One from the left and one from the right

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melinda-henn...-l_b_43859.html
Prominent Conservatives Launch Effort To Restore "Civil Liberties Under Assault By Executive Branch"

Four prominent conservative thinkers are set to launch a campaign to "to restore checks and balances and civil liberties protections under assault by the Executive Branch," arguing that true conservatives value civil liberties.

Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, who led the effort to impeach President Clinton, is one of the organizers of the effort, called the American Freedom Agenda, along with David Keene of the American Conservative Union, writer and conservative direct mail pioneer Richard Viguerie, and constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who served in the Reagan administration as associate deputy attorney general.

At a 1 p.m. news conference at the National Press Club, they will pitch a legislative package "to restore congressional oversight and habeas corpus, end torture and extraordinary rendition, narrow the president's authority to designate 'enemy combatants,' prevent unconstitutional wiretaps, email and mail openings, protect journalists from prosecution under the Espionage Act, and more."


http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19873
The Father of Bottom-Up Government
by Lynn Woolley

Californians vote in referendum to recall Gov. Gray Davis. An outcry of opposition prevents Harriet Miers from becoming a Supreme Court justice. The people veto a Dubai ports deal. Texans say “no†to Gov. Rick Perry’s mandate for young girls to be vaccinated against cervical cancer. Opposition mounts to the Trans-Texas Corridor. Hazleton, Pennsylvania and Farmers Branch, Texas pass laws to make it difficult for illegal aliens to settle in those towns.
On my radio show, these are examples of what we call “Bottom-Up Government.â€

Simply put, Bottom-Up Government is what happens when the people believe that government at the highest levels is not functioning in an acceptable manner, and so the people get involved, pooling their resources to change what they don’t like.

To those who have been content to allow government to take care of their needs, this may seem like a new phenomenon. It’s not. Bottom-Up Government has a grand tradition that goes all the way back to colonial times. In fact, it could be said that Bottom-Up Government was the force that created the United States of America.