Letters on veto override, sovereign hypocrites, Price

Take responsibility for veto override

Congress passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. President Obama warned that there could be negative, unintended consequences if this act were signed into law. He vetoed the bill and sent a letter to the Senate and House stating his objections. Congress overwhelmingly overrode the president’s veto. Then members of Congress had second thoughts, and 28 senators released a bipartisan letter expressing concern that “the United States could face private lawsuits in foreign courts as a result of important military or intelligence activities.”

After the letter was made public, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., went on TV and acknowledged the issues with the bill. He then had the gall to blame the president.

My message to McConnell, the 96 other senators, and the 348 representatives who voted to override the president’s veto: You own this bill, along with all the possible negative, unintended consequences.

We citizens deserve much better than this. Our representatives should understand the possible consequences, both positive and negative, for any bill that they pass, especially when they are overriding a presidential veto. They also should accept responsibility when they make a mistake.

Sovereign hypocrisy

“It was important in this case that the families of the victims of 9/11 be allowed to pursue justice, even if that pursuit causes some diplomatic discomforts.”

With those almost Jeffersonian words from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Congress overrode the president’s strong veto for the first time in his administration and stripped the government of Saudi Arabia of its sovereign immunity from having to answer for its injustices in court, just like everyone else.

Should governments have to answer for their injustices just like everyone else? Or should they get a pass – all the time, some of the time, or not if they kill over a certain number of people or steal over a certain amount of money? How much injustice by government is too much?

As ranked by Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, America is considerably more corrupt than most of the rest of the First World. Do you think members of Congress would be willing to answer for their injustices? Absolutely not. They are total hypocrites.

At least President Obama is consistently corrupt: He wants sovereignty immunity for every government for everything it does. He knows his own illegal actions might just be up for review in some court somewhere in the world if he cannot claim sovereign immunity.

Vote for Price

In the years that I have known Jim Price, I have never ceased to be impressed with his spirit of generosity. He and I volunteer in a cartoon unit, in which we dress up as various cartoon characters to delight children at hospitals and events around the city. Price also volunteers at the Venture House, feeding the less fortunate. He was a youth pastor for two years, a junior sports coach for a dozen years, and he served as a director for the evangelical nonprofit organization AWANA for 15 years. I have never known Price to turn down an opportunity to help someone in need.

If he brings that kind of compassion for his community to the Legislature, it can only be good for Kansas. Please vote for Jim Price in state Senate District 25.

This story was originally published October 8, 2016 at 5:04 AM with the headline "Letters on veto override, sovereign hypocrites, Price."