Lankford Voting Record Dismal – Barely Passing by Most Standards – Send him back to Camp!

Don’t get me wrong, I personally like James Lankford.  I suspect he was a very good Christian camp director.  His politics certainly do not match mine nor I dare say any real conservative in the state of Oklahoma.  He doesn’t even get close to articulating a limited government, constitutional philosophy.  So if you were looking for another Dr. No. then I suggest you keep looking.

Let’s take a look at his bad votes over recent years and how he rates with one of the best ‘graders’ in the nation – the JBS.  I love the reports in the New American and the fact that it is online too.  You can review a complete summary of James Lankford’s votes on the Freedom Index.

Freedom Index: Congressional Scorecard for James Lankford

Score Breakdown:

60% (113th Congress: 2013-2014); 70% (112th Congress: 2011-2012)

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Let’s list only the ‘bad votes’ and see just how many of the planks of the constitution he managed to shred in his short tenure in the house (my words not those of the New American).

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The votes below are pulled directly from the Freedom Index with a tiny summary of the vote analysis included there.  There is much more there if you want to dig deeper and compare with others too! And again this is just the ‘bad votes’ from that index for Lankford:

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H R 2397: On Agreeing to the Amendment 54 to H R 2397

Military collaboration with the Chinese regime will not diminish the security threat it poses to the United States but, if anything, heighten it.

H R 2397: On Agreeing to the Amendment 64 to H R 2397

Authorizing the president to use military force without a declaration of war is a shifting of responsibility from Congress to the executive branch that essentially allows the president to exercise dictator-like powers and should be opposed.

H R 2397: On Agreeing to the Amendment 70 to H R 2397

Blanket collection of electronic records of citizens who are not under investigation is a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on search and seizure without a warrant.

H R 1947: Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act

These subsidies have resulted in large market distortions as the government essentially picks winners and losers in the food production industry, and the fact that the number of people enrolled in food stamp programs has grown consistently illustrates that these programs do little to lift people out of poverty.

H R 1960: On Agreeing to the Amendment 12 to H R 1960

Under the National Defense Authorization Act, the president may abrogate these rights simply by designating terror suspects, including Americans, as “enemy combatants.” A government that would lock up anyone indefinitely without trial is certainly moving toward tyranny, and legislation to prevent this abuse of power is needed.

H R 624: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection (CISPA) Act

…the massive sharing of private citizens’ online data by Internet companies with federal government agencies authorized by this bill violates “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” as set forth in the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

H R 933: Department of Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013

… passage of this mammoth continuing resolution provided a way for Congress to perpetuate its fiscally irresponsible, unconstitutional spending habits with a minimum of accountability to its constituents.

H R 325: To ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government until May 19, 2013, and for other purposes

…the federal government should live within its means and because most of the spending responsible for the ballooning national debt is unconstitutional.

H.J.Res. 117: Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013

…passage of this mammoth continuing resolution provided a way for Congress to perpetuate its fiscally irresponsible, unconstitutional spending habits with a minimum of accountability to its constituents.

H.R. 5949: FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012

…because warrantless surveillance is unconstitutional and violates privacy and individual liberty. While ostensibly carried out only on “foreign suspects” communicating with U.S. citizens, it is difficult to imagine this surveillance not extending to U.S. citizens.

H.Amdt. 1414 to H.R. 5856: An amendment to reduce appropriations made in Title IX of the bill by $20,843,869,000. The reduction shall not apply to the following accounts 1) Defense Health Program; 2) Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, Defense; 3) Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Fund; and 4) Office of the Inspector General.

…the massive expenditure on undeclared foreign wars and nation building is unconstitutional and unaffordable.

On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 6018: Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2013

…U.S. participation in the United Nations involves an unconstitutional delegation of our national sovereignty to the UN.

H.Amdt.1127 to H.R.4310: An amendment numbered 46 printed in House Report 112-485 to strike section 1022 of the FY2012 NDAA and amend Section 1021 of same Act to eliminate indefinite military detention of any person detained under AUMF authority in U.S., territories or possessions by providing immediate transfer to trial and proceedings by a court established under Article III of the Constitution of the United states or by an appropriate State court.

…the War on Terror must not be allowed to destroy constitutional legal protections, including the issuance of a warrant based on probable cause (Fourth Amendment) and the right to a trial (Sixth Amendment).

H.R. 3523: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)

…the CISPA bill would permit government access to the private information of citizens, in violation of the Fourth Amendment “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

H.R. 3521: Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2012

…providing any form of line-item veto power to the President violates the Constitution’s separation of powers.

H.R. 2055: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012

…many of the bill’s spending programs — e.g., education, housing, foreign aid, etc. — are unconstitutional. Moreover, passing this mammoth appropriations bill in light of the ongoing trillion-dollar annual deficits is grossly fiscally irresponsible. Furthermore, packaging the appropriations bills for so many large federal agencies into one mega-bill greatly reduces the accountability of the Congressmen to their constituents.

H.R. 3080: United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act

…agreements such as this one are intended to transfer trade (and other) powers to super-national arrangements binding the United States, despite the fact that under the Constitution only Congress has the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations.”

S. 365: Budget Control Act of 2011

…the debt deal allows both the national debt and spending to continue their upward trajectories. Moreover, the budget process established by the legislation is clearly unconstitutional since no Congress can bind the actions of future Congresses via the so-called automatic cuts.

H.Con.Res. 51: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Libya

…not merely because Obama’s Libya deployment is now in violation of the War Powers Act’s 60-day requirement for congressional authorization, but also because it violates the Constitution, which clearly assigns to Congress the power “to declare war.”

S. 990: PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011

…because the provisions that were extended, as well as the Patriot Act as a whole, violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

Now lest you are thinking well, that is just the JBS.  They are a little right wing.  Here’s what the Senate Conservative Fund says – oh and the Senate is no bastion of real conservative thought either as you well know.

The Senate Conservatives Fund announced it will not back an Oklahoma Republican aiming for Senator Tom Coburn’s seat because of his voting record.

Oklahoma Representative James Lankford will announce his intentions later Monday afternoon for Senator Tom Coburn’s seat in the U.S. Senate. He’s expected to seek the election but he won’t have a key group supporting him.

The Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) says Lankford’s voting history will prevent support from them.

“We won’t support Congressman Lankford’s bid for the Senate because of his past votes to increase the debt limit, raise taxes, and fund Obamacare,” said SCF Executive Director Matt Hoskins. “We have reviewed his record and it’s clear that conservatives cannot count on him to fight for their principles.”

The SCF sites a number of Lankford’s voting history that includes raising the debt limit, funding Obamacare, and supporting the Ryan-Murray budget agreement. (article reference here)

So are you beginning to understand why James Lankford should not be promoted?  In fact he should be sent home with a copy of the constitution to read and study a lot more diligently if he ever wants to run for any office in the land in this author’s opinion.  Rhetoric always sounds appealing in campaign season and TV ads always look good, but the proof is in the track record of the actual recorded votes.  There it is folks.  He did it to himself.  Time to send James Lankford back to camp.

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them

Permalink: https://scrosnoe.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/lankford-voting-record-dismal

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Words Can be Tricky Little Things Depending on the Subject of the Sentence

Graphic Discovered on Facebook

When Government Does It                         When Anybody Else Does It (or When You Do It)

• Patriot Act                                                                     Felony wiretapping
• Enhanced Interrogation                                                   Torture
• No-Knock Raids                                                               Breaking and Entering
• Taxation                                                                         Armed Robbery
• Arrest                                                                             Kidnapping
• Indefinite Detention                                                        Holding Hostages
• Income and Property Tax                                                 Tribute to mafia
• “Protecting and serving”                                                  Terrorizing
• Education                                                                       Indoctrination
• Making a campaign promise                                             Lying
• Campaign contribution                                                    Bribery
• Defense operation                                                           Aggression
• Military occupation                                                          Land theft
• Peacekeeping Mission                                                      Invasion
• TSA patdown                                                                 Sexual Assault
• National security                                                             Spying on your Neighbors
• War                                                                              Mass murder

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them and OKGrassroots

Bipartisan Agreement — How is that working for you?

 

I snagged this on facebook recently and failed to jot down who posted it — so whoever it was thank you!  If you will comment below, I would love to give you credit for the graphic.  If you created it, you nailed it.  It really sums up the ‘bipartisan’ problem.  Now if I could be so bold as to suggest the solution.  Let’s protect one another’s individual God-given, unalienable constitutional rights. No compromising  my rights or yours, especially not for a false promise of ‘security’ because it cannot and will not be guaranteed.  Now get out there and watch each other’s back and protect each other’s rights!

Let’s Stop the War on Drugs, Bailouts, SOPA, NAFTA, UN, Bailouts, Foreign Wars, the FDA, Corporate subsidies, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Government run schools, Income taxes, Capital Gains taxes, etc.

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them

OKGrassroots

 

Take my DNA – I have not committed any crimes by Doug Newman

“Take my DNA – I have not committed any crimes” – by Doug Newman

[Editor’s note: Shared with the author’s permission and taglines included with links gladly -thanks for a terrific post.

Some of the formatting is mine for this venue, hope you like!/sc]  originally posted on Facebook  June 6, 2009 at 1:42pm

I was going back and forth on a discussion thread the other evening and someone made the above remark.

My first thought was to quote my favorite motivational speaker, Matt Foley: “Well la-de-frigging-daaaaaaa.” Such is the nonchalance with which so many Americans are relinquishing what is left of their liberty.

If this woman who posted this remark is so willing to ignore her Fourth Amendment rights and to have her body violated, would she also submit to, say, a strip search in front of God and everyone at the local shopping mall? How about a cavity search right in the middle of the main intersection of her town?

Time and again, in the Patriot Act world, people tell me “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.”

I have plenty to hide: my life, my privacy, my dignity, my self-respect. If you have probable cause that I have done something wrong, get a judge’s warrant and then we will have something to talk about. Otherwise, leave me alone.

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The makers of the Constitution conferred, as against the government, the Right to be left alone; the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized men. – United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead v. United States (1928)

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There is one other and far more important issue here: the presumption of innocence. Are you going to make a criminal out of me if I refuse to submit to a warrantless search? After all, my refusal to submit MUST mean I am hiding something.

A minute ago, I was just walking along minding my own business. Now, you are going to totally interrupt my life and make a criminal out of me because I just want to be left alone?

And if you are so nonchalant about your 4th Amendment rights how about your other Bill of Rights guarantees? How about other things such as Habeas Corpus, Bills of Attainder and Ex Post Facto laws?

When we disregard the presumption of innocence, we lose America.

I see way too many parallels between America in 2009 and Germany in 1933. Hitler did not get elected on a Monday and start loading the Jews onto box cars on Tuesday. Bit by bit by bit he persuaded the German people to give up their liberty, and bit by bit by bit they went along.

Oh sure, they got it back in 1945.

For decades in America, the powers that be have been telling the us that we need to give up our liberty and the American people by and large have complied. This creeping tyranny is always implemented for some noble-sounding reason. The left always tells us it is “for the children” or to fight global warming. The right always tells us it is to fight drugs and terrorism.

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The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants. — Albert Camus

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America, “the land of the free”, now has the world’s highest incarceration rate. All 10 policy planks of the Communist Manifesto have been part of the law of the land for years.

I write this on D-Day, June 6. The more I live and learn, the more I believe most of America’s wars have been staged contrived events. Be that as it may, the average soldier, sailor, airman and marine believes he is leaving home and hearth for your and my freedom. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million, Americans have given their lives over the last 234 years so that you and I can live and breathe in freedom, relative freedom thought it may be.

And how do people like this woman who said “Take my DNA – I have not committed any crimes” thank them? How do they “support” them?

“Oh, I’ll give up my freedom.”

Don’t tell me about Jane Fonda at the Hanoi Hilton and don’t tell me about the dozen or so people every year who desecrate the American flag. Have a good long look in the mirror!

It is bad enough that our troops have been lied to in the way they have. It is even worse when so many people take their liberty so lightly.

If America ever comes under totalitarianism – and it is on a bobsled ride in that direction as we speak – it won’t be because of some dorko in a cave in Afghanistan with a diaper on his head. And it won’t be because of Big Crock Obama. It was because of people on your street, people next to you in the checkout line, people next to you in church and people with whom your kids play little league. The American people in 2009 – left-wing Obama groupies and right-wing Bush groupies alike – are just like the German people of 1933. They will give away their freedom.

I used to say this to left-wingers who wanted the government to solve all their problems and provide cradle-to-grave economic security. Now I say it to right-wingers who are willing to give up their civil liberties in the name of freedom and security. MOVE TO CUBA! That is where they do things YOUR WAY!

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“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” – Ecclesiastes 1:9

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The times, technology, terminology and actors on the stage may change, but human stupidity doesn’t. Don’t let history repeat itself.

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Should you post, copy or share this in any way – who knows why you would?–please acknowledge me, Doug Newman, as the author.  And if you post it off of Facebook, please include this URL: http://www.geocities.com/fountoftruth/mydna.html.

Thanks!

Editor’s note:  It is just as dangerous to share your biometric image as your DNA – the central databases are not secure and it is simply not right to collect and use this data to monitor a free people.  Wake up America!/sc