Who Will Lead the Country Back to the Basics?
Vice President Biden says, “Washington right now is broken.” That’s a good thing if it gives “we the people” an opportunity to fix it, something neither major party wants to do. Why should they? With few exceptions, both parties want the same things: power and more of it. The words “of the political class, by the political class, and for the political class” pretty much exclude the rest of us. Only twenty-one percent of voters nationwide say that the government has the consent of the governed; sixty-three percent of the political class think there is consent.
Both major parties have leaders but they do more shoving than leading, often without knowing a useful direction in which to shove. Senator Evan Bayh says partisanship is out of control. Representative Barney Frank says the same thing, and he should know. There are reasons for the divisiveness, and many of them stem from and produce impotence and its colleague, frustration. So much was promised in 2008, yet there have been bad consequences for many and significant benefits for very few. Lots of the people to whom the wonders of Obama Land were promised have decided that they don’t want them, can’t afford them, or in any event won’t get them. This makes those who promised them look incompetent, and that leads to frustration. Perhaps we should offer President Obama a hearty round of applause for masterminding the creation of these opportunities. It may be the only good thing he has done for the country.
The opportunities are there, just waiting to be seized. The Democrats are fading fast and are rightly concerned that they will do poorly in the 2010 congressional elections without — or perhaps worse with — President Obama’s help. Nor is he faring well, with fifty-two percent not wanting him to get another term in office. These problems are unlikely to be solved soon. The AP reports:
Obama’s expansive domestic goals are largely the same, but his message is changing, now constructed around a concession that the public is disillusioned and wanting results. If he cannot show people that he understands their frustration and is working to fix it, the risks are real.
All that angst that Obama wants to harness as a force for change — as he did in his campaign — will turn against him. That means eroding public support for his agenda and potentially big losses for his party this year in congressional midterm elections.
The Democrats are in a defensive mode and don’t know whether to lean to the left (with President Obama), to the right (against President Obama), to do both, or to do neither. The task is made more difficult since it is tricky to predict which way he will appear to lean and the changes in direction are rapid and erratic. Spend us into oblivion and then promise to balance the budget; damn nuclear power to please the greens and then mendaciously pretend to finance a banquet of green pork to seem to throw everybody a bone; the list could go on and on. While trying to decide what to do, the Democrats are racing for the exits.
Even though the mainstream Republicans think they will do OK in the elections this year, and most likely will, they haven’t figured out which way to appear to lean either. Should they be content to stick with a safe but ho-hum posture exemplified by former presidential contender Senator McCain, or flit off into uncharted territory with less moderate conservatives?
So long as both major parties are focused principally on their short-term tactical goals of winning the 2010 congressional elections, as distinguished from the long-term strategic goal of achieving what’s best for the future of the United States, neither is likely to focus on what needs to be done. They must be reminded of their obligations and that failure to meet them has consequences — for them as well as for the rest of us. As noted here, it is necessary to “send a clear message to senators across the country that they do not own the offices they hold. They might then learn that they will be called to account and replaced if they are not responsive to the party base.”
The entitlement mentality is contrary to what most conservatives hold dear and there is an increasing perception that incumbents are not ipso facto entitled to reelection. Neither is a political party; the Ted Kennedy seat is gone. From Rasmussen Reports:
Most voters think the country would be better off if the majority of the current Congress wasn’t reelected this November, and their confidence in their own congressman continues to fall.
The tea party movement is remarkably diverse but united on only a few extraordinarily important goals: respect for the United States Constitution, America’s safety, and freedom to the extent possible from governmental meddling. These basic goals are the principal distinguishing factors. In other respects, as noted by Lloyd Marcus:
the feelings, thoughts, and opinions of tea party patriots are all over the place. What a mess! Well, I say, how wonderful! I mean, think about it. Millions of Americans who have been passively watching our country slipping away for years are suddenly passionately seeking to restore it. So frankly, I do not care if the movement is a bit wild and free. Scott Brown’s shocking, historic win in Massachusetts confirms that we are making a huge difference.
If subsumed by the mainstream Republican Party or if it loses sight of the basics, the tea party movement will probably be a flash in the pan. Otherwise, it augurs an incipient groundswell. Ditto Governor Palin; Senator Brown, and Marco Rubio, a candidate for the Florida senatorial nomination. They unite on only the few critical goals and do not speak with a monolithic voice, nor should they; their supporters certainly do not. At best, trying to do so leads to mediocrity. We have seen that in both of the major political parties, and we have seen the consequences for the United States. Fortunately, nobody leads the tea party movement now.
There is a movement to encourage consensus by getting widespread conservative agreement on the Mount Vernon Statement. Here are the guts of it:
A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to America’s safety and leadership role in the world.
Even though I am not sure about the “leadership role in the world” bit except as it relates to America’s safety, I like it for most of the reasons Rick Moran doesn’t. There is another movement which has drafted a contract from America which proposes twenty separate proposals to be voted on and posted on April 15; they all appear to be subsumed within the three basic points of the Mount Vernon Statement. If either movement is to succeed, the focus has to be on the major issues as to which there is substantial unity: respect for the Constitution, America’s safety, and minimal governmental meddling. The focus cannot be allowed to slide to more contentious issues such as abortion, gay marriage, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the like. There are many who support respect for the Constitution, America’s safety, and minimal governmental meddling but who also favor abortion rights; there are some agnostics and I am one of them. There are also homosexual conservatives; if they support the basic goals, they should not be excluded. We need their support. Once there is a responsible and responsive government, these issues can be debated. The best place to do it would be at the state level; the states are diverse and their residents — not the federal government — should govern them.
Senator McCain says he also hopes to have a ten-point Republican manifesto this spring; time and the country have passed him by and it’s probably too late for that. He should find an enjoyable pasture to which he can retire. Rinoville should be a pleasant place; Obamaville looks like another promising choice.
Lieutenant Colonel Allen West, a candidate in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, or someone like him may be what we eventually need. He generally has been flying under the radar but that may change. This rather bombastic video has already had over two million viewers. According to James Lewis, West “is an adult who can make a moral decision under immense pressure. Far too many of our politicians just slip around real moral decisions; those are the people we don’t need as leaders.”
Here is a twenty minute lecture by Colonel West about terrorism and Afghanistan. Others may have said some of the same things, but none whom I can recall have said them as well; I certainly have not heard comparable good sense coming from the White House, President Obama’s security advisors, or the leaders of either major party. They are effectively muzzled by the need to be all things to all people while offending none. As a consequence of this process, the basic principles have been buried out of sight and out of mind under a vast mountain of junk.
This time, perhaps we can get it right; we had better. If a basic conservative is to become a viable presidential candidate for 2012, it’s already high time to think about it. One will emerge soon enough; too soon and he will be a lightning rod.
If the focus is on 2012, as I think it should be, it is not necessary for the Republicans to win control of the legislature this year, and it may not happen in any event. True, it is generally better and more satisfying to win than to lose. However, sometimes it is necessary to focus on the war rather on the immediate battle and thereby to sacrifice one objective in favor of other, more important basic objectives. Heresy of heresy, perhaps it might even be better if the Republicans didn’t win a majority in 2010 and sat proudly in an increased number of cheap seats for a little while longer. A “Hail Mary” pass perhaps, but if they do win a significant majority in 2010 it might well pave the way for another conciliatory middle of the road candidate in 2012; then, next verse, same as the first. Not a good thing.
Even if the Republicans do win majorities in both houses of Congress, they are very unlikely to win veto-proof majorities. President Obama can quite effectively disparage, and compensate for, congressional “obstructionism” by issuing executive orders regardless of whether the Republicans gain a simple majority or remain in the minority. The more ill-advised executive orders he issues, and the more harmful regulatory actions “his” regulatory agencies take — and we ain’t seen nothin’ yet — the more good red meat the conservatives will have in 2012 when it really matters.
Sometimes chemotherapy cures cancer and sometimes it doesn’t. It is unpleasant and often is a last resort; that seems to be where we presently are. With a strong conservative minority in the Congress and looking toward 2012, the Republicans — allied with the amorphous “tea baggers” but neither absorbing the other into oblivion — can help to point the country in a positive direction. If sufficient others sniff the wind and go along with them, President Obama may come to be seen as the overreaching “president of no!” There is nothing particularly dynamic about just say no; should that happen, President Obama’s chances of winning reelection will be further diminished and the chances of a real honest to goodness basic conservative becoming the president in 2013 will be enhanced.
I hope that the Republican Party does not get bogged down in following a “safe and moderate path.” If it does, the tea party movement must follow it neither into oblivion nor into ruinous infighting. The conservatives shouldn’t take positions calculated to alienate other conservatives who share their basic principles but don’t agree on some of the ancillary issues. The overriding basic and common issues are respect for the Constitution, America’s safety, and minimal governmental meddling. Those should be the focus and they should be sufficient.
President Obama won the 2008 election on a platform of hope and change. He has brilliantly albeit inadvertently demonstrated that the need for both is far greater now than it was in 2008. If the incubus of leftist control is to be felled and the country is to revive, substantial change is needed. We need to do more than hope for it, and are unlikely to get it if the focus this year is on short-term goals.
Our number one challenge may very well be to destroy the myth propagated by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and other left-wing historians that Franklin D. Roosevelt saved American capitalism. I literally cannot think of a more important goal. Even Ronald Reagan was somewhat confused about the New Deal era. FDR worsened the depression. The country suffered greatly because of his administration’s relentless heavy-handed attacks on the private sector. And yet, most Americans believe the exact opposite occurred. At this very moment, there are countless people who foolishly want President Obama to “do something” about unemployment. We can do little to lead the country back to basics when such economic ignorance is the norm.
I strongly recommend that everyone minimally read these following books:
1.)The Forgotten Man: A New History of The Great Depression, by Amity Shlaes
2.)FDR’s Folly: How Roosevelt and His Deal Prolonged the Great Depression, by Jim Powell
3.)The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Great Depression and the New Deal, by Robert P. Murphy
4.)New Deal Or Raw Deal: How FDR’s Legacy Has Damaged America, by Burton Folsom, Jr.
I’ll support and work for anyone, who will put the U.S. Military on OUR BORDERS! See http://www.BorderInvasionPics.com
I don’t think this is actually the case. But let’s imagine for a moment that it is. The question then becomes: How would that respect for the Constitution, which so sharply limits the activities of government, stand up before the deployment of the Washington Monument Defense?
Since the inception of the Era of Subsidies, the Washington Monument Defense has proved impervious to movements to reduce the size, expense, and intrusiveness of government. Were the Tea Party to succeed where those earlier movements failed, it would be contrary to all theory and all experience. Ask James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock.
I believe to expect the Obama admin to behave like normal politicians is misreading the intention. It’s like adopting a policy of mutually assured destruction against suicide terrorists. This is about the power for fundamental transformation. Time will tell how far that will go, but to them it’s a matter of all, or nothing.
“Even though the mainstream Republicans think they will do OK in the elections this year, and most likely will, they haven’t figured out which way to appear to lean either. Should they be content to stick with a safe but ho-hum posture exemplified by former presidential contender Senator McCain, or flit off into uncharted territory with less moderate conservatives?”
Forget McCain, Romney, Gingrich.
Same old song and dancing-with-the-devil.
There are so many promising individuals; if the GOP doesn’t get it by now (2010 cycle) – and I have seen little evidence of it but, sadly, much evidence to the contrary, I see no reason to reward the Rotted Moderates in 2012, with or sans said “manifesto.”
Q. Who, then, shall lead the wingnutettes and wingnuts back to Basicland?
A. “What we need is not a marketplace, but a coherent curriculum that prepares all students. And our government should commit to providing a good school in every neighborhood in the nation, just as we strive to provide a good fire company in every community.” [http://tinyurl.com/ylday4h]
Q. Great neostuff! They ain’t seen nothin’ like it since Gen. Arnold!! But where’s the WHO?
A. I beg your pardon, Dr. Bones: Neocomradess D. S. “Ravitch is author of _The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education_,” published last week by Basic Books.”
Q. The name is vaguely familiar. But the blurb must date from AFTER the lady turned her GRCC, “good Republican cloth coat.” What was she like back when she was ravitchin’ Horace Mann & St. John Dewey instead of brazenly apologizing for them? “Not need a marketplace,” forsooth!
A. Lemme see . . . the Lady Macbeth of Rio Limbaugh says herself “[S] ince 1975, when I received my doctorate from Columbia, I have written histories, and I’ve also written extensively about the need to improve students’ knowledge of history, literature, geography, science, civics and foreign languages. So in 1991… assistant secretary of education … [to] promote voluntary state and national standards in these subjects … [and] school ‘choice’ … [consistin’ in] charter schools and accountability … Hoover Institution … As No Child Left Behind’s (NCLB) accountability regime took over the nation’s schools under President George W. Bush and more and more charter schools were launched, I supported these initiatives. But over time . . . .”
Q. But what’s the connection with Neocomrade Fourth Class D. Miller, who lives in the boonies of Panamá.
A. Who WHAT?
Q. “Lives in a rural area in Panama.” It says so right on the pajamatarian bottom line.
A. _De nobis fabula narratur_, Dr. Bones! Let her who is without Zinn throw the first stone! [http://tinyurl.com/yclyasq] Even the present keyboard has been known to skip the fine print about terms and conditions on occasion. But of course you must have already seen what this implies for the correlation of farces?
Q. Huh?
A. We’re surrounded, Dr. Bones! The kiddie selfservatives have got us comin’ and goin’! _Nous sommes dans un pot de chambre, et nous y serons emmerdes_.
Q. How so?
A. Previously we were confronted only by that great white-wing hope of Qannâdâ Lit., Neocomrade D. Solway, essayist and poet. But now escape to the south is blocked by NC4 D. Miller. Our lines of communications with Generalissimo Chávez and Raúl el Magnífico are in peril!
Q. How about “Lieutenant Colonel Allen West, a candidate in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, or someone like him”?
A. That, too, Dr. Bones, though one might bear in mind that worms and slugs have no difficulty “flying under the radar” …. Oh, dear! …..
Q. What’s wrong?
A. I think you had better take a look [at http://allenwestforcongress.com/ for yourself, sir. "Don’t let anybody TELL you what is in _Die Kritik der reinen Vernunft_!" ... Hmmm ... there is a sort of albino linin’, though.
Q. Which is?
A. "Education is the great equalizer,” he says. “With a good education, any child in America can live his dream." [http://tinyurl.com/yz4pwqw]
Q. What’s remarkable about that? All Party-’n’-Ideology wombscholars and _Niederdümmlein_ *think* they have quite enough education to be gettin’ on with. Though I daresay an arguer might argue that Neocomrade Rear-Col. A. West, NAATP, would be better off outside of America’s Otherparty if he seriously believes in either Educationalism or in Equality.
A. NAATP?
Q. “National Association for the Advertisement of Token People.” What else?
A. Oh. That sounds a little like it might be a class action by the victims of State transportation.
Anyway, what’s remarkable about the neocomradely quotation is not about the fate of the holy Homeland™, it is only about this coarse and illiterate keyboard, which, after unearthing that gem of colour, feels no need at all to defend itself against the charge that Neocomradess D. S. Ravitch is radically off topic.
I should have said at the outset, perhaps, that the slogan “back to basics” always puts me in mind of Educationalism Science, and would have done so even if I had not previously noticed Neocomradess D. S. Ravitch over at _The Wall Street Jingo_.
NC4 D. West pretty clearly does not share this private- or secret-sector associational quirk of mine, however. Exactly what *he* means by “the basics” is none too clear. it looks as if Astroturfbaggery is somehow more ‘basic’ than anythin’ else goin’ on out in the fever swamps behind Wingnut City just at present. But how that ‘somehow’ works, I cannot imagine.
To suppose the turfbags are more basic than, say, Señoritos R. Douthát and D. Brooks of the NYTC is a pretty obvious mistake, one parallel to supposing that a modern tribe of ‘primitives’ is so similar to Ugggh the Caveman that one can deduce all sorts of curious things about the latter by examination of the former. But Father Zeus knows best.
Q. One last question, if I may?
A. Shoot.
Q. Where can I buy watermelon at this time of year?
For the future of this country, we need to start with really educating the youth about our proud history and not allow some kind of revisionist clap-trap to be taught. This is one of the reasons that Obama was able to so easily captivate the young voters. Most people have no idea of what children are being taught and folks, this is where it all starts. We need the energy of the young as much as we need the wisdom of the old.
Unfortunately, the american people are eager to vote for anyone who can promise to fix everything and increase their entitlements without any tough decisions and sacrifice. I don’t see much appetite for truth-tellers and realistic thinking…
Until we stop voting for magic tricks, we will retain the corrupt and broken system we have now.
Who Will Lead the Country Back to the Basics?
John Galt, an Army of Davids, and Gideon’s Band,
self-organizing from the bottom up: Taxpayers,
entrepreneurs, small business owners, and CEOs
of private companies.
Their goal is not the formation or takeover of a
political party, but a one-time takeover of the
administration of government, in order to reform
the machinery of government, by removing the government
power to engineer society in general and the economy
in particular.
Let’s get real here, folks! For better or worse, we are STUCK with the system of electing our leaders as it is. Now wishin’ and hopin’ and prayin’ is gonna make the TWO-PARTY system of electing our President disappear.
No TEA PARTY candidate, no Ron Paul, no THIRD PARTY candidate PERIOD, will EVER get into the White House….it just ain’t gonna happen.
So what are we left with? Most likely Romney Vs. Obama in 2012.
Everything else is just prattering…
I say give Romney a chance. His new book coming out will hit all the right chords, and he’s done remarkable things in the past in his career (and yes, some less remarkable…Mass Healthcare…cough) but given the hand he was dealt there, he did the best he could with what the people wanted.
It’s time for someone who has actually LEAD. We don’t need amateurs in the WH and we certainly don’t need someone who doesn’t know that it’s PRIVATE BUSINESSES that hire people and will create jobs, NOT the Feds!!!
In response to David Thomson: not only the New Deal. After the second world war, Roosevelt (Potsdam. Yalta) was the driving force using as inducement to the Western Allies, in an economically and physically ruined West,the American Treasury for agreement to the “gift” of Eastern Europe and Germany to Stalin and the Soviets. Plus designing as clone of his Party’s predecessor Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations the mockingly named United Nations. Both of which cost the Americans money and INDEPENDENCE, the bedrock of the United States as nation. Then recall that the Vietnam War was in essence a creation of “Democratic” Presidents with the collusion of the congressional Republicans, co- incidentally in the first presidential election after Sputnik ( a “new star in the East”)The Vietnam War used by the MSM as the fissure to fracture the USA as a cohesive sociey. Culminating in the coup d’etat called Watergate. A triumph which they used since in their bid to be, as they succeeded in 2008, king-maker for the USA.AND THEN ASK YOURSELF ; if the Soviet Union was no threat at the end of the Second World War , why was it necessary for the US to under pin defense costing massive sums from the American Treasury to defend the western nations since the end of that war against the Soviet Union and Communism ?
Let’s deal with trade. Who are the free traders? I am not just referring to the scoundrels, scalawags, deformed souls, reprobates and similar ilk who pay lip service to free trade.
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-22884-Canada-Politics-Examiner~y2010m3d9-American-lawmakers-look-to-pull-out-of-NAFTA
Is asking for trouble. Right now, trade between the US and Canada is $1.5 billion a day. What was it at other times between 1988 and today?
So, if you want Canada to continue to ship oil to the US. If you
want a blind eye to continue to be given to the economic terrorism
inflicted upon the world outside Canada, the US, and the EU, by the US engaging in heavy subsidies in the global agricultural market – then defeat that bill.
Otherwise, whatever good that resulted in Brian William’s piece when he left Vancouver, as well as the 6 minute piece voiced over by Tom Brokaw for the Opening Ceremonies coverage by NBC – that good will have evaporated like a plume of steam on a warm, cloudless, summer day.
Just what in blazes are you trying to do? Antagonize friends?!?!?
“The conservatives shouldn’t take positions calculated to alienate other conservatives who share their basic principles but don’t agree on some of the ancillary issues.” If we are to return to constitutional government, then it will simplify much of the social agenda at the federal level. For example, the education department is forever coming up with contentious social policy regarding the running of the nation’s schools. However, there is no constitutional mandate in the Article I sections 8-9 for an education department at all. The way forward seems clear. Delegate as much of the social agenda as possible to the States’ control by removing federal participation. It will be argued that you can’t do that without a veto-proof majority, which will be difficult to achieve. However, the House originates all funding, and it must be done every year. So just zero them out. Control of the House will be sufficient if we don’t go ‘all wobbly, George.’
It’s time to stop searching for the mystical, magic leader who will ride in on the white charger and save the day. Instead, we need to count on the one and only person each of us can actually count upon: ourselves. If an articulate, carismatic leader should emerge and capture the imagination and votes of the American people and lead us back to the promised land, then wonderful! But how many Ronald Reagans are there in the world?
Instead of looking to others, it’s time we look to ourselves. Let’s say your union-dominated school district refuses to teach your kid about the U.S. Constituion. Or they’ve eliminated any classroom reference to American exceptionalism in favor of “globalism.” Or that pledging allegeance to the flag has been replaced with pledging allegance to “the planet.” You can — and should– fight to restore true “classic American liberalism” to your school. But in the meantime, you have the power within your own grasp to provide your child with the tools he or she will need to become contributing citizens of this great land.
Find those (in Obama-speak) “teachable moments” to impart American self-reliance and wisdom to your child. That means you have a duty to educate yourself on our shared history and a political system defined and limited by the U.S. Constitution. When was the last time you read the Constitution? Have you ever read it? We are fortunate in that there has been a rebirth of great writing on America and our exceptional role in the world. Take advantange of that cornacopia of information.
If we are to weather the coming storm, we need to prepare ourselves now, for the hard times ahead. We need to find and cultivate that place deep down in our being and harden it for the trouble ahead. No magical leader can do that for us. We can only do it for ourselves.
What the United States needs is not some pop culture or political messiah but rather a thorough reformation of our society. We need to reform our political culture in line with the founding documents – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, The Federalist Papers, the anti-federalist writings and so forth. We also need to reform our culture and society back to the foundational beliefs of western civilization that gave birth to those founding documents. It does little good to drill the Constitution into people if they are taught that government is the highest authority and they are to look to it for sufficiency.
A good place to start would be to take back our educational system and to encourage private schools and homeschooling. Pass the vouchers program and let thee public education system wither on the vine. We need more conservative colleges like Hillsdale which politely but firmly tells the government where to stick its money and the control that comes with it. We need to ferret out college professors who are a disgrace to their profession by teaching propaganda dressed up as scholarship. If Howard Zinn was a historian then so is my dog.
Two words of caution:
First, conservatives must not look for a conservative political messiah. Reform and restoration will come from various movements and all are needed. We like to portray Reagan as a messiah and champion but he had a lot of help from a lot of unsung heroes of the conservative movement. Reagan, like Churchill in another context, simply gave the roar of the conservative lion.
Second, do not discard or minimize social conservatives. Whether you agree with our values or not, it is simply political suicide to tell us to wait or to blindly support a “conservative.” Social conservatives have been a faithful part of the conservative coalition since its inception and we have little to show for it in regards to our priorities.
Fiscal conservatism is impossible without social conservative values like thrift, freedom, etc. Limited government is impossible if the government is given the power to redefine traditional institutions like marriage and the family or if it can use the tax code to promote non-marriage and the worship of the planet. Most of the Founding Fathers recognized the value of Christianity and the virtues it promoted. They understood that the Republic would not stand without it.
Well, I expected as much. The insularity of Americans when dealing with what kind of country they have.
Like it or not, the US has influence outside of its borders. One issue is trade. Now, I have pointed out where the US is wrong. The response I have received is deafening silence.
So, I reiterate: Is it good for a country to export more? Is the United States exporting more today to Canada, than it did when NAFTA was signed, or when the FTA was signed?
For the reluctance of Americans to own up to the fact that they are wrong, when they are wrong, is one of the most infuriating things about the US amongst the diminishing number of friends the US has.
Government provides its own force for its own growth acting through a giant ratchet. The ratchet gets a little harder to turn if public opinion is aroused against it but it never allows any significant reversal. We need something dramatic to disengage it and send everything spinning in reverse. It is hard for me to see how conventional political action or political party apparatus will accomplish this even over a generation or two.
In California, voters have the ability to put initiatives on the ballot that are binding on the legislature. While this process has been co-opted by political parties and public service unions -it has occasionally been effective. We need a national citizens’ initiative that creates a path to a limited flat tax, a balanced budget and a reduction in national debt. If something like this cannot be officially enacted then civil disobedience may be our only recourse.
One way or another we must make it clear that government is there to provide the limited housekeeping functions enumerated in the constitution at a reasonable cost to its citizens. Public office needs to be re-created as the altruistic pursuit that our politicians now claim it is – as they and their staffs and families jet around at tax payer expense, expanding their domains and exercising powers formerly reserved for the Kings, Queens, Dukes, Earls and Dictators that we thought we left behind in the old country.
Reply to Liber T: Instead of an initiative proceedure, how about we repeal the 16th Amendment. If we want smaller government then remove their primary source of revenue and they will be forced to scale back their operations. The Amendment process can be started by the states and does not have to come from Washington.
Ditto to Kipling @ #18 and while we are at it, repeal the 17th Amendment also.
David Lincoln @ #16: Obstructing free trade is a favorite ploy of politicians so they can pretend they are “saving” jobs in their country. What they do not see are the jobs being lost because when those politicians obstruct free trade they are reducing the gains from trade thereby making the economy smaller. (Someone needs to teach these guys some economics; there are always gains from trade; and oh by the way – the EPI is a leftist oriented organization, so I am not surprised they said America had lost jobs because of NAFTA.)
Finally, the US is republican democracy. Only when voters wake up to the fact that elections matter, and tha the people whom they elect to represent them in the legislature matter, will some of the objectives outlined here be achieved.
” Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. ”
So, Kipling, as I read it, the States may call a constitutional convention to propose amendments. Maybe there should be a version of the ‘Contract from America’ which places selective amendments on the state dockets. The State Legislatures could then either require that the Congress propose certain amendments, or after a deadline require the Congress to call a Constitutional Convention proposing the same amendments. The legislation could restrict the scope of the Constitutional Convention to the proposed amendments. The States would have to basically pass identical legislation. After having lived in California, I wouldn’t propose an initiative, it’s been badly misused. But recall and referendum would be nice. We have them in California, and they haven’t gone haywire like the initiative.
wGraves @ #20: Unfortunately, the state themselves are not outlying provinces of the Federal government. They too have become dependent on Federal aid, and the bigger ones (which are in deep trouble) are not about to cut off the flow of Federal funds which come from the wealthy. (Memo for files: no Federal aid to states in the future.) As I said earlier – it will take the voters themselves to realize they have to change their voting patterns at the Federal level, at the state level and at the local level. Until that happens nothing will change.
Kipling:
Want to take back the schools? Just about every state has an elected board of education. There are no requirements to the job outside of beating the incumbent.
Its time we started taking pages out of Marx’s play book, and show the left what happens when you rouse the dragon.
Paul Ryan is a man that has the diligence and he has demonstrated it with his knowledge of the health care legislation.
Jack in Silver Spring @ #21: The question is whether there are 34 states who are not owned by the feds? If there were a proposal, local politicians could make their election a referendum on it. All politics are local.
Jack in Silver Spring @ 19, this is not the picture I wanted painted. I was part of the battle in Canada over free trade in 1988. Luckily, my side won. NAFTA wasn’t as much a battle, because
of the benefits of Canada sending more to the US, and frankly less expensive, yet better quality stuff coming north.
What galls me to no end is, ever since NAFTA was signed onto, people
have let the contemptible windbags get away with untruths. So, in my judgment, people deserve the government they get.
#14 Dave Smith “It’s time to stop searching for the mystical, magic leader who will ride in on the white charger and save the day.”
I agree – King Arthur and Merlin are not available.
In Canada we have seen Obama-guvmint every time our socialist New Democratic Party (NDP) has been elected to govern some hapless Canadian Province. Just like Obama, they act like a kid in a candy store, give stuff away to their Union and Business buddies, spend other people’s money at warp speed, command and control anything that moves, destroy the economy and generally wreck the joint. This has happened twice in my home Province.
After they are gone a kludged together alliance of free enterprise leaning folks gets elected to fix things up. Sadly a thick residue of statism sticks to the bowl of society and never gets flushed away. This happens because the replacement players are all career politicians and get their jollies from big government. Under the political blanket, the bureaucrats don’t change.
So the chance of small government intentionally brought about by politicians is zero. Only external circumstances that disallow big government can pop the politicians bubble and make the bureaucrats go away. The country going broke; for example.
Concerning NAFTA. Trade makes the ship to go and creates wealth for both participants. Any politician that doesn’t grasp this is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.
You and me, yes it is only up to us!
Who Will Lead the Country Back to the Basics?
NO ONE! That’s who.
The Liberals surely don’t want to go backwards. The RINO’s will not to do it. And the RepublicOns might give the idea lip service but that’s about all they will do.
Even if we elect a rock solid freedom loving Conservative President we will end up with a stubborn obstructionist House or Senate that is filled with Liberals, Rino’s and Moderates.
Opps I forgot about the Libertarians! But they only received 4/10 of 1% of the vote and that was in a year were Bush hatred was at an all time high, and John ‘Christians are evil’ McCain was the RepublicOn choice.
Prior to that the Libertarian Presidential candidates got a whopping 3/10 of 1% of the vote nationally. So the 1/10 of 1% boost in 2008 give me some hope even though Obama received 70 million more votes and McCain got apx. 60 million more votes than Bob Barr.
So who Will Lead the Country Back to the Basics?
Well it sure won’t be the 130 MILLION people who voted for McVain and Obama. That’s who….
21. Jack in Silver Spring:
States dependent on Federal Aid
The ones who pay more in taxes
than they receive in aid are not,
and their burdens will increase until
they become unbearable, at which point
they will stop paying, and there will
be nothing the Feds can do about it,
because the Feds have no way to force
the States to help them collect taxes.
I could not agree with the author more. We really need to focus on the big three issues that he lays out. We can worry about the furniture after we put out the house fire.
All should be welcomed to the battle to win the race before our nation becomes 51% dependent slaves to the failed liberal welfare state. Start in 2010 and rout the bastards in 2012!
The American People voted for their mystical messiah leader, who rode in on a promise of Hope and Change.
He loaded his adm. with socialist, marxist, commies,pervert schoolczar, other globalism czars. We can defeat this run amok congress, and slow down this Hope and Change policy toward globalism.
The starting point is the upcoming elections. The power hungry demos and republicans , must be put out to pasture.
Fix the school system, return to the (pledge of alligance, IN God we trust,constitution, history, our culture, and return to the basics that made this country great.
We the peole, have to set the stage for the young.
The people are reaping what they have sowed, and the crop is wilting on the vine. Time to replant. We don’t need another mysticial, messiah leader . We need a person who believes in American morals and values. It is time for a real change.
Dave II
Romney has had his chance–we simply can’t trust him. He ROYALLY messed up MA’s healthcare, and his flip-flop on the life issue clearly shows he is an “I’ll say anything to get elected to the highest office money can buy” guy.
Right now it looks to me as if Huckabee is our best hope.
To those who want to raise the draw bridge, and discourage imports from coming in, but expect exports to increase, here is some cold water on your face: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=6fc85c3d-d0d2-42d5-bdd8-267b8a24145e
Mrs Micawber,
Huckabeeee is our best hope? You got to be kidding me. If it wasn’t for Huckabee we wouldn’t have been stuck with McVain.
In the end Huckabee helped Hussien Obama win.
And Mitt Romney didn’t write the MA Healthcare Plan. The ELECTED OFFICIALS (from both parties) in that state worked on it for over 3 YEARS. They ROYALLY messed it up not Mitt Romney. Romney didn’t have the Legal Authority to ROYALLY mess things up.
Republican Scott Brown (who took Ted Kennedy’s seat) voted for the MA Healthcare Plan and he still defends his Vote for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1sLegdL4EQ&feature=player_embedded
But this isn’t about Mitt Romney is it? The whole problem is that Mitt is a Mormon. Right?
Your only attraction to Huckabee (and repulsion of Mitt) has to do with the Huck’s Christian credentials. Right?
Do you really believe that GOD will only Bless America if we have a Christian president? And that this is a Christian Nation? And that the Constitution is a Christian Document? And that the only way America can be saved is through Politics?
If you answered YES to any of the above questions then you have been deceived by a FALSE RELIGION that masks itself as true Christianity. That Religion (which is fake) is based on Politics not the word of God. It is not Christian. Don’t believe their lies. This is a Pagan Nation! The last election should prove that once and for all.
As far as I am concerned ‘most’ of the so called religious Right are ‘little better’ than Pagans dancing around their Asherah poles. They worship Politics not God. They practice IDOLATRY!
OK they are a better than Pagans but only a little.
And who says we deserve to be led back?
Personally I believe that this country (including the Libs) deserves to be Obamatized. In my opinion Barack (aka Barry Sotero) is Gods divine Judgement on a world gone mad with sin.
He is the perfect punishment!!
So once again, Who Will Lead the Country Back to the Basics?
GOD will lead us when he is ready, and
when (or if) we deserve to be led back.
Here is one small example of how we might eventually get back to the basics. It involves a mirror but no smoke.
High taxes? Don’t we all pay Federal Income Tax at lower rates than we did thirty years ago? It seems to be the IDEA of high taxes that is making people crazy.
On an historical note, I believe that Americans, who rebelled against Brit taxes, immediately paid MORE taxes once their own government formed (yes, there was a war to be paid for) but then the taxes never came down. Sheesh, from the jabber here, you’d think that taxes were un-American, when they are anything but. The bitching about them is American too. Boo-hoo.
Response to Dwight: Congratuations you managed to be wrong on almost every point.
1. The issue is not just higher taxes but the governmental control and intrusion that accompany the higher taxes. High taxes actually produce less revenue. Don’t believe me? Check the financial records. So, if high taxes actually produce less revenue then why have higher taxes? Control.
2. The Americans did not rebel against the Brits due to taxation but rather due to taxation without representation. The colonies had no problem paying taxes originating the colonies just when they we imposed without consent.
3. No federal government existed with the power to tax Americans after their declaration of independence. Even after the Constitution the federal government did not have the power to tax income. The progressives gave it that power with the 16th amendment.
4. Freedom of speech is American. Even if it comes from the neutered media or other toadies.
35. Carpenter
Whoa, where’d that come from? Sounds like a true believer. The lady criticized his involvement in the MA healthcare boondoggle and his flip-flop on abortion, not his religion. Methinks thou dost protest too much. For what it’s worth, both bother me too.
Prochoice to be MA Gov and pass a socialist healthcare plan, then pro life, anti Obamacare to run for Pres.? Huckabee didn’t keep Romney from the nomination, Romney did.
In any case, we need a new face for the GOP nomination in ’12. We need even more to get new faces as delegates to the GOP convention. If the same old county chairmen send the same old delegates, who will nominate the least offensive next-in-line RINO, we’re still up the same old crick. Don’t remember who said it earlier, but it’s really a two-party system. That means that the first thing the Tea Partier’s need is to reprise the Goldwater/Reagan revolution and make the GOP the American people’s party. Way to early for us to be fighting over a specific Republican candidate.
20, Mr Graves I heartily agree! It’s no where as easy as it sounds, but I have said for years another Constitutional Convention would be a good thing. One with popularly elected delegates and one vote per state. (Bet I already raised some eyebrows w/ the one vote thing)
Actually, the way we’re going , such a Convention might become, or already be, the only way to undo some of the damage and put us back on a course consistant with our founding documents. And someone above’s right on that, too- or was that another forum? Anyhow, if it doesn’t happen soon, there won’t be enough folks who aren’t the products of a Liberal indoctrination, instead of an education, to make it work.
God help the USA
Dan, don’t write off the social conservatives.
First of all, they’re dependable. It’s their finger in the dam holding back the Senate health care bill. Maybe they didn’t turn out in big numbers for McCain, but honestly, who did?
Second, they’re essential. The point of the Mount Vernon statement was to keep conservatives from abandoning each other. On a practical note, no pro-choice Republican is going to get the party’s presidential nomination. It simply won’t happen.
Third, they don’t really alienate people. The mainstream media claims that they do, which is practically proof that they don’t. Elections aren’t decided on spending alone. From abortion to nuclear energy, from jobs to Iran, a healthy conservatism doesn’t have to concede anything.
Pinky,
I agree that we need just about everyone we can get who supports the three basic principles outlined in the article. Social conservatives have done a whole lot to keep the ObamaCare mess and other disastrous messes from passing, whatever their personal or political reasons may be, and I wish them (and the rest of us) the best.
I don’t agree with them on some points, but I think we agree on the basics. Opposition to abortion and to homosexual “rights,” favoring school prayer and such are not my bag; I don’t have any dogs in those fights, which I think should in any event be fought at the state level. They probably don’t agree with me on such points, but I think we agree on the crucial basics. If a candidate with whom I otherwise agree opposes abortion and homosexual “rights” and favors school prayer and such, then I shall support him or her.
And that, in essence, was the point I was trying to make in the article. It is necessary to unite on the basics and select candidates — from whichever or no party — who agree that those points are vital to the nation’s future.
I just read an article about Dan Boren, the son of Dave Boren, one of my college classmates from about a half century ago. Dave was a conservative and, as I recall, became the youngest governor ever of Oklahoma. He was in the Senate for several years after that, and left politics for obscure reasons to become the head of the University of Oklahoma. Before that, I had thought that Dave might someday become the President of the United States. Dan Boren seem, from what I have read of him, to be a pretty good conservative. The fact that he is a Democrat would not cause me a moment’s hesitation in supporting him.
As I tried to suggest, the focus must be on what happens in 2012. 2010 is secondary, particularly if it obscures the goal of getting a real, honest to Zeus conservative as president and a real, honest go Zeus conservative majority in both houses of the Congress elected in 2012.
Many thanks for your comment.
We the peole, have to set the stage for the young.
The people are reaping what they have sowed, and the crop is wilting on the vine. Time to replant. We don’t need another mysticial, messiah leader . We need a person who believes in American morals and values. It is time for a real change.
“The U.S. needs to get back to her basic foundations before it is too late.
The big question is, Will she?”
The odds are in our favor. Rasmussen and other legitimate pollsters report that the majority of American likely voters are on our side. Those merely described as registered voters are of little consequence. There are two immediate goals that must be achieved:
1.) We must all vote for Republican candidates unless there is a very good reason for not doing so. The Democrats no longer represent a national party. They now can normally attract only voters in the bluest of areas. Purple state voters are abandoning the Democratic Party in droves. This must continue for the foreseeable future.
2.) More Americans must realize that only the hard science credentials awarded by the Ivy League universities are usually worthy of respect. The softer ones are more often than not a joke. Things were bad enough when Bill Buckley publicly criticized Yale University in the early 1950s. It got much worse after inflated grades became the norm for minorities in the 1960s. The white majority students got their piece of the action no later than 1975. Harvey Mansfield even had to apologize for having to give out phony grades. Countless voters cast their ballots for the shabbily educated Barack Obama because they were impressed with his Columbia and Harvard degrees. They had no idea concerning the extent of the fraud. The silly Van Jones even brags that he chose Yale University because it apparently doesn’t even bother to grade a large number of its students. This nonsense has been going on for far too long. The corruption must end.