[Blog Tour] The Founder's Plot by Frank M. Victoria: Guest Post & Giveaway

Posted by Nina L. on 9:00 PM in blog tour, Book Nerd Tours, Frank M. Victoria, Giveaway, guest post,

Author: Frank M. Victoria

Release date: August 1st 2012

Publisher: Self-Published

Series: N/A

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Contemporary / Government Issues

Tour organized by: Book Nerd Tours

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Add to your library: Goodreads

Clarion Reviews – Five Stars: … an
intriguing and rich novel. The char-
acters, dialogue, and plot will
entertain readers…to the end.

Kirkus Reviews: … for a fictional
account of a contemporary political
dispute, this is a competent if not
inspiring option.


When California Governor Michael J. DiGrasso pushes through a tough immigration law, the Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional, but the decorated Vietnam veteran refuses to accept the ruling. This ignites a clash between federal, state, and judicial power that threatens to jar the country’s political and justice systems. And it leaves the governor’s long-time friend, President of the United States, Martin W. Ballard, with the decision of whether to federalize the California National Guard to enforce the Court’s order.

Tension increases when Elizabeth Stern, a savvy member of the opposition party tries to ram through a new immigration law that will pass judicial review. An expert in back-room legislative machinations, she’ll go to any length to force the governor to obey the Court decision, and her devious maneuvers throw DiGrasso’s personal and professional life into turmoil.

One subplot involves DiGrasso’s close personal friend, Congressman Manuel Mendoza, who is indicted for taking bribes. Another concerns two Mexican families in the country illegally and the tragedies that befall them because of the new immigration law.

The unfolding of these interwoven events creates a tense, fast-paced thriller that parallels the current tumult over illegal immigration and the on-going debate on Constitutional interpretation that will leave readers craving for the eventual outcome.(via Goodreads)

Guest Post

Which of the three do you think has the most power? Federal, state or judicial?

The federal government is by far the most powerful. And that is exactly the opposite of what the Founding Fathers desired. A strong central government was their greatest concern. I’m what they call a “Tenther,” meaning that I want more attention paid to Tenth Amendment, which states that: “ The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

Our colonists suffered through years of totalitarian rule by King George and wanted to ensure that any government they formed could not duplicate what Jefferson said were “repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states.” He then goes on to list nearly thirty despotic acts of the king.

The Founders detested the idea of a bloated and powerful central government that is not responsive to the people. That’s why our country’s first governing document, the Articles of Confederation, created an intentionally feeble central government.

And they were right in their anxiety. The government is now involved in almost every aspect of your life. It tells you what kind of light bulbs you’re allowed to use and dictates how much water you can have in your bathroom water closet. They tell private business owners how much to pay their employers. They’ve interfered in education, which should be in the control of the states and local governments, not bureaucrats in D.C.

And lately, we’ve seen what damage an unchecked federal government leads to. We have the IRS cracking down on fund raising groups because of their political views, the NSA gathering mega-data on private citizens gun-running into Mexico.

But the greatest folly is the Obama health care law. Forget all the computer glitches. It’s the philosophy behind the law that matters. The government is forcing citizens to buy insurance even if they don’t want it. Where in the Constitution does it allow the federal government to do that? Each state should develop its own health care system. Then, as the Founders would have liked, we have fifty different “laboratories” coming up with different solutions. If an idea proves successful, others can use it. If it’s a failure, others will avoid it. It should not be a one-size-fits-all approach.

To sum it up, I think that if the Founders were alive today, they’d start another revolution.

                About the Author

Frank Victoria was born and raised in Chicago, a city rich in industry and ambitions and many of his ideas were molded by its brand of politics and immigrant culture. He served in the Marine Corps, which left an imprint of just how much he could do and helped create the persistence needed to earn his BA in Journalism from Northern Illinois University.
It took him nearly eight years to get the degree because he repeatedly had to interrupt his studies with full-time work to pay for his expenses. He toiled on the docks loading and unloading freight, moved furniture, worked construction, was a cabbie, a shoe salesman and a factory worker. The payoff: Time in the ivory tower setting balanced by a nitty gritty education in the real world. 

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