For those conservatives who hoped that the Court would do the heavy lifting on finishing off Obamacare, that did not happen.

Chief Justice John Roberts for the majority, saved the mandate by calling it a tax. The good news for precedent is the court said no to expanding the commerce clause or the necessary and proper clause.

You may recall President Obama when selling this plan, vehemently denied the mandate was a tax.

The only way to flush Obamacare is to defeat him in November with strong GOP majorities in both houses of Congress and then we should craft a medical reform plan that reflects our conservative vision and helps solve the problem.

We have written at TCR before about how the reserve currency status of the dollar is a major economic benefit to the U.S. economy. TCR also warned about its erosion.

This past week unnoticed by all but the China Daily, was an announcement of a $30 billion swap of currency between China and Brazil as the "first step toward a broader agreement with Russia, India and South Africa to allow members of the so-called BRICS group... to pool resources as a bulwark against financial crises outside their borders."

This is the latest example of the coming assault on the dollar, all of which will hurt our economy and you. The Obama administration's reaction is nothing. No surprise, no leadership.

Last Friday's U.S. Senate debate changed nothing in the race. Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst made no errors of note and he calmly made his case based on his record of conservative accomplishment. Ted Cruz did nothing really different again, demonstrating that he is hyperactive, articulate and a rapid-fire speaker. Cruz seemed to be trying hard to show the voters he is a proven conservative based on his legal record of representing at times, conservative causes and clients.

TCR remains troubled in that Cruz never differentiated between representing clients and "their" issues and actually advancing the conservative cause via legislation or as an executive, which Cruz has not yet done.

As for the debate format and panel, if the goal was "to help insomniacs sleep," they were great, for the rest of us some follow-up questions could have helped and why was nothing done to keep the candidates focused on answering the questions, as opposed to ignoring them and saying what they wanted.

This Wednesday as we pause to celebrate the 236th birthday of the greatest nation on earth, let's resolve to protect and stop any further eroding of our freedoms with a laser-like focus between now and November and sharing that resolve with our family and friends, because we must.

Red, White & Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland and liberal commentator David Jones, Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and replaying Sundays at 5:00 p.m. on PBS Houston Channel 8 and on the web at www.houstonpbs.org.