Poll Watchers Wanted
Volunteers are needed to observe the polls during Early Voting and on Election Day.
Dates: Oct 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and Nov 3
Times: 3 hour increments from 9am to 7pm each day listed above
Locations:
Double Diamond Athletic Club, 9400 Double Diamond
Downtown Reno Library, 301 S. Center
Northwest Library, 2325 Robb Dr.
North Valleys Library, 1075 North Hills Blvd.
Registrar of Voters Office, 1001 E. 9th St, Bldg A
Reno-Sparks Convention Center, 4590 S. Virginia
Reno Town Mall, 4001 S. Virginia
South Valleys Library, 15650 Wedge Pkwy
Sun Valley Neighborhood Center, 115 W. 6th Ave, Sun Valley
UNR Joe Crowley Student Union, 1664 N. Virginia
Incline Village Library, 845 Alder Ave, Incline Village
Pyramid Lake Piute Tribal Admin Bldg, 208 Capitol Hill, Nixon
Spanish Springs Library, 7100 Pyramid Hwy, Sparks
Sparks Library, 1125 12th St., Sparks
Please contact Carole Fineberg
for more information and training at simi4relo@gmail.com
Patriotic Perspective: 3
We talked about Federal abuse of power as it pertains to the commerce clause of the Constitution but there is also the abuse of power when it comes to the General Welfare clause. Our Founding Fathers envisioned a system of government that had at it’s core the welfare of ALL the people as a basic tenant. They expressly forbade the inclusion of any language in the Constitution that granted special favor to any specific entity. They empowered Congress to write laws that were designed to benefit the entire country and not just a specific person or corporation. You do not have to be a Constitutional expert to recognize how out of control our elected representatives were and are when it comes to taking care of special interests. Just look at all the laws enacted over railroads when they were the chief means of transportation in the latter half of the 19 th century. The Federal government used both the Commerce Clause and the General Welfare Clause to regulate every aspect of the railroads from construction to the price of a ticket and it still does to this day. If the first question asked when a bill is introduced into Congress was “Is this bill supported by the Constitution?” can you imagine how many bills would never make it to Committee? Better yet, if we went back and struck down all the laws that conflict with the Constitution, how would that reduce the size of our government? Congress has the authority to raise and spend money (taxes) but only for the general welfare of all the people!
PATRIOTIC PERSPECTIVE: 2
How did our government get to be as big as it is today? Actually, there are two reasons we do not have
even remotely the freedoms our Founding Fathers enjoyed. First, when hammering out the
Constitution, Congress was given the power to levy taxes and spend money. Alexander Hamilton said,
“Money is one of the essential agencies of Government. Without it no Government can exist, and
without the power to raise it, it cannot be had.”
This power was necessary for the preservation of the nation, but it was intended to be for the general
welfare of the people. Congress has no Constitutional authority to spend any money for anything that
does not benefit all the people. This is known as the Welfare Clause. Unfortunately, this clause has been
misconstrued and abused to the point that the original intent of our Founding Fathers has been lost. Our
current Congress taxes and spends uncontrollably. Government appetite for money is insatiable.
The second way our government grew to the behemoth it is today is through the Commerce Clause.
Congress was given the power to regulate commerce. The original intent was to ensure the free flow of
goods between the states. While our Constitution was being written, the states were engaged in trade
wars with each other and levying import taxes on goods from other states. Giving the power to regulate
commerce to Congress prevented the states from taking advantage of each other. Our founding Fathers
could not have foreseen that this power would be so perverted by our elected representatives. There
are over 4000 federal regulations attached to the hamburger you bought for lunch yesterday.
PATRIOTIC PERSPECTIVE: 1
When our Founding Fathers were hammering out our constitution, which would forever decide our system of government, there was much debate about how Congress would be structured. They established that the Lower House, the house of Representatives, would be based on population. Each state would elect a number of representatives based on how many people lived in that state. This reinforced their belief that the people were the ultimate authority and all power resided with them. The Founding Fathers firmly believed that government, while necessary, should be constrained and only perform a limited number of functions. They knew that the only way to preserve the liberty that the people should always enjoy was by limiting the impact the government had on their daily lives. What happened?
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