Bonnie Alba
Elect more nonconforming libertarian-Republicans
By Bonnie Alba
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." — Ronald Reagan
Nonconformist: of or characterized by behavior or views that do not conform to prevailing ideas or practices.
Recently Fox's Glenn Beck offered citizens a quiz to pinpoint where they fall in their political beliefs. The Nolan Chart (www.nolanchart.com/survey.php) provides questions which when answered honestly will place the responder somewhere on the political spectrum depicting conservative-libertarian-liberal-statist-centrist sections. Citizens who consider themselves conservative might be surprised to find they're somewhere between conservative and libertarian.
Commentators have had a difficult time labeling tea party citizens. Many are disillusioned democrats and republicans; some call themselves independents. Most have been active voters for decades. After all the emailing, letters and sending pink slips to Congress; after marching on Washington — citizen-protestors are still not taken very seriously in Washington.
Some commentators have suggested that Republican-Libertarian Rep. Ron Paul is responsible for the grassroots Tea Party movement rising up against the present Washington chaos. The truth is Paul's 2008 presidential campaign ignited long-held frustrations and also educated some of the younger generation regarding constitutional principles.
Considered a "kook" by many of his congressional peers, Paul may be the only sane one there. This is the man who just returned $100,000 of his congressional budget back to the U.S. Treasury. His congressional frugality borders on treason within free-spending Congress. Nicknamed "Dr. No" because of his thriftiness, he votes no to any legislation unless it adheres to the Constitution.
So is Paul crazy? Of course not. He's much like all citizens who are conscientiously watching their money and budgets. Regrettably there aren't enough libertarian-doers in Congress who would stop the decades of runaway-spending and cut the government down to constitutional size.
There are signs that some Libertarian-thinking citizens are running on 2010 Republican congressional tickets. These are the same people along with constitutionalists who have suffered through the frustrations of watching Washington unabashedly kill the U.S. Constitution.
One such citizen is Liberty Republican John Dennis (www.johndennis2010.com) who is running against Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco's 8th District. On congressional leaders, Dennis says:
"I think of them as far away from leadership as anything I can imagine. We are in debt ...when you add up the current debt, the unfunded liabilities, the backstops to banks, loans, all the bailouts — our quote-unquote leaders have put us all in debt to the tune of $300,000 apiece. That's not leadership. Many have the nerve to call themselves conservatives but are they really at the end of the day? — 94 percent of the house members are reelected, continually with the idea of keeping their jobs."
Reagan also said, "The federal government has taken too much tax money from the people, too much authority from the states, and too much liberty with the Constitution."
Ronald Reagan was right in his assessment of conservatism's heart. So, why do we not elect more of these sane budget-conscious thinkers to Congress? If it is conservative to hold to principles concerning budgets, reducing the National Debt, taxes and holding government to constitutional restraints, why hasn't it happened?
Most tea party citizens have long been exasperated by the federal government's "broad-constructionist" interpretation of the U.S. Constitution which has led to a distinct decline of our Republic and Civil Liberties. In case you don't know what kind of interpretation that is — think Al Gore's declaration that "the U.S. Constitution is a living document." In other words, it changes with the seasons.
The founders' constitutional intent is never taken into account by such interpretation. Otherwise, we would never have had social security, medicare, medicaid, subsidies for farmers and businesses — growing the federal government far beyond its constitutional responsibilities.
Maybe it's time that libertarian thinkers have the opportunity to turn our nation around and bring down the National Debt before bankruptcy and a real Great Depression become reality. They certainly couldn't do any worse than what we've been subjected to for the last 100 years. Let's hope it's not too late.
Given a choice, the elite Washington free-spending crowd or the nonconforming Libertarian-Republicans, citizens may just choose the ones who adhere to the U.S. Constitution over and against the careerist so-called conservative Republicans and liberal-progressive Democrats.
© Bonnie Alba
April 2, 2010
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." — Ronald Reagan
Nonconformist: of or characterized by behavior or views that do not conform to prevailing ideas or practices.
Recently Fox's Glenn Beck offered citizens a quiz to pinpoint where they fall in their political beliefs. The Nolan Chart (www.nolanchart.com/survey.php) provides questions which when answered honestly will place the responder somewhere on the political spectrum depicting conservative-libertarian-liberal-statist-centrist sections. Citizens who consider themselves conservative might be surprised to find they're somewhere between conservative and libertarian.
Commentators have had a difficult time labeling tea party citizens. Many are disillusioned democrats and republicans; some call themselves independents. Most have been active voters for decades. After all the emailing, letters and sending pink slips to Congress; after marching on Washington — citizen-protestors are still not taken very seriously in Washington.
Some commentators have suggested that Republican-Libertarian Rep. Ron Paul is responsible for the grassroots Tea Party movement rising up against the present Washington chaos. The truth is Paul's 2008 presidential campaign ignited long-held frustrations and also educated some of the younger generation regarding constitutional principles.
Considered a "kook" by many of his congressional peers, Paul may be the only sane one there. This is the man who just returned $100,000 of his congressional budget back to the U.S. Treasury. His congressional frugality borders on treason within free-spending Congress. Nicknamed "Dr. No" because of his thriftiness, he votes no to any legislation unless it adheres to the Constitution.
So is Paul crazy? Of course not. He's much like all citizens who are conscientiously watching their money and budgets. Regrettably there aren't enough libertarian-doers in Congress who would stop the decades of runaway-spending and cut the government down to constitutional size.
There are signs that some Libertarian-thinking citizens are running on 2010 Republican congressional tickets. These are the same people along with constitutionalists who have suffered through the frustrations of watching Washington unabashedly kill the U.S. Constitution.
One such citizen is Liberty Republican John Dennis (www.johndennis2010.com) who is running against Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco's 8th District. On congressional leaders, Dennis says:
"I think of them as far away from leadership as anything I can imagine. We are in debt ...when you add up the current debt, the unfunded liabilities, the backstops to banks, loans, all the bailouts — our quote-unquote leaders have put us all in debt to the tune of $300,000 apiece. That's not leadership. Many have the nerve to call themselves conservatives but are they really at the end of the day? — 94 percent of the house members are reelected, continually with the idea of keeping their jobs."
Reagan also said, "The federal government has taken too much tax money from the people, too much authority from the states, and too much liberty with the Constitution."
Ronald Reagan was right in his assessment of conservatism's heart. So, why do we not elect more of these sane budget-conscious thinkers to Congress? If it is conservative to hold to principles concerning budgets, reducing the National Debt, taxes and holding government to constitutional restraints, why hasn't it happened?
Most tea party citizens have long been exasperated by the federal government's "broad-constructionist" interpretation of the U.S. Constitution which has led to a distinct decline of our Republic and Civil Liberties. In case you don't know what kind of interpretation that is — think Al Gore's declaration that "the U.S. Constitution is a living document." In other words, it changes with the seasons.
The founders' constitutional intent is never taken into account by such interpretation. Otherwise, we would never have had social security, medicare, medicaid, subsidies for farmers and businesses — growing the federal government far beyond its constitutional responsibilities.
Maybe it's time that libertarian thinkers have the opportunity to turn our nation around and bring down the National Debt before bankruptcy and a real Great Depression become reality. They certainly couldn't do any worse than what we've been subjected to for the last 100 years. Let's hope it's not too late.
Given a choice, the elite Washington free-spending crowd or the nonconforming Libertarian-Republicans, citizens may just choose the ones who adhere to the U.S. Constitution over and against the careerist so-called conservative Republicans and liberal-progressive Democrats.
© Bonnie Alba
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