Posted on 02/17/2010 7:34:23 AM PST by Pyro7480
We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government.
These principles define us as a country and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any other in the world. They are our highest achievements, serving not only as powerful beacons to all who strive for freedom and seek self-government, but as warnings to tyrants and despots everywhere.
Each one of these founding ideas is presently under sustained attack. In recent decades, America’s principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The selfevident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.
Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead — forward or backward, up or down? Isn’t this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?
The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.
The conservatism of the Constitution limits government’s powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.
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.
A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.
* It applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law to every proposal.If we are to succeed in the critical political and policy battles ahead, we must be certain of our purpose.* It honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life.
* It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.
* It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that end.
* It informs conservatism’s firm defense of family, neighborhood, community, and faith.
We must begin by retaking and resolutely defending the high ground of America’s founding principles.
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America
Edwin Feulner, Jr., president of the Heritage Foundation
Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at the Heritage Foundation, was present at the Sharon Statement signing.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council
Becky Norton Dunlop, president of the Council for National Policy
Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center
Alfred Regnery, publisher of the American Spectator
David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union
David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society
T. Kenneth Cribb, former domestic policy adviser to President Reagan
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform
William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government
Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness
Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com
Kenneth Blackwell, Coalition for a Conservative Majority
Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring
Kathryn J. Lopez, National Review
Is that it?
I’ve got no problem with that statement.
That is very disappointing. Weak.
My thoughts exactly. This is a nice restatement of general Conservative principles. Unless I'm missing something it means little else.
This statement is very weak tea.
How much time did it take to comile this? I could of strung some quotes from Burke together in a few minutes.
“to satisfy liberals who have criticized the Tea Party movement for not having intellectual underpinnings”
It’s a funny, & true, statement you make.
But then I think about it, and realize the same could probably be said for many of the revered documents of 200 years ago!
The declaration of independence could be said to be intellectual justification for “FUKG”..
“This is a nice restatement of general Conservative principles”
..but missing any of the real-life issues of morality than underpin a secure society.
But then what is it they say about looking gift horses in the mouth?
Domestic enemies are shaking in their jackboots. /sarcasm
Here, our betters are hoping for approval by the elites. This statement will not motivate the people who matter in the Tea Party--the People.
Weak is good. Been reading the liberal reaction and they are furious there isn’t more. They call it weak too. The reason why they are upset is because there is nothing to attack. Got to be a real leftwing nut job to oppose this. So..while you and I might want more, this will have the desired effect. It will get people who are wishy-washy or not paying attention to think...”Well of course I agree with that”
I can work with this.
We have to walk away from the divisions that have created this loss of liberty. That of Democrat and Republican.
I am not saying toss both parties. I am saying that both parties must refocus on returning us to a state od CONSTITUTIONAL freedon.
Yes, democrats have a MUCH longer road to walk than republicans do, but both parties got a pretty good hike to take to get there.
This is why people ae so disillusioned with the political process, the two big parties are both guilty of eroding our constitutional freedoms.
It is up to US, the people, to force the issue, and push back against this soft tyranny.
It isn’t about being republican or democrat, it’s about being American. Forget the parties, they aren’t helping ANY of us no matter which side of the spectrum you are talking about. Instead lets get back to being Americans. That defeats tyranny on both sides!
We didn't ask for it. This is what we got. What's to say? What's to do? I dunno.
I can’t disagree with the thrust of what you say, it rings true.
Their motivation may not be hoping for approval from elites though. Maybe we should just consider it a step in the right direction.
What is there to agree with? Nothing to attack and nothing to attack with.
This does nothing. Might as well be a blank paper.
This is not a step. This is like a sideways glance in the general area of the right direction.
hehe.
To us, yeah. Little to even think about.
But not to the leaders of the left. Laws of nature and God's law, limited government, morality--are direct attacks on relativism. That is what they thrive on, what they preach and what all too many absorb as the way things are without thinking it out. However, when the average American reads this, they think..."Yeah..I agree with all that". It will break people away from the left. I can see it today by how upset the leftist ideologues are about this. They can't attack it directly because THEY KNOW it resonates and they would expose themselves as UnAmerican if they did. It will have the same effect on many as JPII did when he said to the Poles: "You are not who they say you are, let me remind you who you are"
On my unread blog, I said its like beating a rock with a limp noodle
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