IthacaTimes.com
Impeachment is a Local Issue
By: Margo Alexander
04/25/2007
I could not disagree more with the guest editorial “courtesy of the Finger Lakes Community Newspapers” printed last week [IT; 4-18-07] that argued for Impeachment efforts being directed to Congress only and not local governments. As someone involved in local efforts, I can assure you that those of us working on local efforts have contacted Congress via petitions, phone calls and letters and will continue to do so, however, thus far to no avail.
If, in fact, village, towns and counties shouldn’t be “spending their time on matters of national importance,” the founding fathers would not have made provisions for this. There are specific rules laid out in the “Jefferson Manual,” Section L111 on Impeachment, section 603, as to how individuals can appeal through their local governments to the state to call on their Representative in Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings. Further, cities and towns routinely send petitions to Congress, which is allowed under Clause 3, Rule XII, Section 819 of the Rules of the House of Representatives.
Not a local issue? Where are the soldiers coming from who are fighting this war? Who is caring for these veterans when they return home wounded or not? How is the strain on the National Guard not a local issue when their resources are drained from the involvement in Iraq?
Not a local issue? In Tompkins County alone, according the Costofwar.com, we have spent $164,084,012 on The War in Iraq as of April 20. This, at a time when our local governments are strained to provide the basic services you state they should be focusing their efforts on-“fixing roads, keeping taxes to a reasonable rate and making sure their constituents have the resources to live properly.” In this county alone, this money could have provided health insurance for 98,263 children, provided 1,477 additional housing units, or been used to hire 2,843 additional public school teachers. How can we expect to keep taxes at a “resonable rate” when we have spent almost 500 billion dollars on this war?
What is the moral implication for a nation that sits back when clearly the U N Charter, Geneva Conventions, and our own Constitution are being violated, with people being illegally detained and tortured, U.S. citizens being illegally wiretapped and our nation engaged in an illegal war based on evidence that was falsified by this administration to get the backing of the American people and Congress?
It is our duty as citizens of this nation to speak out when we have probable cause to believe that our Constitution is being violated. ALL elected officials, no matter what level of govenrment they are serving at, take an oath to “protect and defend the Constitution” of the United States. Thus, it is not only their responsibility as citizens, but as elected officials to do so.
– Margo Alexander
Trumansburg
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