On the recordAugust 5, 2010
The American people are worried about the direction of our country, and I absolutely share their concern. The public has witnessed Washington's growing disregard for the Constitution and its limits on government power. Too many of those powers see no limits to their authority, and that, to me, is frightening. The size of government has exploded, spending is out of control, the national debt is soaring, and Congress has passed thousands of pages of legislation with little concern for the effects on the rights of everyday Americans and with no thought at all to the debt we saddle our children and our grandchildren with. The Founding Fathers knew the dangers of expanding government power. The Founders knew what Barry Goldwater knew when he said: ``A government strong enough to give you what you want is strong enough to take it away.'' They established the judiciary branch in order to protect against an overly aggressive government. They envisioned it as a neutral arbiter of disputes based on the written law and as a check on government power grabs beyond the intended authority. This is why the judiciary is so important and why the lifetime appointment of a Justice to the Supreme Court is one of the most serious actions any of us will consider. We must have judges who are committed to the job of holding us to the words of the Constitution and laws that are written.…





