Dear Mr. Speaker,
When the Founders at the Constitution Conventional in 1787 created the House of Representatives, it was fashioned to act as the voice of the people within the institutional checks and balances of the Federal Government. That's why the entire House faces reelection every 2 years. That's why Constitutionally, you don't have to even be a member of Congress to serve as speaker. And that's why the Constitution allows for thousands of members of the House for our current population. It is the people's house, and the people spoke last November. They cried out against a government completely out of control. After President Bush grew the U.S. debt by $7 trillion dollars in 8 years in office, and President Obama added $4 Trillion in just 2 years in office, the people cried out against big-government policies that are sabotaging the economy and taking over our lives. And because they cried out, you are no longer just John Boehner from Ohio. You are now the second in line to succeed to the presidency. You are the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives has just 8 working days left before the August 2nd debt ceiling deadline, and by wide margins in whatever way the question is asked, Americans do not want to see the debt ceiling raised. They're sick and tired of paying interest on borrowed money; money borrowed in their name. The Federal Government borrows so much money from so many sources, Mr. Speaker, that no-one knows for sure just how much it owes to its lenders. It already appears that it has exceeded the legal limit set by the congress at $14.294 trillion, and they actually at this moment in time are closer to $14.5 trillion. The White House is putting intense pressure on you and on Congress to raise that limit. The President's apologists have even suggested invoking the 14th amendment to bypass the will of Congress and borrow money without legal authority. Given the way the White House has run roughshod over your House in the matter of the "not-war" in Libya that our military is still "not" engaged in, the word of the President's lawyers that there is no presidential power in the 14th amendment to borrow money on his own can hardly be trusted. This is a president who does not regard the Constitution as a limit on the exercise of governmental power. But the President can only get away with violating the Constitution, Mr. Speaker, if you let him do so.
If you stand up for the will of the people, you will restrain him. This is the moment of truth for the Congress, Mr. Speaker. The scare-mongers and the chicken-littles in DC will tell you that the sky will come tumbling down if the debt ceiling isn't raised, even though your colleagues, Senator Pat Toomey and Rep. Tom McClintock, have introduced legislation that would prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt obligations.
I have two words for you, Mr. Speaker. Stop it. That's right, just stop it. For too long our government has spent beyond its means and in our names, sinking us and generations as yet unborn into deeper and deeper debt. And you, Mr. Speaker, can stop it. The President stands with the big-business, big-banks, big-government complex, and against the American people. He's even prepared to defy the laws of economics. But the American people are not ignorant as he thinks they are, and you know that.
Mr. Speaker, you have the opportunity to do something that no standard bearer of small government has ever been able to do in our modern era; get the government to live within its means. You can do it by standing firm with your colleagues in the Congress who are leading the call for change. You can stop it. You can force the Federal Government to make the difficult decisions to bring itself within its means and begin to loosen the chains of debt that have been foisted on our country by a centuries worth of progressive big-government architects. End it this summer, Mr. Speaker. Stop it. Tell the President, "not a penny more." Stand up for the American people, bring government within its means, and begin the restoration of our republic.
If you do this Mr. Speaker, if you restrain the federal beast, you will become one of history's great champions and heroes of freedom. If you don't, we'll all go through this again the next time a president wants to spend beyond the government's means and chain us all down to more debt.
Mr. Speaker, don't let us down.
-Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
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Jesus Christ--The reason for the season!
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.
If you're certain you know everything, there's little opportunity to learn anything.
The time to cut the BS is now. If we don't we will just be having these same tired old arguments when the debt ceiling is up for a raise again in the future. It's going to suck for some people, it's going to get hard for some people but the longer it is delayed the more difficult it will be in the future.
If congress doesn't act now then when will they act.
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"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency........... Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
I'm not saying that I think this is the answer or that I think this will happen. Notwithstanding, I'm going to discuss it briefly.
Well . . . why the hell not?!!! This just means spend what you bring in in revenue, don't borrow further money. Is that so freaking outrageous?!!! I don't think so. In fact, I thought the whole idea of having a law limiting the maximum debt was to compel feckless lawmakers to use financial discipline!!! Why do we have a debt ceiling? Please ask yourself that question.
I think the answer is for the House Republicans to craft a bill that raises the debt ceiling while concurrently stipulating matching spending cuts that go into effect NOW. Balanced budget amendment? I'm not sure what precisely is proposed. The debt ceiling thing would have seemed to be legislation to impose the same sort of discipline: we see how well THAT has worked to date. Pass the bill. Hand it on to the Senate. If the senate doesn't like it, they can vote it down. But would they vote it down? How many Democrats do you need to get to vote with the Republicans to get that passed? 2? How many Democrats are ready to go down in flames with Obamination? Hey, life is pretty sweet as a US Senator -- you are big important guy. Why give that up for a washed up mouthpiece who hasn't done squat who is going to be sent out on his nose in 16 months? Then if the House and the Senate pass the bill, what is Obama going to do? Reject it? How well will that play to the public? Who is responsible then when things go south?
THe buck stops at the Oval Office. That being said, I'm 100% behind NOT raising the debt ceiling. The democrats will never agree to cuts in social programs...that's their bread and butter, even tho' Obama care is killing the medical profession, and the dems have cut 500 billion from Medicare to fund it ! I figure if my pockets are empty, my spending stops. I'll hold the government to that same standard.
First off...awesome letter. I think common sense in spending needs to happen now...but am I in one hell of a dilema...for being active duty, supporting not raising the debt ceiling gurantees I will defualt on MY loans...i amy loose my house/truck/boat...yep...I gota admit...this scares he hell out of me. A few months ago I didnt get paid fully...got 1/2 pay and then a few days later got the other half..meanwhile I still showed for duty and did my 14 hour day...and the worst of all is the folks in the line of fire...doing thier duty and possibly not getting paid for it...now they not only need to worry about thier safety and that of thier fellow troops...but they will now be worried about the family they left behind when they went off to war. This thing is a mess no matter how you look at it...and maybe I am selfish in my feelings here...but being paid by the goverment that may not have money next pay day sends a shiver down my spine.
__________________ Aint no drug getz me more pumped--Bowhunter fer life!!
SAVE EARTH, ITS THE BEST HUNTIN SPOT I KNOW! ps...I hate stupid people
I say enough with these pointless meetings at the white house. Obama is *not* going to agree to the kinds of cuts needed to get our budget under control. Pass a balanced budget and let Obama be the one to explain why he vetoed it. He can blame the heartless republicans but as Rush pointed out, Obama is "the face" of the government and he will take a big hit.
djdkman: thank you for your service. If I was you I would be pretty upset actually. Providing for the common defense is a constitutional requirement of the government. And the government is about to default because it is spending too much money on things not required by the government.
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I agree on not raising the debt ceiling, having a balanced budget by not spending more than you take in, cutting out frivolous and unnecessary spending to help reduce the budget and even making other hard cuts to further reduce the debt. What really shocked me in this letter was the concept of Obama trying to go around congress and essentially supersede congress' authority to establish spending. This isn't somebody playing by the rules; it's somebody breaking them and that is extremely dangerous on that level.
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Jesus Christ--The reason for the season!
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.
If you're certain you know everything, there's little opportunity to learn anything.
nice to see everyone knows what the founders said. As for myself I'm going to have to mull over what he's said they said. The first thing that put a check in my thoughts was and is the desire to put the founders intentions high. They were educated better than we are today and with that comes responsibility which the educated politician hasn't always used with good intentions, many founders included.
One thing he's way off on is what the "people" have said. The voter has said X, but that's hardly the majority of the people. He's also taking sides in government when there is no sides in government,, doesn't matter what flavor it is, it's all government.
If the people want to reduce the debt ceiling they need to stop giving the government a reason to raise it, I don't believe it will ever happen unless there's a big fall. Telling Boehner to do it is like telling the wolf to tell all the other wolves to leave the hen house alone.
Judge Napolitano Letter to Congressman Boehner
Aint no drug getz me more pumped--Bowhunter fer life!!
