For those we lost, We will not forget 09/11/2001 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
— The Continental Congress, July 4, 1776

“The task of statesmanship has always been the re-definition of these rights in terms of a changing and growing social order.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt (Commonwealth Club Address, 1932)

“Roosevelt was wrong! The principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence are the principles of individual liberty. Our unalienable rights, given to us by God are given to us as individuals. Our rights do not come from society or the government, and they cannot be redefined by politicians. The nature of these rights carries with it the implication of individual responsibility, without which we surrender them.”
— Perri Nelson, November 6, 2008

More wisdom from the founders

Published Fri, Jul 27 2007 9:19 AM
Technorati Tags: Federalism, States Rights

Our nation's founders were men of unusual wisdom. Sure they had their flaws, but when they worked together and created our nation they created a thing of singular beauty. They created a representative republic that struggled for recognition at first and grew into a solid, stable nation worthy of respect among the nations of the world.

One of the things about the nation that they created was the way they built it. They took thirteen independent nations and joined them into a strong republic. The federal government was intended to provide protection to those nations and a uniform foreign policy. It was also intended to guarantee to those nations a republican form of government.

The price of this protection, and that is the primary purpose that the founders saw for the federal government, was that the states would give up their ability to treat with the rest of the world, or each other, as sovereign nations. In all other things the states were to retain their powers, and their rights. They were to retain their jurisdiction over their citizens. They were to retain their jurisdiction over their lands, with the exception of those lands given up to the federal government.

The founders though, knew people pretty well. They anticipated the growth of an overly large federal government, and the usurpation of states rights that we have seen for the last century and a half. Today's Founders Quote Daily from the Patriot Post sums it up nicely…

“For the same reason that the members of the State legislatures will be unlikely to attach themselves sufficiently to national objects, the members of the federal legislature will be likely to attach themselves too much to local objects.”

— James Madison (Federalist No. 47, 1 February 1788)

The states have abdicated much of their powers of governance to the federal government. The federal legislature has gladly usurped those powers. The redistributionist system that exists now was never what our founders intended. It was never the intent of men like James Madison or Thomas Jefferson that the federal legislature should take moneys from one state to distribute them to another state for local projects.

The system of earmarks that our Congressmen are so unwilling to open up to public scrutiny is an abomination. The pork that our Senators bring home should not be something they are praised for by their constituents, but rather something that causes free men to reject them as depraved and overreaching.

We don't need federal socialism. The socialists like to say that "socialism is democracy". They imply that we have a "right" to the fruits of other people's labors. What they offer us through the ever increasing socialist bureaucracy that our federal government has become is nothing short of slavery to the federal government.

We need welfare reform — eliminate the program. The social security program is approaching bankruptcy — eliminate it. Medicare costs have skyrocketed — eliminate the program. Not a single one of these incredibly massive socialist programs belongs at the federal level.

I'm not advocating cutting the people that depend upon these programs for their very survival off from support. Instead, I'm advocating shifting the responsibility for that support back where it belongs. The states are charged with governing their citizens and with every thing relating to that.

Social problems should be solved where they are found. It's time the states took back their responsibilities. The federal government had demonstrated that it cannot do this job efficiently, and it was never a federal responsibility or power in the first place.

The federal constitution guarantees to the states a Republican form of government. It does not offer a socialist form of government.

It's time, past time actually, that the states took back that which rightly belongs to them. It's time, past time actually, that pork barrel spending should be eliminated from every federal bill. Finally, it's time the massive, entitlement programs that make us slaves to the federal government were eliminated, or transferred to the complete control of the states.

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