Dwight D. Eisenhower Quotes

"Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage." -Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of United States

"Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebel men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine.  As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion." -Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of United States

Learning From Constituents

"I often hear from individuals who participate in the National Write Your Congressman Organization, and I take pleasure in reading the comments. I also receive many phone calls and emails at the direction of them.

Listening to and learning from constituents is the most important part of my job. Many complex issues come before Congress, and it is a difficult task to sort through many of those issues. Hearing the views of the people I represent helps lighten the burden of that task." -Congressman Dave Camp, 4th District, Michigan

Incorporation of the Bill of Rights

The incorporation of the Bill of Rights (or incorporation for short) is the process by which American courts have applied portions of the U.S. Bill of Rights to the states. Prior to the 1890's, the Bill of Rights was held only to apply to the federal government. Under the incorporation doctrine, most provisions of the Bill of Rights now also apply to the state and local governments, by virtue of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.

Prior to the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment and the development of the incorporation doctrine, in 1833 the Supreme Court held in Barron v. Baltimore that the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal, but not any state, government. Even years after the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment the Supreme Court in United States v. Cruikshank, still held that the First and Second Amendment did not apply to state governments. However, beginning in the 1890's, a series of United States Supreme Court decisions interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to "incorporate" most portions of the Bill of Rights, making these portions, for the first time, enforceable against the state governments. -Wikipedia, state rights

Power from the people...

Would you agree that our precious freedoms are taken for granted by most citizens? Many people complain about what is wrong with our government but will not, or don't know how, to take constructive action to do anything about it. It has been said that if the United States ceases to be a world power, its demise will come from within. To keep that from happening, and to preserve our freedoms, we must fight for and insist upon maintaining the vision of our Founding Fathers.

We are living under a system of government that derives its powers from the people...from the bottom up rather than from the top down. It was first introduced in its basic form by a young delegate from Virginia by the name of James Madison. Madison is often called the "Father of the Constitution," and was the fourth President of the United States.

The Constitution and our Founding Fathers made it clear that the government must derive its power from the people. Unfortunately, this message is lost in our age of apathy, lobbies and special interest groups. That is why our work is so important. We fight to keep the power with the people as our Founding Fathers envisioned.
-Bill Witcher