Videos

Obamacare Double-Counting Doubles the Crisis

April 18, 2012 By Daniel D. Leave a Comment

Even before Obamacare was deemed passed, observers were raising warning flags about the bill’s ‘creative’ financial arrangements. While major costs such as the ‘Doc fix’ were hidden in separate legislation, ‘savings’ were double-counted or even credited to the bill before being found unfeasible.

As a result, this massive new ‘entitlement’ actually accelerates the speed at which the already-near-crisis programs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid fall into insolvency. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia recently produced a study and video highlighting some of the consequences of this foolishness.

The health care bill of 2010 was said to provide two major benefits. First, the bill promised to find savings in the government’s biggest health insurance program, Medicare, and use those savings to reduce the deficit. Second, the bill promised to expand health care coverage to uninsured Americans. Sounds pretty good, right? But how does the government propose to pay for both?

Here’s where the math becomes fuzzy. Research from “The Fiscal Consequences of the Affordable Care Act” shows how this just doesn’t add up. Find out more here.

Federal Laws and Regulations Creating “Accidental Criminals”

April 11, 2012 By Daniel D. Leave a Comment

Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-1)

The federal government has instituted many laws and regulations that are not only unconstitutional, but harmful. Crimes that should be handled locally are made federal, and unelected bureaucrats create regulations that have the force of law. These violate the Constitution’s principles of federalism, limited government, and representative legislative bodies.

The following video gives examples of these violations. This is a clearly bipartisan issue, as the two congressman highlighted in the video are from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Please contact your U.S. Senators and Representative and urge them to support common-sense reigning-in of the federal government’s over-criminalization. More information is available from the Heritage Foundation here.

Obamacare Oral Arguments at the Supreme Court

April 4, 2012 By Daniel D. Leave a Comment

Last week’s Obamacare oral arguments at the Supreme Court were historic for several reasons. First, perhaps no case in history has so directly challenged the principle that our Constitution limits the power of the federal government. If Obama and his fellow defenders of the law win this case, individual liberty and federalism will be all but abolished. Second, never before have a majority of the States challenged a federal law all the way to the highest court in the land. Finally, the Court granted an extraordinarily long time for arguments, spread over three days instead of the typical one hour.

The Heritage Foundation’s Todd Gaziano and Hans von Spakovsky attended each day’s hearings and were able to provide immediate reaction to what happened in the court after the conclusion of each session. Watch their reports here:

Federalism in Highway Reform

March 14, 2012 By Daniel D. Leave a Comment

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) introduced an amendment to the highway bill that would have devolved much of the federal transportation bureaucracy and funding to the states. By all-but-eliminating the federal gas tax, states would be able to choose their own gas tax rates, and fund their own construction projects however they choose. The amendment would also have removed federal regulatory red-tape and union-labor mandates, allowing for more efficient and inexpensive construction.

Lower spending, less regulation, increased federalism, better roads built smarter and faster… sounds great! Unfortunately, too many Senators like their re-election transportation slush fund, and the amendment was defeated 67-30. Watch the video of his speech here:

AlfonZo Rachel Talks About America

March 5, 2012 By Daniel D. Leave a Comment

AlfonZo Rachel became a conservative leader by speaking common sense about the things the left lies to us about. In this video interview, he addresses Obama’s socialism and “fairness,” whether “Black History Month” is a beneficial observance, how to counter Obama and his Occupy movement, and whether it is more important to impact the culture or politics. You may be surprised with some of his answers.

He nails it, saying that liberals convince people that unconstitutional government handout are ‘rights’ when they are actually destructive of our true rights. He explains that people are frustrated because they want socialism, but don’t understand that socialism, and the path to it, are terribly painful. He tells where those frustrated people, and all Americans, can look for real Hope.

Watch the video

Obamacare Video: Finding Out What’s In There

February 27, 2012 By David L. Leave a Comment

“Many people today think that the government’s job is to take care of us. But I agree with the Declaration of Independence, which says that the government’s job is to secure our rights (our inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness).” – Tom Parker

Obamacare has many harmful components; many have yet to be written by those empowered by it. No liberty is secure until this law is undone and those who put it in place are put out of our government.

You may remember in the final days leading up to the passage of this legislative atrocity called Obamacare we were promised that abortion would not be provided under this law. That didn’t last. Now as the Obama administration continues to disregard any values or ideas that differ from his own, we as Americas are getting a taste of the kind of tyranny not witnessed in modern times in our country.

Sen. Lee on Obama’s Unconstitutional Non-Recess Appointments

February 22, 2012 By Daniel D. Leave a Comment

Sen. Mike Lee, (R-UT)

The Constitution allows the President to make short-term appointments when the Senate is out of session. The Constitution also requires the Senate to stay in session unless the U.S. House has to give its consent to a recess. The Senate, by their own choice, and by the House’s lack of consent, was not on recess when the President made four recent appointments. Now Sen. Reid wants Obama to make 90 more appointments without Senate confirmation.

These appointments expire next January when the next congress takes office, but even short-term violations of the Constitution must be opposed vigorously.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), the Senate’s most vocal critic of the non-recess appointments, has vowed to oppose all nominations until the president submits Richard Cordray and the three new members of the National Labor Relations Board to the Senate to undergo the full advice and consent procedures.

Monumental: Documentary Explores the Source of America’s Greatness

February 8, 2012 By Daniel D. 1 Comment

Actor Kirk Cameron has been working on a project which will make its official debut on March 27th. The trailer indicates that the focus is in-line with The 1789 Project’s vision, so we’re sharing it here.

Our nation’s founding fathers believed that we have inalienable rights, and that the purpose of government is to protect these rights. Legitimate government is only by the consent of the governed, and the U.S. Constitution only gave the federal government certain enumerated powers, the rest being reserved to the states or the people. One of the key problems we face today is that the Constitution’s limits on federal power made it suitable only for a moral and religious people, which America generally held at that time. Today, we lack much of the self-government that morality and religion provide, causing a need for moral reformation or stronger government; unfortunately the trend has been towards the latter. Help us spread the word that to restore the Constitution and limited government, Americans must return to better self-government.

Rep. Allen West Tells Socialists Where to Go

January 30, 2012 By Daniel D. Leave a Comment

One of The 1789 Project’s successful candidates from 2010 is Congressman Allen West (FL-22). He took out a long-term Democrat incumbent to get to congress, and faces a tough re-election, as his district was redistricted to be more Democrat-friendly by the Florida legislature. He hasn’t slowed down a bit, and recently gave a speech at a local event that shows his commitment to Liberty.

Enjoy the video, and help The 1789 Project get more leaders like Rep. West into office.

1,000 Days Without a Budget

January 24, 2012 By Daniel D. Leave a Comment

Rep. Paul Ryan

The Tea Party-powered surge that led to a conservative takeover of the U.S. House in 2010 led to passage of some solid legislation in 2011. Unfortunately, virtually all of it died in the U.S. Senate. One of the major pieces of reform legislation was the budget, written by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. While not perfect, it made real progress towards reforming entitlements to bring those costs under control. The Ryan budget died in the Senate, even though they hadn’t passed a budget of their own. It has now been 1,000 days since the Senate passed a budget, one of their fundamental responsibilities. This irresponsibility is highlighted in the video below: