Posted by
Paul on Thursday, July 31, 2008 10:13:58 PM
Abraham Lincoln famously stated we are a "government of the people by the people...". Our Declaration of Independence states that "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed". Read those two historic passages again. Does that sound like our government today? Our government is no longer servant of the people. The people have become servants of an overreaching power hungry government that ignores the will of the people.
Today over 70% of Americans want to drill for oil in the United States to lower gas and heating oil prices. But our government is obstructing our will and is insisting that we continue to pay more for gas at the pumps. Politicians are restricting us from using our own natural resources and Americans are suffering. We can not drill for more domestic oil and coal mining and exploring for more of our own abundant natural gas supplies are restricted by elected officials who are supposed to serve the people. America has more coal than we can use but government restrictions force us to actually import coal. That is a crime. Think about how many jobs are eliminated by energy policies that make no sense.
Congress has just passed a government bail out of the mortgage industry that President Bush will sign against the will of the people. Government created a housing and mortgage crisis by forcing lenders to loan money to people who did not qualify and were bad risks, and is now telling the taxpayers to pay for it. Why should responsible people who are working hard to pay their own mortgages be forced pay for the mistakes of irresponsible people? This is not about fairness; this is about individual responsibility.
The Democrat led congress is anti-business and creates policies that interfere with businesses through excessive regulation, creating red tape, and excessive taxes on businesses that employ people. Big and small businesses are not embraced but demonized with charges of excessive profits and excessive CEO salaries. These hostile policies hurt our nation's job growth and prosperity. But politicians do not care because obstructive policies such as these create more government power.
Our elected officials are more interested in consolidating power than serving the people. The McCain/Feingold bill and continued efforts to grant amnesty to illegal aliens are perfect examples. McCain/Feingold is unconstitutional and is a violation of our free speech. Yet congress voted for it, our president signed the bill into law, and our Supreme Court in a narrow majority found nothing wrong with the bill. McCain/Feingold has nothing to do with taking money out of politics and everything to do with saving incumbent senate and house seats, and consolidating more power.
For the past five years the overwhelming majority of Americans have said no to amnesty and citizenship for illegal aliens who break our laws. Yet our elected officials continue to scheme new ways to circumvent the will of the people. Politicians view illegal aliens who are supported with taxpayer funded government handouts as future voters.
Today you frequently hear Democrats such as Barack Obama speak of equality of results, social justice, economic justice, equal distribution of income, fairness, and balancing our needs with those of Europe. This is not the advancement of freedom and liberty which our great nation was built on. This is communism and government abuse of power.
Our elected officials and our judiciary are stripping us of our individual freedoms and are imposing their radical agendas and policy preferences upon us. Are congressmen obligated to represent the will of their constituents or impose their own preferences on those they are supposed to represent? It seems to me that congressmen are obligated to represent the will of their district or face the consequences at the ballot box. This November Americans have the opportunity to go out and vote and remind our elected officials that government derives their just powers from the consent of the governed.