Friday, June 29, 2018
By Gary Bauer
By Delegate Rob Bell
In a landmark 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court overturned a 41-year-old rule that had allowed public-employee unions to force nonmember employees to pay union dues. The plaintiff, Mark Janus, worked at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and objected to the state law that required him to pay union dues against his wishes. The Court upheld Janus's First Amendment rights and struck down the law and similar laws in 21 other states.
In his opinion, Justice Alito quoted no less an authority than Thomas Jefferson, who wrote, "to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhor[s] is sinful and tyrannical."
Janus was an enormous victory for the common-sense principle that no one should have to finance union activity just to work in government. Not surprisingly, Attorney General Mark Herring had joined a brief in favor of the unions.
Immediately after the Janus decision was handed down, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement after 30 years on the Court. The White House had previously circulated a list of potential successors, and this afternoon President Trump stated that he has boiled it down to about 25 candidates. Senator Mitch McConnell announced that the vote on a replacement will take place this fall.
The Janus decision was itself decided by one vote (with Kennedy in the majority), which only underscores the importance of each justice. I have been very impressed with Justice Gorsuch and look forward to seeing another Constitutional conservative on the Court.
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Today's national political climate seems to have been stretched to the very limit of civility. It infuriates me that a sitting member of Congress would encourage the banning of members of the Trump administration from public places, that a restaurant would refuse to serve our Press Secretary and her family because of her political affiliation. Have we forgotten all forms of civility? Have we lost all common courtesy toward others, respecting even those from differing political cultures?
Republican women from every corner of this land must stand up and speak with one voice. We are united together, working to achieve our goals because of our love for our country and all its people. We are not the enemy; the enemies are those who want us silenced. Together we must work to pull all Republicans in the same direction, united in our desire to stand firm and return this country to a more productive path.
For the love of God and this great country, we must remember the common goal of NFRW – to elect Republicans. And for the love of this organization, I ask you to bond together even more closely as clubs, as states and with NFRW. We must tighten the ship, but at the same time let our common voices be heard loud and clear. Working together as a team, with thanks and gratitude for all that has been given to us, we will never be silenced.
"The California Legislature included in its official history the congratulatory statement that the Act was part of California's legacy of 'forward thinking.' But it is not forward thinking to force individuals to 'be an instrument for fostering public adherence to an ideological point of view [they] fin[d] unacceptable.' It is forward thinking to begin by reading the First Amendment as ratified in 1791; to understand the history of authoritarian government as the Founders then knew it; to confirm that history since then shows how relentless authoritarian regimes are in their attempts to stifle free speech; and to carry those lessons onward as we seek to preserve and teach the necessity of freedom of speech for the generations to come. Governments must not be allowed to force persons to express a message contrary to their deepest convictions. Freedom of speech secures freedom of thought and belief. This law imperils those liberties."
Justice Kennedy, condemning the California law that would have forced pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise for abortion services and to express a message that conflicts with their fundamental beliefs. For medically licensed pregnancy centers, the law required them to post or distribute a statement pointing the way to abortion. For unlicensed pregnancy resource centers, the law required them to post signs and state in all their digital or print advertising they are not medically licensed clinics – squelching their ability to get their own message out. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of the Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers and Free Speech in the case NIFLA v. Becerra.
We are grateful that the First Amendment Right to Free Speech has prevailed and that pro-life pregnancy centers will be protected from forced promotion of abortion. Those of us with deeply held beliefs that abortion is a moral injustice now cannot be forced to capitulate to an unjust government demand that we promote this human rights abuse.
We are grateful to Tom Glessner and the National Institute of Family and Life Associates (NIFLA) for bearing the burden of challenging this unconstitutional law.
VA-ALERT: Gun-controllers in Charlottesville
pushing stores to put up "no weapons" signs.
"The League of Women Voters, The Charlottesville
Coalition of Gun Violence Prevention, and Moms
Demand Action have gotten seven businesses on the
mall to put up 'No Weapons' decals on their shop
windows.
The groups say the idea is to make Charlottesville safer."
This is another example of the gun controllers wanting
to control you and me, while ignoring criminals.
In creating more gun-free zones, anti-liberty buffoons
are making Charlottesville more dangerous, not less.
Here is an article and video on the latest foolishness:
www.nbc29.com/story/38477760/no-weapons-decals-spring-up-in-downtown-mall-shops
https://tinyurl.com/ybp7snj2
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense
League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer,
non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to
defending the human rights of all Virginians.
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental
human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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"The First Amendment is clear in its wording and guarantees all Americans are legally protected from compelled speech by their government. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the state of California was clearly in the wrong in this case and all Americans, whether pro-life or not, should be relieved with the Supreme Court's decision.
"What if the government made a vegan grocer to post ads for the local butcher shop? Everyone would agree that that's not fair. This case is no different and thankfully, the Court recognized that fact.
"California lawmakers, through this law that has now been struck down, attempted to override the First Amendment, forcing private entities to speak messages against their beliefs, and punishing them if don't comply. That this could happen in America, should be of grave concern to all Americans, regardless of their views on abortion.
"Pro-life pregnancy centers provide, at no charge, the practical resources, information and emotional help women need to choose life for their baby, and to care for their child long after they are born. Pregnancy resource centers should not be compelled to speak a message that goes against the very nature of their existence. We are thankful they can continue their good work without fear of punishment.
"If the government has the right to compel speech from these centers, what will stop the government from forcing your church or non-profit to promote a message that runs counter to your mission? Americans can now breathe a sigh of relief that this question will not have to be answered in practice," Perkins concluded.
The White House • June 25, 2018
Joshua Wilkerson was 18 years old. "His last hours were—was brutal," his mother Laura said, describing in painful detail the horrific circumstances of her son's murder. "As everyone standing up here, none of our kids had a minute to say goodbye."
For these angel families, all of whom lost loved ones because of crime spilling across our border, President Trump vowed on Friday to keep fighting to restore rule of law. "According to a 2011 government report, the arrests attached to the criminal alien population included an estimated 25,000 people for homicide, 42,000 for robbery, nearly 70,000 for sex offenses, and nearly 15,000 for kidnapping," the President said.
"You hear the other side. You never hear this side," President Trump said. "No major networks sent cameras to their homes or displayed the images of their incredible loved ones across the nightly news. They don't do that." Instead, their suffering was met with silence.
Sabine Durden's story is worth remembering. "I'm one of your legal immigrants," she said at the White House on Friday. "It took me five years to become a citizen, a proud citizen." But when a criminal from Guatemala who didn't go through that same vetting process—and then was protected by a sanctuary city—took her son's life, her words were heartbreaking. "I couldn't protect him."
Learn more about the angel families President Trump met with on Friday.
Watch: The President's weekly address on how our immigration system is broken.
If 10 are stopped every day, how many are getting into the country every day because of the left's insane open borders policies? Border security is national security.
Meanwhile the Department of Homeland Security issued an alert Saturday warning all employees to secure their homes and take additional safety precautions due to a spike in "specific and credible threats." That would be threats from left-wing radicals, not conservatives.
This warning comes as Democrat candidates all over the country are calling ICE "a terrorist organization" and calling for it to be abolished. That means they are literally calling for an end to the enforcement of our immigration laws.
Perhaps the radical left's nonsense is beginning to backfire. A new poll finds that a majority of Americans are now inclined to support Trump's border wall.
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