The Senate voted 52-40 in favor of cloture to begin debate on the legislation, which has been bundled together by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), failing to reach the three-fifths necessary to move forward with the bill.

“This is a good day for the American taxpayer, who will not be bilked by creating 35 new federal programs. And it also a good day for the American consumer, as there is a growing number of members in the Senate that want to focus solely on addressing America’s energy crisis before any other business is attended to,” Wilson added.

“Americans for Limited Government would like to commend Senator Tom Coburn, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and all of the members of the Senate that voted to filibuster the $11.3 billion Reid Omnibus Spending Bill,” said Wilson.

“Majority Leader Reid attempted to sneak this legislation through while nobody was looking. But thanks to the efforts of journalists nationwide—print, TV, radio, and the blogosphere—who brought this important issue to the attention of the American people, it was defeated” he added. “It proves that when the American people are informed about the waste that is going on in Washington, that a loud chorus of voices can defeat that waste.”

The Reid Omnibus Spending Bill would include such items as $1.5 billion for the D.C. Metro, $12 million for a greenhouse in Maryland, and $17 million for captive primate safety.

“This is an important battle that has been won, but the war is not over. We will continue to pressure Congress to focus on addressing the energy crisis now,” said Wilson.

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“The American people need to know about these 19 Republican Senators that have joined with Senator Coburn,” said Wilson. “Instead of continuing to recklessly grow the size of government, they are determined to increase America’s energy supply right now and give the American people real relief from the soaring prices at the gas pump.”

“This is an important first step to defeating this $11.3 billion boondoggle. They should be praised and thanked, and Americans for Limited Government is encouraging them to go all the way to defeat it. If it comes down to it, they ought to filibuster it,” Wilson added.

The letter, addressed to Republican Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), states, “Although the American people are calling for solutions to increase exploration, all Republican proposals to do so have been shut down before a vote could be taken because of the tactics employed by the Majority Leader [Sen. Harry Reid]. Until alternative proposals are allowed on the floor, the American public will not get relief from the high prices they are paying for gas.”

Wilson believes that the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV), who has blocked energy bills while pushing his omnibus spending legislation, has his priorities “exactly backward.”

“The only thing that should be on the fast track right now is increasing domestic oil drilling in the outer-continental shelf, off the east and west coasts, in ANWR, and on other federal lands where oil companies are currently barred by law from drilling,” said Wilson.

“Instead, Majority Leader Reid is ramming this $11.3 billion omnibus spending bill down the American people’s throats without so much as allowing a single amendment. It is willful negligence when he knows that hard-working Americans are expecting the government to do something about energy prices.”

According to the July 17th letter to Sen. McConnell, the twenty Senators opposing the omnibus spending bill and who signed the letter are:

Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Wayne Allard (R-CO)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Michael Enzi (R-WY)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Sam Brownback (R-KS)
John Ensign (R-NV)
John Sununu (R-NH)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Larry Craig (R-ID)

“We are going to lobby every Republican Senator to oppose this mess,” said Wilson. “They need to understand that the American people want Congress to increase the energy supply and decrease energy prices, not work on pork-barrel spending that benefits only a select few.”

Wilson believes that every Republican Senator now has to “choose this day whom they will serve. They can either stand with Senator Coburn and filibuster this waste, and help pass meaningful energy legislation—or they can aid and abet Sen. Reid in bilking the American people.

Wilson warned, “We won’t forget who does which.”

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“The economy is very sick, and it is sick because of the excessive spending and debt that Congress creates year in and year out,” said Wilson in a statement. “Our overall financial system is teetering on the brink of ruin, the dollar is collapsing, prices are soaring, inflation is on the rise, and the national debt has never been larger.”

“This is no coincidence,” said Wilson. “All roads lead back to Washington on the current economic crisis, because Congress keeps on spending. Their response to every crisis is to spend more. A $25 billion omnibus bill here. A $300 billion bank bailout there. A $150 billion economic ‘stimulus’ package. It never ends.”

Wilson explained, “The problem is that Congress’ spending habits—they spend more than they take in revenue—further increase the money supply and the national debt, directly causing the economy’s downward spiral to continue. They call it ‘stimulus,’ but really it’s cyanide for our economy and our future.”

“Enough is enough,” he added. “This is why it is imperative that all Republicans in the Senate join Senator Tom Coburn’s filibuster of the $25 billion omnibus bill.”

Senator Tom Coburn recently stated that 20 Senators had already joined the filibuster. Procedurally, it takes 41 votes in the Senate to maintain a filibuster.

According to a July 17th a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senators may not even be allowed to offer amendments to the omnibus package.

Wilson believes that Majority Leader Reid’s move will erode the Senate minority’s ability to keep the majority in check. “How this bill turns out will absolutely set the pace for the next session of Congress. Senate Republicans have a chance to turn the tide,” said Wilson.

“But, it’s going to take fiscal discipline, something that has been severely lacking in Washington for generations,” he added. “Senator Coburn needs a lot of help from his colleagues if that is ever going to change. Right now, he’s the true conscience of the Senate.”

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In addition, ALG President Bill Wilson called upon 88-year-old Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens to “do what is right and honorable and resign now from the seat he has held too long and abused so badly.” Said Wilson, “In referring to Mr. Stevens’ convoluted reasoning as ‘grotesque,’ Justice Scalia summed up in a word Mr. Stevens’ entire career. He is clearly out of touch, out of sync, and, as demonstrated by his dissenting opinion in Heller, now barely coherent.”

In the historic 5-4 Heller ruling, the high court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the District of Columbia’s gun ban is unconstitutional, violating the individual right to bear arms. Said Justice Scalia in writing the majority opinion, “Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our Nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security, and where gun violence is a serious problem. That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.”

“This is a major victory for the citizens of the District of Columbia, and the rest of the nation,” said Wilson. “For far too long, citizens in certain parts of this country have been denied their constitutional rights. We commend the Supreme Court on this decision, and we trust it will mark the beginning of the end for misguided jurisprudence that views the Constitution as, in Jefferson’s words, ‘wax in the hands of the Judiciary’.”

In writing the majority decision, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that, “[W]e find that [the textual elements of the Second Amendment] guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.”

Both parties in this case had argued on the basis of the meaning of the Second Amendment itself. D.C. had argued that the right to keep and bear arms only applied to State militias. But the Court ruled against that logic: “The prefatory clause does not suggest that preserving the militia was the only reason Americans valued the ancient right; most undoubtedly thought it even more important for self-defense and hunting.”

Wilson agreed, “D.C.’s argument – and Mr. Stevens’ defense of it — never even measure up to the basic rules of grammar, let alone the basic rule of law. The operative clause the Second Amendment has always been the right of the people to keep and bear arms. What is stunning to me is that the decision was so close.”

Wilson was guarded against overly praising the Court, “The Supreme Court has definitely been up and down with important decisions these past few years, with horrible rulings in both Kelo and the McCain-Feingold challenge, but this one they certainly nailed. In addition to commending the 5 justices ruled in favor of Mr. Heller, we would also like to praise the brave citizens who challenged D.C.’s unconstitutional law for their courage and patriotism. George Mason and Patrick Henry would be proud.”

Wilson added, “Nonetheless, Americans for Limited Government is very pleased with this decision protecting citizens’ rights to own and carry guns, and importantly that the case was decided on a textual basis. For too long the Court has done everything except rule on the basis of what the Constitution clearly says. Justice Scalia’s opinion, therefore, is a breath of fresh air for all Americans who value the rule of law.”

Americans for Limited Government is a 501(c)(4) issues advocacy organization based in Fairfax, Virginia. Additional information on this case will be included in Friday’s edition of ALG News’ flagship publication The Daily Editorialist.

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June 16th, 2008, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government on June 6th filed an amicus curiae brief in a critical U.S. Supreme Court case that will soon determine whether a state government may prohibit its counties, cities, and towns from subsidizing union political activities via its government payroll systems.

Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Assocation will be heard this fall by the nation’s highest court, which granted certiorari to the state of Idaho’s appeal on March 31st. The case involves an Idaho law banning the state’s counties, cities, and towns from allowing union payroll deductions to be used for the subsidization of political activities.

That law was overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on October 5th, 2007 in a decision stating that the state could not constitutionally under the First Amendment prohibit its political subdivisions from making union payroll deductions because the state did not fund and directly administer those payroll systems.

It is a decision that Americans for Limited Government President William Wilson wrote in his daily column “sets a patently absurd—not to mention unobtainable—standard.”

“What it actually means is that Idaho could constitutionally enact such a prohibition upon its [own] counties, cities, etc. only if it administered every government payroll system of the State at all levels of government,” wrote Wilson. “In short ‘freedom of speech’ is not actually the issue at all—but rather the internal relationships between the State of Idaho and its own municipalities. And that’s an area that should be far outside the federal court’s legitimate purview.”

According to the amicus curiae brief, drawn up by attorney Kevin Hall, the Ninth Circuit erred in its “use of the First Amendment as a wedge between a state government and its political subdivisions [because it] has no basis in [the Supreme] Court’s jurisprudence.”

The Ninth Circuit acknowledged in its decision that it was legitimate if Idaho prohibited state employers from allowing payroll deductions by unions to be used for political purposes, a fact that Wilson seized upon in his column. He added, “[T]o boot, [the court also ruled] that the municipalities in question could enact similar prohibitions if they so desired. So again, freedom of speech is not at issue.”

When reached for comment Wilson was confident that the state of Idaho will prevail in this upcoming case: “The Ninth Circuit went too far. The First Amendment does not require Idaho or its municipalities to devote state funds to facilitating the political speech of its workers, their preferred political organizations, or anyone else.”

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“It has come to my attention that you are crying crocodile tears over money Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has apparently shifted into his private ‘slush fund,’” Wilson wrote, “and I want to offer you my sympathy. Herewith is a box of 120 2-ply extra-strength Kleenex.”

Wilson added, “Now, aren’t you glad the people of California had the good sense to pass the term limits law you so viciously opposed, so that you (and they) are finally rid of Mr. Nunez once and for all?”

Nunez, in his final year in the Assembly after being term-limited out, has indicated he will retain control over the $4 million shifted by the state Democratic Party to his campaign account, “Friends of Fabian Nunez,” in November of 2006. In the past, Nunez has spent tens of thousands of dollars from the account on overseas travel, wine, and luxury goods with no apparent connection to political or government business. And council members are fearful he may do so again.

But, Wilson says the union officials’ concerns are misdirected. “Why stop with crying your copious tears over just the trifling $4 million that you consider your money?” Wilson wrote in his letter to Balgenorth. “What about the billions of tax dollars he has flushed down the drain in all of the self-serving political schemes the two of you have cooked up over the past six years?”

Wilson cited as an example the controversial “golden handshake” Nunez recently pushed through the Assembly. Characterized by Assemblyman De La Torre, D-South Gate, as a going away present to employees by the lame-luck leader, the handshake would sweeten the retirement pay of 222 government employees, many of whom already qualify for pensions exceeding $100,000. The exact cost to the state treasury of the Nunez handshake is not known because the Assembly has refused to release any projections or analysis.

Wilson concluded his letter by questioning why Balgenorth and his fellow union officials are “so concerned with what Mr. Nunez does with his slush fund – when it’s not your money in the first place?”

“The truth is,” Wilson added, “if today’s union bosses spent more time working with union members on legitimate work-a-day issues – and less time hobnobbing with politicians in the plush confines of their ornate offices – you would be far less concerned about Mr. Nunez absconding with his party’s war chest and far more concerned about whether you were a good steward of your union members’ dues.”

Wilson promised Balgenorth that if the union president would “re-direct your crocodile tears to Mr. Nunez’s (and your) trashing of the good people of The Golden State … an additional boxcar of Kleenex will soon be on its way.”

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Please Note: Click here for the Americans for Limited Government letter to California Labor Federation council member Bob Balgenorth.