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Congressman John Campbell

Government Shutdown Day 5

Government Shutdown Day 5: More factoids for your edification:

  • The House just passed and sent the 13th bill to the Senate over the last 10 days to fully or partially re-open the government. The president and Harry Reid have said that they will not “pick winners and losers” by passing any of these bills that only fund parts of the government and not all. But, like much of what they say, that’s not true. Last Monday, the Senate passed and the president signed a House bill that ensured that all uniformed military personnel and civilian support personnel were not furloughed. This morning, we just passed a bill that assures furloughed workers that they will be paid in full whenever the shutdown is over. The president said he will sign it. So why, Mr. President and Mr. Reid, have you chosen to sign bills for the military and largely-unionized federal employees’ pay, but not for children’s cancer research, veteran’s benefits or national parks?
  • A common response to these writings from the left is that ObamaCare is the law of the land, upheld by the Supreme Court and therefore we must follow it and implement it. The first part is correct. It is the law of the land. But, so was Prohibition in 1921. In 1933, Congress and the president repealed Prohibition due to public revolt and wide civil disobedience of the law. All laws are temporal and subject to repeal. Even court decisions can be reversed. I hope we can repeal this destructive law long before the 12 years it took to get rid of Prohibition.
  • A number of independent reports are out there now that the White House has ordered the National Park Service to inflict as “much pain as possible” in every place where the federal park service owns land. George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon is privately owned by the “Ladies of Mount Vernon”. But, the circle to drive up to it is on federal property. Last week, the park service closed the road trying to deny access to this privately-owned American treasure, which remains open for tours. In 17 previous shutdowns, the Lincoln Memorial has never been closed. But, Obama ordered it closed this time. Did you know that the cemeteries of the brave at the Normandy beachheads are closed, but the president has kept his personal retreat at Camp David open? Yesterday, the park service took the extreme and very expensive step to close the entire Washington mall, which is just a big field of grass.  And, after I told you about the “Honor Flights” of World War II veterans still getting in to see their memorial, the park service yesterday put up chains to hold the barricades together so that they could not be moved aside and wheelchair-bound veterans not permitted. This was a specific move done with many park service employees at a usually unmanned facility to deny access to those in wheelchairs.

I must admit that I am so angry as I type these things that my hands actually shake – causing a lot of errors I have to go back and correct. If Obama and Harry Reid think that these petty and disgusting acts are causing we, House Republicans, to weaken in our resolve, they could not be more wrong. These sorts of actions reinforce that what we are fighting for is actually more than just one bill or one year’s spending. We are fighting for equal justice under the law. We are fighting for Article I of the Constitution, which declares the Congress to be a separate but equal part of the government and not a vassal to the president. We are fighting against those who consider themselves above the law and against imperial presidencies. We are fighting for freedom. Not freedom from enemies foreign, but freedom from those domestic who would enslave us with the tyranny of socialism, weakness and division. As much as we would like to have our way, we understand that democracy doesn’t work that way. Thus, we are fighting for compromise and agreement, as well. And, this Member of Congress will stand for those principles until Hell freezes over.

As a final thought for today, the barricades keeping our World War II heroes away from what is probably their last chance to see their memorial remain up today. A few brave souls are practicing civil disobedience and have climbed over the fences, but this is not an option available to most of our WWII veterans. I will echo the words of a great president from the past and exclaim, “Mr Obama, tear down this wall!”

Until tomorrow, Drive fast and live free.

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