Rob Orr on budget challenge: 'It's not a buffet...'

Whiskey's for drinking; water's for fighting over.

Meridian, Texas – In his fifth and final term, 58^th District Representative Rob Orr (R-Burleson) sees Texas in an enviable position in national and international terms of economic recovery.

Rep. Ron Orr

“The biggest thing is to handle the growth.”

Something like 1,000 people per day vote with their feet and choose the Lone Star State. They got here as quick as they could.

The biggest challenge is that the budget is not a buffet, he agreed, chiming in with District 22 State Senator Brian Birdwell, a survivor of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon in his freshman Senatorial term.

So the growth factor has a key element, and it's that old question of Texas politics. Who gets the water, and what do they use it to produce?

Orr is in a position to know. Because of his seniority, he has been placed on the two most scorching hot seats the 83^rd Legislature could have produced. Redistricting, the painful process propelled by the U.S. Constitution and the decennial census, and appropriations are the twin pulse points, the dos equis marking the confluence of all the variables.

He served on both.

He wasn't alone. On the other side of the rotunda, Sen. Birdwell worked as his legislative partner.

Sen. Brian Birdwell

They both agree with the proposition that Texas can manage its growth through control of spending and an adroit handling of money resources on a cash and carry basis.

Both pointed with pride to a central selling point.

Texas ranks 48^th out of 50 states in its per capita spending, a conservative fiscal posture that has led to an unswerving commitment to leave 8 billion dollars untouched in a Rainy Day fund, to cut spending to the bone, and to provide tax relief wherever possible.

They have a majority opinion backing them. The minority report, they both told the Bosque Republican Club, holds a different view. Democrats want to spend that Rainy Day fund down to zero bucks. Republicans want a threshold below which none dare tread.

Of the four things that must be accomplished to accommodate that dramatic growth rate – one that is fueled by the economic failure of less robust economies on the left, the right, and points north – the state water plan is the ultimate, the linchpin, the capstone of the quartet of issues that control the cue.

It has a $53 billion price tag, and in the middle of a drought that surpasses the crippling effects of the 1950 dry bones dust-out, it would mean forgoing all educational operations for the next biennium. Birdwell pointed that out.

When combined with Medicaid costs, education accounts for 75 percent of the state's spending.

Transportation brings up the rear in the $196.9 billion biennial shower of power - and Texas DOT officials claim perennially that they have been shorted by half in each biennial budget.

How will they do it?

Here's a clue.

“If oil and gas prices don't continue to rise, we're going to have to make significant reductions,” Birdwell said, as he handed the microphone back to Orr.

He delivered the other half of the one-two punch.

“We were really $27 billion short when we went into session 4 years ago.”

It's up to voters. They will be asked in November if they will tap the Rainy Day fund by $2 billion to seed a comprehensive state water plan that will do in the 21^st century what Texans did in mid-20^th century by building reservoirs, damming rivers, and catching every last drop before it flows down the creeks and bayous and into the briny depths of the Gulf of Mexico.

You could have heard a pin drop, but the reaction was nothing compared to the stone-faced and stoic blow back when it came time to explore the realities of Medicaid.

You think of elderly medical care as Medicare, but that's a misconception. Nursing home expenses are covered by Medicaid, and it was a 1964 law Texas opted to take advantage of in 1966 because of one reason, and one reason only.

If you don't use it, you not only lose it, but you still have to pay the taxes, anyway.

The deal is geared this way.

If you like, you pay; if you no like, you still pay.

Some other state gets your tax funds – which run at 85 cents paid back by Washingtonian bureaucrats for each dollar Texans send inside the Beltway.

The stinger: “We have no mechanism in Medicaid to limit our expenditures.”

There is no way of determining if a Medicaid recipient is in fact a citizen, or not. The eligibility requirements of the program prohibit even asking the question. Opt out if you wish, but it's a guarantee that hospitals and rest homes in California or New York - or Florida - will wind up spending Texans' tax dollars, and then Texans will have to pay an additional state tax to make up the difference.

“We do not have a broken immigration progam' we have a lack of will to enforce the law.” Applause.

That's what they mean when they call it a job killer.

Education?

Both Orr and Birdwell agreed that by decreasing the number of State Board of Education achievement tests to a more manageable 7 – two of them diagnostic – the primary accomplishment is to avoid the federal courtroom, reduce the Robin Hood litigation endemic to south Texas.

Hot buttons abound.

Right to life: “A woman still has a right to choose, but we raised the medical standards.”

Gun control: A new law guarantees that a city or county can't adopt more stringent controls than those allowed by the U.S. and Texas Constitutions.

What causes hideous incidents like the Washington Navy Yard slaughter? “The ill attempt of someon with a weapon, and the attempt of someone else to keep the ordinary citizen from having one.” More applause.

Cops now claim paralyzed man pointed gun at trooper

Austin – Events have taken a sad, tragicomic turn in the symbolic arrest of a paralyzed veteran who bought an 1851 Colt Navy revolver in order to test a law that police say make it a crime to carry an antique – though deadly – replica of "the gun that tamed the west.”

About dark-thirty on Saturday, after 24 hours in the county jail, authorities released Gary Hays with no written proffer of charges, after arresting him and confiscating his black powder revolver on the Capitol grounds the previous afternoon, Friday, 13 September.

It wasn't his first go-round with the Department of Public Safety security squad at the State Capitol. The previous Friday, 6 September, he received a warning citation for the same event.

Unsatisfied, he returned one week later after spending a day conferring with lawyers retained by a legal protection insurance fund that provides defense in courts of law to subscribers who run afoul of the law over firearms violations.

One snag is this. A replica weapon of a firing piece manufactured prior to 1899 is not classified in Texas law as a “firearm.” His question, straightforward enough, was if he should be arrested, would attorneys still represent him in court.

When they said yes, he paid for his insurance policy, gathered his weapon and wheelchair, and arranged for a friendly activist to transport him to the State Capitol.

Hays is a paralyzed Vietnam-era veteran who became a quadriplegic ten years ago after an auto wreck pulverized a couple of his cervical vertabrae. He has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.

In fact, according to Marcy Hays, his wife, when he fires a weapon, he pulls the trigger with fingers from both his right and left hands.

A U-Stream video of the event plainly shows that it took about a half-hour for him to attract the attention of an officer. When he did, it took them quite some time to make a decision to arrest him, and then only after he insisted.

At that point, he told me in a private conversation, some officer standing by grabbed his right hand and twisted his arm. The video does show that.

They assured him he would not be hurt, that they would see to it that any medical services he might require would be provided. In fact, the officer is clearly heard saying, “They have to take care of you.”

How true. It is written.

Hays said that after he made the street, he was going through his “cripple bag” that is suspended from the back of his off-road, big-tire manual wheelchair and found a summons that showed he had been arrested for the disorderly conduct statute, Sect. 42.01 (a)(8), for the Class B misdemeanor offense of “rudely displaying” a firearm “or any other deadly weapon in a manner calculated to cause alarm.”

All the young dudes carry the news

The legal instrument, he said, indicated no court date and no procedure to follow to dispose of the charge.

He thought he was a free man.

All that changed Monday afternoon, when it was learned that a “mistake” has been made at the Travis County Jail, that he should not have been released without being charged and informed of what day to appear before a County Court-at-Law Judge.

Hays said he is headed the opposite direction. Has plans elsewhere. Isn't interested in seeing the cops in Austin about anything, since they turned him loose. Gone fishing. Adios. Etc.

Said Jason Orsek, a board member of Open Carry Texas, “The DPS Captain (Sheere) said in a phone conversation at 4:30 p.m. “The arresting officer is claiming Gary pointed the revolver at him.”

There is a a video – in fact more than one video – of the entire transaction. No one has seen any such thing in those videos.

Gov. Rick Perry and friends have an express lane
at the Capitol's magnetometers due to their 
concealed carry handgun licenses...

He carried his weapon on a necklace he made from parachute cord, British Army style.

Jesus wept.

It is written.

Some wag quipped that the DPS have been reduced to the status of meter maids, that Deputy Sheriff's officers would be better suited to such a security task.

I would like to think that I get by with a little help from my friends.

I will leave you with the words of Mr. Lennon and Mr. McCartney:

“Lovely Rita, Meter Maid, nothing can come between us. When it gets dark, I tow your heart away.”

Courthouse information war carried to state level

“Information is power. Withholding information is power to the third power.” - A wise old spit and whittle bench scribbler

Waco – McLennan County Commissioners rubber stamped a proposal to oppose automated information technology in District Court records by funding the clerks' three-day visit to a Lake Travis resort hotel for a day-and-a-half conference.

McLennan County
District Clerk
Karen Matkin

District Clerk Karen Matkin is president of a statewide professional organization of district clerks, who she says should oppose digitizing petitions and pleadings in criminal and civil lawsuits for online dissemination. They will meet at Horseshoe Bay, but Ms. Matkin and members of her staff will stay on to play for an additional two nights at taxpayer expense.

Her reason?

Local control of records, something Ms. Matkin, a former criminal prosecutor for the McLennan County Criminal District Attorney's office, thinks should be of paramount importance to the people who ride herd on public information generated by attorneys' filings of legal instruments in the Texas District Court system.

In a legislative alert, Ms. Matkin wrote: 

“This is an alert concerning SB 753 and HB 981. This is the bill requiring clerks to provide an electronic copy of the index and charge only what the cost is as established under the Public Information Act. These bills are wrong on a number of levels. The first is that the District Clerks should be able to control their own records. It is classic interference by state government in the activities of local office holders. Under the rules concerning judicial documents the clerks are required to allow the public to examine the Court’s docket. Public access is not the issue. The intent of the bill is to force the bulk sale of indexes by clerks. This means that records that cost the taxpayers millions to develop will be sold for a pittance. The way the bill is currently written there is a serious question of whether clerks will be forced to digitize older records at a cost of millions of dollars, currently unnecessary four (sic) our purposes, only to sell them for a small sum.”

At the same time, the Court approved with little discussion and no opposition the transfer of funds of more than $800,000 from “contingencies” to funding the care and feeding of “overflow” prisoners at a privately-operated, for-profit jail built and maintained at taxpayer expense. Originally budgeted for a $1 million expense through the year, the bean counters predict that, as in previous years, the price will run to hundreds of percentage points more, thus throwing the budget into a huge deficit.

In the same raft of items in the contingency agenda, the Court approved an across the board increase in Sheriff's fees of 150 percent for some items such as “Citation by Posting” and by 20 percent for “Writs of Garnishment,” attachment, and possession.

County officials raised the local tax rate for 2013-14 by a little more than a nickel per $100 assessed valuation as a result.

The reason? According to the County Auditor, the deficit has eaten away at the prudent cash reserves of the corporation of McLennan County, to the point that the debt is otherwise unsustainable.

One may view documents attached to these actions by clicking here.

http://pasotx.com/9-10pICS.htm

Why is all that of importance to taxpayers and the general public?

Certain decisions are made out of the scrutiny of the public that eventually wind up costing huge amounts of money in runaway debt service on tax-free municipal revenue bonds issued without voter approval as an economic development project of the county government.

The information that may be thus obtained often tells a much more complete story of expensive developments in local policy.

The story of how McLennan County, Texas, came to purchase the construction, maintenance and operation of the Jack Harwell Detention Center in what was represented as a for-profit jail through the services of CEC, Inc., a New Jersey-based corporation, comes to mind.

Had it not been for a certain lawsuit alleging a “breach of fiduciary trust” filed in Harris County, taxpayers may never have learned of the exact methods used to award the construction contract to an affiliated corporation, Hale-Mills Construction of Houston.

Accurate Air Conditioning complained that their employee, an estimator, was given exclusive access to plans and the construction site through the cooperation of then County Judge Jim Lewis and certain jail officials of the McLennan County Sheriff's Office.

Though the defendant, who had by then formed his own air conditioning company, countered the claim by objecting, depositions taken from Judge Lewis, then County Commissioner Joe Mashek, and a high-ranking member of the Sheriff's Department revealed exactly how other bidders were prevented from getting timely information that would have helped them prepare a competitive bid.

As a result of this exclusive arrangement, the man's former employer complained, other bidders were prevented from bidding, and so, due to the lack of information, they didn't even bother to try.

The parties wound up settling out of court in a take nothing agreement that was entered as having occurred due to lack of prosecution. The case was passed.

How does one obtain that information? You look it up on the internet, for free. The Harris County District Clerk's office has digitized its cases at what Ms. Matkin calls huge expense. Anyone, anywhere, can look it up at any time, simply because the records belong to the people, not the public officials who would like to keep them as obscure as possible.

One may read a more complete report on the matter by clicking here.

http://downdirtyword.blogspot.com/2012/02/strange-case-of-100-million-plus.html

'They took my revolver - they arrested me unlawfully'

By Gary Hays

As many of you know, I was unlawfully arrested at the state capitol building in Austin. They confiscated my 1851 Colt Confederate Navy black powder revolver I had on my paracord necklace.

I was in full compliance of the law carrying it, and was very careful on how it was done. I was in my manual off road wheelchair, the revolver was in the seat next to me and the mudguard of the chair.

I had talked to several officers and troopers that obviously couldn't see it. It wasn't even noticed by the "supervisor" until our conversation had been going on for 15 minutes or so.

He then saw it and told me he was "alarmed". I told him I was alarmed as well by his pistol, taser and mace on his belt, as well as the whole group of them standing around me.

He then told me he could arrest me for "displaying" my revolver under section 42 of the penal code for disorderly conduct. I told him I was just as lawful carrying my revolver as he was carrying his pistol, to which he said he was authorized as a law enforcement officer to carry.

I told him I was authorized by the laws of the state, and the constitution to carry my revolver.

He then ordered my arrest.

As soon as he said that, one of the bicycle troopers grabbed my right arm and twisted it to "arrest" me. I was not even resisting, and never resisted and complied with them fully.

They took my revolver, and they arrested me unlawfully.

I was in the Travis county jail waiting to be arraigned for 24 hours. They would not tell me anything, but woke me up and told me I needed to go. I thought I was going before a magistrate, but they had me take off the jail striped shirt and pants and gave me back my cloths. I asked why I wasn't being arraigned and they had no answer other than DPS didn't forward any charges or paperwork and they couldn't hold me after 24 hours. I was told to leave.

As I was waiting to be picked up, I was going through my cripplebag and noticed a citation from DPS. It was for disorderly conduct. There was no court date or information, all that was left blank. I looked at the signature where you sign to promise to appear, it said "jailer". So I would assume, whoever that is would need to appear if there was any reason to show, right?

At this point, many people joined in the dialogue, cautioning Gary Hays to make sure that the summons is not entered into the crime database as a notice to appear, since there is no information included with the citation.

The Legendary Jim Parks thanks all who participated in this dialogue, for they are the ones who truly interviewed Gary Hays – on Facebook – in real time.

Holy soldier fights for God-given right to defend himself

Paralyzed veteran with no illusions about law

“Whether you agree with who they are, where they live or how they carry, it’s still their right. We’re not giving people the right to carry, they already have the right to open carry.” - Missouri State Representative expressing the right to defend one self, as bestowed by Deity...

Austin, TX – On Friday the 13^th, Gary Hays made a medical appointment at the VA Hospital in Temple, then hitched a ride, wheelchair and all, to the State Capital.

His errand – to be arrested for displaying a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to cause alarm – is expressly intended as a test of the Disorderly Conduct statute, Section 42.01 (a)(8) of the Texas Penal Code.

Mr. Hays is a Vietnam-era veteran of the Army, a quadriplegic paralyzed in an auto accident 10 years ago who is confined to a wheelchair.

He is also a member of Open Carry Texas, two other members of which made the same choice, to be arrested by Troopers of the Department of Public Safety who patrol the Capital grounds. Those two men have been released on personal recognizance bond for a nominal fee. Mr. Hays, on the other hand, does not wish to be set free. Prominent conservative politicians immediately came to their defense, men such as Republican Governor candidate Tom Pauken of Dallas, a veteran of Army Intelligence and the Reagan White House, who said, “Today, two Texans were arrested near the state Capitol grounds for possessing firearms.

“It is my understanding that they both were carrying antique black-powder pistol replicas, which are legal to carry under Texas law.

“I’m calling for the release of these two citizens who posed no danger to other individuals and were only exercising their rights as protected under the U.S. Constitution and Texas laws.”

Gary Hays said, “I've been imprisoned by this paralyzed body for 10 years. They can't do anything to me.”

According to his wife, Marcy Hays, he is held in a single cell in the Travis County Jail.

He is nothing less than objective about his status. Where others are quick to insist that his arrest was an illegal act of a despotic government, he told me, “The law says 'displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to cause alarm...” There is no dispute that a Colt revolver is a deadly weapon, according to Gary Hays.

It is the “intent” portion of the law that is under challenge, in his opinion. It's strange to watch videos of Mr. Hays in conference with the DPS Troopers. Unlike other activists, there is no posturing, no strutting or preening in defiance. The cops kneel or squat by his wheelchair to confer with him in low tones. They are men in conference. Respect is mutual. Courtesy is an utmost and mutual observance.

Mr. Hays spent most of the day Friday in conference with insurance plan representatives who sell legal protection for firearms-related offenses. It was his concern that he might not be eligible for legal services because his choice of weapon, an 1851 Colt Navy Revolver in .44 caliber, is not legally classified as a firearm in Texas. Once he had determined that he could obtain legal services to challenge the law, he made his choice, solicited a ride to Austin, and put his plan into effect.

It wasn't his first brush with the troopers at the Capital. The previous Friday, September 6, he carried the same weapon inside the rotunda entrance and was admonished to leave and put it back in his vehicle.

He refused. At that point, a trooper gave him a warning citation after Mr. Hays, several troopers and the one who gave him the warning read the black and white letter of the law and realized – unexpectedly – that, indeed, a replica of a black powder revolver of a type manufactured prior to 1899 is classified as a weapon, not a firearm.

In a video made at the time, surprise enters the voices of the troopers as they read the statute. It's an impromptu lesson in law, taught on the steps of the temple, the palace of law.

He vowed to return, and with predictable results, caused himself to be arrested for the Class B misdemeanor offense of disorderly conduct.

One is tempted to recall the myth of the unlucky status of that day, Friday, October 13, 1307, when the Office of the Inquisition arrested the Grand Master Jacques DeMolay and other officers of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ of the Temple of Solomon, the Knights Templar, at their Commandery in Paris and other locations in Europe, placed them in chains, and charged them various acts of sacrilege and perversion.

But this story involves much more than that. This is America, where the mythology of the six gun, the “world's right arm,” is deeply etched in the oral history of a violent past, one populated by veterans of a vicious civil war, including General George Armstrong Custer, Jesse James, and hundreds of thousands of others who headed west.

Men like James Butler, better known as “Wild Bill” Hickok, the Army scout and freighter, Deputy U.S. Marshal and renowned gunfighter and gambler, wrote the legend large and bloody. Hickok reportedly once shot a man at the incredible distance of 75 yards with a Navy Colt, killing him with one shot.

Today, the likes of Master Sergeant C.J. Grisham challenge the government's right to limit the right of the people to keep and bear arms. He is joined by numerous other men, proponents of national organizations such as the Tenth Amendment Center, and Oathkeepers, all of which are pushing for nullification of the more than 22,000 firearms laws on the books in favor of a strict construction of the Second Amendment, which plainly states the right of the people to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.”

Names such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., are mentioned in the same breath with those of the founding fathers.

They side with former Presidents James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who held that the people have the right as an undisputed grant from Almighty God, a guarantee that they may defend themselves by any means necessary, regardless of government approval or disapproval.

It is a season to make law. Sgt. Grisham will be tried for a similar offense charged in March on September 23 in Bell County Court at Law in Belton.

Battle lines have formed.

Here are three additional tests of the laws governing open carry of sidearms that will challenge a doctrine of intent, all part of a national trend in which a nation is struggling to arm itself against the wishes of the practitioners of law and order.

Missouri House votes to nullify federal gun control

Right to carry, keep, buy, sell, and bear arms exists - with or without federal controls, laws

by Michael Boldin on September 11, 2013 in Michael Boldin's Column, Nullification

UPDATE 8:20pm CST: The Senate Override vote, of 22-12, failed by 1. 23 votes were needed to concur with the house and override the veto. CLICK HERE for next action steps.

Jefferson City, Mo (September 11, 2013) – Today, the Missouri State House of Representatives sent more than just a message, they passed what could arguably be the strongest state-level protection of the right to keep and bear arms in modern times. The vote was 109-49

By overriding Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of House Bill 436 (HB436), the 2nd Amendment Preservation Act, the Missouri state legislature gave a resounding “No!” to all federal gun laws, rules, regulations and orders – past, present and future.

In presenting the bill to the house, bill sponsor Douglas Funderburk (R-St. Charles) noted, as both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison did, that it’s not just a good idea to resist such federal acts, but it’s duty.  He cited the Missouri Constitution when he said, “The principle office of government is to secure the citizens’ rights.”  He continued, “This bill is saying we want to protect the protections and freedoms not just in the Missouri Constitution but also in the US Constitution, and that is one of the roles of this body.”

He concluded, “It’s time for the State of Missouri to do our duty to protect the right to keep and bear arms, and to push back the tyranny of an out-of-control and incompetent and federal government.”

After some opposition from Representative Jill Schupp in which she attempted to scare people into believing that passing HB436 would “protect pedophiles…and rapists,” another State Rep chimed in to acknowledge that your right to keep and bear arms exists with or without government, and that the legislature is doing their duty to protect those rights. He said, “Whether you agree with who they are, where they live or how they carry, it’s still their right. We’re not giving people the right to carry, they already have the right to open carry.”

NEXT UP, STATE SENATE

Sources close to the Tenth Amendment Center say that the override vote in the State Senate is going to be even more difficult, where leading republicans have taken, as one source said, “The Nancy Pelosi version of the Constitution where federal law is supreme, and there’s nothing we can do about it but wait for federal courts to limit federal power.”

Majority Leader Ron Richard, (R-Joplin) is one of the leading opponents of the bill. He explained his flip-flop and reversal of his previous yes vote to the Columbia Daily Tribune in this way,

“Nullification is OK to make a statement, but if you are going to put it in law, it sends a signal that maybe you haven’t read the Constitution, especially our amateur constitutional scholars”

Introduced by Funderburk in February, the bill passed the house by a vote of 116-38. It passed the Senate by a vote of 26-6. A two-thirds majority is required in both houses to override Nixon’s veto and make HB436 law.

ALL FEDERAL GUN CONTROL MEASURES

As law, HB436 would nullify virtually every federal gun control measure on the books – or planned for the future.   It reads, in part:

All federal acts, laws, orders, rules, and regulations, whether past, present, or future, which infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution shall be invalid in this state, shall not be recognized by this state, shall be specifically rejected by this state, and shall be considered null and void and of no effect in this state.

The legislation goes on to specify some, but not all, of those federal acts which would be “rejected” by Missouri, and considered “null and void and of no effect” there.

(2) Such federal acts, laws, orders, rules, and regulations include, but are not limited to:
(a) The provisions of the federal Gun Control Act of 1934;
(b) The provisions of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968;
(c) Any tax, levy, fee, or stamp imposed on firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition not common to all other goods and services which could have a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of those items by law-abiding citizens;
(d) Any registering or tracking of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition which could have a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of those items by law-abiding citizens;
(e) Any registering or tracking of the owners of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition which could have a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of those items by law-abiding citizens;
(f) Any act forbidding the possession, ownership, or use or transfer of any type of firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition by law-abiding citizens; and
(g) Any act ordering the confiscation of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition from law-abiding citizens.

The legislation also includes misdemeanor criminal penalties if agents of the federal government attempt to enact gun control measures that violate the Constitution of the United States and State Constitution of Missouri.

The immediate effect of the law would be as follows:

1.  All state and local law enforcement would be required to stop enforcing, or even providing any assistance in enforcing, federal gun control measures – all of them.  This is following the advice of James Madison when he wrote about “means…powerful and at hand” to oppose federal acts.  When a number of states would take actions such as a “refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union,” it “would present obstructions which the federal government would hardly be willing to encounter.”  Recently Judge Andrew Napolitano agreed when he said that such state resistance would “make federal enforcement of federal gun laws nearly impossible.”

In other words, this would have a huge impact on the ability of the federal government to enforce it’s unconstitutional gun control measures.

2.  Grassroots activists should immediately start pressing local governments – county, city and town – to pass an ordinance which a) states an unwavering dedication to the new law passed, and b) requires all local law enforcement and all government assets to immediately cease in the enforcement of federal gun control measures.  Doing so will ensure that the goal of the state law isn’t circumvented by local law enforcement.  Since there has been serious opposition from both the Missouri police and sheriffs associations, local laws will provide another layer to make sure they stand down, as required.

3.  Eric Holder will likely send a letter to threaten the state if it decides to enforce the penalty provisions of the act.  He threatened Kansas recently, too.  And he’s been threatening states that defy him on marijuana, but because they ignored his threats, he and his federal apparatus have had to back down.

4.  Other states will gain the courage to follow the lead started by Kansas, and now Missouri – and pass similar laws, circling back to the strong effect this will have as described in point #1.

5.  The federal government will likely sue, focusing primarily on the section that includes criminal charges for federal agents violating the state law.  There isn’t a federal judge in the country that will limit federal power and uphold this part of the state law resisting the federal government.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not part of an effective strategy.  In the 1850′s, Northern States did the exact same thing to a positive effect when nullifying federal slavery laws.  And, even if a federal court strikes this part of HB436 down, and Missouri follows that court’s opinion, the important noncompliance parts of the bill – as outlined above – will remain in tact.

LEGAL INFORMATION ON REFUSING TO ENFORCE

There is absolutely ZERO serious dispute about the fact that the federal government cannot “commandeer” the states to carry out its laws.  None. Even the Supreme Court has affirmed this multiple times.

In the 1992 case, New York v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress couldn’t require states to enact specified waste disposal regulations.

Become a member and support the TAC!

In the 1997 case, Printz v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not command state law enforcement authorities to conduct background checks on prospective handgun purchasers.

In the 2012 case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court ruled that a significant expansion of Medicaid was not a valid exercise of Congress’s spending power, as it would coerce states to either accept the expansion or risk losing existing Medicaid funding.

In each of these cases, the Supreme Court made is quite clear that their opinion is that the federal government cannot require the states to act, or even coerce them to act through a threat to lose funding.  Their opinion is correct.  If the feds pass a law, they can sure try to enforce it if they want.  But the states absolutely do NOT have to help them in any way.

ACTION STEPS

Missouri residents are strongly encouraged to take action right now. Today.  Contact your state Senators to press for a veto override.  Get contact info and more action steps at this link:
http://tracking.tenthamendmentcenter.com/issues-by-state/2nd-amendment-preservation-missouri/

OUTSIDE OF MISSOURI? ACT NOW:
Work to get the 2nd Amendment Preservation Act passed in your State, City, County and town. All the tools you need are available here:
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2ndamendmentpreservation

'An absolutely incredible story' about a white dove

Pat Kultgen knew she'd seen the white dove before.

Pat Kultgen and Carolyn Pustejovsky

She's a Facebook hawk, and on a recent day, she was out at her barn near Lorena, tending to horses she raises as a passionate avocation.

And there it was, a snow-white dove with clipped wings, perched as big as life and pretty as a picture, the very one she'd seen before, posted on Facebook.

“This dove showed up at the barn three days ago. It belongs to Carolyn Pstejovsky, who lost her son in the West blast. I am 30 miles south of West (upwind) and the bird had clipped wings. Its mate survived; all the babies are dead or missing. The blast was on April 17.”

Naturally, this brought out the bird dog, the nosey newshound in The Legendary Jim Parks.

Somewhere, a whiskey-throated desk man from the spirit world intoned, “You mean you didn't ask? Kid, there might be work for you at the phone company. Y'never know...”

I just had to ask.

“How did you locate Mrs. Pustejovsky? Is the bird tagged? I know it's a stupid question, but I just have to ask...”

Mrs. Kultgen replied, almost immediately, “That's a good question.”

She wrote back, “The bird was not tagged. The bird was returned home via social networking, technology, and old-fashioned prayer.”

Like most mysteries, this one has a logical explanation – if you know where to look. Then and there, a little committee formed to solve the riddle, almost immediately.

“...Shortly after the blast, someone posted a picture on the Facebook page, 'Pray for West,' of a white dove on a pile of rubble. I remembered that one of the comments said the bird belonged to someone whose house had been destroyed, and she was looking for others. I sent a text to a friend of mine, asking if she knew who had lost the birds. Within minutes she replied she didn't, but sent the number to the West City Hall. The woman who answered gave the number to the church where Carolyn works. She answered and emotionally told me she would be right out...”

Calmer heads prevailed. It just wasn't the right time of day for something as important as bringing the white dove home - to West.

Horse sense won out.

“...I suggested she wait until dusk, when the bird would roost. For the next few hours, I prayed the bird wouldn't fly off, and I put out extra food. When they arrived, she told me she had been praying to her dead son for guidance when I called...”

This was the time for action. The moment had arrived.

“We found an old minnow net and a stool and the bird calmly let us catch it. The effortless flow of the events was surprising; the fact it happened at all was hard to believe.”

Now that the moment had passed, Mrs. Kultgen began to feel its importance; the momentous gravity of a truly amazing happening began to sink in.

“I wish there was more I could have done to help them. The depth of their loss and grief is beyond my comprehension. As a side note, I'd like to add it is their young grandson who is selling hot dogs to fund the memorial park in West...”

Hot dogs, all around. Hot dogs for everyone, I say. Any style – New York, Chicago, Kosher or not, it's only a thing when you stop and think about it. With or without the relish, mustard or horse radish – salad peppers – whatever.

This is a good day for hot dogs.