Letters: Constitution clear on impeachment; Real effects of climate change initiatives

Constitution clear on impeachment

The United States Constitution is the supreme law in our country. It guarantees the protection of our fundamental rights, and the government can make no laws that contradict it.

Impeachment with a trial and conviction by the Senate is the constitutional process to remove a president, vice president or other civil officer from office. Period. Not only is the language clear, the logic is clear. Since the purpose is limited to the removal of the person from office, impeachment only applies to a person in office. It does not apply to a future president nor a past president. It only applies to the current president. Once a president’s term ends, he or she immediately becomes a private citizen, and the Constitution expressly forbids Congress from holding judicial proceedings against a private citizen.

Politicians, professors and pundits may try to convince you otherwise, but read the text on impeachment yourself. The Constitution is concise, timeless and written for the average citizen to understand. You’ll understand these people are uninformed or deliberately lying to you.

The Constitution limits the power of the president, and it limits the power of the Congress. No one is above the law, and the Constitution cannot be ignored. The impeachment trial of former President Trump is unconstitutional, and the Senators proceeding with the trial are violating their oath of office. These Senators are the ones we need to remove from office!

Real effects of climate change initiatives

Shut down of the Keystone XL pipeline, a drilling ban on federal land and joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative are all actions taken by our elected leaders to combat “catastrophic” climate change. The very real effects of these initiatives will be lost jobs, higher prices at the pump and increases on our electric bill. Over the last four years we have experienced stable and reliably low energy costs due to innovative technology in petroleum extraction. We have made notable progress in reducing pollution and CO2 emissions thanks to the development of unprecedented reserves of clean burning natural gas. Marginal increases in costs will have little effect on those advocating solar and wind power. Tom Wolf will still be able to to afford his light bill. Joe Biden gets free public transportation. In flyover America however, energy cost increases will be inconvenient or even devastating. Carbon-free energy clearly has an important and increasing presence, it is curious, though, that its most ardent proponents always seem to discount nuclear power as an alternative. Perhaps when we see the Biden and Obama beach houses on Zillow we will take the situation more seriously.

Appreciating Toomey’s courage

Representatives of the Centre County Republican Party “don’t think (Sen. Toomey’s) speaking on behalf of his constituents right now.” Toomey has announced that he will not run when his current term expires, hence he is untethered from the need to kowtow to voters who believe the “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. He is free to speak the truth and act on his conscience. He is free to represent all Pennsylvanians as he should. I did not vote for Senator Toomey but I appreciate the courage he has demonstrated by standing up for the rule of law and the democratic process.

Political party flaws

I am now a man without political leadership. Believing in small government and state/local/individual rights should put me in line with the Republican Party. The problem is, the conservative party and liberal party both value job security ahead of the USA. Each is willing and able to lie, in order to maintain their base. The followers of both parties are desperate for something to believe in and will tolerate lies for their own feeling of security. If we don’t come up with some way to get to the truth and value facts, the USA is going to explode. I want my Republican Party back and I want character to matter.

What’s in a name?

According to news reports, former President Donald Trump is now considering forming a new political party: The Patriot Party. How appropriate ... because as we all saw on Jan. 6, Donald Trump definitely put the riot in patriot.