Libertarian National Committee Communications Director Donny Ferguson released the following statement Thursday, after the Senate’s 68-31 vote to confirm Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by retiring Justice David Souter:
“Today’s confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is a significant defeat for individual, property and gun rights. The Libertarian Party was the first political party to announce its opposition to Judge Sotomayor’s nomination, after reviewing her history on the bench.
“Judge Sotomayor’s ruling in cases such as Ricci v. DeStefano, overturned by the Supreme Court, violates the Libertarian belief in equality under the law. Judge Sotomayor’s ruling in cases such as Maloney v New York and United States v Sanchez-Villar violated basic rights protected under the Second Amendment. Judge Sotomayor’s ruling in Didden v. Village of Port Chester violated personal property rights and affirmed the power of government to confiscate property for purposes beyond public use. Judge Sotomayor also has a long and troubling history of ruling on cases based on personal feelings and prejudices, rather than the letter of the law.
“Libertarians are joined by millions of Americans in their beliefs in equality under the law and the protection of individual, property and gun rights. Libertarians hope President Obama will work harder in the future to appoint justices who uphold our constitutionally-protected rights, not someone else’s narrow political agenda.”
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Showing posts with label gun rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gun rights. Show all posts
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Libertarians warn Judiciary vote may have consequences
America’s third largest party Wednesday reminded members of the Senate Judiciary Committee their vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was a vote against constitutionally-guaranteed gun rights and those who vote to confirm in the full Senate next week can expect to be held accountable at the polls.
Libertarians announced their opposition to the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation early, after reviewing her troubling record on individual, property and gun rights. The Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to send the nomination to the full Senate. South Carolina Republican Lindsay Graham joined the committee’s 12 Democrats.
“A judge’s record is the best indicator of what they will do on the Court, and Judge Sotomayor’s record is one of opposition to the individual right to keep and bear arms. Libertarians, and all of America’s 90 million gun owners, will remember how you voted,” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. “Your vote on Judge Sotomayor may come back to haunt you one November.”
“And if you think you can’t lose your seat over the gun issue, I suggest you speak with Harris Wofford,” said Ferguson, referring to the incumbent Democratic Pennsylvania senator who lost his seat to Republican Rick Santorum in 1994 by a 49 to 47 percent margin, after supporting the Clinton gun ban. “If I’m a senator who could lose if a small percentage of my pro-gun base votes for another candidate, I’d be worried.”
“History shows, whether it’s a grassroots conservative activist, a blue-collar union member or a libertarian, the base of every party is made up of people who value their gun rights and will not support someone who votes against their constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms,” said Ferguson. “The Libertarian Party is the only party in America that never compromises on gun rights, and one way or another we will hold those voting to confirm accountable on Election Day.”
In the New York v Maloney case earlier this year, Sotomayor affirmed a lower court ruling that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms does not apply to the states.
Sotomayor also ruled against gun rights in a 2004 case, United States
v Sanchez-Villar, citing as precedent the statement “the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right.”
The Supreme Court will likely rule next year on the NRA v Chicago case, a case critical to restoring the individual right to keep and bear arms.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use
Libertarians announced their opposition to the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation early, after reviewing her troubling record on individual, property and gun rights. The Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to send the nomination to the full Senate. South Carolina Republican Lindsay Graham joined the committee’s 12 Democrats.
“A judge’s record is the best indicator of what they will do on the Court, and Judge Sotomayor’s record is one of opposition to the individual right to keep and bear arms. Libertarians, and all of America’s 90 million gun owners, will remember how you voted,” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. “Your vote on Judge Sotomayor may come back to haunt you one November.”
“And if you think you can’t lose your seat over the gun issue, I suggest you speak with Harris Wofford,” said Ferguson, referring to the incumbent Democratic Pennsylvania senator who lost his seat to Republican Rick Santorum in 1994 by a 49 to 47 percent margin, after supporting the Clinton gun ban. “If I’m a senator who could lose if a small percentage of my pro-gun base votes for another candidate, I’d be worried.”
“History shows, whether it’s a grassroots conservative activist, a blue-collar union member or a libertarian, the base of every party is made up of people who value their gun rights and will not support someone who votes against their constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms,” said Ferguson. “The Libertarian Party is the only party in America that never compromises on gun rights, and one way or another we will hold those voting to confirm accountable on Election Day.”
In the New York v Maloney case earlier this year, Sotomayor affirmed a lower court ruling that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms does not apply to the states.
Sotomayor also ruled against gun rights in a 2004 case, United States
v Sanchez-Villar, citing as precedent the statement “the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right.”
The Supreme Court will likely rule next year on the NRA v Chicago case, a case critical to restoring the individual right to keep and bear arms.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Libertarians recommend Senate defeat Koh nomination
America’s third largest party Tuesday recommended the Senate defeat the nomination of Harold Koh to be State Department legal adviser, citing a history of opposition to gun rights and national sovereignty.
“The State Department legal adviser is supposed to protect our national sovereignty in treaty negotiations and negotiate pacts that uphold the Constitution and protect Americans’ rights. Under no circumstances should the Senate confirm someone who believes the Constitution should give way to what he calls ‘the global rules,’” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director.
“That alone disqualifies him from representing the United States in treaty negotiations,” said Ferguson.
If confirmed, Koh would play a major role in negotiating treaties such as the proposed “Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials” (CIFTA.)
The treaty -- backed by Obama and Koh -- requires all guns to be marked and tracked by the government. Obama has urged the Senate to adopt it.
In a lecture titled “A World Drowning In Guns,” reprinted in the May 2003 “Fordham Law Review,” Koh praised CIFTA as “the best model” for international gun control.
More troubling, Koh claims it requires signers “to standardize national laws,” that “the only meaningful mechanism to regulate illicit transfers is stronger domestic regulation,” and that “control measures within the United States” must be adopted.
In the lecture, Koh urges the creation of “a global system of effective controls on small arms and light weapons” and a “global gun control regime,” specifically targeting the kinds of weapons many persecuted peoples must own to protect themselves from aggression. He blames international violence and the rising numbers of refugees, not armed governments, but on “men with guns.”
Koh’s solution? Strip people of their guns and trust weapons to the corrupt governments often responsible for the very violence Koh cites.
Koh has also repeatedly demanded the United States submit to “transnational legal processes” and “transnational jurisprudence,” in which laws intended to protect our national sovereignty and constitutional rights could be overruled by international authorities.
That clashes sharply with the Libertarian Party, who upholds both the Second Amendment and the United States’ national sovereignty.
“Libertarians believe that what makes America safe and free are our constitutional rights and our hard-fought freedoms. While the Constitution guarantees those freedoms from infringement by our federal government, it is now up to the Senate to protect that Constitution from other countries who view our constitutional freedoms as deviations that must be eliminated through the kinds of treaties and global laws Koh has promised to fight for,” said Ferguson.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has scheduled a Wednesday vote on the Obama nominee, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Clinton Administration.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use
“The State Department legal adviser is supposed to protect our national sovereignty in treaty negotiations and negotiate pacts that uphold the Constitution and protect Americans’ rights. Under no circumstances should the Senate confirm someone who believes the Constitution should give way to what he calls ‘the global rules,’” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director.
“That alone disqualifies him from representing the United States in treaty negotiations,” said Ferguson.
If confirmed, Koh would play a major role in negotiating treaties such as the proposed “Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials” (CIFTA.)
The treaty -- backed by Obama and Koh -- requires all guns to be marked and tracked by the government. Obama has urged the Senate to adopt it.
In a lecture titled “A World Drowning In Guns,” reprinted in the May 2003 “Fordham Law Review,” Koh praised CIFTA as “the best model” for international gun control.
More troubling, Koh claims it requires signers “to standardize national laws,” that “the only meaningful mechanism to regulate illicit transfers is stronger domestic regulation,” and that “control measures within the United States” must be adopted.
In the lecture, Koh urges the creation of “a global system of effective controls on small arms and light weapons” and a “global gun control regime,” specifically targeting the kinds of weapons many persecuted peoples must own to protect themselves from aggression. He blames international violence and the rising numbers of refugees, not armed governments, but on “men with guns.”
Koh’s solution? Strip people of their guns and trust weapons to the corrupt governments often responsible for the very violence Koh cites.
Koh has also repeatedly demanded the United States submit to “transnational legal processes” and “transnational jurisprudence,” in which laws intended to protect our national sovereignty and constitutional rights could be overruled by international authorities.
That clashes sharply with the Libertarian Party, who upholds both the Second Amendment and the United States’ national sovereignty.
“Libertarians believe that what makes America safe and free are our constitutional rights and our hard-fought freedoms. While the Constitution guarantees those freedoms from infringement by our federal government, it is now up to the Senate to protect that Constitution from other countries who view our constitutional freedoms as deviations that must be eliminated through the kinds of treaties and global laws Koh has promised to fight for,” said Ferguson.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has scheduled a Wednesday vote on the Obama nominee, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Clinton Administration.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Libertarians urge Obama: Stop blaming America and start opening markets
President Barack Obama leaves today for a trip to meet with Latin American leaders, and America’s third largest party urges him to use the occasion to open up markets to American products, instead of continuing to use foreign trips to attack American beliefs and freedoms.
“President Obama has already traveled to Europe to blame American capitalism for the global economic problems, and his administration is already blaming American gun rights for Mexican crimes largely caused by a corrupt police force,” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. “Instead of blaming capitalism and constitutional rights for the world’s problems, the president should try defending freedom and creating jobs by opening foreign markets to American goods.”
As the president leaves for a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City Thursday, the Mexico/United States border faces a wave of murder and violent crimes fueled by corruption within Mexican police forces.
Rather than urge Calderon to clean up police corruption and crack down on murder, the Obama administration has instead blamed the United States for the recent border-area crime wave. When asked if the United States is partly to blame for the violence along the border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, "There certainly is a relationship. You can't deny it."
The government’s own information does deny it.
The Obama administration has claimed “90 percent” of the guns used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, however, says that is not true. According the BATFE, that “90 percent” statistic refers only to the few guns used in Mexican crimes with clear markings indicating they came from the U.S. The BATFE estimates the real figure is only 17 percent. Obama is an opponent of gun rights, earning a “F” rating from Gunowners of America during his Senate term .
Obama must also deal with a trade war with Mexico that has sparked retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural products.
Acting on a request by the Teamsters, the Obama administration canceled a program that allowed 100 pre-approved Mexican trucks to travel further than 25 miles from the Mexican border. In retaliation, Mexico levied new tariffs on 89 agricultural products from the United States, affecting $2.4 billion in U.S. exports.
“We urge President Obama to stop criticizing America long enough to get in a word with Calderon about ending these tariffs and letting American farmers sell their goods,” said Ferguson.
Obama will also travel to Trinidad and Tobago to meet with Latin American leaders at the Summit of the Americas, including Venezuela’s socialist president Hugo Chavez. When questioned by CNN about how he would deal with Chavez, who has restricted free speech, nationalized industries expelled human rights activists from his country in a bid to consolidate his socialist control, Obama refused to criticize Chavez or mention the threats the Venezuelan leader’s crackdown on human rights and economic freedoms.
The South American Project Director for the Center for Strategic International Studies reported to the U.S. Senate that Chavez is "selectively arresting opposition leaders, torturing some members of the opposition (according to human rights organizations) and encouraging, if not directing, its squads of Bolivarian Circles to beat up members of Congress and intimidate voters—all with impunity."
Ferguson urged Obama to criticize Chavez’s attacks on freedom and support Venezuelans who would like to live in a free country.
“Libertarians support our constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms and our free market economy. We hope the president can find the courage to not only defend American freedoms and open markets to create jobs for American businesses, but to actually criticize someone other than the United States for once,” said Ferguson.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
“President Obama has already traveled to Europe to blame American capitalism for the global economic problems, and his administration is already blaming American gun rights for Mexican crimes largely caused by a corrupt police force,” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. “Instead of blaming capitalism and constitutional rights for the world’s problems, the president should try defending freedom and creating jobs by opening foreign markets to American goods.”
As the president leaves for a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City Thursday, the Mexico/United States border faces a wave of murder and violent crimes fueled by corruption within Mexican police forces.
Rather than urge Calderon to clean up police corruption and crack down on murder, the Obama administration has instead blamed the United States for the recent border-area crime wave. When asked if the United States is partly to blame for the violence along the border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, "There certainly is a relationship. You can't deny it."
The government’s own information does deny it.
The Obama administration has claimed “90 percent” of the guns used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, however, says that is not true. According the BATFE, that “90 percent” statistic refers only to the few guns used in Mexican crimes with clear markings indicating they came from the U.S. The BATFE estimates the real figure is only 17 percent. Obama is an opponent of gun rights, earning a “F” rating from Gunowners of America during his Senate term .
Obama must also deal with a trade war with Mexico that has sparked retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural products.
Acting on a request by the Teamsters, the Obama administration canceled a program that allowed 100 pre-approved Mexican trucks to travel further than 25 miles from the Mexican border. In retaliation, Mexico levied new tariffs on 89 agricultural products from the United States, affecting $2.4 billion in U.S. exports.
“We urge President Obama to stop criticizing America long enough to get in a word with Calderon about ending these tariffs and letting American farmers sell their goods,” said Ferguson.
Obama will also travel to Trinidad and Tobago to meet with Latin American leaders at the Summit of the Americas, including Venezuela’s socialist president Hugo Chavez. When questioned by CNN about how he would deal with Chavez, who has restricted free speech, nationalized industries expelled human rights activists from his country in a bid to consolidate his socialist control, Obama refused to criticize Chavez or mention the threats the Venezuelan leader’s crackdown on human rights and economic freedoms.
The South American Project Director for the Center for Strategic International Studies reported to the U.S. Senate that Chavez is "selectively arresting opposition leaders, torturing some members of the opposition (according to human rights organizations) and encouraging, if not directing, its squads of Bolivarian Circles to beat up members of Congress and intimidate voters—all with impunity."
Ferguson urged Obama to criticize Chavez’s attacks on freedom and support Venezuelans who would like to live in a free country.
“Libertarians support our constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms and our free market economy. We hope the president can find the courage to not only defend American freedoms and open markets to create jobs for American businesses, but to actually criticize someone other than the United States for once,” said Ferguson.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)