Our system is based on checks and balances between three branches plus a watchful eye from a not-too-friendly press. Republicans control the House and Senate and the White House. Republicans have appointed most of the judges. Republicans decry the ‘liberal media.’ Now they work steadily to destroy the Constitutional balance of power. mjh
Damn the Constitution The Daily Camera: Editorials
Reps. flout the values they claim to defend
In Congress this week, issues as deep and wide as the very future of the republic should be the subject of debate. The weighty concerns, which are numerous, are being neglected partly because our representatives insist on focusing on trivia — and in flouting the Constitution.
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved the so-called Pledge Protection Act, which would forbid any court from ruling on the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. The bill is expected to hit the House floor this week. …
The Constitution grants Congress the power to make laws, and the judiciary has the obligation to interpret them. This safeguard is one of those “checks” that helps balance the government’s power. Without this protection, Congress could infringe upon free speech, due process, the right to be confronted by one’s accusers ? you name it. Any such legislative transgression would only need the no-court-review clause.
The possibilities are staggering. But the bill’s proponents seem oblivious to this. …
To [the Pledge Protection Act’s primary sponsor, Missouri Republican Congressman Todd] Akin, stripping the courts of their jurisdiction is a necessary response to “activist judges” who have ruled in favor of gay marriage and against the religious invocation in the Pledge. …
Earlier this year, the House passed a bill that would prevent federal courts from reviewing the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Akin and his misguided colleagues are clearly striving to defend their faith and to assert their particular vision of America. But by attempting an end-run around the Constitution, their latest tactic is nothing short of un-American.
Pledge Protection Act on Tap by Keith Peters
Family.org (A Web site of Focus on the Family)
The legislation, the Pledge Protection Act, was authored by Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo. It says no federal court — including the Supreme Court — can hear any claim that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Akin said the intent of H.R. 2028 is to rein in judicial tyrants who legislate from the bench — as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did in declaring “under God” unconstitutional in the Michael Newdow case.
“They are saying that children cannot say the Pledge of Allegiance,” Akins explained. “That’s a form of censorship of speech, and it’s restricting free speech.”
Congress has a right and an obligation, he added, to make sure that the branches of government do not overstep their authority as outlined in the Constitution.