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A STEP TOO FAR
It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
David Brin
If there is one dynamic that sets this country apart from many of the others it is this: our government was created by the people to serve the people (not the other way around). The original leaders and framers of the constitution put in a series of safe guards, as well as certain checks and balances to insure that the government infrastructure would always be attendant to the will of the people.
Remember that most of the early settlers came here to escape religious and political repression. The last thing they wanted was an overly powerful central government. With this in mind the early patriots entrusted certain powers to the individual states, and only allowed the central government limited powers that were spelled out in detail. Under this system, all other powers were reverted to the state or individual.
Today we are witnessing unprecedented power being assumed by the Federal government and the executive branch. In my mind the government is leveraging the current economic and political unrest and fear to accumulate powers that it was never entitled to have. Greedy and power hungry politicians are passing legislation designed to increase their constituent’s dependency on them, thus perpetuating their power and positions. When all three branches of government are controlled by one party or interest group the danger of unchecked control is at its highest level.
I’ll tell you up front, that I have never been a political activist, but now its time to speak up or suffer the consequences. I for one do not like the direction that the country is heading, and I want my voice to be heard. The time for apathy is over, we need to speak out before we become slaves to our own government. Our inaction and apathy have caused us to relinquish our ideals.
I believe our country was built on the principles of freedom, personal choice, ownership of private property, and the individuals right to acquire wealth and dispose of it as he or she sees fit. Taxes and tariffs by the government are acceptable to pay for infrastructure and basic services, beyond that I don’t agree with using taxes as a means to redistribute wealth. Government does not create wealth, it only spends and redistributes wealth.
Why would we want to look to elected officials for our basic needs? In a word the government has been a terrible steward of existing national programs such as social security, Amtrak, Medicare, Farm subsidies, and others. I shudder to think of them with a controlling interest in Car makers, insurance companies, health care, and banks. I don’t want government putting salary caps on private citizens. Our dependence on the central government would rise to an all time high and their ability to control the citizens would be unprecedented.
Can you imagine a day where:
Government controlled Auto makers will only offer small, fuel efficient cars, that meet the standards of some government bureaucrat and not be driven by market demand or customer choice. By controlling production levels the boys in Washington could literally hinder your ability to travel.
Universal health care as administered by Uncle Sam, that would surely reduce the quality of our health care system to the level now “enjoyed” by England and Canada. Doctors and hospitals would be reduced to little more than government contract employees and some non health care professional would arbitrarily decide which operations and medicines we were entitled to and when. I can see a time where legislation (or punitive use taxes) could dictate the private citizen’s ability to smoke, drink, eat fattening food (or engage in other activities that the government deemed inappropriate). After all, an unhealthy lifestyle could place an unwelcome and cumbersome burden on the national free health care system. Once the single payer system is in place, we would almost have to leave the country to get elective health care. (Where are we to go…Canada ?)
Banks: Rather than let banks fail the government had stepped in and injected billions in bail out money, but with strings attached. The banks sucked up the bailout and Tarp money and just forgot to let it trickle down to millions of end users who were loosing their homes.
Social Security: The government has been fixing social security for 20 years now, and yet it is widely known that the entire program is in trouble and it is questionable if it will be sustainable for much longer, As far as I concerned they can keep my money and just stop collecting it from here on it. Another clear case of government ineptitude and meddling in people’s personal finances. It also highlights the central government’s inability to keep their hand out of the cookie jar. (or lock box..as Mr.Gore might say)
I guess, if I had to sum up my feelings on the matter, I want less government, not more. I want the freedom to succeed or fail on my own. I want to work hard and be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I don’t mind helping others, but I don’t want to be made to, by redistributing wealth. My goal would be to help the needy without dragging down, or presenting a disincentive for the self sufficient. The hair on the back of my neck stands up as legislation is being rushed thru in the middle of the night, often without review by the majority of our elected officials (not to mention the people)
We are now entering an era of unprecedented borrowing to pay for new programs, the burden of which will fall on the businesses and productive people in this country. At some point the debt will have to be re-paid. It’s easy to take stimulus checks and free programs but at what cost? As taxes are raised to an all time high, these people and business will loose the incentive to produce and melt back into the system, or move to another country to escape the financial oppression. I feel a difference of opinion is healthy, but that the country is now too divided.
Government and elected officials have their place, but left unchecked they tend to accumulate too much power. They adopt a mindset that they alone know what is good for the electorate, and set about to control the very lives of those that empowered them. History offers many examples of a government or leaders that were allowed to go unchecked. (in many cases they were granted, or assumed these extra powers to deal with a war or national emergency) Our freedoms and liberty took many years and many sacrifices to achieve, but they can be lost very quickly. I feel we are heading down that path right now, and must make a change before it goes…”A Step Too Far”.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
Abraham Lincoln
Please feel free to contact me at : pooritalianboy@gmail.com
P.I.B.
It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
David Brin
If there is one dynamic that sets this country apart from many of the others it is this: our government was created by the people to serve the people (not the other way around). The original leaders and framers of the constitution put in a series of safe guards, as well as certain checks and balances to insure that the government infrastructure would always be attendant to the will of the people.
Remember that most of the early settlers came here to escape religious and political repression. The last thing they wanted was an overly powerful central government. With this in mind the early patriots entrusted certain powers to the individual states, and only allowed the central government limited powers that were spelled out in detail. Under this system, all other powers were reverted to the state or individual.
Today we are witnessing unprecedented power being assumed by the Federal government and the executive branch. In my mind the government is leveraging the current economic and political unrest and fear to accumulate powers that it was never entitled to have. Greedy and power hungry politicians are passing legislation designed to increase their constituent’s dependency on them, thus perpetuating their power and positions. When all three branches of government are controlled by one party or interest group the danger of unchecked control is at its highest level.
I’ll tell you up front, that I have never been a political activist, but now its time to speak up or suffer the consequences. I for one do not like the direction that the country is heading, and I want my voice to be heard. The time for apathy is over, we need to speak out before we become slaves to our own government. Our inaction and apathy have caused us to relinquish our ideals.
I believe our country was built on the principles of freedom, personal choice, ownership of private property, and the individuals right to acquire wealth and dispose of it as he or she sees fit. Taxes and tariffs by the government are acceptable to pay for infrastructure and basic services, beyond that I don’t agree with using taxes as a means to redistribute wealth. Government does not create wealth, it only spends and redistributes wealth.
Why would we want to look to elected officials for our basic needs? In a word the government has been a terrible steward of existing national programs such as social security, Amtrak, Medicare, Farm subsidies, and others. I shudder to think of them with a controlling interest in Car makers, insurance companies, health care, and banks. I don’t want government putting salary caps on private citizens. Our dependence on the central government would rise to an all time high and their ability to control the citizens would be unprecedented.
Can you imagine a day where:
Government controlled Auto makers will only offer small, fuel efficient cars, that meet the standards of some government bureaucrat and not be driven by market demand or customer choice. By controlling production levels the boys in Washington could literally hinder your ability to travel.
Universal health care as administered by Uncle Sam, that would surely reduce the quality of our health care system to the level now “enjoyed” by England and Canada. Doctors and hospitals would be reduced to little more than government contract employees and some non health care professional would arbitrarily decide which operations and medicines we were entitled to and when. I can see a time where legislation (or punitive use taxes) could dictate the private citizen’s ability to smoke, drink, eat fattening food (or engage in other activities that the government deemed inappropriate). After all, an unhealthy lifestyle could place an unwelcome and cumbersome burden on the national free health care system. Once the single payer system is in place, we would almost have to leave the country to get elective health care. (Where are we to go…Canada ?)
Banks: Rather than let banks fail the government had stepped in and injected billions in bail out money, but with strings attached. The banks sucked up the bailout and Tarp money and just forgot to let it trickle down to millions of end users who were loosing their homes.
Social Security: The government has been fixing social security for 20 years now, and yet it is widely known that the entire program is in trouble and it is questionable if it will be sustainable for much longer, As far as I concerned they can keep my money and just stop collecting it from here on it. Another clear case of government ineptitude and meddling in people’s personal finances. It also highlights the central government’s inability to keep their hand out of the cookie jar. (or lock box..as Mr.Gore might say)
I guess, if I had to sum up my feelings on the matter, I want less government, not more. I want the freedom to succeed or fail on my own. I want to work hard and be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I don’t mind helping others, but I don’t want to be made to, by redistributing wealth. My goal would be to help the needy without dragging down, or presenting a disincentive for the self sufficient. The hair on the back of my neck stands up as legislation is being rushed thru in the middle of the night, often without review by the majority of our elected officials (not to mention the people)
We are now entering an era of unprecedented borrowing to pay for new programs, the burden of which will fall on the businesses and productive people in this country. At some point the debt will have to be re-paid. It’s easy to take stimulus checks and free programs but at what cost? As taxes are raised to an all time high, these people and business will loose the incentive to produce and melt back into the system, or move to another country to escape the financial oppression. I feel a difference of opinion is healthy, but that the country is now too divided.
Government and elected officials have their place, but left unchecked they tend to accumulate too much power. They adopt a mindset that they alone know what is good for the electorate, and set about to control the very lives of those that empowered them. History offers many examples of a government or leaders that were allowed to go unchecked. (in many cases they were granted, or assumed these extra powers to deal with a war or national emergency) Our freedoms and liberty took many years and many sacrifices to achieve, but they can be lost very quickly. I feel we are heading down that path right now, and must make a change before it goes…”A Step Too Far”.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
Abraham Lincoln
Please feel free to contact me at : pooritalianboy@gmail.com
P.I.B.
