Free Republic And Freedom

This is important because of the series of articles that is going to be posted to this forum over the coming days and weeks. The stated objective of this series is the complete restoration of the Constitution of the United States as written and formally amended rather than as corrupted and circumvented by Congress, the President, and the federal judiciary, especially the Supreme Court. When this series is completed and posted in its entirety, it should be clear to all that no one has ever put forth any effort or plan that has more potential to achieve the goal. Countless conservatives, including President Reagan and Newt Gingrich have all tried and yet the goal still eludes us. As this plan unfolds, you will see that it takes the best parts of what these giants have put forward and targets them on a slightly different track. It is this different track, one that targets some Republicans for defeat in the Republican primaries and replacement with more conservative candidates, that compels me to call to your attention some forum experiences of the past for discussion.

As far as short term governance goals are concerned, it is difficult to disagree with JimRobinson's statement that any Republican is better than any Democrat, a philosophy shared by President Reagan who authored the Eleventh Commandment of Republican politics. It is self-evident why replacing a socialistic Republican with a Constitutional conservative is an improvement, but this series will help you to understand why it should be acceptable to risk losing a socialistic Republican's seat, even to a Democrat, as part of an intermediate step that moves the entire Republican Party itself substantially to the right. This is especially true where the politics of the district itself make it probable that the seat will be recovered in subsequent elections. An old Russian parable, some reasonably recent events and the current status of the Constitution offer some testimony to support our plea to allow this plan to be presented in its entirety.

The Parable:

    One bright clear morning after a winter snow storm, a Russian peasant farmer came out of the house to find a small bird lying on his porch. He picked it up for discarding, but realized the bird was still alive. Touched by the small bird's spark of life, he put the bird in his pocket to go about his morning chores. As he entered the barnyard, he saw a fresh warm and still steaming cow patty. He took the bird out of his pocket and put it carefully into the cow patty, mounding it up around the bird to get the maximum effect of its warmth and then left to do his farm work. Soon the warmth revived the bird. But the mounding was too tight and the bird was unable to escape the patty's confines. Thrilled at just being alive on such a beautiful morning after a life threatening night the bird began to sing. A nearby fox heard the bird and quickly located the patty. The fox removed the bird, cleaned it and ate it. Now there are three morals to this story, but it is the first moral with which we are primarily concerned:

     1. It is not always your enemies that put you in it.
     2. It is not always your friends that get you out.
     3. And when you are in it up to your neck, for your own sake, keep your mouth shut.

    Campaign Finance Reform, Medicare Prescription Drugs, pork-filled farm and transportation bills, and blank checks for damage control suggest that not only the Republican leadership, but also some rank and file Republican members of Congress could stand some scrutiny, if not criticism and maybe consideration for replacement. It is the socialists among us that pose the greatest threat to our Constitution and our freedoms. And we would suggest that the recent events above indicate that there are well entrenched enemies that reside within our own gates. Giving them a free pass is not very different from sitting down to supper with Judas. Cleaning house begins at home. Until our own house is in order, taking on the socialists in the Democratic Party sends a mixed message to those in the middle who do not know which way to turn.

    The Constitution can be restored. In spite of the fact that the socialists have been progressively pushing our country away from the Constitution for almost a century, the Constitution can be restored in less than a decade. Ronald Reagan's legitimate legacy was an American-led global renaissance. Under current laws that are incontrovertibly unconstitutional, but nevertheless sanctioned by a Court and Congress that have been relentlessly usurping power and limiting freedom for the past 70 years, instead of a renaissance, the United States could be facing bankruptcy. According to the Gokhale-Smetters projections, the net present value of the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and Social Security already equals or exceeds the estimated total private (combined corporate and individual) net worth of the United States. The Gokhale-Smetters liabilities do not begin to mature until the fall of 2008, but the combined net cash flow of government, corporate America, and all US Households (America Inc if you will) is already negative. The United States currently has to borrow $2.5 billion dollars every day from the rest of the world in order to maintain current standards of living and still service existing debt. American jobs are being outsourced because we do not have the sufficient savings and investment needed to maintain the growth in productivity that has allowed us to maintain the competitive advantage we have previously enjoyed against the cheap labor markets that have always existed in the past. History is unambiguous. All democracies end in bankruptcy or hyperinflation whenever the public learns to vote itself benefits from the public treasury. The Gokhale-Smetters projections clearly show that by 2016, ours could easily be on the brink.

    It is not too late to make the Reagan Renaissance a reality. With JimRobinson's blessing and Free Republic's help, men cut from the same mold as Ronald Reagan and the Founders can be recruited to replace Rockefeller Republicans and other RINOs. The Constitution can be restored and we are going to show you how Freepers can become the catalyst that makes it possible.

So, is this the next installment?

http://padre-island.us/padre-island.us/publicfolder/FRphase/hopefulpatriot/2005/introduction.htm

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Incredible

I don't believe that a single person reading this article knows how to restore the Constitution. This article is the first of a series that will outline a simple plan that can completely restore the Constitution. A decade from now the United States can actually be freer than it has ever been.

Regardless of how long or how much you have hoped that it could be true, even without reading the series and in spite of the fact that there is not a single reader that knows how to restore the Constitution, every one of you will find it difficult, if not impossible to accept the idea that anybody could, or actually has, found a plan that can displace the socialistic democracy that we have become and restore our Constitutional Republic. While the plan is simple, there are several moving parts and some essential history to understand. For more than ten years one of the most important medical advances in history (the discovery of penicillin) did not take place because not enough people thought about and understood the importance of an event that did not happen. Understanding why this plan will work may ultimately depend on enough people understanding, or at least certain people understanding, the significance of an historical event that did not occur. Having been disappointed so many times in the past and even with this prelude some of you will stop reading before the series concludes and provides you all the facts needed to make an informed judgment. Those in this group have already made up their minds that the situation is hopeless and it is too late to turn back.

Not all of the people reading this will actually want to restore the Constitution even if they are willing to believe that it might be possible. The gradual destruction of our Constitutional Republic has been ongoing for so long and is now so pervasive that the goal of far too many conservatives is simply to slow the rate of loss to preserve what little we have left for as long as possible. In addition, far too many Americans are willing to accept a significantly lowered standard of freedom in exchange for a promise from "professional" politicians of getting a monthly check from the government at the expense of their children and grandchildren. Even though the US is not as free as it once was, far too many believe that we still enjoy enough freedom that we should be content with what we have because they have accepted the completely false premise that there is no turning back. The slogan, "Love it or leave it" was probably coined by a Democrat. It serves to intimidate people willing to complain about the various freedoms we have lost without offering any justification for either the lost freedom or the lowered standard. Democrats love the lowering of standards and the tragic truth is that no matter how much freedom we Americans have lost, the US still may be freer than any other country. At this point in history there are far fewer reasons for freedom-loving Americans to love it, and it is premature to leave it. Stick with us and we'll show you how to restore the Constitution. We can take our country back. It is not too late. With the "Right" leadership, we'll prove it.

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And the next?

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http://padre-island.us/padre-island.us/publicfolder/FRphase/hopefulpatriot/2005/roots.htm
Free Republic's Roots

Founded in 1996 by Jim Robinson, what is FreeRepublic about?

What is our mission? Free Republic is dedicated to reversing the trend of unconstitutional government expansion and is advocating a complete restoration of our constitutional republic. Listed below are some of the issues we feel strongly about...

Somehow, over the years, our guiding principles of law, as set forth in the Constitution, have been eroded to the point that the federal government now has total control... leaving the states impotent and the people as captive servants to the federal government. This must be reversed if we are to survive as a free Republic and a free people.
We call for the repeal of the 17th amendment..
We call for the repeal of the 16th amendment and to abolish the income tax and the IRS.
A return to a strictly Constitutional form of federal government will automatically repeal and abolish all unconstitutional federal involvement in states issues such as: crime, health, education, welfare and the environment...This will also require that social programs such as Social Security, welfare and Medicare be repealed. ~~ Jim Robinson, March 1999

Statement by the founder of Free Republic:

In our continuing fight for freedom, for America and our constitution and against totalitarianism, socialism, tyranny, terrorism, etc., Free Republic stands firmly on the side of right, i.e., the conservative side...We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism... Posted on 03/22/2004 6:22:17 PM PST by Jim Robinson

Free Republic's Next Triumph

The excerpts above were taken from existing or former webpages posted by Jim Robinson. Having been a member of FreeRepublic before the 1996 election, the mission statement once included the impeachment of Bill Clinton as one of FreeRepublic's goals, a goal the House Managers credited FreeRepublic with achieving. Now, after ten years of false starts and misfires, the second and third goals as stated in FreeRepublic's Mission Statement above, 2reversing the trend of unconstitutional government expansion and 3complete restoration of our constitutional republic, are finally within reach. Over the next several weeks, various Freepers will be posting the thinking and the mechanics behind this effort.

Those of you who have been Freepers long enough know that FreeRepublic played a pivotal role in generating the momentum and emotion that led to a successful vote in the House to Impeach then President Bill Clinton. Reversing the trend of unconstitutional government expansion and bringing about the complete restoration of our constitutional republic could depend on how effective Freepers and FreeRepublic prove to be in generating the kind of momentum and emotion that FreeRepublic produced during impeachment.

Jim Robinson and the members of FreeRepublic are owed an immense debt of gratitude by Freedom loving Americans. You are all Patriots in the true sense of the word. We thank you; we Salute you. And now we ask for your help in undertaking the most important part of FreeRepublic's acknowledged mission.

Our Challenge To You:

If you don't believe or cannot accept the idea that this plan can and will work, the burden of proof is on you to either improve it or put forward a replacement that is better. FreeRepublic has a long overdue mission to complete. In spite of some readily apparent Republican and conservative gains, it can be argued that we are not measurably closer to the objective than when FreeRepublic was founded. Those who would take issue with this claim should stop and consider that the unconstitutional entitlements are poised to grow exponentially over the next two decades. Get out your ping lists, start reviewing your address books and email lists, and start thinking about the people with whom you want to share this series as it unfolds or with whom you want to share it after it is complete and you are convinced.

Our Pledge to You:

With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, We, as members of We the people and as members of FreeRepublic, mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor to the mission of reversing the trend of unconstitutional government expansion and a complete restoration of our constitutional republic.

And the third?

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http://padre-island.us/padre-island.us/publicfolder/FRphase/hopefulpatriot/2005/anotherreagan.htm

Another Ronald Reagan?

Was Ronald Reagan truly unique? How exceptional was it that a small select group of men came along at just the right moment in time to become the Founding Fathers of what would prove to be the most extraordinary nation in the history of the world? Between the federal, state and local governments, there are thousands of elected public officials. Can you identify the ones that you believe have the characteristics or attributes of another Ronald Reagan or the Founding Fathers? Can you identify any that you believe to be equivalent to Ronald Reagan or the Founders?

AOL and the Discovery Channel recently reported an uncontrolled survey of public opinion to determine the "Greatest American" in the history of our country. There were 2.4 million votes reportedly cast. Ronald Reagan won with 24%. Lincoln was second and Martin Luther King Jr., third (23.5% and 19.7%). Washington and Franklin completed the top five (17.7% and 14.9%). In sequential order, the top ten were rounded out by George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey and Franklin Roosevelt. Voting was apparently conducted in phases of the top 100, top 25, and top 5. How the results were tabulated is not defined, but even so, the reported results are curious in that the top five polled a total of 99.86% of the reported results. There are nine living present or former presidents and vice presidents, nine current Supreme Court Justices, fifty sitting governors, and 535 current members of the United States Congress. In the reported results, no living American got even .2 of one percent. While this survey is certainly not conclusive, it offers some evidence that most Americans do not consider our presently elected or recent past leaders among the "great".

"We have the best Congress money can buy," Mark Twain. Twain died before Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt made it possible for politicians to take matters into their own hands. Closer to the truth, but still not an accurate depiction of American politics since 1932, President Reagan said, "Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I’ve come to realize there is a very close resemblance to the first.” A better definition of a "professional" politician is one who is more interested in securing their own lifetime career in office through repeated re-election than in fulfilling the duties of their elected office. And because they are more interested in their own re-election, they are willing to subvert the Constitution in order to use the public treasury to buy blocks of votes from the public. In effect, "professional" politicians have converted our "republic" into a democracy by surrogates. The Founders envisioned statesmen winning elections based on principles. In contrast, unhampered by term limits, "professional" politicians began using socialism as the mechanism for the creation of blocks or categories of voters. With the almost unlimited taxing and borrowing power of the US treasury at their disposal, "professional" politicians then repeatedly and competitively bid for, and purchased the blocks of votes which they had created with socialism. As a vote harvesting tool, state legislatures extended socialism to government jobs; think "public" education and teachers. As early as 1964 Reagan reminded us, "Plutarch warned, 'The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits."

If the Divine Hand of Providence is still watching over or guiding the path of the United States, surely there must be another Ronald Reagan or perhaps even a number of men like him in a country with a population of nearly 300 million. The first US Census (1790) taken under the supervision of Thomas Jefferson showed a population of only 3.9 million; among them were men like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison, the signers of the Declaration and the countless patriots who fought in the American Revolution. The men and women serving in the military, not only today, but also in every past generation are a testament to the fact that patriots exactly like those that fought the Revolutionary War are and have been present in our population in substantial numbers in every generation of Americans. Where are the political leaders like Ronald Reagan and the Founders? What deters them from stepping forward and seeking public office?

Ronald Reagan's two landslide elections and the 1994 Congressional elections suggest that statesmen of a caliber similar to Ronald Reagan or the Founders can defeat "professional" politicians whose re-elections are dependent upon socialism, the insidious cancer that poses what is by far the most significant threat to our freedom. And it is freedom that forms the foundation on which our civilization is built. History is unambiguous; all democracies have ended in bankruptcy or hyperinflation whenever the public learns to vote itself benefits. Could the Constitution be restored and our republic be saved or resurrected if men like Ronald Reagan and the Founders could be recruited to come forward and seek election?

Ronald Reagan was clearly the catalyst that precipitated the downfall, but socialism is what doomed the Soviet Union to the Ash-heap of History. When carefully studied, Reagan's speeches are filled with guideposts that form a road map to the renaissance that will become his true legacy. Ash-heap or renaissance are the alternatives that Reagan was actually describing in A Time For Choosing: "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."

In the pages that follow, you are going to learn what is almost certainly the best, if not the only, way to recruit and elect statesmen made from the same mold as Ronald Reagan. Although the execution is not guaranteed to be easy, there truly is a simple way to both recruit, and elect patriots cut from the same cloth as the Founding Fathers.

Next installment:

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http://padre-island.us/padre-island.us/publicfolder/FRphase/hopefulpatriot/2005/closeencounter.htm

An Encounter Too Close

In 1995 after the victory celebrations concluded, Republicans got down to work on passing the various provisions of the Contract with America. The terms of the Contract were simple. If Republicans were given majority control, there were eight rules changes that would be passed immediately. These rules changes would apply to Congress, primarily the House. During the organizational phase of the new Congress, Republicans dutifully passed all eight rules changes. The guts of the Contract were ten proposed laws that Republicans promised to bring to the floor for an up or down vote within the first hundred days.

The Republicans signing the Contract did not promise to vote for or to pass each of the ten provisions, only to bring them to the floor for a vote. Importantly and with this consideration, the order of voting on the ten items was prioritized and scheduled in a way that Republicans could best showcase their successes. The items that Republicans were confident they could pass would be voted on first and the most difficult items to pass would be the last votes scheduled. Most people, whether voters or members of Congress, expected that at least half or maybe even slightly more than half of the Contract would be passed. By the same token, there might not have been a single human being that actually believed Republicans would be able to pass all ten of the major provisions.

Some of the first laws scheduled for votes were not terribly controversial or too partisan. They passed readily and even garnered some Democratic support. As each provision was passed, momentum for the Contract began to build. Democrats, lacking experience as a minority party could not mount any effective opposition to slow or block the provisions of the Contract in committee. Virtually in a state of shock at the depth and breadth of their power loss, Democrats were not even able to mount an effective opposition on either the House or Senate floors. Before the voting on the first half of the Contract was finished, some Democrats, afraid of being seen as spoilers, continued to cross the aisle and vote for various aspects of the Contract. And as the momentum continued to build, thoughts of mounting a filibuster vanished in front of the surging momentum of the Republican juggernaut.

The first eight provisions passed both the House and the Senate on a schedule that left room to pass the last two provisions within the hundred days. President Clinton signed seven of the provisions into law, but vetoed welfare reform twice before finally signing it much later and with some modifications. Only the Balanced Budget and Term Limits provisions remained. As proposed Constitutional Amendments, both provisions would require what was deemed an impossible two-thirds majority in both houses instead of simple majorities in order to pass.

Every American, including the members of both parties in the House and the Senate, was surprised, if not stunned, when the Balanced Budget Amendment passed the House with the required two-thirds majority to send it to the Senate. The focus of attention shifted to the Senate. After ninety-eight Senators had voted, and with momentum for the Contract at its peak, it was Mark Hatfield's turn to vote. It was already known that the only remaining Senator to vote was going to vote "no" if Hatfield voted against it, and would vote to pass the Amendment if Hatfield voted for it under the theory that it would be the epitome of presumptuousness for one Senator to defeat an issue of this magnitude if the legislatures of three-fourths of the States were willing to approve it. It was literally down to Hatfield, if he voted for the Amendment, it would pass the required two-thirds majority hurdle and go to the States for ratification. If he voted "no", the Balanced Budget Amendment would go down in defeat. Hatfield had already voted for the Amendment twice in two previous Congresses. Hatfield requested and received a delay before casting his vote in order to consult with Bob Dole, Majority Leader of the Senate. One of the most suspense-filled moments in America's political history had suddenly arrived on a practically apoplectic Congress.

Hatfield reportedly told Dole that his "conscience" would not let him vote for the Balanced Budget Amendment. But rather than deprive the states and We the people of the right to define this for Congress, Hatfield was willing to resign his seat rather than let the Amendment fail by a single vote. Dole refused to accept his resignation and the Balanced Budget Amendment failed in the Senate, one vote short of the required two-thirds.

What could explain Hatfield's bizarre change in "conscience"? Could this have been the first Kerryism where a politician actually voted for it before he voted against it? Just as bizarre is why did Dole permit one Senator's schizophrenic change of conscience to potentially thwart the will of the America people? It is frankly absurd to believe that either of them, let alone both, were willing to risk considerable animosity from the American people over balancing the Federal budget. What is far more likely is the defeat of the Balanced Budget Amendment served as the straw man that gave both Republicans and Democrats in Congress cover and plausible deniability for the vote on Term Limits which was scheduled to immediately follow.

Politicians, especially those that have been dubbed "professional" politicians clearly had a crucial stake in defeating the Term Limits provision of the Contract. Polling data had indicated that Term Limits may have been the single most popular and broadly supported provision in the Contract. If the first nine parts of the Contract had passed, how would it have looked to the people, if the Term Limits provision, the only one whose sole impact was on politicians seeking careers in politics, had been the only provision of the Contract that was defeated? If eighty percent of Americans wanted Term Limits, at least that many Congressmen saw themselves as being within one vote of their own personal Faustian Bargain. The overwhelming success of the Contract brought the Republicans the power they sought, but now it was on the verge of being at the expense of their political souls. Faust would have been envious of the escape contrived by Dole and Hatfield et al. Democrats did not defeat the Balanced Budget and Term Limits Amendments; Republicans did.

The reason that Republicans have never had another Contract With America is because Republicans know that any future Contract would have to have a Term Limits provision. If Democrats threatened to unite behind Term Limits to politically embarrass Republicans, either Republicans would have to vote to end their own terms in office or risk committing the political equivalent of hara-kiri by defeating it. Republicans have proved that they prefer to risk being a minority party again rather than risk being faced with another vote on Term Limits. Democrats will not be any part of the solution to the problem of cutting government down to size and will oppose any and every effort aimed at restoring the Constitution. But clearly some Republicans have become "professional" politicians and part of the problem.

Next installment:

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http://padre-island.us/padre-island.us/publicfolder/FRphase/hopefulpatriot/2005/majorityrules.htm

Third Party Tragedies

"A Republic if you can keep it!" was Benjamin Franklin's curt reply when asked the nature of our government at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Our Constitution is an amazingly brilliant document. It was written to protect We the people not only from the federal government that it created, but also as Franklin's poignant remark illustrates, the Constitution protected us from ourselves. The Founders recognized the dangers of a tyranny of the majority. Contrary to what public schools teach and what most Democrats would have you believe, on paper the United States is most assuredly not a democracy, nor was it ever intended to be. And almost paradoxically, it was not overwhelming majorities that led us down the primrose path toward democracy.

As far as I know, the Republican Party has been the only 'successful' third party in American history. Successful is bracketed because Lincoln used force to breach the Constitution and bring the seceding states back into the union. Regardless of your thoughts on Lincoln or the Civil War, the Republican Party has been with us as a major political party ever since. No other third party has ever enjoyed success and some notable third party efforts have resulted in tragedies of historic proportion for our nation.

Most Americans have an image of Teddy Roosevelt as a genuine hero. This is in spite of the fact that his decision to leave the Republican Party and form the Bull Moose Party may one day be seen by history as the pivotal event leading to the beginning of the end of the United States itself. Woodrow Wilson became President with a plurality, not a majority, of the vote as a result of this third party disaster. Wilson and the Democrats engineered three catastrophic changes in the Constitution that set the stage for socialism and "professional" politicians.

The Federal Reserve Act, one of the first successful end runs around the Constitution, was the first of the three. The XVIth and XVIIth Amendments were the other two. Together, the Federal Reserve Act and the XVIth Amendment effectively granted Congress unlimited taxing, unlimited borrowing, and unlimited spending powers. The XVIIth Amendment brought the United States much closer to actually being a democracy. The theory of a republican form of government is that we elect leaders that are wiser, more experienced and of a higher moral character who will use their independent judgment to then do what is in our best interest, regardless of what we want or would prefer. Under the Constitution prior to the XVIIth Amendment, the State legislatures elected United States Senators, hence the origin of the concept of the Senate's being the upper chamber versus the House being the people's chamber.

Important third party stories and tragedies are still being played out today. Remember Ross Perot's Reform Party that gave us the Clinton tragedy? An even greater unpublicized current tragedy is found in the numerous conservative third parties that have splintered away from a Republican Party unwilling to embrace genuine conservative reforms. Presently, there are not enough conservatives within the Republican Party to control it and the third parties that have splintered away dilute the conservative influence that still remains within the Republican Party even more. All conservative third parties need to understand that they could not obtain a governing majority even if they had Ronald Reagan as their President. No third party can defeat the Democratic Party, especially when allied with the closet socialists within the Republican Party. If the Constitution is to be restored, it can only be done by a conservative coalition able to either control or intimidate the Republican Party. "Professional" politicians are not going to be part of the solution. Bringing conservatives that have formed their own third party and deserted the Republican Party back into to the Republican Party in order to form a conservative coalition that can put the Republican Party back on the "right" path is an essential step toward restoring the Constitution.

Next installment:

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http://padre-island.us/padre-island.us/publicfolder/FRphase/hopefulpatriot/2005/wethepeople.htm

extraORDINARY

While it is true that we all stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us, it took less than 150 years for the United States to become the most powerful, the most productive, and the richest nation in the history of the world. Each of these accomplishments was achieved by a wide margin. During those 150 years, the United States advanced the progress and standard of living for all men more than all of the rest of history combined. And the United States accomplished this feat with a comparative handful of the population of the rest of the world. Are Americans an extraordinary race or was it something else? As a nation formed of immigrants, the melting pot of the world, the answer is that Americans are no different from anybody else; it is obviously something different from our humanity.

Individual freedom is the engine that powered America's achievements, her progress and her greatness. Freedom allowed ordinary people to do extraordinary things. There were no chains on their ability to take chances. There were no "planners" to misdirect or prevent their efforts. And they were protected by the Constitution from powerful plunderers with designs on the profits from their successes. Capital formation and compounding (free markets) made it possible for even the poorest of Americans to become rich. No one endured the winter at Valley Forge to be ruled by George Washington instead of King George. It was not our leaders that made us great, but it was our leaders that got government out of our way.

We the People

Freepers use the pejorative "sheeple". I would suggest that Americans have not really changed. Historians tell us that only about a third of the colonials favored the American Revolution and a significant number opposed it. If you look at polling data today, no matter what the issue being polled is, the results will show 30-40% for it and 30-40% against it with the rest undecided. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and the results are in fact precisely what might be expected when trying to answer difficult questions. Life and government are complicated. While our country was a still a republic and the balance of power between government and individuals was tilted against government, individuals were free to go their separate ways to see what worked and what failed. But as government shifted away from the Constitution toward majority rule, initiative was stifled, failure was subsidized and sloth rewarded while savings and success were penalized. Government has impeded progress and been taking us backwards for more than ninety years

The problem is power and leadership. It has been said that, "Some things can be changed and some can't. Happiness is knowing what should be changed and what shouldn't; wisdom is the ability to tell the difference." Liberals, Democrats and socialists can't be changed. The people don't need to be changed. Ronald Reagan won two landslide elections running on a decidedly conservative agenda to reduce government and empower the people. In the vein of "you can fool me once...", his re-election margin was the largest electoral victory ever recorded. The people reversed the power equation of Congress in 1994 because of the Contract with America. The Republican Party has not followed through and reversed the power equation between government and the people in accordance with the Constitution. Clearly the leadership of the Republican Party must be changed. And it is the changed Republican Party that must then restore the Constitution to remove power from the government.

Freedom means that every individual has the right to make their own individual choices. The Founders wrote the Constitution to leave the decision making power for leading our individual lives with We the individual people. Congress, the Court, and current as well as past Presidents have all usurped our God-given rights as identified in the Declaration of Independence and carefully preserved in the Constitution. The Constitution did not delegate the power to Congress to determine what retirement plan, what health care plan, or what charities We must support. There is no ambiguity in the Constitution; that power unequivocally resides with the States or the people. It is time for conservatives to educate and lead We the people in demanding our rights. And it only takes a moment's thought to recognize that We must start by taking control of the Republican Party.

Okay, here's the next installment. No comment from me.

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http://padre-island.us/padre-island.us/publicfolder/FRphase/hopefulpatriot/2005/easierthanyouthink.htm

Simple Steps Spell Success

Freepers can start and keep the Constitutional Restoration ball rolling by taking a series of small logical steps. Each step forward, makes it possible to take the next step. It is the Reagan Wing of the Republican Party that will defeat left-leaning Republicans and Democrats. It is the defeat of these two groups that will make it possible for conservatives to restore the Constitution. By targeting left-leaning Republicans and far-left Democrats, both parties will shift progressively to the right without having to defeat large numbers of Democrats and without having to cater to moderates.

It is the unique method of funding political campaigns that makes recruiting of our Reagan Wing candidates possible. Rush Limbaugh is the one person ideally positioned to tap two different sources of funding that are capable of providing at least $600 million in every Congressional election cycle to fund the campaigns of our Reagan Wing candidates freeing them completely from the onerous task of campaign fund raising. While there is nothing that would preclude others from being able to tap these or other funding sources, it is difficult to envision that anybody can do so as easily as Rush. Equally important to our Reagan Wing candidates there is nobody that can provide anything comparable to Rush's three hours of air time every day, his political expertise and analysis, his sense of humor, or his conservative rightness that has attracted the allegiance and loyalties of his 22 million listeners. In short, the single step of recruiting Rush Limbaugh to this effort virtually guarantees its success. That might not be true for any other conservative leader or leaders.

The first step is making either Rush or David Limbaugh aware of this effort. Contacting celebrities is difficult. At least five years of unsuccessful private attempts have already gone into this effort. Since Rush, David and people close to Rush occasionally peruse the pages of FreeRepublic, sustained and repeated exposure of this effort on FreeRepublic could attract Rush's attention through his or related parties' screening of the FreeRepublic.com website Freepers can actively email other conservative leaders or icons about the existence of this effort and ask them to not only make Rush aware, but also ask them to help convince Rush that this is the right thing to do.

Next:

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http://padre-island.us/padre-island.us/publicfolder/phase4/conservatives/goodmen.htm

A Few Good Men

"When good men do nothing, evil triumphs."
Edmund Burke

The Marine Corps calls attention to the difference that a few good men can make to the course of history; Burke recognized the extraordinary cost of indifference.

The purpose of this article is to inform you of a promising new opportunity to restore the Constitution. There have not been many such opportunities and past results have been disappointing. President Reagan said government is the problem, but in truth the problem is actually government sponsored socialism. The solution will require getting our elected representatives to make substantial changes to laws that they personally have either enacted or already condoned.

As long as there are significant numbers of what can be called "professional" politicians in Congress it is naive to believe that a "substantial change in the law" is possible. It logically follows that the best way to make a "substantial change in the law" would be to make a substantial change in the lawmakers. Making major changes in a body where 90+% of incumbents win re-election is a Herculean task, but by breaking it into smaller targeted components we can make the task manageable.

History tells us that major changes take place slowly and begin at the margin. Divide and conquer is a time honored strategy based on utilizing the margin to your own advantage. As you are about to see, this will be a major focus of our approach. As movements gain momentum, people want to get on board the band wagon. Creating the band wagon by effectively conducting what has been dubbed the "Great Debate" is the second arrow in our quiver. Knock-out punches, silver bullets and pebbles in a sling have resulted in some of history's most memorable surprise upsets. Every army needs a David, and every arsenal should have a silver bullet. Newt's Contract with America is a tested and proven model for making major Congressional changes, one that is easily upgraded into a Contract with Congress. Lets begin our discussion of each arrow in our arsenal's quiver with divide and conquer.

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