This Is Not a Government Subscriber, This morning a Christian radio commentator attempt to downplay the devastation Obama will bring to America over the next four years. The commentator was explaining how our government’s checks and balances prevent any president from doing too much damage to our nation. Unfortunately this commentator was assuming that American government still functions as it was intended to function. She was apparently unaware that our government no longer follows its own laws. It is absolutely true that the Founding Fathers gave us a system of government that should have protected our nation from the excesses of any single president. However, the checks and balances, balance of powers, and other limitations enshrined in the Constitution, have all been ignored by our current government. Those checks and balances disappeared as soon as those in power realized that they could ignore the law and no one would do anything about it. This leaves America vulnerable to any tyrant capable of winning an election. Now that the Constitution is completely ignored, elections determine what the bare majority can inflict upon the other 49% of the population. There are no restraints, no restrictions on governmental authority, no limitations on governmental power, no protection of inalienable rights. Four more years of Obama is scary ONLY because the government ignores the Constitution and BECAUSE there are no longer any separations of powers. Earlier this year the U.S. Attorney General announced that the President had the legal authority to order the killing of any person, including a U.S. citizen, without trial. He explained that under certain circumstances, the President can order anyone outside America to be killed. Of course the circumstances are to be determined by Obama and his staff. No due process. No oversight. No appeal. A few days after this announcement the Director of the FBI was questioned by a Congressional committee as to whether it applied to U.S. citizens within the borders of the U.S. His answer was that he would have to check the law. He DIDN’T say, “no, that would clearly be unconstitutional.” He DIDN’T say, “That would clearly violate the citizen’s right to not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process.” He DIDN’T immediately respond by saying, “Hell NO, that would be murder.” The highest ranking government official in the federal government’s domestic law enforcement department said he wasn’t sure if the president had authority to unilaterally order the murder of an American citizen on American soil. A government that ignores its own laws is NOT A GOVERNMENT!!! It’s just a bunch of bullies asserting the power through coercion and threats. Our government now ignores its own laws. America, as established by God and our Founding Fathers, was a GREAT country. We must do whatever it takes to get it back. Our daily lives will get worse, MUCH worse, if we don’t throw off this outlaw band of bullies. One step forward, two steps back: Liberty Legal Foundation had significant successes in 2012. Last summer the Supreme Court agreed with LLF’s argument in the U.S. v. Arizona case. We filed an amicus brief that made only one point: That existing Federal Law prohibited the Obama administration from telling Arizona it couldn’t ask for immigration status information on individual arrestees. To the best of our knowledge, no one else made this point to the Court. This was one of the few areas that the Court found in favor of the State of Arizona. Unfortunately, the Court also told Arizona, and every other state, that States can’t enforce Federal immigration law. This part of the decision was completely unique in American history. This was a huge defeat that leaves no check on the president’s total authority regarding enforcement of immigration law. In the words of dissenting Justice Scalia, the 50 States are no longer sovereign. In the end LLF did what we could, but the Court’s decision on a different part of the case caused much more damage than LLF fixed. We plug one hole, the Court makes a bigger one somewhere else. The Court also agreed with LLF, to a certain degree, in the Obamacare case. Again, LLF filed an amicus brief. Again, LLF was practically alone in making the most important argument: the commerce clause was never intended to allow Congress to do anything it wants to do. The Court didn’t overturn Wickard v. Filburn, as we wanted, but it did agree that the individual mandate was beyond Congressional authority under the commerce clause. The Court said that even the Wickard standard doesn’t justify the individual mandate. Unfortunately the Court then issued completely new and completely unexpected precedent granting Congress authority to enforce any regulation Congress can dream up; as long as enforcement is via a fine collected by the IRS. The Court’s Obamacare ruling blew all tax and spend clause precedent out of the water. It opened a completely new avenue for Congress to assert authority that was explicitly denied to Congress by the Founding Fathers. Again, the Court gave us what we asked for, but made matters much worse by changing the rules elsewhere. It seems that federal courts are determined to kill whatever remains of the Constitution. We must find a way to re-establish the rule of law. Liberty Legal Foundation continues to seek ways to restore Constitutional government. Whatever happens, God will use it for His good. Hard times will temper us to be the people God needs us to be. May God make a way to restore the America of our founding. For Liberty, Van Irion, Founder Liberty Legal Foundation