God bless Texas

[GratefulCitizen]

God bless Texas.

http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/12227/

1 down, 35 to go.

Once there are 36 States with this line of thinking, there may be some useful adjustments applied to the Constitution.

[Saoirse]

Interesting... have read similar information. According to another site (am still looking for it) Hawaii can claim the same thing. There was also a list of 22 states that had proposed seceding from the rest. Hhhmmm
Well, definitely something to keep an eye on.

[CoLawman]

Governor Rick Perry just made my list of politicians worthy of admiration. It is a very very tiny list!

[Ret10Echo]

This was my favorite part:

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of
the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union
of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal
government may not usurp;




May have to go check out the local Tea Party today.....

[Richard]

FWIW - compared to the U.S. President or the chief executives of other states, the Texas Governor occupies a "weak" office.

The main source of the relative weakness of the Texas Governor can be found in the historical conditions surrounding the Texas Constitution of 1876. Mindful of the experience of Reconstruction - the period after the Civil War when Republican governors wielded extensive executive powers and were resisted by conservative elites in the state - the authors of the new constitution sought to rein in future governors. They did so by dispersing power that might otherwise be lodged in the chief executive's hands among a vast array of independently elected officials. Broad powers over the legal system, state budget and finances, education, transportation, agriculture, public utilities, and land development are delegated to officials who need not share the policies nor even be of the same political party as the governor.

The dispersal of power among different officials creates what is often called the plural executive. Unlike the federal system, where the cabinet secretaries and the other top executive officers serve at the pleasure of the President, the voters elect the corresponding officials in the Texas system, giving the Governor no direct authority over them.

As for the 10th Amendment, there's a good discussion of the complexity of its meaning over the years at http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt10_user.html

Richard's $.02

[Dad]

Originally Posted by CoLawman

Governor Rick Perry just made my list of politicians worthy of admiration. It is a very very tiny list!

Rick Perry was reelected with only 38% of the last vote. It is pretty well accepted that if this election had not had so many running, he would have been out. Me, I voted for Kinky Friedman. A number of his supporters are leaving him for the expected contest between him and Sen Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Lots of skeletons in his closet.

[dr. mabuse]

And, don't forget the "Katrina Bill" (SB112).

"Prevents the seizure and confiscation of legally-possessed firearms and ammunition during a state of emergency or natural disaster. "

Hoo hoo!

[Magnolia]

Originally Posted by GratefulCitizen

God bless Texas.

I can beat that....


Man Removes Car Flag, Gets Clocked by Motorist

By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 15, 2009; B04

A man who grabbed a Dallas Cowboys flag from a car in downtown Washington was punched in the face yesterday, startling passersby in an area that is home to lawyers, lobbyists and expensive shops and restaurants.

It occurred about 6 p.m. in the 1700 block of L Street NW, at a site just west of Connecticut Avenue, where few expect fisticuffs. Commuters were hurrying toward the Farragut North Metro station, and the car was stopped in traffic, police and witnesses said.

"It's crazy," said D.C. police Lt. Eric Hayes of the 2nd District. "It doesn't make sense."

But, he said, someone snatched the flag from a car, apparently threw it down, and crossed the street. "By the time he got across, someone exited the car" and struck him in the face, Hayes said.

It might have been motivated by team loyalty, he said. Or the motorist might have been particular about who touched his car.

One witness said she saw a "big tall man walk up to this guy and hit him across the head." Then, she said, the tall man "got back in his car and drove off."

She said that the motorist "just hit the man and walked off" and that he picked up an object from the ground, which might have been the flag.

The man who was hit fell and struck his head on the sidewalk, she said. Ringed by the concerned and the curious, the man lay facedown on the pavement.

"He was out cold for a good five minutes or so," the witness said.

Police said a man was taken from the scene for treatment of a bruised forehead.

[perdurabo]

This is cool and all, but it'd be a lot more trusting if I didn't think it was just another ploy to boost his political image for some possible future campaign.

Why didn't he do it 8 months ago?

[Richard]

There was also a list of 22 states that had proposed seceding from the rest.

Governor Rick Perry didn't actually endorse secession when he spoke at an antitax tea party at Austin city hall. But you could forgive people for misunderstanding, since he's been railing against an overreaching Federal Government, rejected stimulus spending and quoted Sam Houston's declaration that "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression." Perry, who faces a tight re-election campaign against that notorious Washington insider "Kay Bailout Hutchinson," observed that he thought the U.S. was still a "great union," but "if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that?"

http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...892974,00.html

Richard's $.02

[SF-TX]

Now, if we can just get lawmakers in Washington to actually read, understand and remain faithful to the Constitution.

Texas lawmakers consider telling U.S. gov't to 'cease and desist'


By ANNA M. TINSLEY
atinsley@star-telegram.com
AUSTIN -- Note to Washington, D.C.: Texas is a sovereign state.

After Gov. Rick Perry's recent comments about some Texans talking secession from the union made national news, legislators are considering issuing a "cease and desist" order to the federal government.

"This state prefers, to the greatest extent possible, to control our own destiny," said Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, one of several members co-sponsoring the measure. "We prefer that federal government limit the amount of federal mandates it forces upon the people of Texas."

House Concurrent Resolution 50, which claims sovereignty for Texas under the U.S. Constitution's 10th Amendment, was one of several proposals to go before the House State Affairs Committee late Tuesday.

Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, filed the bill, saying that more than a dozen states have proposed similar efforts amid concern that the federal government may be overstepping its boundaries.

"From restrictions on gun and ammunition sales, to freedom-of-choice issues, to the Real ID Act, the federal government is passing laws that limit a state's ability to govern itself," Creighton has said. "Texas simply wants to send the message that we want to govern ourselves and decide for ourselves how our money is to be spent."

Under this resolution, the 81st Legislature "hereby claim[s] sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States."

"This serve[s] as notice and demand to the federal government ... to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers."

Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, also signed on as a co-sponsor.

"Texans should have the right for their representatives in Austin to decide what is best for Texas," Shelton said.

Perry -- who stirred a firestorm last week with secession talk -- said he supports this bill, especially since the federal government "has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state." "I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our union."

Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, said that he initially considered serving as a co-sponsor as well but that he changed his mind because of Perry.

"The concept has been corrupted by gubernatorial politics," he said.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1330923.html