FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2009, 1:12 AM

Boaz ItsHaky, Third District’s Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, enthusiastically endorses Cassidy for Class President at her School!

After hearing about Cassidy’s bid for the position, Bo reviewed her campaign platform and gave it two thumbs up.

“The importance of reading and awareness of the spread of Flu and MSRA are timely policies for Cassidy to highlight,” Bo said.

And what about her campaign?

“I’m really impressed by the work she’s putting into her campaign,” Bo exclaimed. “It tells me she won’t let her classmates down once they elect her Class President.”

Class President is not just a popularity contest. It is an important exercise in civics for all young people.

“Being Class President will be a great experience for Cassidy, and an inspiration for her friends and classmates,” Bo added. “Cassidy will have an executive position. She will listen to her classmates, negotiate and compromise with teachers, and make decisions.”

Cassidy’s classmates will have a role in her Presidency as well.

“It’s not just casting a vote and then its over,” Bo stresses. “Voting her President is only the beginning. Afterward, Cassidy will advocate improvements her classmates would like in class, and mediate difficulties between the class and their teachers. It is up to the class to make the most of their new Class President.”

Boaz ItsHaky is a strong supporter of civics education and participation by young people. And Cassidy surpasses his expectations and hopes for our future leaders.

Cassidy’s campaign website is http://www.creativemovements.com/cassidy and supporters may email her at princessbabbles@aol.com!

Go, Cassidy! GO!

Happy Constitution Day! Yes, exactly 222 years ago, on September 17, 1787, the most important legal document in world history was signed by the state delegates to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia. It was ratified by the state of Delaware in 1789, and many other states followed suit. Our great nation has been growing and prospering ever since.

The document itself is a little rough around the edges, but the laws penned on its surface have ensured the personal liberty of each and every American when he or she stands before the federal government.

Let’s work together to make sure this noble achievement never yellows and fades from the conscience of our elected legislators or from the President of the United States, whose first job is to guarantee all bills she or he signs into law are Constitutional.

Here are two sections of our Constitution that deal with Congress:

Section 8 - Powers of Congress

• The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

• To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
• To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
• To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
• To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
• To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
• To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;
• To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
• To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
• To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
• To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
• To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
• To provide and maintain a Navy;
• To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
• To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
• To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
• To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And
• To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section 9 - Limits on Congress

• The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
• The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
• No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
• No capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.)
• No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
• No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
• No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
• No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

A few days ago, Rep. Eric Cantor offered an intriguing idea: why waste $400 billion of stimulus money on unstimulating projects? Why not recycle the money? Why not use unspent stimulus funds to pay down our national debt?

Since we know [the Stimulus] has been a failure, why not do the responsible thing, which is to take the $400 billion that has not been committed yet - or not been spent, but been committed to the stimulus - and just pay off the debt and deficit so we can get our fiscal house back in order?

Here is a video of Rep. Cantor on CNBC, detailing his concerns about the Stimulus:

Some may think the Republic leader’s suggestion makes no sense. “How can you pay down the debt with money that’s already part of the debt?” It’s a valid question. The best way to help reduce the deficit is to simply cancel the remaining portion of the Stimulus. That would make the deficit $400 billion smaller, and reduce our interest burden by billions every year.

However, Rep. Cantor’s offer to divert stimulus funds over to the deficit is necessary to spare the pride of the veteran incumbent Democrats. Call it political expediency: There’s not one Democrat who would vote for the cancellation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA (pronounced ERROR). It would be an admission of failure.

Therefore, the only real alternative to complete waste is to shift those $400 billion into paying off older federal loans with higher interest rates. The difference of a few percentage points between the old loans and the new loans taken out this year will save America untold billions. And, not requiring Democrats to admit complete failure would make the vote more palatable.

Still, its virtually impossible to see Democrats signing on to Rep. Cantor’s idea. (Least of all Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who put in more hours than the average Democrat to get the Stimulus package passed.)

From the beginning, it was obvious that ARRA is the biggest pay off to Democrat supporters in history. And canceling or transferring the remaining funds means there would $400 billion less of the largess to pass around to friends and campaign supporters before and after the 2010 elections.

After all of the disasters that have stricken America’s banking sector, the institution that made it possible should be audited: the Fed’s books should be flung open and examined line by line. But Title 31 USC Sec. 714, the law that created the Federal Reserve Banking System, forbids an audit on grounds of privacy for the borrowers of federal funds.

That is to say, all of the giant banking cartels that were borrowing from the Fed to buy up toxic mortgage assets and then sell them off to mutual funds, investment firms, hedge funds, and ponzi schemes at an enormous profit are protected from scrutiny. To paraphrase Chairman Ben Bernanke, secrecy has always been the foundation of banking, and changing that would undermine the very system he’s trying so hard to resuscitate.

Enter H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. It was written by Rep. Ron Paul, who is a well-known opponent of the Fed. In fact, every year he ritually submits a bill to repeal the Federal Reserve Act as a matter of duty. Concerning the Fed’s business practices, Rep. Paul says:

Since its inception, the Federal Reserve has operated without sufficient transparency or accountability to the American people. In fact, current law specifically excludes the Fed from audit or real congressional oversight. No government agency has such an utter lack of sunshine.

The Federal Reserve has created and dispersed trillions of dollars in response to our current financial crisis. Of course, I am among the most outspoken critics of the bailouts, but Americans across the nation, regardless of their opinion of the TARP program, want to know where that money has gone and exactly how much has been spent.

Currently, H.R. 1207 has 230 cosponsors, and is receiving its broad support not only because there is a general outrage over what the most powerful and unaccountable banking system has done, but because the legislation itself is so simple:

The bill removes a line from the original Federal Reserve Act of 1913. It is the subsection that forbids the Fed to be audited. Short, effective, impacting. This is the sort of commonsense legislation We the People can have confidence in. Naturally, Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s name is nowhere to be found among its cosponsors.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro voted Yes on H.R. 7321: To authorize financial assistance to eligible automobile manufacturers, throwing a handout to GM and Chrysler, two of the ailing Big Three of the ailing U.S. automotive industry. Ford opted out; though they came to Congress begging last week, they stated this week they had enough cash to stay afloat. Perhaps they read the fine print of what H.R. 7321 would do to their business.

Although the Big Three are the last giants of U.S. heavy industry and their success (and survival) are important to the job sector, critics of H.R. 7321 suggest its nothing less than a stock swap, putting the Federal Government into the car business, without demanding a business plan to bring the giants back into profitability. As Rep. Barney Frank said, “If we are lucky, we will come out with a bill next week that nobody likes,” furthering the theory that our 110th Congress is incapable of formulating legislation that can meet the needs and expectations of the nation.

Rep. DeLauro herself has insisted that “doing nothing [on the economy] is not an option,” opening the door to the “bad legislation is better than no legislation” attitude that nearly all long-serving veterans of Congress hold. It is a dangerous point of view in terms of our civil liberties, as Representatives who hold this view must feel themselves infallible in the long term, and that history will judge even their worst actions to be just in the light of their good intentions.