I began writing this because I got a bit fed up with hearing the inaccurate portrayal of the tea party movement in the myriad of forms being offered. Feel free to feedback. - C

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” - C.S. Lewis

The Tea Party's are about more then "just taxes". Bush's TARP and then the Stimulus served as a big wake up call for many folks who either were ignorant of the disgusting amount of corruption permeating our governments or were not energized enough to do anything about it. The Central Government's use of the public coffers and the continuous mounting debt placed upon future generations really is a big deal and whether you want to believe it or not, at least speak more accurately about the reasons the Tea Party's are even happening.

When the Patriot Act was signed I found myself quite lonely amidst Republican Party folks who refused to look at the implications. I met a small handful who understood. The last decade has been a slow wake up call for many, with the last couple of years being a hard to ignore reality.

While the Bush Administration portrayed a focus on terrorists, our borders lay wide open. How's that for "Homeland Security"?? No Child Left Behind served to expand the Central Government's control over our local schools. President Bush failed to use the veto pen as pork laden bills were put forth and fiscal responsibility was a joke. I will not spend too much time listing the trespasses under President Bush. Suffice it to say that the corruption did not begin with Obama. And no, it did not begin with Bush either... and most of us, the "tea partiers" know this.

Then comes the Obama administration with more mounting debt beyond our wildest imaginings, more government expansion, more control over the private sector. He appoints a tax cheat over the nations treasury??? How anyone can ignore that is beyond me. President Obama appoints a Monsanto Head to run our FDA??? The head of the CDC, under Bush, Julie Gerberding, had appearances on the news during this last H1N1 issue, under Obama, as if she was still the head of the CDC when she was employed by a PR firm (Edelman) for the drug & vaccine manufacturers, including Merck. And what was she talking about? The vaccine coming out soon, "Do not be alarmed. There will be plenty for all." Our CDC had been pressuring the State Legislatures to adopt mandatory vaccination policies, under Julie Gerberding, specific to Gardisil. Merck holds the only FDA approved vaccine for the HPV virus. There is a huge conflict of interest here.

You see, the issues are more then just the taxes. The issues also encompass the revolving door between government and business; corporatism. These handsome public/private partnerships and just flat out blatant corruption, the cronyism, the nepotism is truly disgusting. They use our own tax dollars to support the corps who are placed into power positions in the agencies. The unelected bureaucracies with the force of law are being run by stakeholders of corps! Being paid with our own tax dollars, our sweat money, to create regulations the rest of us have to live under. The attacks on small poultry farms, to use another example, through the use of rulemaking and regulations with zero data to support the new restrictions have been initiated by the USDA. Same with the attacks on raw milk farms. And these assaults on our local food producers which threaten not only our local food supply but also our local economies, do not affect the corporate farms. The corporate farms are the only ones who can afford to comply.

FDA, CDC and the USDA are merely 3 of the many agencies. What about the EPA, the DEA, the BATF etc. ? "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance." Bizarre how uncannily appropriate that line in our Declaration of Independence is in our time. Talk about terrorism! .... What about the IRS?

Or how about the fact that our money and money policies are controlled by a private bank?? The Federal Reserve is not federal nor is it a reserve. The corruption has an incredibly long history, going back before the fed was even established. It is really nothing new. It's just that it is so obvious to more and more people. The use of power for personal gain is nothing new. Obama and this current congress have just been quite flagrant in their abuse of power, that's all.

Do you get it yet? It is about the corruption. It is about the fact that the Central Government is growing by leaps and bounds, paid for by the sweat of the worker, the producer and at the expense of the "general welfare".

Our children are coming out of the public schools not able to think for themselves; to problem solve. The colleges issued another description of their experiences. The common experience that have been reported? The kids, excuse me, "young adults" have to be spoon fed everything, they have a disgraceful set of skills to succeed, they lack personal motivation, perseverance and research skills. This is America's Government Schools. Yes, “government schools“, for that is what the public schools are. What benefit is an uneducated populace that cannot think for themselves? No benefit at all. Except for those in power.

Folks who speak against the "Tea Party" have yet to actually describe it with any accuracy. The media continues to report inaccurate descriptions as well. When are they going to get it?

Yes, taxes are part of it. However, if the taxes were Constitutional? The federal government is supposed to tax the states, proportionate to the people, for constitutional services rendered. Do you know what that means? Taxing the states proportionate to the people whose numbers are garnered through the simple headcount that the census was designed to produce leaves it up to the States to manage their affairs themselves. There is not supposed to be a direct tax upon each individual. The direct taxing of individuals by the federal government crosses the boundaries of the States and gives authority to the federal government that it is was not designed nor authorized to have. What are the implications of this? One example are the decades of unfunded mandates. And what happens? Some states receive more money from the federal government while other states receive less then the dollar extorted. The states become weaker and more dependent upon the federal government. (that's the extortion part) Which continues the transferring of power from the states to the federal government. Leaving the citizens of the states more vulnerable with less power to control the world in which we live. The farther away the lawmakers are to the citizens the less control the citizen has. It really is that simple.

We are focused on our Constitutions, the US and our States'. Why? Because they were created with the purpose of binding the hands of those that wield the power. Because human nature has certain tendencies. Everyone has a part inside of them that believes "I am right". Quite simply, when "I am right" is given power the temptation to meddle comes with it. We, The People have failed in our duty to remain vigilant. It is a good thing that people are beginning to wake up. It is a good thing that people are beginning to speak out more. I am hoping that more of the folks who were so adamant against the Bush Administration's corruption will continue to add their voices to the newly awakened under Obama.

Bottom line: Our US Constitution is our nation's charter; the Law of the Land. It is the maximum prescription of controls over the government for the minimum amount of restrictions on the people, so that the people can be free. Individually free. The smallest minority IS the individual. Our Constitution, through its restrictions on the Federal Government through its specific listing of enumerated powers along with few and specific limitations upon the powers of the states, acknowledges the supremacy of the individual American; acknowledges that our individual rights are not granted to us by government but by "nature and nature's God". Our Constitution also, by it's very wording, acknowledges the tendency for abuse of power. Actually studying history, the rise and fall of past civilizations and then studying our country's founding documents including the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers, is a huge eye opener. There really is nothing new under the sun. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

We gather to educate, to network, to discuss and debate, to share information and to, yes, make a stand. It has nothing to do with paying taxes for Constitutionally authorized reasons. The Tea Party is so much larger then that. And the long writing above? Only a skimming of the surface.

"When law and morality contradict eachother, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing respect for the law."
- Frederic Bastiat 1801-1850

Republicanism

Being conservative is about courage. It's about courage and integrity in the individual. It's about faith in the individual to do the right thing as opposed to the line of thinking that expresses belief that we need the government to fix it all. When one believes the government is needed to fix it all, or that the government actually can, it is because the individual who believes this has lost belief in them self. They don't believe their own actions matter and they have no faith in their own choices to do right. Because they can't deal with these things in themselves they project it onto a large screen. They believe people in general are lazy and selfish. They believe people in general will always choose actions that will harm others. In the end it is all about believing in the worst in people. It is a pessimistic path and a personally irresponsible path. It is the path of the perpetual child that won't grow up and needs the parent always to tell them what they are allowed to do. It is a path that breeds contempt for those who have faith; faith in themselves and faith in others. It is also a path of mediocrity. If one succumbs to the fear of failure, one tries less; risks less to succeed. If one has attached shame to success, while feeling sorry for those who don't succeed is allowed to thwart one's own efforts, the result is mediocrity. The disconnect between cause and effect cannot be so apparent as it is in relation to long term results of such a belief system. It is a self-perpetuating belief in failure. It is a pessimistic outlook whose results are easy to see. Abortion rates are increasing, test scores in our schools have been on the decline, while prescription drugs to treat a myriad of mental disorders continue to increase. The mental health profession has become a booming business that continues to increase. Why?

The character, the backbone, the mental strength and coping skills built upon the risk of failure and actual experiences of failing are needed for human evolution. We are born with stress. It is the actual stress of our organism as the womb is expelling us that results in our birth. Our physical needs to feed and be touched propel us to learn how to communicate and to move; from bringing our fist to our mouths all the way to talking in complete sentences. How many times does the fist of the babe slam into its own eyeball and nose accidentally connecting with mouth before the pathway in the brain makes a deep enough groove that it becomes no accident but a deliberate action. When we remove the consequence of failure how do we evolve? In public schools across our nation children are subjected to bland general water painted definitions of success. It used to be that if a paper was handed in it was sent back to be corrected. Misspelled words, capitals and punctuation were elements of unacceptable work. For at least the last 15 years ( I have children that led me back into the halls of the public schools) incomplete and unacceptable work has been made acceptable; is right out there up on the wall in the hallway displayed alongside with other papers of varying degrees of acceptability. When a child is sent back to correct mistakes they learn a few things. They learn the proper way of writing, number one. They learn to pay attention to detail. They learn about failure and their brains learn how to improve. Our organism is designed to improve upon itself and its performance. On the little league team, the children ask, ‘Who won?” And they are told, “Everybody. We’re all winners.” The mantra changed from Hard Work Pays and Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Right to Just Try. You mean all I have to do is try? A+ for effort. The results of your efforts stopped mattering so much. Effort is very important, however, if we downplay or actually remove an unsatisfactory result, we remove the impetus to grow, change, to re-evaluate and do different. The safety net that prevents actual failure impedes the drive to succeed. What are the results to be expected when we remove the consequences of failure? What are the results to be expected when rewards for putting in an effort are the same as producing excellence? What are the results to be expected when you’ve spend hours practicing, and become a most excellent team player with excellent individual skills, catch that fly, swing that bat with all your might and knock it right out there, slide into home; but you can’t keep score? The reward for giving something your all used to be that feeling of satisfaction with the object of what you earned. And the process of risking failure, because it was still a possibility, and continuing to give it your all, engaged the whole you. You invested yourself. So when you got that A+ and you knew it was going in the hall, you finished feeling like you actually accomplished something. When everything goes up in the hall, it’s as good as nothing going up in the hall. When you don’t have the risk of failure, achieving means so much less. When achieving means so much less, our natural desire to grow dulls. We become soft and unable to deal with the ups and downs of life. We’re disengaged while experiencing an unconscious internal conflict between, oh here are those words, nurture and nature. It is a natural part of the human organism to continue getting better (read ‘evolve’). The systematic nurturing has been a thwarting of the inherent human programming. How much medication needs to be prescribed to address the depression that so much of us are in? Disengaged also means powerless. Powerless also means not responsible. And with no accountability, and no bottom (read failure), with all those safety nets, what do we have? We have kids who cannot compete, either because they have no umph or because they not educated and lacking creative problem solving skills (which, by the way, are developed more fully through failure), our children are growing up medicated, we have colleges complaining about the quality of the students coming out of the public schools (they’re missing not only info, but also self-direction), we have a global economy that we are not keeping up with, never mind leading.

We want to help people. Humans are compassionate. We don't like to see suffering or injustice. We aim to be fair. When good intentions go awry because we go overboard and don't stop, the liberal application of fairness results in what we have today. Affirmative Action legislation is a good example of good intentions gone awry. I don’t know one woman who would prefer to be hired because she is a woman rather than based on her own merits. And I just can’t imagine that a Black person would want to be hired based on the color of his/her skin. I would think that skill and knowledge would be a more preferred reason by the person being hired.

The results of continuously saving each other from failing has created a disengaged generation of victims who rest on their own powerlessness. Becoming lazy in spirit with matching government safety nets put in place results in less freedom for the people, on a myriad of levels. We see the state issuing laws to control every aspect of our lives, just about. I cannot bake a pie and sell it to my neighbor without paying for a government inspection. Licenses for all kinds of activities are being required.  In Maine the seeds to grow food you need to eat are taxable.

On another side of it, we have employers bemoaning the kind of workers they are seeing. “Can I have a raise? I showed up on time for a month.” The result of saving each other from failure is perfectly illustrated when just showing up is the expectation that our kids think is required to get anywhere.

What are the results to be expected from a disengaged populace? The distance between Us & Them is not supposed to be so great. The government was put in place to, in a nut shell, keep order; to allow us to be human beings, guaranteed Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, while causing the least damage to others guaranteed Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

The guarantee is not Happiness. It is the Pursuit that is guaranteed. The expectation in that line of our Constitution is that the individual needs to do something to get Happiness. The individual is guaranteed the freedom to pursue. Happiness is loosely translated as success. What it means to be successful depends on who is asking that question. When success was defined as home ownership and the “we are all winners” people decided to lower the expectations necessary to purchase a home, combined with a disengaged populace whose personal responsibility was lacking due to years of softened consequences and then huge government safety nets were put in place so the bottom disappeared, what precisely were the results to be expected?!

Oh, I know. It’s the greedy businesses. Let’s tax them. Gee, a ¼ of a million dollars is really too much money for a greedy business to have. Let’s take from the rich and give to the poor. Let’s spread the wealth around. That way the businesses can increase the cost of good and services. That way the people can’t buy as much. That way the businesses can lay people off. That way we can have more unemployed folks so we can increase the number of people who rely on the government. That way we’ll share the poverty and become a nation of oppressed poor people. What a great solution to a disengaged populace. Not a future I want anything to do with. No, thank you.

The Liberal Mind speaks worlds:

- we need the government to fix things
-our country is too big for the 9th and 10th amendment
-kids are going to have sex anyway so we should at least teach them how
-its not fair (whiny) that there are poor folks
-tax the rich!

I am conservative for a number of reasons. The conservatives are empowering; they believe in me. The Conservative Mind believes in itself. It has faith in its own ability to create opportunities, to solve problems, to impact its own life. It believes in the ability of others to do the same. The Conservative Mind is the eternal cheerleader whether you succeed or fail. It cheers you on. It rejoices in your success. It tells you to get up after you fall. It tells you to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and keep trucking. It has no qualms with lending a helping hand because it believes you want to let go of that hand. It believes in your natural inclination to want to walk on your own. It believes that you, too, have faith in yourself. The Conservative Mind believes in you. It believes you are powerful. It believes you have a conscience. It believes in your intelligence. It believes in your ability to evaluate your own life and make your own choices. The Conservative Mind believes in your inner strength. Because it does, it believes in your ability to handle the consequences of your own failed choices. It believes in your ability to learn, adapt, grow and become better.

The Liberal Mind believes that we need a parent to ensure boundaries, because, well, it doesn’t trust itself. The Conservative Mind is the parent who creates limited boundaries and evaluates the effects all the while expecting growth and evolving results. I am a conservative because I have faith in my own abilities and therefore I have faith in yours. The Liberal Mind believes in government. The Conservative Mind believes in you.

tr.v. dis•il•lu•sioned, dis•il•lu•sion•ing, dis•il•lu•sions
to free or deprive of illusion.
freeing from false belief or illusions

I guess at some point I will find myself in a place of thankfulness for this state of disillusionment. As I devour documents and historical presentations what is coming into focus more than anything else is my conclusion that nobody's hands are clean.

And right now I am angry.

Is there not one to be found in our history of integrity, of proven incorruptibility?! Man's human condition will always contain a mix of good and evil. To read the struggle of our Framers, the Federalists & the Anti-Federalists, from Hamilton and the tariffs he supported, to Lincoln and his power grab in the ratification of the 14th Amendment. We only have a Bill of Rights because of the Anti-Federalists refusal to ratify the Constitution without it. Yet this group is associated with the Southern Confederacy and with slavery. We must try not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

What I find confounding right now, which I am certain to find other instances that confound me, is this: the Federalists as a political party dissolved. The Anti-Federalists divided into the Whigs and the Republicans. The Whigs died also. The Republican Party became the Democratic Republicans which evolved into the Democratic Party. The heritage of the Democratic Party are Anti-Federalists such as Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry! Hamilton’s federalists thought the interpretation of the Constitution should be loose and Jefferson’s democratic-republicans strict. This is confounding! This is confusing.

During the 1900's the Democrats became huge proponents of loose interpretation, supported new programs that gave more and more power to the central government. Republicans became proponents of strict interpretations. Yet have also become complicit in allowing the expansion of government with more laws and agency creations and expansive intrusions into the private life of the citizens and the sovereignty of the States. Under Roosevelt, a Democrat, came The New Deal Programs; emergency relief programs, work relief programs, agricultural programs, and industrial reform (the National Recovery Administration, NRA), and the end of the gold standard, labor union support, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief program, the Social Security Act, and programs to aid farmers, including tenant farmers and migrant workers AND The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which set maximum hours and minimum wages. Most of the relief programs were shut down during World War II by the Conservative Coalition, a group of opponents in congress. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Social Security System, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Fannie Mae are still intact. The Social Security Act, became the Social Security Administration under Truman, a Democrat, who also was a proponent of National Health Insurance. Truman though, appointed 4 conservative judges. Eisenhower, a Republican, kept all the New Deal Programs that remained and enlarged the Social Security program. He put all these into a new cabinet level agency called The Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Kennedy established the Peace Corps and was a huge proponent of expanded foreign policy, to come to the aid and defense of anyone whose liberty is threatened. Definitely not the line of present day Democrats. Lyndon B Johnson, a Democrat, created the "Great Society" legislation that included civil rights laws, Medicare, Medicaid , aid to education with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Higher Education Act, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the "War on Poverty" (the Economic Opportunity Act) which produced the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), Job Corps (1964) and Head Start (1965). (As a side note here: Johnson continued the wiretapping of Martin Luther King, Jr. that had been previously authorized by the Kennedy administration under Attorney General Robert Kennedy. President Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. have both been used by the Democrats as icons. How many know of Kennedy’s wire tapping and Johnson’s view of King as a “hypocritical preacher.”) Nixon, a Republican signed the Economic Stabilization Act, and while he opposed permanent price and wage controls Nixon imposed the controls on a temporary basis, for 90 days. He also created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Nixon also was a proponent of universal minimum income and universal health care. He was a Republican. And though not a program, to his credit, I must mention Nixon’s deep passion to eradicate racial segregation. He felt that racism was the greatest moral failure of the United States. All racism. The Equal Rights Amendment was immediately signed by Nixon only to fail in the States. Under Ford, a Republican, came the Federal Aid Highway Act. The Department of Energy, the Department of Education and the National Energy Program and a myriad of other programs within programs were enacted during President Carter’s reign, also a Democrat. I have not found any new programs created during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, yet. I found only an expanded Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

There is so much I just have to stop now. I have not even touched the 1st Amendment and 2nd Amendment violations or the abuse of the Commerce Clause, which is huge and will be left for another rant. I didn’t go on into 1989 till present; Bush Senior, Clinton or Bush Jr. Or Obama's new abominations. And I didn’t go back further than 1933 into Hoover, Coolidge, Harding and earlier.

The complicity of our lawmakers in the complicating of the government and the law is undeniable. In the 20^th century, the mass majority of programs and agencies were created under Democrat Presidents. However, the Republican Presidents either enlarged them, added to them or allowed laws to be passed to expand them. Ask why the law makers, our representatives, make it so complicated to understand what they are doing? The complicity of the citizens who blindly accept and those that, accept who see, is undeniable. We have allowed ourselves to be governed by an over reaching, over bearing, monster of a government that continues to grow, continues to restrict and continues to invade, to trespass upon the governed. This is alarming. This is disturbing. This is a horrid legacy to leave OUR posterity. I implore you to get involved. My local Republican friends see this. And a number of my Democrat friends as well. More of us are taking action to become a barrier to the encroachment of the FED.  If taking action right now just means going to a meeting, writing a letter, making a phone call. Do it.

The power hungry politician will never go away. It is up to the citizens to prevent the wolves from eating the sheep. And the only way to prevent getting eaten is to stop being sheep.