A Time for Offense

A Bitter Pill

The latest Washington sellout, Ben Nelson, should illuminate for us just how urgent the call of history has become. My fingers are almost quivering as I type this, when I think about Harry Reid using tax dollars that should, at a minimum, be applied toward our staggering debt service, if not outright returned to the hardworking people of America-- people that would lose EVERYTHING were they to operate their households the way their government manages their money-- to buy off Senators to get this disgusting piece of legislation through the that dishonorable body. I'm not sure how you feel, but I'm tired of this shakedown. I'm tired of the arrogance. I'm tired of politicians that want to remake the United States in the image of the worst of Western Europe and call it progress. The gall of these men and women, who have ballooned our national debt making us ever more beholden to foreign powers, who have only too gleefully pursued more entitlements to make the American people more dependent on they, the would-be puppet masters in Washington D.C., who use our hard-earned dollars to bribe and threaten and control like filthy mobsters, who flaunt their use of power in our faces just daring us to do something about it, is too much to swallow.

But most of all, I'm tired off reacting to these punks in the first place. They trot one disastrous piece of governance after another, we howl in protest, and they walk away with merely an arm of our liberty... or a leg, or a torso. Don't worry, they'll be back for the rest of the body, their thirst for absolute control over our lives only whetted for a brief moment in time. Unfortunately for us, these punks have acquired terrific power-- power that the founding fathers never intended a politician to have in the first place... EVER. And I'm ready to get proactive about returning that power to its rightful owners, starting in 2010.

What Now?

Our generation needs to put forth a game changer, something to turn back the dark, post-FDR tide in a fundamental way and set our country on a major course correction. History is calling us. And let me be clear, this is a bigger task than triumphing in an election or two. We all bought into the false hope of 1994-- that was a politician-engineered revolt that, although backed by the people, turned the Republican party into the feckless, wobbly-kneed institution of insiders and stiffs that it remains today. We are worse off in 2009 than we ever were in 1993. The revolution that begins in 2010 must not be merely supported by the people, it must be led by the people. To borrow a well-worn cliché, it is time to take our country back.

This effort must not be merely about obtaining political power, which is short-term thinking with a natural beginning and end (a craven goal worthy of our political opponents). I'm speaking of a long-term, wholesale reshaping of our governmental culture, powered by a massive educational endeavor. The American people are opposed to what is taking place in Washington DC and in state capitals across the country, but this opposition is instinctive-- meaning, they don't have the tools (understanding of history, our constitution, and the required vocabulary) to articulate exactly why they oppose it. This weakens their ability to take a firm stand and explain their opposition with conviction and clarity and persuasion to their friends and family, and thus their resolve, and our movement along with it, is hindered. We can't take heart in polls that show opposition to the Far Left's agenda, a sentiment that is an inch deep and directionless, which is why the ruling elites in Washington DC are willing to risk cramming through their gangster agenda in defiance of it. If we give people the knowledge to properly understand the depth of depravity taking place among our supposed representatives they will rise up with us in opposition, and at that point these scoundrels in DC will lose their power to harm America, not just for an election cycle or two, but for a generation or two. And only then will we begin to repair the damage to our formerly great Republic.

A Bold Alternative

The current grassroots movement of conservatives and libertarians-- be they Tea Party or otherwise-- need to coalesce in 2010 behind an alternative to the Far Left's agenda that can, at the very least, lay the groundwork for this grand political education. Tea Party Patriots has started this effort already (http://www.contractfromamerica.com/Idea.aspx), and efforts like this beg your thoughtful attention and participation. In my opinion this agenda needs to address the immoralities present in the following areas:

• Taxes: We can argue supply-side vs. demand-side economics until the cows come home, but nobody in Washington seems to care about deficits anyway. Therefore taxes should be immediately cut across the board. Return the people's money in the short-term to revive the economy and defund the Congressional thieves, and in the long-term investigate alternative taxation systems that do away with the IRS and the associated arcane annual filing exercise that consumes so many families.
• Spending: In the short run, place limitations on Congress' ability to raise the debt ceiling in relation to the size of our economy, except in periods of true national emergency. Consider also proposals like zero-base budgeting that require accountability in all taxpayer-funded programs, and an end to so-called Congressional earmarks that contribute so much of the pork that buy off whores like Senators Nelson and Landrieu.
• Federalism: We must bring about the end of the usurpation of power by all 3 branches of our federal government, returning it to state and local governments. In the short run consider the Enumerated Powers Act that forces Congress to establish constitutional authority before taking action. In the long run unreasonable and unconstitutional regulation needs to be gutted, along with several federal agencies. Also, on a related note, the so-called presidential czars need to be stripped of any and all regulatory ability, which make a mockery of separation of powers.
• The Washington D.C. Career Path: This is at the root of all the corruption, these troublemakers attaching their anchors to the taxpayer trough seemingly for life, completely detached from the way things work out here in the real world-- those of us with jobs and businesses that have to some how make ends meet and survive under the trash these elitists shove down our throats. No more! We need to blow up the taxpayer-funded career path and associated lifetime perks and salaries these people draw. They need to start living like we do-- immediately. In the long-run we need term limits, you aren't supposed to live in Washington D.C. forever, go back to your districts and try to make it under the laws you pass.
• Energy: No more games, drill for our national resources now, and wait for the green market to establish itself on its own merits, not on the backs of working men and women in the form of high prices and a reduced standard of living. No more roadblocks, no more wackos setting the agenda and sabotaging capitalism, so long as common sense safeguards are in place there should be no limits to obtaining as much of our own energy as their are entrepreneurs willing to risk their own skins to go get it.
• Environmental Policy: The re-establishment of fact-based environmental policy that isn't solely reliant on voodoo models that can substantiate just about anything the modeler wants to prove; and a suspension of all further global warming-related regulation until such time as "Climategate" is investigated to the satisfaction of the American taxpayer.
• Sovereignty: In the short term, a formal declaration by Congress that reasserts America's sovereignty and rejects forevermore intrusion into our internal affairs in the form of global taxation, regulation, or other hinderences on our ability to both prosper and defend our interests. In the long term, a re-evaluation of our commitment to the United Nations, which has evolved into a virtual country club for radical leftists, dictators and thugs that live off U.S. taxpayer support only to spit in our faces. Personally speaking, I've about had it with this crowd.
• English as the Official Language. We welcome all legal immigration, but learn our language as the generations who preceded you did. Our language is part of our identity and critical to your prospects for success here. Political correctness will no longer dictate national interest.
• Repeal of any Healthcare Legislation Enacted by this Congress. Replace it with a genuine, free-market down payment on healthcare reform, such as that exquisitely articulated by Whole Foods CEO Jeff Mackey in his Wall Street Journal op-ed from last August (http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/).

Road Trip

I say, don't ask for the whole enchilada on this first pass. Stick with an easily digestible breadbasket of reforms that lay the foundation for the long-term education of America, then take the liberty baton on the road. I recommend a national tour, city by city, that puts forth a common sense alternative vision to the madness and tryanny of the Left. Assemble a core group of charismatic fresh faces that rotate on the tour, mixed in with local leaders with traction in their particular regions of the country. The tour would be part political rally, part revival, part rock concert-- get people confident, pumped up, connected and committed. Recruit, energize, galvanize and set them loose in their communities to rally their friends and neighbors behind the call of history. Give every candidate running for office the opportunity to endorse this new vision, regardless of political persuasion. As far as I'm concerned, they're all fired-- but they have the right to re-apply for their jobs under a new accountability.

To accomplish this we need top notch promotional tools-- polished mediums of communication, crisp merchandising materials, branded apparel, you name it. This isn't merely a political movement, it's the call of history to this generation of Americans. It needs to move with confidence and principled boldness in the face the inevitable taunts and threats and demonization by the Left Wing and their allies in media, entertainment and academia. And more than anything, it needs courageous LEADERS ready to direct a nation of patriots and write a new chapter in future history books. Is there a Jefferson out there today? A Madison? A Franklin? Perhaps yes-- let's get this revival started and hope they bubble to the surface.

A Long Term Campaign

These tyrants in our government have forgotten for whom they work. They don't love America, they want to remake it into a socialist nightmare. This isn't just about election cycles or temporary victories anymore, this time we need to play for keeps as we begin to drive these people to the fringes of society where they belong. But it won't happen by prayers and wishes alone, it will take bold action by all of us, reaching beyond our comfort zones, digging deep, and laying it all on the line for our country. My idea for a road trip is only meant to be the kickoff of a long-term endeavor, perhaps spanning 40, 50, even 75 or more years. It will take generations of commitment to right the course, but ours must ignite the flame. How do we get this started?