Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Hunting

Vote Lawlessness Out Of Office On November 4

Saturday, November 1, 2014

“Government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

President Abraham Lincoln’s words in the Gettysburg Address are doubtless the most succinct summation of the miracle established by the founders of our Republic.

But with the combination of President Barack Obama’s rogue executive branch and his rubber-stamp U.S. Senate majority running interference, President Lincoln’s hallowed words no longer resonate.

Obama promised “change,” and that surely is what he’s given us—all bad, all the time. Obama and his legions have accomplished his “change” with the complicity of the U.S. Senate majority headed by Majority Leader Harry Reid, who rules that body with an iron fist. Had the Senate majority been different, Obama’s lawlessness would have been checked.

“We the people,” as voters—as Americans who care most deeply about the future of our Republic—can end this distortion of democracy. In a few short days, on November 4, we can bring our own brand of change.

We can vote to change the Obama-cloned majority of the Senate and we can vote to retain the responsible members of the U.S. House of Representatives who are resisting Obama’s threat to “fundamentally transform the United States of America.” Much of the unlawful, scandalous, abuse of power that marks the Obama out-of-control bureaucracies has been exposed to the light of day through unstinting oversight by House committees.

Among Obama’s multiple lies to the American people, his promise to create the “most transparent” administration in history ranks with “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it.” Instead he has created the most opaque administration in history—tainted by serial cover-ups of misconduct and malfeasance, with obstruction of Congressional oversight at every turn.

Let me paraphrase what are perhaps the most dangerous words written into law: “The Secretary shall write such rules and regulations deemed necessary to carry out the purpose of this act.” Agencies now see such language as license to manufacture power to self-define, or ignore, or reinvent the intent of Congress.

The Federal Register last year published 26,417 pages of agency edicts comprising 3,659 separate rules. That doesn’t include the 24,261 notices of rules changes. Currently, there are 3,305 regulations at some stage pending with 63 different federal agencies. (See “Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State” at www.cei.org.)

What makes this malignant growth of executive power in the Obama administration so different is that it is outside the law, outside any authority of the national legislature and outside the courts, funded illegally, it is outside any authorization or appropriation by Congress.

On top of that, the Obama bureaucracy is, by fiat, substantially creating law that Congress specifically voted down—everything from EPA unilaterally shutting down power plants that may well leave Americans without electricity, to twisting U.N. treaties into “pacts” to avoid certain U.S. Senate defeat.

Then there is the question of the Obama administration specifically refusing to carry out existing law. Take the ongoing immigration mess with Homeland Security refusing to either seal the border or to deal with the mass invasion of illegal aliens of unknown origins.

In short, under the Obama administration and with the active acquiescence of Obama’s Senate followers the bureaucracy isn’t just bigger, it is corrupted.

Perhaps the best example is the administration’s misdeeds in transforming the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into a political weapon to silence ordinary Americans who wish to exercise their right to assemble and petition government, or who wish to be fully involved in the political process.

When caught, IRS top officials lied, refused to honor Congressional subpoenas and destroyed massive digital evidence sought under lawful subpoena.

Recently Obama’s head of that disgraced agency, John Koskinen, told a Congressional inquiry, “Wherever we can, we follow the law.”

That one sentence sums up everything that we as voters need to fix. Washington is indeed broken under the Obama crowd, but we can fix it.

There is time if we act, if we get everyone we know who is concerned or afraid for the future of the nation to the ballot box. If we succeed, we can lead the way to putting our government back on the path defined by President Lincoln— “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

IN THIS ARTICLE
James Porter Election 2014

BY James Porter

President, NRA

TRENDING NOW
What Does the Texas NFA Decision Mean for You?

News  

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

What Does the Texas NFA Decision Mean for You?

On August 5, 2026, Judge Wesley Hendrix of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns ...

Questions and Answers About the Texas NFA Case

News  

Monday, August 17, 2026

Questions and Answers About the Texas NFA Case

On August 12, we reported on an important development in the ongoing litigation over the National Firearms Act (NFA) filed by multiple plaintiffs in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. These included, ...

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

In another major victory for the National Rifle Association and law-abiding gun owners, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas today held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for ...

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging New York’s Glock Ban

Friday, August 14, 2026

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging New York’s Glock Ban

The National Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, the Firing Pin, LLC, and NRA members Lucas Nelson and Daniel Geary filed a lawsuit today challenging New York’s ban on Glock and “Glock-style” handguns.

ATF Director Corrects Gun Control Advocates on Regulatory Reform

News  

Monday, August 17, 2026

ATF Director Corrects Gun Control Advocates on Regulatory Reform

In a stark departure from the last administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is taking gun control advocates to task for their sensationalist rhetoric and questionable legal claims. 

DOJ’s Post Office Directive Marks Another Second Amendment Milestone

News  

Monday, August 17, 2026

DOJ’s Post Office Directive Marks Another Second Amendment Milestone

For decades, federal law and United States Postal Service regulations turned one of the most ordinary stops in American life, your local post office, into a federal “gun free zone.”  That changed on August 12 with ...

NRA Joins Legal Fight Against Colorado’s Permit-to-Purchase Law for Semiautomatic Firearms

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

NRA Joins Legal Fight Against Colorado’s Permit-to-Purchase Law for Semiautomatic Firearms

The National Rifle Association has joined the legal fight against SB25-003, Colorado’s permit-to-purchase scheme for certain semiautomatic firearms.

M14s Added to CMP Roster

News  

Monday, August 3, 2026

M14s Added to CMP Roster

Since 1903, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has served a critical role in promoting America’s continued excellence in marksmanship and firearms safety by providing firearms education, training, and competitions nationwide

Meet the New Far Left; Same as the Establishment Left on Guns

News  

Monday, August 17, 2026

Meet the New Far Left; Same as the Establishment Left on Guns

Primary election season is winding down, and the final slates of candidates in most states have emerged ahead of the 2026 fall elections. Second Amendment issues may or may not have been front in center ...

California: Anti-Second Amendment Bills Advance from Appropriations Committees

Friday, August 14, 2026

California: Anti-Second Amendment Bills Advance from Appropriations Committees

Yesterday, August 13th, both the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees advanced several anti-Second Amendment measures.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.