Parts 4 and 5

Here are the last two parts of my interview with Dale Johnson.

Part 4


Part 5

Part 3

Here is part three of my interview with Dale Johnson. Have a great weekend!

Part 2

Part two of my interview with KFOR's Dale Johnson.

Interview with Dale Johnson

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with KFOR's Dale Johnson on Lincoln Live to talk about my term as your Nebraska State Treasurer, my service in the United States Navy and the direction of our country. I had excellent conversation with Dale, and thought I would share it with you in case you missed it.

The interview is in five parts, so I'll be posting part two tomorrow.

Best,
Shane

National Sovereignty Symposium

Last month, I had the great privilege of being the opening speaker at the National Sovereignty Symposium. It was a terrific event that I was honored to be a part of.

Since that time, I've received numerous requests for a copy of my remarks and thought it might be good to post them here on my blog so you can all read them.

Enjoy-

Shane

Opening Remarks: National Sovereignty Symposium

It is with great honor, and humility, that I open the first National Sovereignty Symposium. While I do not pretend to exhibit the level of constitutional scholarship that my learned friend Judge Andrew Napolitano will demonstrate later today, I will say this:

The Constitution was drafted by uncommon men, in an uncommon time, for the Common Man, for All Time.

In an era when obedience to the “Divine Right of Kings” was required without question, the Constitution, like our brave ancestors at Bunker Hill, was a shot heard round the world. Drafted under fire, the Constitution knocked the crown off the king’s head for good, and placed, for the first time in History, the power in the people’s hands.

It is a document that both limits the powers of the Federal Government and protects the liberties of We, the People. Freedom of Worship. Freedom of Speech. Freedom of Assembly. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The Right to be Free from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures. The Right to Life, Liberty, and Property.

These Individual Rights, inspired by Almighty God – and no folks, I’m not talking about our current President. These Individual Rights, inspired by Almighty God and recorded by the Founding Fathers, were designed to serve as a rampart against the unrelenting siege of the Federal Government upon the vulnerable livelihoods of We, the People.

But the siege has breached the outer wall. And Rome will fall, if We fail, to act – now.

We begin by gathering here today; not to declare independence from the Union We cherish, but to reassert Our God-given Rights under the Constitution and the Tenth Amendment, which provides:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Because the Constitution provides the Federal Government with only limited powers, the first question that must be asked of any Congressman, Senator, or President – who can be just as oppressive as any King – who imposes legislation upon We, the People, without Our Consent, is the following:

Where in the Constitution does the Federal Government derive the power to pass such a bill?

I have been told by many lawyers that this is the first question asked, on the first day of law school, of first year law students in constitutional law class. Yet when recently asked this question, in relation to the Universal Healthcare Bill being rammed through Congress, and rammed down our throats, the Senior Senator from the Great State of Nebraska, who is a lawyer, said, “I don’t know enough about the Constitution to answer that question.”

Perhaps the Senator skipped the first day of law school.

But in all seriousness, folks, such a sophomoric response would be expected from a sophomore in high school, and even acceptable by a sophomore in college, but wholly unacceptable by a sitting Senator in the United States Congress. Yet his response is the norm emanating from Washington, D.C., a city built upon swamp-land by slaves, which now seeks to shackle the American Spirit by obliterating our economy into swamp-land and by enslaving us all in the process, under the arrogance of a self-proclaimed omnipotence historically reserved for Kings, and currently reserved for third-world, “democratic” despots.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Rome will fall, if We fail to act now.

Therefore, I ask you to join me, to stand with me atop the inner wall, and to fight off the Federal Government’s siege upon our God-given Rights as Americans. Thank you.

Updates to Nebraskaspending.gov

As you may have read in the Omaha World Herald (http://www.omaha.com/article/20091221/NEWS01/912219991).

On Monday, I continued my commitment to bringing transparency to Nebraska state government by putting the state's checkbook online. Nebraskans can now see exactly where their tax dollars are being spent, right down to the last penny.

This interactive list of 1.76 million payments made by the State of Nebraska includes all travel reimbursement, office supplies, state employee payroll and all other expenditures made by the State.

Here is a link to the new section of Nebraskaspending.gov:
http://www.nebraskaspending.gov/expenditures/2008.htm

Providing a more accountable and transparent government has always been one of my top priorities. I pledge to continue to improve and update nebraskaspending.gov during the next year.

-Shane

Americans for Prosperity Rally

In case you missed it, yesterday I was honored to be a speaker at Americans for Prosperity's health care rally. The crowd was tremendous and Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee did a great job. If you didn't make it the Omaha Music Hall, you can catch Governor Huckabee's speech here: http://hotair.com/archives/2009/12/20/quote-of-the-day-577/

-Shane