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I understand that.All of this can be distilled down to one statement.
Enforce the Constitution as the Founders envisioned it.
Unfortunately we have a mainstream electorate who, while their hearts and minds are in the right place, too often have not studied the Constitution or the documents that undergird it and would not respond well to a 'just enforce the Constitution' concept. I think they want to know that those campaigning for office understand their anger, their frustration, their fears, and their hopes and wants. If those running cannot articulate that in words they understand, they have no way of knowing whether they are likely to be well represented or not.
Just look at how differently some on USMB interpret the Constitution than probably you and I do, for instance.
I understand that.All of this can be distilled down to one statement.
Enforce the Constitution as the Founders envisioned it.
Unfortunately we have a mainstream electorate who, while their hearts and minds are in the right place, too often have not studied the Constitution or the documents that undergird it and would not respond well to a 'just enforce the Constitution' concept. I think they want to know that those campaigning for office understand their anger, their frustration, their fears, and their hopes and wants. If those running cannot articulate that in words they understand, they have no way of knowing whether they are likely to be well represented or not.
Just look at how differently some on USMB interpret the Constitution than probably you and I do, for instance.
But if they wish to enact this stuff. They need to beat the American people over the head with the truth about how the Constitution is not being followed. They need to have it in front of the American people every 15 minutes until they wake up and start asking a few more hard questions at the town hall meetings.
The 22 items in the OP were determined to be the most prevalent themes that came out of the Tea Party and Tax Protest demonstrations this past several months. Now they want to boil them down to 10 pledges that can realistically be accomplished.
The 22 items in the OP were determined to be the most prevalent themes that came out of the Tea Party and Tax Protest demonstrations this past several months. Now they want to boil them down to 10 pledges that can realistically be accomplished.
I'm somewhat perplexed that its as many as 10.
It seems to me that 3 could easily be the maximum.
Seems that all we can do is see what they end up with and then go from there in how we wish to support this.I understand that.Unfortunately we have a mainstream electorate who, while their hearts and minds are in the right place, too often have not studied the Constitution or the documents that undergird it and would not respond well to a 'just enforce the Constitution' concept. I think they want to know that those campaigning for office understand their anger, their frustration, their fears, and their hopes and wants. If those running cannot articulate that in words they understand, they have no way of knowing whether they are likely to be well represented or not.
Just look at how differently some on USMB interpret the Constitution than probably you and I do, for instance.
But if they wish to enact this stuff. They need to beat the American people over the head with the truth about how the Constitution is not being followed. They need to have it in front of the American people every 15 minutes until they wake up and start asking a few more hard questions at the town hall meetings.
Well you do have a point. But the success of the Contract With America was in its simplicity and that it was short, simple, succinct, and spoke the language of those who wanted it enacted.
I'm pretty sure the CPAC group is going to try to hammer out something similar this coming week--something that will speak to and resonate with the people so they'll vote for it in the candidates they support, and that will actually accomplish something.
The 22 items in the OP were determined to be the most prevalent themes that came out of the Tea Party and Tax Protest demonstrations this past several months. Now they want to boil them down to 10 pledges that can realistically be accomplished.
The 22 items in the OP were determined to be the most prevalent themes that came out of the Tea Party and Tax Protest demonstrations this past several months. Now they want to boil them down to 10 pledges that can realistically be accomplished.
I'm somewhat perplexed that its as many as 10.
It seems to me that 3 could easily be the maximum.
Interesting concept. If you were in charge of deciding the three, what would they be?
LOL, hardly the case, if anything according to my spouse the reverse is true (too much time, too much money if you know what I mean).accepting reality is much more restful than jousting at windmills.
Personally I'd prefer to go out on my shield rather than down on my knees but as they say "to each is own" .......
Have at it then. what do you actually do with your shiled? Post on political BB's?
Like I said "to each his own", the level of your activism or lack thereof is entirely your business and your choice.I need no shield, I just face what is actually happening.
I'm somewhat perplexed that its as many as 10.
It seems to me that 3 could easily be the maximum.
Interesting concept. If you were in charge of deciding the three, what would they be?
DEMAND A BALANCED BUDGET: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike.
END RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT SPENDING: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth.
RESTORE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY & CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED GOVERNMENT: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in a complete audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states.
In the tradition of the Contract with America that put a revolutionary group of conservative Republicans and Democrats into Congress and did very good things in 1994, tomorrow CPAC will vote to narrow down 22 to 10 proposals for reform in a new Contract from America. It combines the best of reform proposals out there with the Tea Party spirit for reform. It is a message to our elected leaders of what the people demand.
What 10 do you see as most important? Or how would you narrow down the list to 10 most important?
The Contract From America
Here, for the first time, are the 22 solutions to be voted on beginning tomorrow:
DEMAND A BALANCED BUDGET: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike.
STOP THE TAX HIKES: Permanently repeal all tax hikes, including those to income, capital gains, and death taxes, currently scheduled to begin in 2011.
COMMIT TO REAL GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY: Every bill, in its final form, will be made public seven days before any vote can be taken and all government expenditures authorized by any bill will be easily accessible on the Internet before the money is spent. (Proposed by: Steve Kulik, Gonzales, Texas; and Steve Hollis, San Francisco, Calif.)
PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does.
PASS REAL HEALTHCARE REFORM: Greatly improve affordability of health insurance by permitting all Americans access to all health insurance plans sold anywhere in the United States through the purchase of insurance across state lines and allow small businesses and associations to pool together across state lines to buy insurance.
ENACT FUNDAMENTAL TAX REFORM: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the Internal Revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 wordsthe length of the original Constitution.
END RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT SPENDING: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth.
LET US SAVE: Allow all Americans to opt out of Social Security and Medicare and instead put those same payroll taxes in a personal account they own, control, and can leave to whomever they choose.
PROTECT INTERNET FREEDOM: No regulation or tax on the Internet.
GIVE PARENTS MORE CHOICES IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN: Improve American education by reforming the broken federal role through eliminating ineffective and wasteful programs, giving parents more choices from pre-school to high school, and improving the affordability of higher education.
PASS AN 'ALL OF THE ABOVE' ENERGY POLICY: Authorize the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation, lowering prices and creating competition.
PROTECT FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: Prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using funds to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in any form, including requiring "localism" or "diversity" quotas.
RESTORE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY & CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED GOVERNMENT: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in a complete audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states.
PROTECT PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS: Block state and local governments that receive federal grants from exercising eminent domain over private property for the primary purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenues.
REJECT CAP & TRADE: Prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation's global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures.
STOP THE PORK: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the process is fully transparent, including requiring a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark.
NO CZAR REGULATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION: All "lawmaking" regulations must be affirmatively approved by Congress and signed into law by the president, as the Constitution requires for all laws.
AUDIT THE FED: Begin an audit of the Federal Reserve System.
NO MORE BAILOUTS: The federal government should not bail out private companies and should immediately begin divesting itself of its stake in the private companies it owns from recent bailouts.
STOP CAREER POLITICIANS & CURB LOBBYIST POWER: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require Congressional term limits. No person shall be elected to the Senate more than twice or to the House of Representatives more than four times.
SUNSET REGULATIONS: All regulations will be "sunset" after ten years unless renewed by Congressional vote.
LET US WATCH: Broadcast all non-security meetings and votes on C-SPAN and the Internet.
I understand that.All of this can be distilled down to one statement.
Enforce the Constitution as the Founders envisioned it.
Unfortunately we have a mainstream electorate who, while their hearts and minds are in the right place, too often have not studied the Constitution or the documents that undergird it and would not respond well to a 'just enforce the Constitution' concept. I think they want to know that those campaigning for office understand their anger, their frustration, their fears, and their hopes and wants. If those running cannot articulate that in words they understand, they have no way of knowing whether they are likely to be well represented or not.
Just look at how differently some on USMB interpret the Constitution than probably you and I do, for instance.
But if they wish to enact this stuff. They need to beat the American people over the head with the truth about how the Constitution is not being followed. They need to have it in front of the American people every 15 minutes until they wake up and start asking a few more hard questions at the town hall meetings.
A beautiful thing, isn't it?
And by summer, it will be a primary component to the momentum of the rising conservative tide in America.
People are fed up with this Big Government lunacy from both parties - but at this specific time in our history, it's the Dems who have truly driven the country to the brink...
In the tradition of the Contract with America that put a revolutionary group of conservative Republicans and Democrats into Congress and did very good things in 1994, tomorrow CPAC will vote to narrow down 22 to 10 proposals for reform in a new Contract from America. It combines the best of reform proposals out there with the Tea Party spirit for reform. It is a message to our elected leaders of what the people demand.
What 10 do you see as most important? Or how would you narrow down the list to 10 most important?
The Contract From America
Here, for the first time, are the 22 solutions to be voted on beginning tomorrow:
DEMAND A BALANCED BUDGET: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike.
STOP THE TAX HIKES: Permanently repeal all tax hikes, including those to income, capital gains, and death taxes, currently scheduled to begin in 2011.
COMMIT TO REAL GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY: Every bill, in its final form, will be made public seven days before any vote can be taken and all government expenditures authorized by any bill will be easily accessible on the Internet before the money is spent. (Proposed by: Steve Kulik, Gonzales, Texas; and Steve Hollis, San Francisco, Calif.)
PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does.
PASS REAL HEALTHCARE REFORM: Greatly improve affordability of health insurance by permitting all Americans access to all health insurance plans sold anywhere in the United States through the purchase of insurance across state lines and allow small businesses and associations to pool together across state lines to buy insurance.
ENACT FUNDAMENTAL TAX REFORM: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the Internal Revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 wordsthe length of the original Constitution.
END RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT SPENDING: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth.
LET US SAVE: Allow all Americans to opt out of Social Security and Medicare and instead put those same payroll taxes in a personal account they own, control, and can leave to whomever they choose.
PROTECT INTERNET FREEDOM: No regulation or tax on the Internet.
GIVE PARENTS MORE CHOICES IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN: Improve American education by reforming the broken federal role through eliminating ineffective and wasteful programs, giving parents more choices from pre-school to high school, and improving the affordability of higher education.
PASS AN 'ALL OF THE ABOVE' ENERGY POLICY: Authorize the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation, lowering prices and creating competition.
PROTECT FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: Prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using funds to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in any form, including requiring "localism" or "diversity" quotas.
RESTORE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY & CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED GOVERNMENT: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in a complete audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states.
PROTECT PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS: Block state and local governments that receive federal grants from exercising eminent domain over private property for the primary purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenues.
REJECT CAP & TRADE: Prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation's global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures.
STOP THE PORK: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the process is fully transparent, including requiring a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark.
NO CZAR REGULATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION: All "lawmaking" regulations must be affirmatively approved by Congress and signed into law by the president, as the Constitution requires for all laws.
AUDIT THE FED: Begin an audit of the Federal Reserve System.
NO MORE BAILOUTS: The federal government should not bail out private companies and should immediately begin divesting itself of its stake in the private companies it owns from recent bailouts.
STOP CAREER POLITICIANS & CURB LOBBYIST POWER: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require Congressional term limits. No person shall be elected to the Senate more than twice or to the House of Representatives more than four times.
SUNSET REGULATIONS: All regulations will be "sunset" after ten years unless renewed by Congressional vote.
LET US WATCH: Broadcast all non-security meetings and votes on C-SPAN and the Internet.
We need smarter people voting.
So are you advocating literacy tests?
We need smarter people voting.
So are you advocating literacy tests?
I think he's advocating land-owning, white, males.
If I could just cut off all TV, broadcast radio and the web for 6 months. That might do it.
People should just ignore the spin from both sides and just read this new Contract and decide for themselves. I have and i definitely endorse it. It really could help.
People should just ignore the spin from both sides and just read this new Contract and decide for themselves. I have and i definitely endorse it. It really could help.
The Mount Vernon Statement
Constitutional Conservatism: A Statement for the 21st Century
We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding.Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government.
These principles define us as a country and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any other in the world. They are our highest achievements, serving not only as powerful beacons to all who strive for freedom and seek self-government, but as warnings to tyrants and despots everywhere.
Each one of these founding ideas is presently under sustained attack. In recent decades, Americas principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The selfevident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.
Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead forward or backward, up or down? Isnt this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?
The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and natures God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes mans self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.
The conservatism of the Constitution limits governments powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.
A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to Americas safety and leadership role in the world.
A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.
It applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law to every proposal.
It honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life.
It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.
It supports Americas national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that end.
It informs conservatisms firm defense of family, neighborhood, community, and faith.
If we are to succeed in the critical political and policy battles ahead, we must be certain of our purpose.
We must begin by retaking and resolutely defending the high ground of Americas founding principles.
February 17, 2010
