Posts Tagged ‘Thomas Jefferson’

Congratulations to Senator Obama, and in fact, to us all….

November 5, 2008

My limited government leanings steered me clear of any chance I would vote for Senator Obama.  With statements like “Universal” this and “Universal” that and “spread the wealth around”, and that paying taxes is both “Patriotic” as well as a matter of “fairness”, it was a bad fit.  But the Cult of Personality has spoken and Obama is now “Our President” as he so eloquently promised during his victory speech.  So it is with the spirit of moving America forward that I offer my perspective on this Historic election.

The Election of Obama is the justification of everything our country was founded on and the repudiation of many of the principles that Obama himself has expressed during his campaign.  We founded this country with the promise that the opportunities would be ours’ to create and master, not the government’s to give out.  A country that became the Beacon of Liberty the world over with the promise that all were welcome, all were equal, and all had a chance to make their own way. The American Dream says that Social mobility is an expected result of the system.  Our immigration policy asked for “…your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.  And yet we are a country still heavy with the wounds of racism and slavery; the latter of which was the clearest lapse of judgment by some of the very people who promised that “…all men are created equal”.  How important was slavery in this country?  We killed 620,000 Americans in the effort to end it while preserving our Union–a number that has yet to be matched by any other war we’ve fought in (WWII was closest with close to 420,000 Americans killed).

We have just elected by a respectable majority a man who is widely considered “black” (actually the label “African-American” truly applies here) and is, in truth, of mixed heritage…racism be damned.  He is the first generation son of an immigrant–a dubious label since his father eventually left the US to return to Kenya, but an immigrant nonetheless.  His upbringing was meager, making his rise to the top all the more of a compelling “rags-to-riches” story.  If the doubters and naysayers of modern America were right, this man never had a chance.  And yet here we are.  This election is proof of the American Dream and that it still exists for anyone who wants it.

Obama has stated on several occasions that he believes in the ideology that the poor in this country are somehow disadvantaged by outside forces they can’t control rather than their own choices and decisions and may even buy into the Marxist principle that the poor are exploited and oppressed by the rich (“the poor get poorer and the rich get richer”).  He has said that taking money from people who are successful and giving it to people who aren’t is a matter of “fairness”.  And yet his own story, even as he tells it, belies this very idea.  And if he could do it why can’t anyone?  And if they can’t do it, maybe no amount of “fairness” is going to change that situation for them.  Giving fish and feeing for a day versus teaching to fish and all that.  If he’s not an elitist, how could he not believe that others will be inspired by his example and follow it without government assistence/intervention?

Obama invoked the Founding of our country in his speech tonight.  Let’s see how well he actually understands the Founding principles going forward.

“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.”
-Thomas Jefferson

Election day changes I want to see…

November 4, 2008

I could think of no worse example for nations abroad, who for the first time were trying to put free electoral procedures into effect, than that of the United States wrangling over the results of our presidential election, and even suggesting that the presidency itself could be stolen by thievery at the ballot box.
-Thomas Jefferson

At this point we are better than halfway through the all-important day that we exercise our Right as Free Men (and Women) to control our governance. There is no greater power in the world where Freedom reigns than the power to cast a vote and tell those who would lead how we feel and what we think. Much will be read into the results of our voting, and much possibly misconstrued or manipulated, but consider the alternative where a elite few make all decisions based on their personal whimsy or gain. Great Civil Rights battles have been rightly fought throughout the history of our country and, indeed the world, to establish this most basic of controls. I believe because of all that has been sacrificed, it is not something to be taken lightly or cynically ignored. Make time, make a choice, and vote, no matter what the outcome. It is in this spirit that I would like to propose two changes to the process of Election Day in this country:

1) Not releasing the result of any actual vote tally until after the last poll in the West closes.

2) Not publishing the result of Exit Polling until after the last poll in the West closes.

Both are really for the same reasons; if the goal of Election day is to make sure that all voices are heard then we are doing Western voters a huge disservice by implying that by the time they get a chance to vote that their vote “won’t matter”. While it could electrify a close race, the potential for disaffection on a seeming landslide can’t be dismissed for either the apparent winner or loser. I think one of the little discussed advantages of a secret ballot system is that not only does it protect the voter from persecution, but it also protects later voters from the results. They can remain enthusiastic about their vote and their candidate’s chances.

The excitement to know the results after so much discussion and wait is understandable, but it serves no democratic purpose to publish the information before everyone has a chance to be involved. And there are plenty of cases of incorrect or potentially fraudulent exit polling results that could be interpreted by the cynical as an attempt to manipulate the outcome.

We seem to pay lip-service to Election Reform after each major cycle has passed (usually championed most by the party that lost the election) but rarely does there seem to be enough steam by the newly annoited to actually get it done. Maybe this is just another good reason why we need a National Initiative system.

After all….

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.
-Thomas Jefferson

Obama’s fantasy world

March 24, 2008

Obama has been quoted as saying:

“What I’m certain about is that people are disenchanted with a highly ideological Republican Party that believes tax cuts are the answer to every problem, and lack of regulation and oversight is always going to generate economic growth, and unilateral intervention around the world is the best approach to foreign policy. So there’s no doubt the pendulum is swinging.”

Source article is here: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/23/america/liberal.php

What I believe is that tax cuts are the answer to every problem  (except death) and the problem with our Government, even under the allegedly “laissez-faire” Bush Administration is too much regulation and oversight attempting to generate economic growth.  I actually find it a little amusing on the heels of the tax rebate checks Bush has authorized and the umpteenth Fed change in the Interest rate that anyone would suggest there’s a lack of regulation over economic growth.

The government was not founded to regulate Capitalism; it was created to protect our ability to practice it.  Our culture has become increasingly intolerant of anything negative: negative campaigns, negative words, negative growth.  And as we increasingly look to Government to bail us out of these negative times, we are handing them the keys to our prosperity and our children’s prosperity.  And once prosperity goes, so goes freedom as we’ll be beholden to the Lord on The Hill who has a firm grip on the economy and controls what we are allowed as private citizens to do in that economy.

 Sounds a lot like another form of government I’ve heard of.

A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicity.

Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address