10th Amendment Center

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Is Government Debt Unconstitutional?

Citizens need to be aware when their constitutional rights are being violated. Keep the thought of, “all the debt our elected representatives keep racking up for us and for the future generations who couldn’t of even voted yet.” Ok, here we go.

The preamble to the United States Constitution says “. . . to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. . .”

“The blessings of liberty” means that a person is free to make choices, for example, what to say or what to do, without restraint. The Noah Webster dictionary of 1828 defines liberty as, “Freedom from restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind. The body is at liberty when not confined; The will or mind is at liberty when not checked or controlled. A man enjoys liberty, when no physical force operates to restrain his actions or volitions.”

“Our posterity” means those who would come after the Founding Fathers -Americans in the years to come, like us. So the quote means that one purpose of the Constitution is to secure liberty for Americans, and to those in the future.

So, the present people who can vote are getting all the money and the future ones who can’t vote are getting all the debt.

It is immoral, and I believe unconstitutional, to impose debt onto the next generation. This future debt will have to be paid by taxes. As a reminder, our local elected officials have taken an oath to uphold the constitution. Where is their accountability?

What grandparent would look their grandchildren in the eye and say I want you to pay for my spending spree! Common sense and accountability is what we need. We need to elect leaders that have the courage to refuse to incur one more dollar in debt.

We can fix our county. We just need 13 good conservative county board members to take back our county. We already have some good ones, but we need a few more. Know the facts, the voting records, become enlightened citizens. Your neighbor, children and grandchildren are counting on you.

My name is Jim DeMeester, and I’m running for (Stephenson) County Board in District K.

Jim DeMeester
Freeport IL

Attention: Laurelwood Property Manager

I’d like to call attention to a problem here at Highland Meadows Apartments in Lanark. Starting this snow season, the quality of our snow removal has, in my opinion, been unacceptable. Being also an extra hazard to those residents with handicaps. Please take notice of my complaint and remedy this situation before another accident occurs.

Allan Brunner
Lanark, IL

The Will of the People

US Representative Bobby Schilling, in his letter bidding for re-election, criticizes President Obama for not immediately approving the Keystone XL Pipeline Project. “Inexplicably,” he writes, “the Obama Administration chose to shut this project down, prioritizing the wishes of a few dozen lobbyists over the will of the people.”

But the president followed the will of the people. The truth is that millions of Americans, including us, called the White House urging President Obama to consider the impact of such a pipeline on our climate. In addition, 20 scientists sent a letter, which was also signed by 10 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, to the president expressing environmental concerns. Several million Americans, 20 scientists and 10 Nobel Peace Prize laureates are thus dismissed by Mr. Schilling as “a few dozen lobbyists.”

Schilling’s letter contains other prevarications and half-truths. He insists the pipeline project “would create more than 20,000 jobs, improve our infrastructure, and increase our energy independence.” However, the National Resources Defense Council cites TransCanada as recently admitting that only a few hundred permanent jobs will be created, and the State Department makes it even less—20 in all. The State Department also gives the number of temporary construction jobs as 3500-4200—a far cry from 20,000.

According to the NRDC, TransCanada originally paid the Perryman Group to conduct a study, concluding that there would eventually be jobs for “dancers, choreographers and speech therapists along the pipeline’s rural route.” However, the University of Cornell Global Labor Institute criticizes the study as flawed, calling it “unsubstantiated and misleading.”

Right now there are 2.7 million people working in clean energy jobs in the US, more than in the entire fossil fuel energy combined.

The NRDC says that Keystone XL would not provide the US with more oil. It would divert Canadian oil from refineries in the Midwest to the Gulf Coast where it can be refined and exported. The oil from these refineries, many of which are in Foreign Trade Zones, can then be exported without paying US taxes.

The president did not “shut this project down,” he delayed a decision for a year, but he should shut it down. Extracting tar sands and turning bitumen into crude oil not only uses energy and water, it causes three times the global warming pollution of conventional crude production. James Hansen, a climatologist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, warns that if development of the oil sands deposits continues unchecked it means “game over” for the global climate. Removing and burning all that oil, he says, would spew so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that it would be impossible to stabilize the climate and avoid disastrous global impacts.

Representative Schilling says he ran for Congress “to create jobs and defend America’s private sector.” He should be working for all the people of Northwest Illinois, and he should also consider the future of the area and the legacy we are leaving to our children.

Chuck and Pat Wemstrom
Mount Carroll

Join CC Humane Society

Dear Editor,

It’s that time of the year again! Memberships are due for the Humane Society of Carroll County. February has come so quickly. For those of you who are currently members we would appreciate it if you were to renew. For those of you who already have we would like to thank you.

We are currently working on a project that will involve lots of time and money but will be very beneficial to our county. We are going to try to tremendously reduce the amount of unwanted litters in feral cats and continue our work with spay/neutering of Carroll County pets. We are going to be working very hard, as we always are, on educating the public which includes the children of Carroll County. Therefore we can use all the help we can get. That means memberships, donations, or volunteering of your time would be highly valued. Thank you, Carroll County for your support.

Erika Tubbs
Board Member of The Humane Society of Carroll County

Opinions vs Facts

The Prairie Advocate’s coverage of folk’s opinions seems to have moved away from a broad base dialogue of area people and their ponderings to the distribution of the yammering of a few pundits with their opinions and propaganda.

When I have the time to pick up the Prairie Advocate, I enjoy seeing what local people are thinking. And I believe everyone has the right to their opinion, but not to their own “facts.” In a community where people have to face each other along the way, this exchange of ideas with its accountability is valuable and central to progress and renewal.

But the pundit in Pennsylvania or wherever, that is trying to snow me with half truths and distorted facts has no accountability, or credibility either, unless someone gives it.

In the recent writings reproduced and distributed by the Prairie Advocate on rendition, the suspension of habeas corpus, detention without due process, capricious imprisonment, and hideous acts of torture in the name of justice, there is the suggestion that these are new issues.

The Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba established by the George W. Bush administration is an ongoing issue and picture of the failure of just and moral cause. Nearly 200 are still held there; most without any evidence or definable cause. Where are the people who believe justice is based on truth; not panic, bigotry, ignorance, or chance?

Because of manufactured “evidence” former President Bush established an approach to perceived danger that was outside of law of the land, the moral integrity of the nation, and the facts. This step over the law began the legal battle with the Supreme Court in 2004 over his administration’s actions related to rendition, the suspension of habeas corpus, detention without due process, unwarranted imprisonment, and torture.

These issues must not yet be resolved. The Guantanamo Bay facility still imprisons nearly 200 persons with no defined cause or legal transparency.

Where was Congress? And yes, where is congress now? How long will we have to live and die by such lies? How much will be spent? How many will be murdered because of the lack of accountability?

Dan Rusmisel
Lanark, IL

Let’s Take Our Country Back!

Surprise! I agree with the Tea Party. We need to take our country back. There are many others that feel the same way. Where the disagreement comes in is in the solutions that are put forth. Who said, “Let’s get Big Government off our backs?” Yes, we like to blame the government. Why, because then we aren’t blaming ourselves even though we are the ones that vote these people into office. We vote our fears which explains all the nasty campaign adds. We vote for catchy slogans so we don’t have to study the issues and do some really hard thinking. We get all worked up over abortion, contraception and gay marriage even though Jesus never addressed these issues and forget about the issues Jesus did address, the poor, the hungry and the homeless.

There is an irony in all this. We want to restrict a woman victimized by rape or incest from having a abortion; we want insurance policies to cover E.D. (erectile dysfunction) but not birth control forcing them to do one and restricting them from doing the other for “religious” reasons; and we want laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman (at a time) thus restricting same sex marriage. All the while freeing corporations from any government regulations because “regulations kill jobs.” We are paying a terrible price for this stupidity.

If we want to take our country back, we must ask ourselves, “Back from whom?” In other words, where does the power reside and to what degree? Is corporate America too powerful? Do the banks really own our government? Can the mega rich really get away with murder? Was not the deliberate neglect of mine safety rules in order to profit more which killed many miners a form of murder? Corporate murder? Should we blame the government for not enforcing the safety rules or the politicians who do the bidding of their corporate masters and cut the safety agency’s budget so it is impossible to do the job?

David Rothkopf, in his just off the press book, Power, Inc. The Epic Rivalry Between Big Business and Government - and the Reckoning That Lies Ahead, helps us to evaluate our society today in the light of history while pointing out that our anxiety and problems are not new; they are just new to us. What we could do that is new, is to pioneer a solution that will resolve our social problems in an accelerated span of time.

First of all, we must expel the myth that the “markets” left to themselves will, over time, solve all our problems. That simply isn’t so. There is not one instance in the history of the world where this has been true. Such a belief is blind faith at its blindest. For one thing, it rests on the assumption that people have the money to purchase what they need. Obviously in today’s economy, this is not the case. It assumes an equitable distribution of power which is blatantly not the case. The Occupy Wall Street crowd are quite aware of this.

The second myth is that government has too much power. If the government is to have less power, whom do you suppose will fill the power vacuum? You, or corporate America? Do you think you will be more free or will insurance companies, utility companies etc. exercise more power over you? Who is it that tells you what you must do before they will approve the surgery you and your doctor feel you need? You have a choice, you will pay what the electric company says you must pay or you will do without electricity. Some freedom.

What we have to realize is that government power should be our power. It should be the balance of power that protects the individual from the tyranny of corporate power. It should be protecting the 99% from rule by the 1%; but that doesn’t seem to be the case and even less so since Citizens United and the advent of the Super PAC.

Finally, the third myth is that only a capitalist system like the one which we now have works. False. Our capitalist system is a failure and there is more than one kind of capitalism.

Our form of capitalism, as Rothkopf sees it, has excelled at promoting inequality. It offers no social mobility, no job creation and oligarch control. He insists that the reason we have a society is so that we can have a good quality of life. He points to Swedish capitalism with its strong social safety net as being one model we can learn from. In this model, there are no corporate bailouts. Out of the ashes of the failed corporation can arise a new and better enterprise. It is the social safety net that allows this to happen. Most of the Republican politicians want to destroy what little is left of our social safety net.

Rothkopf sees Singaporean capitalism as another possible model where the government empowers its people with education and critical infrastructure. He feels the role of government is to ensure fairness in society and provide security. You might say, he agrees with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Crony capitalism is not a model he would recommend. Many talk about State Capitalism when referring to China but others see this more as chaotic capitalism.

Just as there are many brands of religion, there are many brands of capitalism. We may need to invent yet another brand, one that will work for all of us. When that happens, we will have the right balance of power.

Arthur C. Donart, Ph. D.
Thomson, IL

Trap, Neuter, Return

The most accurate part of Mr. Smith’s condescending letter regarding Trap Neuter Return programs is that people must take responsibility. I do hope he has personally adopted a few stray cats. The Humane Society of the US (www.hsus.org) has statements which support Trap Neuter Return. In areas where endangered wildllife might be affected the HSUS states that Trap Neuter and Remove to a less sensitive area is their advice. Locally, most stray cat colonys (which have caretakers) are close in to populated areas. In rural areas, most farmers want cats controlling rodents in their barns. Of course, many stray or homeless cats are also preyed upon by coyotes, fox, snakes, owls and more so they become part of the food chain. By applying for the PetSmart grant, local humane groups can apply their fundraising to supporting local petowners with food and spay/neuter. All of our local humane groups expend much energy and time trying to raise funds that benefit Carroll County families with their pets. They all deserve our thanks and support.

Maggie Friedenbach

Savanna, IL

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

It’s a very over used cliché, “The 800 pound gorilla in the room”, but when you have at least three of them as Illinois does, you must come up with a way of eliminating them. I’m referring, of course, to Illinois and its problems that must be fixed.

I excitedly listened to WBBM Radio in Chicago on Wednesday, February 8, 2012, as they talked of Caterpillar, headquartered right here in Illinois with over 23,000 employees announcing it was building a new assembly plant with over 1,400 new jobs. Then in walked the gorilla, as the executive from Caterpillar announced that it will absolutely not be built in Illinois as the business climate in Illinois is “rudderless and dysfunctional”. He went on to say that logistics plays into the equation but the point underlined in red was “rudderless and dysfunctional”. Here we are, the breadbasket of America, the cross roads of the nation, more Fortune 500 companies headquartered here than any other state, yet we have evolved to be the laughing stock of the nation. No, that was not a political jab. When those Fortune 500 companies located here, we were a much different Illinois.

Gorilla number two is our Medicaid liability. Many confuse it with Medicare, but that applies to only those over 65 and is federally funded. Medicaid is now costing Illinois taxpayers $15 billion per year. When I took office in 2003, it was costing us $6.5 billion per year. It now is our most expensive single expense overtaking education two years ago.

Medicaid is not only breaking our state but look at what is happening federally. It currently costs us $400 billion per year. When Obama-care is instituted in 2014 it will immediately jump to $880 billion per year. I don’t make this stuff up folks, I just share the facts.

It will not shock you at all (because you live in Illinois) to know that Cook County, yes of course where else, applied for a waiver on January 30, 2012 requesting Medicaid eligibility for currently ineligible individuals. It’s unquestionably a violation of the bipartisan Medicaid reform law but then again this is Cook County, so is anyone surprised?

Gorilla number three of course is a broken pension system. We avoided this monster in May to “give all interested parties an opportunity to share input”. That’s a nice way of saying “what are we going to do?”

Senate President Cullerton suggested that all current employees, including teachers, pay in an additional three percent. It’s also suggested that free health care for retirees be eliminated. That will fix about ten percent of the problem but it’s a start.

The real question here is do we, the members of the general assembly and the Governor, have the mental toughness to buy a big enough gun to kill the three gorillas?

Europe has Greece, the United States has Illinois. We could be so much better. How about incentivizing businesses to hire workers and quit promoting give-away programs paid for with tax dollars?

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at or e-mail us at You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.