By Richard D. Fry

We have two major federal constitutional issues in Kansas.

First, Obama Care (OC, aka PPACA) has further extended the federal government’s usurpations of authority under the ruse and pretense of regulating interstate commerce.  In 1942, the FDR packed Supreme Court   ruled that the federal government could tell a farmer he could not grow wheat on his own land to feed his own livestock or to bake bread to feed his own family.   Under Obama Care, the federal government asserts it can tell us what to buy.  None of the various lawsuits currently filed against OC address the 1942 issue at all.

Second, under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the federal government has, in the words of Sen. Graham, declared the United States a “battlefield.”  In essence, this law put the United States under martial law, which can be selectively applied to individuals even in the United States, including citizens, pursuant to the discretion of the President and his administration.  This means that a U.S. citizen within the U.S. can be detained by the military without an arrest warrant and held indefinitely without a trial or given over to a foreign government for further processing.

Only state Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, a freshman, has been speaking out since June 2011 about Governor Brownback implementing OC in Kansas. More recently another has joined the fray.  But, it’s fair to say, too little, too late, by too few.

When approached about the NDAA bill, two state Representatives said, “It’s a federal issue.”  Two others said they see no danger to U.S. citizens (apparently they have not read the law at all).  Two state Senators have indicated they don’t have time to deal with it, especially because of re-redistricting, and two have been unable to meet to discuss it in detail (at least one of whom is running for re-election).

It makes the patriot in me ask, “Where in hell are their priorities?”  Their foremost duty is to protect the life, Liberty and property interests of “We the People.”  Both OC and the NDAA are direct attacks on our Liberty.  The NDAA is a particularly egregious bill by which the federal government asserts they may deny you your Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendment rights.

Do our duly elected Kansas officials really have something more important on their plate that this!?  If so, they should be broadcasting it live.