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Post Star Article, Oct. 25, 2008 |
Constitutional activist hopes
Supreme Court will take his case
FORT ANN -- Activist Robert Schulz
won’t let the $700 billion bailout of American
International Group and other Wall Street giants slide
by.
When he heard the news that the insurance giant would
receive taxpayer money in order to stay afloat, the
Fort Ann resident and nationally known constitutional
rights scholar filed two lawsuits in federal court.
He contends that the bailout package goes against the
laws of the land.
"This was to purchase mortgage-related assets from
private parties with taxpayer money in the aid of a
private undertaking," Schulz said. "There was no
Constitutional authority to do this."
He’s taken his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. It
currently sits on the desk of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Schulz hopes that Scalia, known for both his
conservative views and strict reading of the
Constitution, will shepherd the lawsuit before the
full court.
The first lawsuit, filed in Northern District Court on
Sept. 18. A second was filed on Sept. 23. Both were
eventually consolidated into one case, Schulz said.
So far, he hasn’t heard back from Scalia’s office. He
also filed an emergency restraining order to prevent
the government from handing over the money.
"I think the courts were stalling to allow the
Executive and Legislative branches to proceed with
something that on its merits, there’s no authority for
this," he said.
Schulz, the founder of national organizations We the
People Foundation and We the People Congress, is no
stranger to stirring up controversy with the federal
government.
He was held in contempt of court earlier this year for
refusing to turn over the personal information,
including names and addresses, of people who received
his information packet that claimed to show how to
legally stop federal tax withholding.
He was planning a hunger strike this past summer at
the National Mall to draw attention to his grievances
that include the Iraq war, immigration and tax policy.
But his plans were thwarted when the National Parks
Service told him he wouldn’t be allowed to sleep on
federal property during the monthlong protest.
Schulz was planning another protest on Constitution
Day, Sept. 17, but he decided to focus his efforts on
stopping the bailout instead.
"There’s nothing in the public record, other than all
the propaganda of the sky is falling, there’s been no
hearing," he said. "It’s the Iraq resolution all over
again. It’s the president coming to Congress, and
saying ‘We’ve got to invade Iraq, you don’t want a
mushroom cloud do you?’ It’s the same thing again." |
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