Open Letter to Congress: INTERIM ASSESSMENT from the Citizens’ Mandate
May 18, 2015
With last November’s election of a new Republican Congress, voters demonstrated they wanted Obama’s fundamental transformation to stop. In January, a group of more than 50 conservative leaders signed the “Citizens’ Mandate” to remind the Republicans of citizen expectations.
Many Republicans, and their leaders, campaigned on the promise to change Washington, show a contrast and challenge President Obama’s governance, if only the voters would give Republicans control of the legislative branch.
Citizens expected Republicans new to Congress to:
End Executive branch overreach,
Restore Constitutional balance of power among the three branches of government,
Bring an end to the perennially unpopular Affordable Care Act/Obamacare,
Stop the President’s end-run of Congress with his executive amnesty initiatives,
Hold the Executive branch accountable for its myriad abuses of power and its national security failures, both foreign and domestic, and
Put the interests of the United States of America first among nations.
So, what has Republican leadership done with their power since January 6, 2015 for the last 132 days?
Funded executive amnesty: Instead of stopping executive over reach using their power as a co-equal branch of government, the Republican Congress actually funded Obama’s executive amnesty.
Republicans first passed the Cromnibus in December to avoid the fight to defund amnesty saying that severing out funding for the Department of Homeland Security in March would be the more effective way to combat Obama’s policies. Then Republicans seemed incapable of driving a unified, clear message to leverage eroding support of the President among Senate Democrats, when polls showed vast popular support for restraining the President. Now, Republicans are avoiding any effort to defund amnesty in the new DHS funding bill for this fiscal year.
Continued Obamacare: Regarding stopping the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare, key Senate Republicans actually stopped a vital investigation into fraud and are looking for ways to save Obamacare subsides for themselves.
Jeopardized national security: Instead of safeguarding our homeland, Congress has done nothing to address the security risks from illegal immigration.
Ceded away treaty power on a nuke deal with Iran: Most Senate Republicans signed a letter that expressed serious concerns with President Obama’s appeasing of Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism. But, when push came to shove, almost the entire Senate rolled over and blocked consideration and ultimately adopted a bill that actually reduces the role Congress can play in enforcing, or lifting, tough sanctions on Iran as the mullahs continue their pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Continued excessive federal spending: Passed a so called “balanced budget,” but then immediately blew through their new-found fiscal responsibility by passing a healthcare bill that would add $500 billion to the deficit over the next 20 years.
Undermined faith-based agenda: As a whole, the Republican–led Congress has refused to pass bills overturning the District of Columbia’s violation of federal legislation assuring religious liberty and restrictions on abortion.
Helped Obama: Instead of holding the Executive branch accountable for its abuse of power, the Senate confirmed an Attorney General who thinks there is a constitutional basis for Obama’s executive amnesty.
Continued federal education. Instead of acknowledging and welcoming mounting, bipartisan grassroots opposition to egregious federal control over education – notably involving a growing civil disobedience movement to opt-out of federal testing, the House and Senate seem bent on reauthorizing, with bipartisan support, a major education statute thatpreserves the fundamentals of No Child Left Behind/Race to the Top/Common Core. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans joined with Democrats to expand the federal government’s reach into pre-K education.
Punished conservative champions. Republicans started the new Congress with the removal of conservatives from key committees; then sat back while leadership-affiliated groups ran ads against conservatives (discussed here). The Senate, and Leader McConnell in particular, campaigned on the promise of an open amendment process. But when conservative amendments do not fit into the perceived necessity of “governing” or avoiding appearing extreme, the Republican leadership routinely works with Democrats to box out conservatives.
Neglected congressional oversight. Despite a vast array of needed oversight of federal actions and spending, no Republican John Dingell or Henry Waxman who could capably challenge such conduct, has yet surfaced! Benghazi, IRS, EPA, the refugee resettlement program, the penetration of the U.S. government by the Muslim Brotherhood, taxpayer funded ideologues eroding American exceptionalism and more await scrutiny. Best oversight efforts to date have, surprisingly, been done by an effective outside group, Judicial Watch, who has no subpoena or constitutional power!
Armed with this new growing record, how do you think Congress is doing with respect to the mandate that voters gave them this past November? Are they “making sure your voice is heard” as Senate Republicans are touting in this self-congratulatory graphic (below) being distributed to announce their accomplishments in their first 100 days in the majority?
Agree? LIKE us on Facebook (Citizens Mandate), where we will follow coverage of this Interim Assessment!
The Undersigned (114 collected in 72 hours): (Titles for identification purposes only)
Brad Thor
#1 New York Times bestselling author
The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Former Attorney General of the United States for President Ronald Reagan
Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com
Steve Deace
USA Radio Network
Phyllis Schlafly
Founder and President, Eagle Forum
William G. Boykin
LTG (Ret), US Army, Executive VP, Family Research Council
Jerry A. Johnson
President and CEO, National Religious Broadcasters
The Honorable Tom DeLay
Former Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, 2003-2005
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Visiting Professor, Liberty University School of Law
Gregg A. Phillips
Founder, The Voter’s Trust
Andrew C. McCarthy
Former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney
J. Christian Adams
Election Law Center
Star Parker
Founder and President, Center for Urban Renewal & Education (CURE)
Rich Bott
President & CEO, Bott Radio Network
Frank J. Gaffney
Founder, President, & CEO, Center for Security Policy
Bishop E.W. Jackson
President, STAND, Inc.
Allen Roth
President, Secure America Now
Steven Thrasher
General Counsel, National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Greg Scandlen
Consumers for Health Care Choices
Tim Daughtry
Author, Waking the Sleeping Giant, and speaker
The Honorable J.D. Hayworth
Member of Congress, 1995-2007
Dave Bossie
President, Citizens United
Dan Bongino
Talk radio host & Republican nominee for U.S. Congress
Elaine Donnelly
President, Center for Military Readiness
Paul Pressler
Retired Justice, Texas Court of Appeals
Nancy Pressler
Charitable volunteer and Member, Texas Board of Professionally Licensed Counselors
Joy Pullmann
Managing Editor, The Federalist
Lew Uhler
President, National Tax Limitation Committee
Amy Noone Frederick
President, 60 Plus Association
Rod D. Martin
Founder and CEO, The Martin Organization
Susan A. Carleson
President, American Civil Rights Union
Donna Hearne
The Constitutional Coalition
Kelly Monroe Kullberg
Christians for A Sustainable Economy (CASE4America.org)
Mark Fitzgibbons
President of Corporate Affairs, American Target Advertising, Inc.
Sherri Martin
The Martin Foundation
Sam Sorbo
Talk radio host, The Sam Sorbo Radio Show
Nicholas Stehle
Campaign for the American Future
Rick Scarborough
President, Vision America Action
George Rasley
Editor, Richard Viguerie’s ConservativeHQ.com
Clare M. Lopez
Vice President, Research & Analysis, Center for Security Policy
Janet Porter
President, Faith2Action
Joseph Farah
Editor and CEO, WND.com, WND Books, WND Films
James Lafferty
Chairman, Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force
Tim LeFever
Chairman of the Board, Capital Resource Institute
William J. Becker, Jr.
President, CEO, GC, Freedom X
Ginni Thomas
President, Liberty Consulting
Wade Kirby
Member, Council for National Policy
Beverly Gossage
President, HAS Benefits Consulting
C. Preston Noell, III
President, Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Gayle Trotter
Attorney and Columnist
Tricia Erickson
President, Crisis Mgt Inc, Angel Pictures & Publicity, and TheConservativePundit.net
Diana West
Author and journalist
Robert Fischer
Meeting Coordinator, Conservatives of Faith
Jim Backlin
Christian Coalition of America
Rebecca Hagelin
Columnist
Kevin Freeman
Founder, National Security Investment Consultant Institute (NSIC)
Gary L. Bauer
President, American Values
Sandy Rios
American Family Association, Family PAC Federal
Alfred S. Regnery
Chairman, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund
Demos Chrissos
President, RapidResponse Media
Betty Jane Strong
Trustee, William A. and Genevieve H. Strong Foundation
Andrew Bostom, MD
Author, Sharia Versus Freedom
Morgan Brittany
Actress/Author/Co-owner of “Politichicks.com”
Erin Tuttle
Hoosiers Against Common Core, Co-founder
Colin A. Hanna
President, Let Freedom Ring, Inc.
Michael R. Long
Chairman, New York Conservative Party
Jerry Melvin
President, Florida Republican Assembly
Tom Hudson
President, California Republican Assembly
Col. Francis X. De Luca USMCR(Ret)
President, Civitas Institute (NC)
John Andrews
Former President, Colorado Senate
T. KennethCribb, Jr.
Former Domestic Advisor, President Ronald Reagan
Michael Smigiel
Former Maryland Delegate and Candidate for Congress, First Congressional District Maryland
Bobbie Patray
President, Tennessee Eagle Forum
Tammy Kobza
State Director, Eagle Forum of Iowa
Don and Diana Reimer
Philadelphia Tea Party Patriots
Tina M. Gorzalski
WINNER (WI Needs Necessary Education Reform)
Susan Dench
Founder and President, the Informed Women’s Network (Maine)
Anthony Allen
President, Hannibal LaGrange University
Kim Simac
Northwoods Patriots, Eagle Rover, WI
Karen Bracken
President, Tennessee Against Common Core
Jennifer Schubert-Akin
Steamboat Springs, CO
Elizabeth Bailey
General Partner, Books Plus (Colorado)
Col. Rob Maness
USAF (Ret), Founder of GatorPAC
Marcia Chambliss
Alabama Smart Girl Politics
John Miles
Union City, Tennessee
Renee Slinkard
Concerned Citizens of Kansas Group
Michael Swartz
author and founder of monoblogue.us
Cathy Keim
Contributor to monoblogue.us and conservative activist (MD)
Linda Paine
President, Election Integrity Project (CA)
Fred B. Houck
The Traditional American Movement
Mary Bridges
Member of a local Tea Party group in Hampshire County, West Virginia
Sally Baptiste
American Patriot and Voter – American Statesman Blog Talk Radio
Pat Thibodeaux
Union/Towns County Tea Party, Blairsville, GA
James J. Leist
Manitowoc County Conservatives Chairman
C. Edmund Wright
Contributor: Newsmax TV – Breitbart – American Thinker – Talk Radio Network
Gregg C. Cummings
US Army Ranger Veteran, Co-Founder Iowa Grassroots Coalition
Penny Barker
Pickens County GA Tea Party
John Miles
Union City, Tennessee
Kathy Fuller
Carroll County Central Committee and conservative activist (MD)
Renee Slinkard
Parker, Kansas
David Floyd
Stonewall Brigade
Kathy Wilmot
Nebraska Eagle Forum
Naomi Brummond
Nebraska Eagle Forum
Dan Rawls
President, Tea Party of Southeast Tennessee
Dee Hodges
President, Maryland Taxpayers Association
Shirley Kufeldt
Northwoods Patriots, Eagle River, WI
Dennis Juncer
Marshfield, WI
Janne Myrdal
Edinburg, ND
Carol Himes
We The People of Hampshire County
Lieutenant Colonel Marc Hayes, Ph.D.
U.S. Army (retired), Volunteer Veterans
Richard and Susan Falknor
Publishers Blue Ridge Forum
Becky Gerritson
Founder, Born Free American LLC and President, Wetumpka TEA Party (AL)
If you want to join in this message to Congress, just say: “COUNT ME IN” and attach the “Interim Assessment” through snail mail or social media to your Republicans in the House or Senate!
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