Judge  Roger Vinson, a Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of Florida, has determined that ―The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act‖ (―the Act‖) is unconstitutional.1  Judge Vinson begins his opinion by reiterating the importance of the federalist system.  In framing the question before the  court, Vinson emphasized that this question is not necessarily about the health care system, but about the  federalist system and the ―very important issues regarding the Constitutional role of the Federal government.‖2Supporting this thesis, Vinson quotes Federalist 51 and the 10th Amendment, articulating the Framers intent of a limited federal government.3Vinson states:  ―Rather than being the mere historic relic of a bygone era, the principle behind a central government with limited power has ‗never been more relevant than in this day, when accretion, if not actual accession, of power to the federal government seems not only unavoidable, but even expedient.‘‖4  After motions to dismiss, two issues remained:   (1) whether the individual mandate violates the Commerce Clause (Count I) and (2)  ―[whether] [t]he expansion of Medicaid violates the Spending Clause and principles of federalism protected under the 9th and 10th Amendments‖ (Count IV).5

(read the entire memo)

DUNN, NC – Today Federal Judge Roger Vinson ruled that one of the major provisions of Obamacare — the individual mandate that requires all Americans to purchase health insurance – invalid.   Judge Vinson wrote, “because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void.”

Congresswoman Ellmers’ reacted to the news saying, “This is what those of us in favor of repealing Obamacare have been saying all along — the law is flawed to the extent that it is not salvageable.   That is why I voted for repeal. We need to start over from scratch with real health care reforms that make sure patients, families and their doctors are in charge of their health care decisions, not politicians and bureaucrats in Washington.”

On November 2, 2010, the Republican party gained control of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time since 1898… 112 years! I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a number of the people that will be representing us in this new General Assembly and am hopeful that NC will turn back towards freedom and prosperity. Clearly, the number one priority of this new General Assembly will be to rein in the spending of state government and address the growing budget deficit. Aside from this first priority, there are a number of priorities that I would like to encourage the next General Assembly to consider:

• Election reform
• Tax reform
• Regulatory reform
• Education reform
• Secure our Rights

Secure our Rights

• Eminent Domain
  One of the reasons that we separated from Great Britain in July of 1776 was because of property rights. Twice in the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson refers to abuses and usurpations. A usurpation is when someone takes and uses someone else’s property without their consent. When a government is allowed to take a person’s property without a compelling reason, even when the law allows, that government has abused the very rights of the citizens that government was instituted to secure.

  The new General Assembly should immediately work to strengthen private property rights.

• Participate in the health care legislation lawsuit
  One of the greatest governmental abuses in our country has been the implementation of health care legislation by the federal government. The federal government has no Constitutional authority to pass any laws in the area of health care. According to the Constitution, any power not specifically delegated to the federal government is reserved to the states. NC must forcefully claim its power in the area of health care and not allow the federal government to intruded on the powers of the states.

  The new General Assembly must participate in the current lawsuit with other states to reclaim the powers that are reserved to the states.

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Scott Cumbie (Facebook)
http://www.cumbieforcongress.com/

It has been the position of most tea party groups, including this one, to not endorse specific candidates. Rather, we have tried to highlight candidates that support the principles of limited government, individual responsibility, and free market polices. Now, a group has wrapped all of those principles into a document that lays out a plan for how both the NC General Assembly and the citizenry can work together to solving our problems. It is called the Carolina Compact.

For the government, the Carolina Compact lays out a specific plan that controls the budget, improves education, protects property rights, and brings transparency to the state government. It is not a listing a principles, but a specific list of items and policies that need to be enacted to return the power to the people, and make NC the leading state in the union. Candidates are encouraged to sign the Compact and pledge to bring these items to the floor for debate and passage.

At the same time, the Carolina Compact asks citizens to use this returned power to ensure those who legitimately need help get it. It is not a list of items that government will force us to do, rather it is five actions that we can take in our everyday lives to better our communities and our state. Many of these things are already parts of our lives: giving to charity, saving for a rainy day, and volunteering time.

After reading the Carolina Compact, you should consider signing as a citizen, and then ask your local representative to take a look at it and sign as well. By working together, we can promote this plan of conservative ideals, and demand that our state representatives implement it when they get to Raleigh next year. For more information, and to sign, visit the Carolina Compact.

The ACLU struck again, and got it’s way … again.

KING, N.C. — A Christian flag flying at the Veterans Memorial at Central Park is being removed after a City Council vote Wednesday evening. …King City Manager John Cater said the vote happened at the urging of the city attorney after the council determined that it would cost too much to fight any potential lawsuit over the matter… The flag first came under scrutiny earlier this summer when an anonymous caller complained to Cater, saying that flying the flag was unconstitutional.” (more, plus video)

So this begs the question: do you believe  it is unconstitutional to fly a flag of faith at a Veterans Memorial? Why or why not?

Visit the Stokes County TEA Party website.