Citizen's Corner: Barney Frank's rant- the arrogance of power

Recently, Rep Barney Frank held a town hall meeting in Dartmouth, MA, his home district. During this meeting, several people came forward to criticize the Obama Plan and challenge Mr. Frank’s Support of it. Here are some clips from that event;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmwddT_3nA0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU_0ZrVAD5U
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5YhdVk8iNc
Having watched the video and heard the applause for his attitude throughout this meeting, the only thing I can say is that it is a sad day indeed when an elected official, so sure of his power and his job, can ridicule and attack a constituent as he did.
Regardless of what was said and regardless of whether he likes what is said, his role is servant of the people, not master. Yet, Mr. Frank, who has control of the microphone and the room, went into attack mode without regard for his position nor for the fact that while what his constituents may say may not be to his liking, it is his job to listen, not ridicule.
Yet, looking at Mr. Frank’s other you tube videos, one immediately realizes that the events in Dartmouth are not singular nor unique. Whether it be an interviewer on CNBC, a college student at Harvard, or an average joe in Dartmouth, Mr. Frank treats all as his personal servant and whipping boy. When he doesn’t like it what people ask or says, he attacks them. If they don’t back down, he walks away like a spoiled child.
What surprises me the most about the reaction to this attack on constituents by Mr. Frank is how quickly and without reservation Democrats and liberals of all shades embrace his actions and cheered him on. If I remember clearly, the mouth pieces of the left, like Mr. Olbermann and Ms. Maddow, where “shocked… totally shocked” by such behavior from Bush, Cheney, and the Republicans when they held power. Yet, now they feel that behavior was entirely appropriate and necessary when done by a Democrat. Hypocrisy is a clear sign of moral and intellectual bankruptcy regardless of party label, or perhaps they forgot that?
The more I see of the member from Massachusetts, the more he reminds me of a bully I knew in high school who had an inferiority complex to match his waistline. This man enjoys bullying people and feels no obligation to respect those with whom he disagrees. Was this the change that supposedly the nation voted for?
Every citizen should be offended by his language and attitude. We, the true sovereigns of this nation, must not forget, they work for us. Barney Frank and the other life-time members of the House and Senate need to be reminded of this fact often and consistently. The same holds for Bernie Sanders and Jim Douglas (have either ever held a real job outside of government?), Pat Leahy, Peter Welch, and Brian Dubie. It is our republic. They are our employees. We have a responsibility to hold them accountable when they slip the leash. We must call them to task when they begin to think and act like entitled rulers. Citizenship of this Republic requires nothing less.

VT Cap & Trade Costs

On June 26, a 1,427-page climate change bill introduced by Representatives Henry Waxman (D–CA) and Edward Markey (D–MA) passed the House by a narrow margin. The bill, also known as Waxman–Markey, includes a number of alarming provisions, chief among them a cap-and-trade program that would attempt to curb global warming by imposing strict upper limits on the emission of six greenhouse gases, with the primary emphasis on carbon dioxide (CO2). The mechanism for capping these emissions requires emitters to acquire federally created permits (or “allowances”) for each ton of greenhouse gas emitted.

Because these allowances carry a price—and because 85 percent of the United States’ energy needs come from carbon- emitting fossil fuels— Waxman–Markey is best described as a significant tax on energy use. Since everything Americans use and produce requires energy, the tax hits U.S. pocketbooks again and again. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis forecasts severe consequences, including skyrocketing energy costs, millions of jobs lost, and falling household income and economic activity—all for negligible changes in the global temperature.

Workers and families in Vermont may be wondering how cap-and-trade legislation would affect their income, their jobs, and the cost of energy. Implementing Waxman–Markey would put a chokehold on Vermont’s economic potential, reducing gross state product by $0.95 billion in 2035. Consumers would be hit hard. Between 2012 (when the restrictions first apply) and 2035 (the last year of this analysis), the prices of electricity and gasoline will rise sharply when compared to
prices in a world without cap and trade. By 2035, Americans living in the state of Vermont will see their electricity prices rise by $1,299.29 and their gasoline prices rise by $1.27 per gallon solely because of Waxman–Markey.

View full article at:

http://www.heritage.org/research/energyandenvironment/upload/wm_2585-vt.pdf

Vermont State Sovereignty Resolution

AFFIRMING THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS OF THE 10TH AMENDMENT

WHEREAS, We, the people of Vermont, like Ethan Allen in 1781, are “resolutely determined to defend the independence of Vermont”; and

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifically provides that, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”; and

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being those powers specifically granted to it by the Constitution of the United States and the principle of Federalism is the constitutional division of powers between the national and state governments and is widely regarded as one of America’s most valuable contributions to political science; and

WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be limited in its powers relative to those of the various states; and

WHEREAS, Many federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States , and infringe upon Vermont ’s reserve powers and the people’s reserved powers; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and

WHEREAS, over the course of the last century the Federal Government has slowly and incrementally invaded the legislative jurisdiction rightly granted to the State's under the Constitution of the United States to such an extent that Federal Government has preempted said jurisdiction thereby limited the State's ability to provide for their citizens.

WHEREAS, today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous administrations and some now being considered by the present administration and from Congress would further infringe on the States’ reserve powers and the people’s reserved powers, and may further violate the Constitution of the United States;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

1) That the State of Vermont hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States and this Resolution shall serve as a Notice and Demand to the federal government to maintain the balance of powers where the Constitution of the United States; and it be further

2) That this memorial serves as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.

3) That all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.

4) That the Clerk of the House shall immediately transmit copies of this Resolution to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of each state’s legislature of the United States of America, and each member of Congress from the State of Vermont.


If you are opposed to federally mandated, unfunded programs which create liabilities for the taxpayers of Vermont without the benefit of local deliberation please sign this proposed resolution and send it to your State Representative and State Senator. Let him/her know that you support State Sovereignty legislation for the state of Vermont.

We the People:

Your Name: ________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________

Town ____________________________________ VT _______________
Your signature: _____________________________________________
Send this signed resolution to your Representative and/or Senator:
Their name: _______________________________________________
115 State Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05602

You can find your representatives online at: http://votesmart.org/