The following is part 2 of a 3-part series in which I respond to my liberal host’s query regarding the Tea Party. (Again, our wives pulled rank and with a teenager in the next room, we changed the subject of our conversations for the balance of the weekend.) Click here to read part 1.
—-
I did think about this, over those next few days and on the seven-plus hour ride back to Chesterfield. I felt that I needed to be able to do more than (and I did do this) tear the Richmond Tea Party’s five planks off of something in my briefcase and hand it over. I think that those tenants are easily shrugged aside by those determined to remain comfortably unaware of our actual purpose:
Constitutional Adherence
Limited Government
Fiscal Responsibility
Virtue & Accountability
Free Markets
I mean, can’t we all imagine a liberal’s response to these grand goals? They may be a daily diet to us, but to our critics they are easily dismissed as vague ideals behind which we can continue being all that we are accused of being. Although I strongly support the above beliefs, how can we translate them effectively? How can we state, respectfully and person to person, what we want?
My mind wouldn’t let this go, not on the beach, at the dinner table, or on the road. I’m sure my host was asking for an answer more correctly provided by my scrap of paper with the above points on it, but I was looking for something from the core, from the gut. I wanted to answer my friend directly, by explaining what I wanted from him. Not from America, Washington, the press, or even the Tea Party. I saw him as those who see fit to hate me, lie about me or, at a minimum, disregard me as irrelevant.
(to be continued)
Start with a simple definition of each.
Constitutional Adherence; Multi-pronged issue. Must protect the Supreme Court by standing up to liberal nominations. Line in the sand. If one more conservative justice retires or, God forbid, dies while democrats hold the majority, we loose big! The over reaching of the Executive Branch must be addressed. Who would have thought 30 years ago, America would have Csars? America must recognize socialism for what it is and be forced to make the choice now. Stop letting these nuts take over our country. That and a host of other crap has to go!
Limited Government & Fiscal Responsibility; Stop the hemorrhage. One solid goal: No deficit spending. Additionally, we must make and stick to a dedicated plan to buy back our debt and gain back our economic dominance. Regardless of consequences, real or imagined, Federal deficit spending must cease. No excuses or emotional pleas should be allowed to deviate America from this goal. We can live without many federal agencies and departments until we get back on our feet, (and may realize we can live without them period.) The ONLY possible reason to spend beyond your means would be war, (protection of our country). Even this deficit spending should be temporary while cutting expenses in other areas to get back in the black. We must ELIMINATE pork. Every current politician has campaigned on this issue without result. Americans must demand every expenditure stand on its own. Institute a level for this measure. ANY expenditure above a certain amount must be voted on without riders. The liberals will cry the legislature cannot possible tackle the volume of bills, but this will actually greatly help our efforts to prioritize spending and not waste time of special interest or state specific pork. We need to use the quotes of our founding fathers to drive home this point and stick to our guns.
Virtue & Accountability; Zero tolerance. Investigate and prosecute illegal activity. Take steps to remove the profitability currently occurring from holding office. Corporations and individuals should not be able to launder payoffs to politicians through speech appearances, chair positions or book purchases. Follow the money and cut it off, (make it illegal). This will greatly help curb the reason dirt bags seek office.
Free Markets; Again stop the hemorrhage. It should not be profitable for companies to pursue labor outside the U.S. to make good to be sold here. Secure our borders and ILLEGAL means ILLEGAL. Find, Detain and DEPORT!
Ditto Gary Hutchinson plus the following:
The rule of law–Congress and the President must be held accountable to abide by the Constitution, which they swore to uphold in their oaths of office. We ought to press for impeachment of congressmen who vote for unconstitutional legislation. Health care ought to be repealed as it is unconstitutional, unaffordable, and ineffective (if we want everybody to have adequate health care). Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security must be eliminated through a process of attrition, opt out provisions for younger workers, and means testing. Earmarks must be made illegal.
I could go on and on with details. Simply put, we don’t want the government to solve problems we ought to solve for ourselves. We want the federal government to stick to its constitutionally mandated duties and leave the other responsibilities to the states and to the citizens.