Our Republic – How Do We Get It Back?

We keep saying we are a Republic because that is what our founding fathers called it. It sounds noble but then you look around the world and you see the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of South Korea, the Peoples Republic of North Korea; I could go on but you see my point: Everybody calls themselves a “Republic”! So what is a “Republic”?

According to Merriam-Webster, a Republic is: (1) : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government. Sounds like all those mentioned above qualify but their form of government doesn’t resemble ours very much; in fact, many nations calling themselves a “Republic” are communist and/or having an “elected” dictator for life!

We need to know what our Republic is, or, what it is supposed to be. According to Thomas Jefferson, we are: “The way to have safe government is not to trust it all to the one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to everyone exactly the functions in which he is competent….To let the National Government be entrusted with the defense of the nation, and it’s foreign and federal relations….. The State Governments with the Civil Rights, Laws, Police and administration of what concerns the State generally. The Counties with the local concerns, and each ward direct the interests within itself. It is by dividing and subdividing these Republics from the great national one down through all it’s subordinations until it ends in the administration of everyman’s farm by himself, by placing under everyone what his own eye may superintend, that all will be done for the best.”

Is that what we are? All the political divisions are still in place as mentioned above but they don’t seem to function as they’re designed to – What happened? A friend contends we have lost our Republic to the ‘regressives’ – Is he right? I believe so; we have an administration who thinks they are the elected dictator and a Congress who supports that idea! No longer are the People in charge, no longer are their voices heard, and no longer do the elected officials fear the People! As Thomas Jefferson said: "When governments fear the People, there is Liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” Do you fear your government? I do!

How did this happen? How did we, the People, lose control of our elected officials? I believe two (2) words can sum it up: Apathy and Ignorance! And these two (2) things didn’t just happen – It was planned!

Paranoia? It would easy to dismiss it that way but I ask you to consider the evidence before condemning the messenger. The messenger says, “I have good news and I have bad news … ”  The bad news first! Both political parties have contributed to the loss of our Republic – There is no pride in being a Democrat or Republican if you love Liberty and Freedom!

Oh, it started out with the noblest of causes: Ending slavery. But they violated our Constitution to do it: The radical Republican Congress passed unconstitutional export taxes on southern cotton in the hopes of pricing the slave holders out of the world market – They violated the Commerce Clause! The Democrats were no better: They seceded from the Union and entered into the bloodiest war on this nation’s soil! Hundreds of thousands of Americans died in that conflict; the North raped the South of it’s wealth under the guise of “reconstruction” and did not allow the southern states elected representation until Congress decided when each southern state had been “reconstructed” enough – The last of which was the Seat of the Confederacy, Virginia, in 1875 – Ten years after the war ended! But the slaves were freed; the only good thing that came from the conflict! “The ends justify the means”? I don’t think so but the Republicans have never apologized for it but it was the first “nail in the coffin” of our Republic because of it usurpation of Tenth Amendment: States Rights.

Not satisfied with that, the federal government “partnered up” with Private Enterprise with one of the largest land giveaways in any nation’s history! To build the Transcontinental Railway from coast to coast and the government hasn’t looked back: They’ve been meddling in and controlling business since then! The Republicans started this debacle but the Democrats have been just as complicit and now even more so! Now, the government controls two (2) of the Big Three auto manufacturers, the banking industry, and just shoved Obamacare down our throats to control if we live or die!

I want to keep this reasonably short so I won’t go into all the bad presidents this nation has suffered through but I will mention the worst ones by name: Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson – Another time, maybe, I can write about each of them.

Now for the Good News! Everybody wants to give the credit for the resurgence of the Constitution to the Tea Party movement and I am proud to be part of that; the Tea Party movement has become the voice of the Constitutional movement but the real start was in 1971, with the Libertarian  Party; they are the largest Third Party in the nation and advocate strict adherence to the Constitution.

In June, 2008, Ron Paul started the Campaign for Liberty (C4L) and began trying to turn the GOP into a Constitutional party; they were trying to do this through the election and appointments of PCO’s; they are being somewhat successful in several states but not enough to change them from the “Good Ol’ Boy” system. Limited success but most of what were termed “Tea Party candidates” ran as Republicans – I think that is indicative of the fact there are more fiscal conservatives in the GOP. And we cannot forget the 9-12 Groups, started by Glenn Beck. Sixty-five (65) new congressmen/women are the results of the hard work and dedication of the Liberty groups – I hesitate to say Tea Party here because the other Liberty groups worked with the Tea Party to get these people elected.

But the job is far from over and to keep the Good News rolling, we cannot sit back on our laurels, like we did after the 1994 election, and expect them to do what’s right and what they promised! The Good News is we have notified them all they are a short leash to do as they promised to do and we are doing as Ronald Reagan advised: “Trust but verify!”

It takes involvement, folks; it ain’t gonna happen unless all of you don’t help! Find the Tea Party in your neighborhood and ask them how you can help the cause of Liberty – I am certain they can find something you can do that will be as much fun as it will be effective!

American Prosperity

The “class war” being promoted by the ‘progressives’ is being very effective among, what is supposed to be, the conservatives and should cause us all to pause, breathe slowly, and then evaluate statements like the following, which I copied off “America Speaking Out!”:

• ·    Eliminate tax benefits for US companies that use outsourcing.
  ·      Increase taxes for US companies that choose to outsource.
  ·     Provide tax breaks for US companies that hire US workers in industries that typically outsource.
  
  
  ·     Strictly punish industries and companies that are caught employing illegal immigrants.
  
  
  ·      Immigration problems could be significantly reduced if employers found it extremely difficult to hire illegal immigrants and the risk of doing so was severe.

What is most disturbing about this is not that it was suggested on a supposedly conservative site but that the majority of people visiting the site are voting for it! Since when do conservatives punish small businesses for trying to survive? Why would anybody wish further harm to the economy? That is exactly what will happen if the Congress were to enact these bullet-points as “law”!

We have allowed the ‘progressives’ and environmentalists to totally deindustrialize America; our jobs went overseas because of a 35% corporate tax rate, environmental regulations that choked  companies to death with over-reaching regulation, and immigration law that hasn’t been rewritten since 1954!

Don’t blame the job creators; blame the job killers! We must first secure our southern border and, at the same time, take the time to rewrite the immigration law with a Guest Worker Program! That will stabilize our work force.

Next, we must change the tax laws and the only sane way to do that is with the FairTax Bill! The day after that bill is signed into law, we need to have a very large bonfire in front of the Capitol Rotunda! What will we burn? How about the entire U.S. Tax Code? Over 65,000 pages of the most regressive tax policy ever visited on the People and companies of the United States!

Can you imagine the power this one act would relinquish to the People and the States? No longer will you be singled out for a tax increase just because you are successful! No longer will you have to fear a phone call or letter from the IRS, informing you they are going to audit your honesty!

No longer will you have to worry about finding a job in the field you are educated in or have selected as your career! Why? Because the FairTax eliminates the 35% Corporate Income Tax – It becomes a 0% Tax – Can you imagine how many companies will want to be in business in the United States? Canada is saying they are going to reduce their Corporate Tax to 15% to attract new industry – I think 0% will attract more!

No longer would you have to distinguish between “Gross” and “Net” because their would be no Federal Deductions on you paycheck! No Federal Withholding, no FICA, no Medicare/Medicaid, no more Social Security withheld from you or your employer! FairTax covers it all!

You will no longer have to worry whether or not you’ll be able to keep the family farm/ranch with the 55% Estate Tax because under the FairTax, there is no Death Tax!

Two logical questions arise with the FairTax:

·      Why would Congress pass a law that would relinquish their power to freely tax the People anytime they wanted to?

They wouldn’t! We will have to educate the People and force the Congress to act on it! That’s looking better this session that in past sessions: Already this session, 55 Representatives have signed-on as co-sponsors and the session has just begun!

·      Wouldn’t the FairTax passage just mean that now we have the Consumption Tax and the Income Tax?

Actually, no! The FairTax Bill has companion legislation to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment and “sunsets” in seven (7) years; which means, if 3/4^th of the state legislatures doesn’t ratify the Repeal Amendment, the FairTax ends and the Income Tax is imposed again!

And can you imagine what the Governors will do if the federal government tries to impose an unfunded mandate on the states? My state’s governor loves big federal and state government but even she would have to option of saying: “Fine, you, Washington, D.C., want to impose this mandate (content of mandate unimportant), we just will not send the FairTax monies for this month and if you still have that unfunded mandate imposed on my state, we will withhold the FairTax monies again! We will continue to withhold the FairTax monies until you rescind the mandate!”

It makes me all warm and fuzzy when I think of a time, once again, where the states have their power back from the Nanny State!

Learn more at: http://www.fairtaxnation.com/ 

                   or: http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer

There will be a FairTax “Take Action” Meeting on Friday, January 14, 2011, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, at the Kennewick Library, 1620 South Union St. Make it a point to attend and meet Jamie Wheeler, on the Nat’l FairTax Board and the Washington State FairTax Coordinator,. Jamie is the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable person I know on FairTax and will answer your questions. Show up and help plan the action needed next. You can also call Jamie at: 509-586-7124, to get more information about FairTax.

Go-o-o-o-o FairTax! An idea whose time has come!

The New Republican Revolution?

Well, we have a new Speaker of the House: John Boehner. “Princess” Nancy was dismissed by 19 of her Democrat Congressmen for the job as Minority Leader.

But let’s see what the GOP is doing: First, they announce they are going to read the Constitution before any business is conducted ~ This, I am certain, was to appease the Tea Party movement; I know I was duly impressed by this act because it has never been done before! It turned out to be an ‘act’ because they left out critical parts thinking they needed to be politically correct and destroyed the effect.

Why not read that slaves were only counted as 3/5ths of a man? Because it sounds racist? The southern slave states wanted to count slaves as a full person, while the northern states didn’t want to count them at all ~ Why? It makes the northern states appear racist but had they allowed the slaves to be counted as a full person, there would be no way to end slavery because the southern states would have had more votes and carried more weight in the House! In reality, it was “Step-One” to finally eliminate slavery but to not read it is to hide our mistakes.

They didn’t read the 18^th Amendment but did read the 21^st Amendment ~ Why? This was an attempt to legislate morality and it failed because you cannot legislate morality! Morality is a learned trait and you learn morality from your parents, your church, and you leaders! Do  not pretend mistakes weren’t made; it cheapens what the nation has become!

It appears the GOP is going to vote to repeal the egregious “Health Care Reform” (Obamacare); a promise made to the People. Even if they get the repeal passed in the Senate, Obama will undoubtedly veto the repeal and the GOP doesn’t have the 2/3 majority to override a veto and the GOP can start defunding aspects of this socialist program! The Republicans know they are on “probation” by the Tea Party movement so they’re trying to do enough to keep us happy but the “leadership” needs to listen to their Freshmen Congressmen because they’re carrying the Peoples’ message!

From Friday's (1/7/11) Spokesman-Review:

"I promised a more open process. I didn't promise that every single bill was going to be an open bill."
     House Speaker John Boehner.

I guess we will have to watch and see what he means by this statement but it had better not be that the GOP’s going to start making “back-room deals” and keeping their agenda secret from everyone; that isn’t what we sent them to D.C. for!

If there are Democrats willing to work with conservatives, then the GOP should work with them but if all they want to do is cause problems for the Peoples’ agenda, the GOP should ignore them and shove our agenda down the Democrats’ throats ~ Just like they did to the People with Obamacare, the “stimulus” bill, the bail-outs, and corporate take-overs!

Mr. Boehner and his GOP majority had better realize that to do the Peoples’ agenda, the conservatives are at war with the ‘progressives’! There can be no compromise on the Tea Party Principles because anything the ‘progressives can retain of their Marxist programs, they will count as a victory! They’ve been taking us down this road ever since Teddy Roosevelt, a little bit at a time so we wouldn’t see it and panic ~ No COMPROMISE!!! None! Nada!!! Nyet!!

If it cannot be repealed, it must be defunded! Obama cannot veto zero! Make him veto anything he wants to ~ If it is part of the Peoples’ agenda and he vetoes it, we will gain more conservatives in 2012, and he will be a one-term President!