Homeschool Mom Holds Lawmaker's Feet to the Fire
Chelsea Schilling
August 19, 2009
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A homeschooling mother – who made headlines during the presidential campaign when she received a visit from the Secret Service after calling Obama a "socialist" and criticizing his position on abortion – has launched a movement to hold state lawmakers accountable and promote a return to the rule of law defined in the U.S. Constitution.
Jessica Hughes, a Lufkin, Texas, resident, received a phone call from an Obama volunteer in 2008 asking if she supported the Democratic Party candidate.
Hughes replied, "No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time."
The next day, two Secret Service agents visited her home, asking if she said, "I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."
Her story was just one in a string of reports about alleged intimidation against Obama critics.
"One of the things that was said was that I had no right to be upset because that happened under the Bush administration," Hughes told WND. "It's absolutely true that there is a terrible danger with these bills that aren't read. It's my understanding that the Patriot Act was never read in its entirety by either President Bush or the Congress who voted it in. … According to that legislation, those secret service agents could have entered my home and searched it without a warrant that was ever seen by any judge. I don't care who's in power. You can't give that kind of power to a government."
Now Hughes, president and chief executive officer of The Founder's Alliance, is leading a movement to hold elected officials accountable and ensure that they pledge to uphold the Constitution, rejecting any effort of the federal government to exceed boundaries of its authority under the founding document.
"We started out with the tea parties in the area, and most of what we noticed was that a lot of our problems stem from our legislators not respecting the Constitution," she said. "So, we wanted to start from an area where we could really have an effect. We felt that local and state legislation was what we should focus on. The idea is to have our state legislators make known where they stand in their interpretation of the Constitution – not just say, 'I'll uphold the Constitution,' but that they will uphold the Constitution as it was originally intended."
The Founder's Alliance has delivered a "Contract with Texans" to state legislators. The pact states:
Be it resolved, that the undersigned pledge to uphold the principles of our nation as outlined in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights; and further pledge to uphold the Texas Constitution and defend the inalienable rights of the People of Texas, as follows:
1. I will reject with my words and my vote any effort of the Federal Government to exceed the boundaries of its authority as specifically granted in the seventeen powers listed under Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, and understood to limit the exercise of congressional power in the service of the general welfare;
2. I will reject with my words and my vote any and all legislation which infringes on the inalienable rights of the citizens of Texas as defined above;
3. I will reject with my words and my vote any and all legislation which seeks to redistribute wealth according to the caprices of government or the petitions of those who would enrich themselves at the expense of private property of others;
4. I will reject with my words and my vote any and all attempts to alter the understanding of the United States Constitution from the plain meaning of the text;
5. I will support with my words and my vote all efforts of the state of Texas to legislatively re-establish a constitutionally limited federal government on behalf of the people.
 Jessica Hghes, (photo: Lufkin Daily News) |
The group will announce in a news conference Thursday at the Texas state capitol the names of lawmakers who have signed the agreement and which ones have not.
According to the Lufkin Daily News, Texas Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, was one of the first lawmakers to sign the pledge.
"I did not hesitate to sign it. We need to get elected officials who swear to uphold the Constitution in their oath of office to pledge to do that. We need to get back to the core principals outlined by the Constitution," Nichols told the newspaper.
"We really just want to make this a positive step in engaging citizens with their state and local representatives," Hughes said. "We're not just sitting back and waiting for a presidential election to come along before we pay attention. We want people paying attention at all times."
She said The Founder's Alliance is forming a network of citizens to monitor different areas of government.
"Right now we have a group that is researching all of the amendments that are proposed to the Texas Constitution for next year," she said. "Then they can share with the group what they've found. That way we're able to divide the labor up and all be informed when we go to the voting booth."
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GIVE ME LIBERTY!
Homeschool mom holds lawmakers' feet to fire
Sparks national movement urging states to defend against federal power grab
Posted: August 19, 2009
8:32 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
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A homeschooling mother – who made headlines during the presidential campaign when she received a visit from the Secret Service after calling Obama a "socialist" and criticizing his position on abortion – has launched a movement to hold state lawmakers accountable and promote a return to the rule of law defined in the U.S. Constitution.
Jessica Hughes, a Lufkin, Texas, resident, received a phone call from an Obama volunteer in 2008 asking if she supported the Democratic Party candidate.
Hughes replied, "No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time."
The next day, two Secret Service agents visited her home, asking if she said, "I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."
Her story was just one in a string of reports about alleged intimidation against Obama critics.
"One of the things that was said was that I had no right to be upset because that happened under the Bush administration," Hughes told WND. "It's absolutely true that there is a terrible danger with these bills that aren't read. It's my understanding that the Patriot Act was never read in its entirety by either President Bush or the Congress who voted it in. … According to that legislation, those secret service agents could have entered my home and searched it without a warrant that was ever seen by any judge. I don't care who's in power. You can't give that kind of power to a government."
Now Hughes, president and chief executive officer of The Founder's Alliance, is leading a movement to hold elected officials accountable and ensure that they pledge to uphold the Constitution, rejecting any effort of the federal government to exceed boundaries of its authority under the founding document.
"We started out with the tea parties in the area, and most of what we noticed was that a lot of our problems stem from our legislators not respecting the Constitution," she said. "So, we wanted to start from an area where we could really have an effect. We felt that local and state legislation was what we should focus on. The idea is to have our state legislators make known where they stand in their interpretation of the Constitution – not just say, 'I'll uphold the Constitution,' but that they will uphold the Constitution as it was originally intended."
The Founder's Alliance has delivered a "Contract with Texans" to state legislators. The pact states:
Be it resolved, that the undersigned pledge to uphold the principles of our nation as outlined in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights; and further pledge to uphold the Texas Constitution and defend the inalienable rights of the People of Texas, as follows:
1. I will reject with my words and my vote any effort of the Federal Government to exceed the boundaries of its authority as specifically granted in the seventeen powers listed under Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, and understood to limit the exercise of congressional power in the service of the general welfare;
2. I will reject with my words and my vote any and all legislation which infringes on the inalienable rights of the citizens of Texas as defined above;
3. I will reject with my words and my vote any and all legislation which seeks to redistribute wealth according to the caprices of government or the petitions of those who would enrich themselves at the expense of private property of others;
4. I will reject with my words and my vote any and all attempts to alter the understanding of the United States Constitution from the plain meaning of the text;
5. I will support with my words and my vote all efforts of the state of Texas to legislatively re-establish a constitutionally limited federal government on behalf of the people.
Jessica Hghes, (photo: Lufkin Daily News) |
The group will announce in a news conference Thursday at the Texas state capitol the names of lawmakers who have signed the agreement and which ones have not.
According to the Lufkin Daily News, Texas Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, was one of the first lawmakers to sign the pledge.
"I did not hesitate to sign it. We need to get elected officials who swear to uphold the Constitution in their oath of office to pledge to do that. We need to get back to the core principals outlined by the Constitution," Nichols told the newspaper.
"We really just want to make this a positive step in engaging citizens with their state and local representatives," Hughes said. "We're not just sitting back and waiting for a presidential election to come along before we pay attention. We want people paying attention at all times."
She said The Founder's Alliance is forming a network of citizens to monitor different areas of government.
"Right now we have a group that is researching all of the amendments that are proposed to the Texas Constitution for next year," she said. "Then they can share with the group what they've found. That way we're able to divide the labor up and all be informed when we go to the voting booth."