A message to sportsmen, pet owners and farmers

A SAOVA message to sportsmen, pet owners and farmers concerned about protecting their traditions, avocations and livelihoods from anti-hunting, anti-breeding, animal guardianship advocates. Forwarding and cross posting, with attribution, encouraged.

The Most Critical Election in your Lifetime
10/21/08

Dear Friends,

Early voting has already begun and November 4th is fast approaching. The outcome of this election will have far reaching and long lasting impacts on animal agriculture, hunting, and animal ownership. Amid all the political rhetoric and campaign ads, important serious warning alarms are sounded. The combination of a Democrat supermajority in Congress and a liberal Democratic president will structurally imbalance our government to historic proportions. Constitutional checks and balances will be voided, making this the most critical election in your lifetime. Every aspect of American life could change. The Wall Street Journal editorial below observes: “If the current polls hold, Barack Obama will win the White House on November 4 and Democrats will consolidate their Congressional majorities, probably with a filibuster-proof Senate or very close to it. Without the ability to filibuster, the Senate would become like the House, able to pass whatever the majority wants.”

In the area of animal issues, nearly 40 bills introduced on behalf of the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) weren't passed by the 110th Congress. Strong Democratic wins could be a guarantee that many of these bills are likely to become law in the next Congress. In 2006 a GOP Senator blocked the horse slaughter bill from being heard and voted on the Senate floor. More recently HR 6598, the horribly misguided and misleadingly named Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, received a favorable vote split along party lines. HR6598 would turn horse owners and ranchers into felons for having a connection to a horse transported for slaughter. HR 6598 is likely to return in 2009. http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID= 261648

The Pet Animal Welfare Statute 2005 (PAWS) was thwarted by a GOP and moderate controlled Senate Agriculture Committee in 2006 and was re-introduced inSeptember by HSUS supporters as the Puppy Uniform Protection Statute (PUPS). After 8 years of failed attempts to regulate retail dog breeders, will the 2008 election finally bring victory for HSUS in its goal to federally regulate home hobby dog breeding?

RESHAPING THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
The next president will have extraordinary impact on the ideological shape of the nation’s federal courts for decades to come. It is likely the next president will appoint Supreme Court judges as six of the nine are turning 70. In addition, hundreds of federal and appellate judges will be appointed. Appellate appointments shape lasting constitutional interpretations and they cover multiple states. Although these require Congressional approval, that will be a slam-dunk if this election creates a Democratic supermajority. One out of three federal judges now owes a lifetime-tenured job to the current president. The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that judges should interpret the law as it is written. Seventy-four percent (74%) of men favor that approach along with 65% of women. Sen. McCain supports that view and he has consistently campaigned on a “strict constructionist philosophy” for the courts.

Sen. Obama, on the other hand, believes that judges should be required to possess “empathy” and should “reach decisions on the basis of his deepest values, core concerns, and broader perspectives on how the world works.” During the Roberts nomination debate, Sen. Obama stated, “Legal process alone will not lead you to a rule of decision. In those difficult cases, the critical ingredient is supplied by what is in the judge’s heart.” Considering the skyrocketing number of lawsuits filed by HSUS and other animal rightist groups to ban hunting, change livestock regulations, and alter husbandry standards, the stakes are very high for the animal owning public. The best interests of animal owners, hunters, and ranchers would not be served by liberal appointees who choose to rule based on imaginative and empathic interpretations of property rights and the constitution. The world not only belongs to those who show up, it's controlled by the best informed and most motivated.

Vote on November 4th.
It's the most critical election in your lifetime.

Please cross post this message widely.
Susan Wolf
Director, Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance (SAOVA)
The Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance (SAOVA) is a nationwide, nonpartisan group of volunteers lobbying legislation and seeking to elect politicians who will oppose the animal rightist threat to our rights as Americans. Our members hunt, fish and own livestock, dogs, cats and other pets.
For more information about SAOVA visit http://saova. org/