Judge: Texas Ban On Gay Marriage Unconstitutional

Judge declares Texas' gay marriage ban unconstitutional

A Dallas judge declared Texas’ ban on gay marriage unconstitutional yesterday. In a case involving two men married in another state, the judge allowed them to get a divorce.

To be honest, I really don’t care either way. I disagree with the judge that it’s unconstitutional for a state to decide what type of marriage is acceptable or not. However, I don’t think marriage should be in the realm of government control to begin with.

Marriage is a sacred commitment you make with another person (or persons) before God. This is a religious ceremony, not a government ceremony. If your faith allows you to marry someone of the same gender, then so be it.

The government’s only role in the whole affair should be to make a contract between the parties involved, called a civil union. It’s a contract between consenting adults that lays out various legal questions regarding the involvement (death, illness, etc.).

However, the judges decision that it is unconstitutional is not accurate. Constitutionally, it’s something the state can decide if it so chooses. The same can be said with abortion. They are both unconstitutional at the national level, but the 10th amendment gives states ability to make such laws. I would just prefer the state stay out of marriage all together and just enforce civil unions and let the religious organizations perform and acknowledge marriages.

Source: NBC Dallas-Fort Worth

Clueless Federal Reserve Inspector General

I’m not typically a fan of The Huffington Post, but they offered a great article recently detailing an exchange between Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) and inspector general Elizabeth A. Coleman. (See video below)

Coleman could not tell Grayson what kind of losses the Fed has so far suffered on its $2 trillion portfolio, which has greatly expanded since September.

She appeared unaware that the Fed engages in trillions of dollars in off-balance-sheet exchanges.

She is not investigating the role of the Fed in allowing the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

She did not know where the Fed has invested its $2 trillion on the liability side of the balance sheet. “I do not know. We have not looked at that specific area at this particular point on,” she said.

This exchange highlights just how little anyone knows about what’s going on at the Federal Reserve. Since Congress delegated their Constitutional obligations to “coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin” to the Federal Reserve in 1913, the US dollar has been devalued 95%.

The Federal Reserve is immune from government audits, specifically, they are allowed to make make transactions between foreign governments and banks without any approval or oversight from the federal government. If the State Department did this, they would be considered a rogue agency and would be taken down by the Department of Justice. If a civilian did this, he would be tried for treason under the Logan Act. Yet, the Federal Reserve continues these policies without fear of either consequence.

There is a bill in the House that would allow for a full government audit into the practices of the Federal Reserve. H.R 1207 currently has 149 cosponsors and will most likely get a hearing within the House Financial Service Committee in the very near future.