Sharing Thoughts and Ideas - 2019 and newer

In my March 1 post below, I itemized individual challenges Trump had posed to the U.S. Constitution. As valid as it is to oppose each and every one of these challenges individually, we MUST NOT miss the forest for the trees. Taken together, they constitute a broadside challenge to our very democracy by pushing against the constraints established in the Constitution. This is the same playbook Putin in Russia and Viktor Orban in Hungary have used to establish autocratic dictatorships. We MUST oppose this! Do We Have a Constitutional Crisis? Yes! By Rick Olson March 1, 2025 Our founding fathers who drafted the U.S. Constitution did not wish our country to have too powerful an executive, having just fought the Revolutionary War to free themselves from a King. The Constitution is based on the concepts of separation of powers among three co-equal branches and “checks and balance of power” between those three branches (as well as the 10 th Amendments reservation of powers to the states ...

  Below are the Principles listed by the Principles First organization at https://www.principlesfirst.us/principles/   Isn’t it amazing that these would be deemed controversial or simply “flexible guidelines”. For more explanation of each, go to the site in the link. 1 Integrity, character, & virtue matter. 2 Every person has dignity, quality, and worth. 3 Truth, honesty, rationality, & facts are non-negotiable. 4 The Constitution and the rule of law are paramount. 5 Our government is a limited one with enumerated powers. 6 Congress writes laws, the executive executes laws, and the courts interpret laws. 7 Government closest to the people is most accountable. 8 People reach their full potential when they are free. 9 Free and functioning markets deliver prosperity. 10 Equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes. 11 Government must responsibly steward resources for the next generation. 12 Civic associations, faith communities, and families ...

  Statement on Impeachment Vote in the U.S. House of Representatives 12/15/2019 In this post, I showed my commitment to the Rule of Law and the U.S. Constitution and not loyalty to the party I was then a member of. A MN Republican State Representative commented that "I did not have very good political instincts" when I neither lied or dodged the question posed by the reporter. But, that is not how I roll! Republished March 1, 2025 Prepared and paid by Olson Senate Committee, P.O. Box 15, Prior Lake, MN 55372 Statement on Impeachment Vote in the U.S. House of Representatives Rick Olson Sunday, December 15, 2019 – For immediate Release This morning a Star Tribune reporter informed me that Angie Craig had decided to vote “yes” next week on the motion in the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach President Trump, and asked me if I were in her shoes, how would I vote. When I took office as a State Representative in Michigan in 2011, I swore an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitutio...