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___________________________________ EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT... Now, if we all could get off the religious and the gay kick for a little while, maybe folks will take a SERIOUS look at the REAL problem: An out-of-control federal judiciary which sticks itself into issues where it doesn’t belong and regularly steps on the toes of the co-equal legislative branch of government. What too many people don’t realize, is that the Founders already included checks to balance the potential for this kind of judicial tyranny in our existing Constitution. And Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) have introduced legislation invoking those checks to restrain the federal courts from improperly ruling on certain issues pertaining to the First Amendment...which includes marriage and abortion. THIS is the type of legislation that thinking constitutional conservatives should be debating...not constitutional amendments. Check out the full text of the “We the People Act” (HR 3893) on today’s News & Views EXTRA page at: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsandviews/nv.cfm _____________________________________ INSANE LASANE RULING “An appeals court overturned the conviction of a man in the 1996 slaying of a teacher who surreptitiously tape-recorded her pleas to the killer to spare her life. The court on Tuesday tossed out the conviction of Michael LaSane, 25, because his mother had an affair with his lawyer. . . . LaSane, who is serving a life sentence, will now be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea in the killing of Kathleen Weinstein, 45, and ask for a trial. Weinstein managed to tape 46 minutes of conversation after she was carjacked from a shopping plaza before being smothered in a wooded area. . . . LaSane's lawyer, Kevin E. Daniels, has acknowledged the affair but said it occurred after his client pleaded guilty and had no effect on his role as defense attorney.” - CNN.com, 7/14/04 GOV’T CAMEL STICKS NOSE UNDER NEW TENT “The Senate approved a plan to give the government broad new powers to regulate the cigarette industry... The measure empowering the Food and Drug Administration to oversee the sale, marketing and manufacturing of cigarettes was linked on the Senate floor Thursday to a $12 billion buyout of tobacco farmers. . . . Health groups hailed the Senate action. 'This is the first time that any body of Congress has ever passed a bill giving the FDA authority over tobacco,' said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.” - Associated Press, 7/15/04 WATCH WHAT YOU TELL YOUR DOCTOR “A man who told his doctors that he drinks more than a six-pack of beer per day is now fighting to get his driver's license back because the physicians apparently reported him to the state. Keith Emerich...received a notice from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in April that his license was being revoked effective May 6 for medical reasons related to substance abuse. . . . ‘What I do in the privacy of my own home is none of PennDOT's business,’ (Emerich) said.” - CNN.com, 7/13/04 THE CHOICE “I would rather have my president know NASCAR from a church softball game than know sauvignon blanc from brie and merlot.” - Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) on the choice between George Bush and John Kerry, “Inside the Beltway,” 7/15/04 SLIM-FAST SHEDS GOLDBERG “The Slim-Fast Foods Company has dumped Whoopi Goldberg as a spokeswoman for their products. The reason? They were none to happy with her recent actions at a Democratic fundraiser in which she mocked President Bush, using his name as a sexual reference. Some of their customers complained, and it was bye-bye Whoopi. Good riddance. Predictably, liberals will be up in arms about this ‘censorship.’ But the fact of the matter is she was under contract with a private company to advertise and promote their products. They have a brand and an image to protect, and telling obscene jokes at a leftist Bush-bashing gala isn't part of the business plan.” - Talk show host Neal Boortz ( Editor’s Note: Anyone wishing to congratulate and thank Slim-Fast for dumping loud-mouth Whoopi Goldberg can do so by going to this website address: http://www.slim-fast.com/contact/comments.asp ) SELLING YOUR SOUL “Accepting the vice presidential nomination is akin to selling one’s soul to the devil, aka the presidential nominee. Thus this year we will watch, but not with sadness, as John Edwards continues to do what all vice presidential choices do--put ambition ahead of honor and principle and personal beliefs. This doesn’t make Edwards any better or any worse than those who have gone before. It just happens to be the way the system works.” - Lyn Nofziger, Musings, 7/15/04 ROMNEY CALLS WHITE HOUSE ON CARPET “Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney criticized the Bush administration yesterday, saying the government engages in wasteful spending and often gives money to ensure Republican votes. The government doles out money ‘based on who will vote for us or for our party. In effect, we buy votes,’ Mr. Romney said in remarks prepared for delivery. ‘We fund programs that don't work. We tolerate abuse and cheating in the multiples of billions of dollars.’" - Greg Pierce’s “Inside Politics,” 7/15/04 GOOD GRIEF...HERE WE GO AGAIN The Bush administration announced yet ANOTHER new government program on Wednesday, this one to train parents to teach their kids that drugs are bad (duh). The new “Parent Corps” program will be started with $4.2 million of your money coming from the same government agency which funds Bill Clinton’s “paid volunteer” program, Americorps. Aside from the fact that there is no constitutional authority for the feds to get involved in this, does anyone doubt for a minute that this program’s cost will do anything but INCREASE dramatically over the coming years? “Compassionate conservatism” is driving us to the poor house. OTHER TEACHER’S UNION GATHERS The “other” teacher’s union, the American Federation of Teachers, is holding their convention this week. First out of the box: Expanded kindergarten. Guess what THAT would mean? Better education? Yeah, right. No...MORE DUES-PAYING UNION MEMBERS! What a surprise. And guess who they’re turning to to help boost their membership rolls? The feds. That’s right. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) announced new legislation he’s calling “kindergarten-plus” which would extend the kindergarten year by the summer before kindergarten and the summer after kindergarten. The initial price tag: $1.5 billion. Unfortunately, no American history or civics teachers were apparently present when Dodd made his announcement to question where in the heck in the Constitution the federal government is empowered to stick itself into education in the first place, an issue properly reserved to the individual states. Worse, don’t be surprised if the Bush administration raises Dodd’s $1.5 billion ante with its own $3 billion kindergarten-plus-PLUS program. MORE GREAT MOMENTS IN TEACHER UNION HISTORY Fewer students than expected showed up for a five-week summer school program in Naples, Florida, to help struggling elementary school kids who failed the state reading test. So 18 teachers had to be cut from the program. A school principal put names into a hat to select the teachers who would be sent home. Russell Howald was one of the unlucky 18. But he REALLY wanted to help these kids and offered to work in the program WITHOUT PAY. Now THAT’S commitment to teaching children. That’s not just talking the talk; that’s walking the walk. Bravo, Mr. Howald. There’s just one problem…”the teachers' union contract won't allow it.” As the Naples Daily News reported yesterday, to allow Howald to work in the program without pay would be a violation of the union contract with the school system. So ol’ Russ was told to hit the road...and the kids who REALLY could have used his help were told they were sh*t out of luck. And some of you STILL wonder why I have it in for the stinking teacher’s unions? ABOUT THAT NINTH COMMANDMENT Well, there he goes again. Don Wildmon of the American Family Association sent out an email following up on Wednesday’s well-deserved defeat of the federal marriage amendment in the U.S. Senate, and here’s what Wildmon wrote: “Senators who support traditional marriage voted FOR cloture, while senators who support homosexual ‘marriage’ voted AGAINST cloture.” Frankly, that’s - and there’s no polite way to put this - a lie...and Wildmon knows it. Senators could well have voted against cloture for any number of reasons; however, the fact remains that the majority who voted against cloture voted against a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT banning gay marriage. It was absolutely, positively NOT a vote in support of gay marriage. In fact, many of those who voted against cloture specifically said in their statements that they did NOT support gay marriage. That Wildmon chose to bear false witness anyway isn’t a very Christian thing to do, is it? Wildmon should be ashamed of himself for intentionally writing such a whopper to his supporters. What does it say about your position on an issue if you have to lie so egregiously to defend and advance it? This isn’t “spin.” It’s intentionally distributing an outright falsehood. Do you see the effect politics has on religion when the two aren’t sufficiently kept separated? SURVEY SAYS! Is it time for Congress to drop further efforts to pass the federal marriage amendment? * Absolutely * Never * I’m a Kerry supporter...yes AND no Cast your vote by clicking the “Survey Says!” tab at www.citizenoutreach.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chuck Muth’s News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a non-partisan, 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. 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