THE 100 REPORT
VICTORY FOR CHILDREN: TEXAS ABORTION LAW SETS GREAT PATTERN FOR OTHER STATES TO FOLLOW
Roe v. Wade was born in Texas, and the state’s new Heartbeat Law could effectively mean the Lone Star State is where Roe dies. The first-of-its-kind law is designed to be enforced by private citizens instead of the state, leaving the abortion industry in a conundrum: There’s no one easily identified to sue to block the law. Out of more than a dozen states that have passed a “heartbeat law,” Texas is the only one where the law is now in effect. More than 53,000 abortions were reported in the state last year, and it’s estimated that the law will curtail that figure by at least 85%.
Needless to say, pro-life advocates are celebrating the decimating effect this will have on the abortion industry as well as the thousands of children it will save.
Full Story Here.
SCOTUS’S WELCOMES REBUKE OF BIDEN’S LAWLESSNESS
Much of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion striking down the CDC’s nationwide eviction moratorium reads as if it came directly from The Federalist Papers. “We expect Congress to speak clearly,” the per curiam decision reads, “when authorizing an agency to exercise powers of ‘vast economic and political significance.’” The Constitution, it adds, “does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends.” “If,” it concludes, “a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it.” If this language sounds familiar, that’s not solely because it smacks of Separation of Powers 101, but because, back in June, Justice Kavanaugh decided that “clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31.” In response, President Biden announced that he intended to do it anyway — not because he believed that Kavanaugh was wrong, but because he hoped that doing so would accord him the “ability to, if we have to appeal, to keep this going for a month at least. I hope longer.” When added to the slam-dunk nature of the case, such open and cynical defiance should have been enough to prompt all nine justices to put the executive branch back in its place. Alas, when the Court finally heard the case this week, only six justices did their jobs. The other three failed — and, worse still, contrived a legal argument that turns the American system of government squarely on its head.
Full Story Here.
LIBERALS ARE GAMING OUR INITIATIVE PETITION PROCESS
By State Representative J. Eggleston
Initiative Petition, also known as IP, is a way for citizens to change a law or change the state constitution without the involvement of the state legislature. Fred and Joe are sittin' around the coffee shop, and Fred says he thinks all school buses should be purple. Joe thinks that's a wonderful idea, so they write down the language on paper, and get a whole bunch of friends and other Missourians to sign the paper. They turn the paper into the Secretary of State, who then puts the idea on the ballot, citizens vote on it, more than half vote Yes, and VOILA!, the Purple School Bus law is enacted. That's how the IP process works.
Only it hasn't worked quite like that for a long time. Average grass-roots citizens like Fred and Joe have not passed anything positive since, probably, the Hancock Amendment protecting citizens from arbitrary tax increases was passed in 1980. Instead, more recent IPs have been started and funded by special interest groups - often from out of state - designed to get their pet project weaseled into a law or the constitution. And because an amendment to the constitution is nearly impossible to undo, IPs usually try to amend the constitution instead of a law. Because of that, your Missouri Constitution is now ten times the size of the United States Constitution.
In 2018, the ballot measure to raise the minimum wage was largely funded ($4.8M) by a liberal outfit called the 1630 Fund out of Washington DC. Also in 2018, the sneaky redistricting measure known as Clean Missouri was funded by Action Now, a liberal PAC run by a Texas hedge fund manager that was part of the Enron debacle. And in 2020, Medicaid Expansion got $2.5M from North Fund (Washington DC) to promote its passage. Groups like 1630, Action Now, and North Fund were created by left wing interests to specifically target midwestern states with their liberal agendas through the IP process, and with no funding for counter-advertising to inform voters of what was really going on, the measures passed.
32 states do not have an IP process, so citizens there cannot change their constitution. Of the 18 that do have an IP process, no two states' IP rules are the same, and Missouri's is among the most lenient and most vulnerable to misuse. In Missouri, the petitioners only need to get signatures from 2/3 of our congressional districts. This means they could totally ignore our most populated St. Louis and KC regions, or could totally ignore the rural Districts #6 and #8 which comprise about 60% of our state's area. Also, in Missouri it only takes a majority vote (50%+1) to change the constitution, whereas in Florida it takes 60% to amend the constitution and 2/3 to enact a tax increase.
Our constitution should be about the fundamental structure of government, and the rights and freedoms citizens have that the government cannot take away. To protect our constitution from further evolving into a special interest wish list, we need to reform the initiative petition process - not eliminate it, just reform it. These reforms could include getting signatures from all districts throughout our state, a higher than 50% threshold for passage, and/or a series of public hearings on each ballot measure so petitioners will have to explain where they got their money and why they think a change is necessary. According to a poll conducted by the Foundation for Government Accountability, while all of these possible changes enjoyed some level of interest, citizens from both sides of the aisle most liked the idea of public hearings so they could be better informed before going to the voting booth. Some states even use an IP process called Indirect Initiative Petition where the legislature not only holds hearings on IP language, but can also propose alternate language that may be less flawed.
Given recent history, our state should entertain some form of initiative petition reform. If done right, new IP procedures could expose the special interests when they try to have their way with our state, and still allow Fred and Joe and other grass-roots citizens their right to petition. The trick, of course, is getting it right, and I believe your state legislature will discuss possible improvements in the 2022 session next January.
REMINDER: BROWN TO HOST FRANKLIN COUNTY FREEDOM DINNER WITH PAUL CURTMAN, TIM JONES, AND OTHER CONSERVATIVE THOUGHT LEADERS
A Message from Paul Curtman
A Defense of Liberty requires action, movement and sometimes even sacrifice. No one is asking you to put on a uniform and join our brave servicemen and women overseas - but we are asking you to fight for your personal and economic freedom here at home.
There is too much at stake and it’s time to stir ourselves into taking our country back from establishment politicians in Jefferson City. Although most of them have an R behind their name, many of them continue to grow the size of government, and allow things like critical race theory to be taught in our public schools or allow out of control bureaucrats to rob us of our personal freedom and shut down our businesses.
But every now and then, someone stands up to put everything they have on the line and fight back.
Please help us fight back!
Ben Brown has stood in the gap for small business owners in danger of losing everything by the swipe of a pen from authoritarian politicians and bureaucrats. He has built a movement aimed at defending our freedom and liberty and I invite you to join us to support him as HE HAS ANSWERED OUR CALL to represent us in the MO State Senate.
WHERE: JOHN B. BUSCH BREWERY
108 Busch Ave, Washington, MO 63090
WHEN: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1OTH, AT 7PM
CONTACT: PAUL CURTMAN
info@thedefenseofliberty.com
TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIPS HERE.
ALL ABOARD THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS!
By Paul Curtman- Founder, Defense of Liberty
Over the last two weeks, the world has sat by and watched as the President of the United States of America has not only botched the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, but they were also eyewitnesses to him actually shriveling up physically from the pressure as reporters questioned him. As if the disaster caused by his failure to lead wasn’t enough of a black eye on our country, thirteen American troops were killed by the blast from a suicide bomber and many more were injured. Families of the victims of the blast are reeling from their loss.
The world is watching as the most powerful country in the world is run out of Afghanistan, bloodied and broken. Other world powers are beginning to strategize to take advantage of the situation with America bruised and embarrassed as it is. North Korea for example, has recently begun to gin up activity of its nuclear reactor. Keep in mind that North Korea is in large part the puppet of communist China – nuclear reactors don’t go online in North Korea unless the Chinese allow it to happen. Americans should also be on the lookout for who Russia decides to start building or strengthening its relationships with.
America has lost favor in the world in terms of trust and confidence over the last three weeks. The majority of Americans disapprove of the way our own commander in chief has handled the withdrawal and even more Americans believe that President Biden should keep troops in Afghanistan until all Americans are out.
There is going to be international blowback from the failure of our president to lead with strength and it is already beginning to take shape on the world stage and here at home. What lies ahead is anybody’s guess at this point but one thing is sure, America has a lot of explaining to do to our allies that count on us being there for them, as does President Biden to the families of our fallen troops and the rest of the American people.
One thing I believe for sure – President Biden is not who America or her people are and there will come a day when the people will have an opportunity to be a beacon of freedom and competence once again. I know this because in spite of all the carnage and chaos caused by Biden, Americans stood up and answered the call. Operation Pineapple Express, the operational term for the group of retired veterans that just helped thousands of Americans and Afghans escape, is a better example of the American spirit.
We need to emulate the brave veterans who stood in the gap caused by President Biden’s administration – THAT’s who we are as Americans, men and women of action who do the right thing when the right thing needs to be done.
ALL ABOARD!