firecrackers have been missed.

The facts remain the same: Having a complete stranger view your almost-naked body is a violation of your privacy and civil rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. Adult and child images have been saved on these machines, even though DHS policy already forbids such practices. A weak reiteration of this policy in new legislation will have zero effect in curbing existing abuses and securing these images that are recorded and stored in the machines — machines that also have the ability to transfer those images at the click of a button. And transfer them they will, between themselves, as it says in the text of the bill:
“An image produced using advanced imaging technology that shows personal or nonstandardized images shall be transferred using a secure connection to a location that enables an employee of the Department of Homeland Security to view the image without risking the exposure of the image to the public.”

There is also the question of health concerns over the radiation exposure, especially for frequent fliers, or anyone with medical problems, prostheses, etc.

Oh sure, the bill contains pathetic attempts to include privacy clauses. One section forbids TSA personnel from having cameras near the machinery, but they really wouldn’t need this precaution because apparently the screeners are adept at saving and transferring nude images generated by these devices, having practiced on 35,000 of them already. Passengers specially picked for extra attention can always opt out of the machine scanning and instead choose the ever popular personal groping session by a person of the same sex, if one is available.

Best thing to do with this legislation is contact your senators and tell them to throw out S. 3536 when it comes before them for the sake of real privacy, health, safety, and freedom.

Currently S. 3536 sits in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Urging the committee members to drop the legislation now would save a lot of time and trouble down the road.

Thanks,

Your friends at The John Birch Society

By Jeffrey T. Kuhner
Washington Times
March 19, 2010

Impeach the president?
The ‘Slaughter Solution’ would violate the Constitution

The Democrats are assaulting the very pillars of our democracy. As the debate on Obamacare reaches the long, painful end, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is confronting a political nightmare. She may not have the 216 votes necessary to pass the Senate’s health care bill in the House.

Hence, Mrs. Pelosi and her congressional Democratic allies are seriously considering using a procedural ruse to circumvent the traditional constitutional process. Led by Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Rules Committee, the new plan – called the “Slaughter Solution” – is not to pass the Senate version on an up-or-down vote. Rather, it is to have the House “deem” that the legislation was passed and then have members vote directly on a series of “sidecar” amendments to fix the things it does not like.

This would enable House Democrats to avoid going on the record voting for provisions in the Senate bill – the “Cornhusker Kickback,” the “Louisiana Purchase,” the tax on high-cost so-called “Cadillac” insurance plans – that are reviled by the public or labor-union bosses. If the reconciliation fixes pass, the House can send the Senate bill to President Obama for his signature without ever having had a formal up-or-down vote on the underlying legislation.

Many Democrats could claim they opposed the Senate bill while allowing it to pass. This would be an unprecedented violation of our democratic norms and procedures, established since the inception of the republic. Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution stipulates that for any bill to become a law, it must pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That is, not be “deemed” to have passed, but actually be voted on with the support of the required majority. The bill must contain the exact same language in both chambers – and in the version signed by the president – to be a legitimate law.

Continue…

Schiff for Senate

Dear Supporter,

One year ago today President Obama signed the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” popularly known as the Stimulus Act, into law. The President and Democrats in Congress promised that this economic stimulus program would create jobs and strengthen the U.S. economy. But a year later we still haven’t seen the results.

Obama insists that the stimulus is working, but we just haven’t seen proof of that in the economic data. But we have seen signs that the stimulus money is being spent… that is, large green highway signs proclaiming that funding for whatever construction project has you sitting in traffic was secured by the federal stimulus package.

The stimulus package was an egregious waste of our tax dollars, and now Democrats in Congress want to pass another jobs bill! I can only imagine how much of our tax dollars will be wasted in this bill, and that, my friend, is why I’m running for the U.S. Senate.

It’s time to get our country’s fiscal house in order, and I’m ready to lead the charge. Our government cannot borrow and spend our way to economic prosperity. The past year has been challenging for all of us. We’ve had to tighten our purse strings, and it’s time for Washington to do the same.

I’m turning to you as one of my strongest supporters, because I need your financial assistance to get my message of fiscal responsibility out to voters. Will you follow this link and make a contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more today? Your immediate contribution will bring me closer to Washington where I’ll fight for the conservative economic principles that have brought Americans prosperity for so many generations.

Government is the least efficient and most expensive means of job creation. In fact, we’re paying $160,000 for each job created. Can you believe it? Just imagine all the jobs that were destroyed or that never were created because $160,000 that otherwise would have been invested by the private sector was spent by the government instead. In addition, Americans continue to lose jobs everyday despite the Obama Administration’s failed efforts. We cannot afford to waste another several hundred billion dollars on a job killing “jobs bill” with our national debt nearly $12.4 trillion and Congress’ recent decision to raise the debt ceiling by another $1.9 trillion. It’s time to force Washington to play a limited role in governing, but we can only do that by electing leaders who will absolutely fight for fiscally conservative values.

As Senator, I will make sure that the government is spending your tax dollars wisely. I will not vote for a bill that funds frivolous projects like highway signs promoting the stimulus bill – New York alone has spent a million dollars on these signs – and I will not support another government bailout of a business, a bank, or an entire industry.

I need your immediate support to get to Washington to fight for our shared values. That’s why I hope I can count on you to follow this link today and make the most generous contribution you can to my campaign.

Thank you in advance for your support. Please stay tuned for updates from the campaign trail.

Sincerely,

Peter Schiff
Republican US Senate Candidate

P.S. Today is the anniversary of President Obama and his fellow Democrats’ failed economic stimulus plan. Instead of allowing the Democrats to pass a jobs bill that will cost hundreds of billions more of our tax dollars, we must act to elect leaders who will fight for economic responsibility and fiscal conservative principles. That’s why I’m running for the U.S. Senate and I hope I can count on you to follow this link and make a generous contribution to support my campaign. Thank you.

Dear Friend:

If Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts last night shows us one thing, it is that nothing in politics can be taken for granted. In the most liberal of states, the people have spoken, and the tide of reform continues to sweep through the country!

Here in Connecticut, we are facing and uphill battle. Like Scott Brown, we are facing a popular attorney general who has started the campaign with a big lead in the polls. National pundits are writing us off, and even here in Connecticut, people are treating Dick Blumenthal’s victory as a foregone conclusion. They ignore us at their peril. We will prove them wrong, and we will win! There’s a movement building across this country, and I feel it every day when I campaign.

We need solutions to the problems facing our country, not more government bureaucracy and empty promises from career politicians! We need a return to the free-market policies that made this country great, that will get Americans back to work and turn the tide on the failed policies in Washington, DC.

I know that we can shock the establishment, just like Scott Brown did last night. With you on my team, we can accomplish anything! Sunday some of our friends organized a money bomb. We raised just over $30,000 dollars from 377 people who donated an average of $80 each. While I want to thank everyone who participated in that money bomb, I also want to issue a challenge to the rest of you who sat it out.

This email is going out to over 150,000 people. Just imagine if everyone matched the contributions given during the money bomb. Instead of raising $30,000 we would raise 12 million. Combine that war chest, with my message and the current political environment, and we can’t lose.

I can win this race, but I cannot win it alone. I need everyone’s help. Together we will not fail. The stakes are just too high. We can take back our nation from the politicians who hold it hostage. We can restore limited government, embrace capitalism, and unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that made this nation great.

Do not assume that someone else will donate for you. We are in this fight together and we all need to contribute to prevail. Don’t think your contribution will be too small to make a difference. Remember we have strength in numbers. Small contributions add up as long as enough people make them (of course larger donations are welcome too).

So go to my web site www.schiffforsenate.com and make your contribution today. Every contribution counts, and if everyone makes one, the tally will be huge.

Let’s send a message so loud that it will resonate from Hartford to Washington D.C. Let’s show our critics that we mean business. Let’s show them that this campaign is real and that we will not be stopped for lack of funds.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

Yours in liberty,

Peter Schiff, US Senate Candidate
schiffforsenate.com

Dear Friends:

Your support has been tremendous, and I greatly appreciate it. Together we sent the message that we don’t want politicians like Chris Dodd in Washington. Today many of your voices were heard when Chris Dodd announced that he will not be running for re-election in Connecticut. Here is the statement that I released this afternoon:

“While Chris Dodd has come to represent all that is wrong with Washington, his decision not to seek re-election is not the solution to the problems the people of Connecticut or the United States face. The problems we face are systemic in Washington and the fight to fix our broken system of government is more important than ever.

We will not fix the problems created by Chris Dodd by sending his protégé to replace him.

From the beginning, our campaign has been about putting our state and country back on the right track. Connecticut families deserve a government that stops spending our money like it is their personal bank account. We need pro-growth policies that cut taxes, drastically cut government spending, and put an end to the bail-outs and buy-offs that have become business as usual in Washington, D.C.

The problems every American faces today are serious and we need courageous leaders who are willing to fight for what they believe and not accept the status quo because it is the politically expedient path. I look forward to continuing to visit with Connecticut voters from across the state to share my vision for economic prosperity and a return of government that truly is of, by and for the people.”

We will win this campaign, and together, we will return our country to greatness.”

With Dodd out of the race, we need your help now more than ever. The Democrats are ready to annoint another liberal, Attorney General Mark Blumenthal, to be their nominee. We must stop them!

Please contribute $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign, so we can bring our common-sense, conservative vision to Washington.

Thank you,
Peter Schiff
Republican US Senate Candidate
schiffforsenate.com

Peter Schiff, Republican candidate for US Senate in Connecticut, with
a message from his campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiJw2J1vBck

schiffforsenate.com

Dear Friends:

It’s that time of year again– time to make your New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t know about you, but my first Resolution for 2010 is to Dump Dodd! For too long Chris Dodd has orchestrated million dollar deals for himself and billion dollar bailout packages for his pals on Wall Street. Enough is enough. This year, our resolution must be to elect a Senator that will fight for the taxpayer’s best interest.

But, unlike most New Year’s Resolutions, we can’t wait until the clock strikes midnight on January 1st. Our resolution starts today because the final 2009 campaign fundraising deadline is December 31st. That means our campaign needs to make one last fundraising push in advance of this deadline in order to show Chris Dodd that we mean business.

Chris Dodd knows that he is in trouble. He’s working extra hard to hold on to power. Now is the time to build on our positive momentum and march into the New Year with a strong showing of unity and support.

Donate by December 31st: the End of the Year Fundraising Deadline!

Help us ”get our message out” by donating to our campaign.
* $24.20 will send out 100 mailers to Hartford
* $52.20 will buy 1 radio ad in Danbury
* $109.00 will help get 1 cable TV commercial up in Bridgeport
* $500.00 will pay 1 week’s rent for our campaign headquarters in Milford.

Or, you can name your own contribution and decide how to Dump Dodd! You can also mail a check to:
PO Box 3647
Milford, CT 06460
Again, thank you for your support and contribution.

Sincerely,

Peter Schiff
Republican US Senate Candidate
schiffforsenate.com

December 22, 2009 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) and John Ensign (R-Nevada), raised a Constitutional Point of Order on the Senate floor against the Democrat health care takeover bill on behalf of the Steering Committee, a caucus of conservative senators. The Senate will vote tomorrow on the bill’s constitutionality.

“I am incredibly concerned that the Democrats’ proposed individual mandate provision takes away too much freedom and choice from Americans across the country,” said Senator Ensign. “As an American, I felt the obligation to stand up for the individual freedom of every citizen to make their own decision on this issue. I don’t believe Congress has the legal authority to force this mandate on its citizens.”

“Forcing every American to purchase a product is absolutely inconsistent with our Constitution and the freedoms our Founding Fathers hoped to protect,” said Senator DeMint. “This is not at all like car insurance, you can choose not to drive but Americans will have no choice whether to buy government-approved insurance. This is nothing more than a bailout and takeover of insurance companies. We’re forcing Americans to buy insurance under penalty of law and then Washington bureaucrats will then dictate what these companies can sell to Americans. This is not liberty, it is tyranny of good intentions by elites in Washington who think they can plan our lives better than we can.”

Americans who fail to buy health insurance, according to the Democrats’ bill, would be subject to financial penalties. The senators believe the bill is unconstitutional because the insurance mandate is not authorized by any of the limited enumerated powers granted to the federal government. The individual mandate also likely violates the “takings” clause of the 5th Amendment.

The Democrats’ healthcare reform bill requires Americans to buy health insurance “whether or not they ever visit a doctor, get a prescription or have an operation.” If an American chooses not to buy health insurance coverage, they will face rapidly increasing taxes that will rise to $750 or 2% of their taxable income, whichever is greater.

The Congressional Budget Office once stated “A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.”

A legal study by scholars at the nonpartisan Heritage Foundation concluded: “An individual mandate to enter into a contract with or buy a particular product from a private party, with tax penalties to enforce it, is unprecedented– not just in scope but in kind–and unconstitutional as a matter of first principles and under any reasonable reading of judicial precedents.”

From SchiffForSenate.com

Packed House for Grand Opening of Schiff Campaign HQ
Fri, Dec 18, 2009

Peter Schiff & Packed House of Supporters Launch Schiff Campaign HQ

(Milford, CT) – Hundreds of Republican activists, voters, and volunteers braved the winter weather to join Peter Schiff, Connecticut’s principled Republican candidate for US Senate, at the grand opening of his campaign headquarters in Milford. Schiff rallied the packed house of supporters with a rousing speech about his campaign to end Washington’s reckless spending and get America’s fiscal house in order.

“The same irresponsible policies that got Wall Street into trouble are now repeating themselves in Washington— only this time on an even bigger scale,” Schiff explained to the energetic crowd. “Tonight’s incredible turnout proves that Republican voters are ready to mobilize a grassroots campaign to retire Chris Dodd.”

More than 200 people attended the event throughout the night, including notable Republican Town Committee Members, Republican State Central Committee Members and grassroots Republican activists. The grand opening of Schiff’s campaign headquarters is the latest development in a successful month of campaign activities. In December, Schiff has crisscrossed the state speaking to local Republican Town Committees and signed up hundreds of Connecticut campaign volunteers. The campaign has also earned momentum from the latest Rasmussen Poll, which has Peter Schiff beating Chris Dodd in a head-to-head matchup.

In 2006, businessman Peter Schiff warned of a coming financial crisis. Now, Peter sees the same problems repeating themselves in Washington. As Connecticut’s Senator, he will stop Washington’s spending binges that destroy jobs and lead to higher taxes. Born in New Haven, Peter lives in Fairfield County, where he raises his seven year old son.