The recent shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the killing of District Court Judge John Roll in Arizona likely had nothing to do with political rhetoric. It was, as is so often is the case, the culmination of the long downward descent of a disturbed young man. Why then are so many politicians saying that we need to be careful of what we say?

The reason is because what we are saying is true. When you pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands you might as well be talking about the lost city of Atlantis. Both have long since ceased to exist. The United States stopped operating as a constitutional republic decades ago. The Federal Government believes the States and citizens must bow unconditionally to its will. It would take a major political and economic upheaval to restore America to its former form of government.

The recent reading of the Constitution on the floor of the House of Representatives was nothing more than window dressing as the newly elected liberty minded Republicans will soon discover. They are not a majority and will have to take a back seat to the will of the majority in the Congress still controlled by power brokers and the legislators who are willing to grow rich at the expense of the American People. Most members of Congress, Democrat and Republican are in continual violation of their oath to support and defend the Constitution. Their individual morals go downhill from there. They should be punished for this at the ballot box, and brought to trial by jury.

There is a self-righteous elite in this country and across the globe who think that we are incompetent.

• They believe that we are not responsible enough to own basic weapons for our own defense, because they fear that those arms may someday be used against them.

• They believe that we are not responsible enough to decide how our children should be educated because they are afraid that what we would teach them would contradict their worldview.

• They believe that we are not responsible enough to spend the money that we earn wisely and want to take it from us so that they can spend it on what they think is important. Not only that but they have stolen and mismanaged our money to the point where the country is facing a financial collapse that is just barely being reported in the news, but is nevertheless imminent and very real.

• They believe that we are not responsible enough to vote and have therefore corrupted the political process by ensuring that every major candidate is vetted and selected by them, and anointed by their media outlets, so that ultimately it really doesn’t matter whom we vote for.

• They believe that we are not responsible enough to manage our own affairs and have instituted ream upon ream of standards, regulations, licensing requirements, and of course fees, to ensure that we never have to make an independent decision.

• They believe that we are not responsible enough to know the difference between right and wrong and by the use of propaganda under the guise of tolerance and diversity attempt to impose their own lax moral standards upon us admonishing us to call our enemies our friends, and to call what is good, evil and what is evil, good.

Now they believe that you are not responsible enough to speak your mind. “Be careful of what you say, someone might be offended, someone might feel threatened!” “Tone down the rhetoric, after all, things are not really as bad as you make them out to be.” “Let’s all try to work together.”

This, my friends, it the BIG lie. Things are in fact worse than we make then out to be. The time for cooperation is past. Now is the time for resistance, for state nullification, for political upheaval, for throwing the bums out, for restoring liberty, not to the country, but to our state, and to our own county.

A few days ago, John Boehner, the weak-willed, cry-baby, Republican Speaker of the House was unable to name a single federal program that he thought should be cut. Would it be too much for the audible cry of “IDIOT” to be heard resounding from sea to shining sea? I think not. We must not allow ourselves to be muzzled now, for if we do we will find ourselves in short order, disarmed, disenfranchised, and in chains. Do not be quiet Americans, and do not rest. Shout out all the louder for the civil and economic rights, for smaller government, for lower taxes, and for Liberty.

Louis William Rose is a political philosopher and parliamentarian for the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida. You can email him at louisrose [at] yahoo.com.

The leadership of the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee (SJCREC) dealt a blow to the grassroots and derailed recent attempts to reconcile long standing differences with the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida (RLCNEF).

Thursday night it refused to allow RLCNEF members access to a meeting where State Committeeman Jon Woodard stepped down and State Senator John Thrasher was elected to Woodard’s position.

The election of Thrasher to Woodard’s State Committeeman post clears the way for Thrasher to run for the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Chair position to be vacated on February 20th by Jim Greer.

There is a level of excitement within the party that has not been seen in a long time surrounding the race to succeed Jim Greer. Greer’s re-election a year ago has resulted in a leadership implosion within the RPOF. Thrasher, a sitting Republican State Senator, is seeking to lead the Republican Party out of its doldrums. Unfortunately for Thrasher, the SJCREC appears to have added fuel to an internal firestorm.

The latest in an unfortunate series of events occurred when the majority of the SJCREC members were not given notice the meeting would be closed in Executive Session, and only received the news upon their arrival at the meeting that night.

To further exacerbate matters, SJCREC officials – allegedly in preparation for the vote on Senator Thrasher – performed a “purge” of the membership list for the stated purpose of removing members who had missed three consecutive meetings pursuant to state bylaws.

The purpose and accuracy of the list purge is in question, however, as RLCNEF member Cliff Johnson who is also a sworn member of the SJCREC and who had not missed three consecutive meetings, was told that he was not eligible to attend the Executive Session or vote in the Special Election.

While SJCREC leadership claimed that access to the Executive Session was limited only to SJCREC members, at least four members of the Duval County Republican Executive Committee who support Thrasher were allowed inside while known opponents of Thrasher and supporters of Sharon Day – also a candidate for State Chair – were told they must stay outside.

In a protest against the double standard and blatant cronyism on display, RLCNEF Chair John Stevens entered the meeting despite being told not to do so. Stevens was then asked to leave and refused. SJCREC officials called police and Stevens was escorted from the meeting. No charges were filed.

Chairman Stevens desired to attend the meeting to ask Thrasher what position he would be taking on Orange and St. Johns County REC members removed by Greer through the never-before-used grievance process last year. Stevens commented regarding the incident, “It was unfortunate that it had to come that. The RLC is working for accountability within the Party and we would prefer to do so quietly from within; but if members are being locked out and denied an opportunity to be heard then we are left with no option but to make our voices heard publicly.”

This incident in St. Johns is eerily similar to a situation that occurred last year in Orange County where Orange County Republican Executive Committee (OCREC) Chair Lew Oliver prevented members of the OCREC from voting in the election for Oliver’s seat; the people barred from voting were supporters of his opponent, Deon Long, who is now running for the 24th District of the U.S. Congress.

Many of the registered voters of Florida agree with the message of the Republican Liberty Caucus. The RLC’s message has begun attracting large numbers of people statewide. Support has poured out from around the state as this struggle with the corruption within the party has continued. Many of the recent changes in the RPOF leadership started at the grassroots level with large groups of dissenters, such as the RLC, calling for honesty and transparency in our elected leaders.

Frank Zilaitis
Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida

About The Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida:

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida is a coalition of traditional conservatives and liberty minded Republicans working within the Republican Party to promote individual liberty, smaller government, state and national sovereignty and the Constitution. The caucus advocates the return of our nation to the values and intentions of the Constitution and our founders.

[Disclaimer: This letter is from Mr. Dean himself, not the Republican Liberty Caucus.]

Dear Republican Party,

In the next presidential election, and in all state and local elections, you need to support candidates who are true Republicans and genuine lovers of liberty. The party will not succeed if it does not run candidates who truly understand and respect the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.

America was once a constitutionally limited republic, and it needs to be returned to that. In the past 100 years, and especially in the past 20 years, America has been reduced to a so-called “democracy”, where 51% of the people can rob and over-regulate 49% of the people.

A true constitutional republic could last in perpetuity; whereas democracies historically survive for 200 to 300 years. After that, they devolve into socialism or oligarchies, as the people who do not want to work vote into office people who will let them not work, and can pay them to do so by stealing from those who do work.

We are at a tipping point. America is in her 235th year. The next presidential election can determine if we regain our constitutional republic, or slide into a permanent “progressive” majority helmed by a deluded far-left who do not listen to the people, and are chomping at the bit to bankrupt us into a socialist oligarchy. Those folks see Republicans not as a force to work with in a bipartisan capacity, but as an impediment to robbing from the productive so they can “give” to those who have no desire or ability to produce.

If Washington followed the Constitution, it would barely matter who was president. The checks and balances would work. But ours has been co-opted into a popularity contest wherein people vote for the candidate with the slickest tongue and the shortest slogan….especially slogans like “HOPE” and “CHANGE.” As we’ve seen, these basically mean “Get me in, and you’ll find out my actual core beliefs later, when it’s too late.”

If the President and Congress followed the Constitution, DC would not be permitted to arbitrarily dictate most of what a citizen does in a given state. We need candidates who stand up for the Constitution, including the true meaning the Interstate Commerce Clause, and the original intent of all parts of the Bill of Rights, especially the First, Second and Tenth Amendments.

If the Republican Party establishment supports a spend-o-crat RINO (Republican in Name Only) in the next presidential election, you will guarantee a victory for the Democratic Party.

The Democrat Party used to have some principles, but has lately been taken over by a few dozen extreme leftist “progressives” with radical ideas and ties. They think they know what’s best for everyone, consider the Constitution a detriment, and consider Republicans a speed bump to be routed around behind closed doors.

America has woken up to the waste, “legal” stealing and “legal” bribes that can only lead to the destruction of America. The Democrats are largely responsible, but some Republicans have helped along the way. If you run a RINO for president, you will guarantee AINO (America in Name Only) in the near future, and forever.

The American people have finally woken up. Americans who have never been active in politics have taken to the streets by the millions. This is just the beginning.

The Democrats have been exposed for their gross spending of other people’s money at all levels, but in doing so have also shown that the Democrats aren’t the only ones. Some Republicans have contributed to this as well.

If you run a constitutional candidate like Gary Johnson, Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, or Paul (Ron or Rand, take your pick) in the next presidential election, you’ll have a chance. I’ll vote Republican, and help out. So will millions of libertarians, tea partiers, swing voters, independents and even some of the smarter disgruntled Democrats. All combined, this will be enough to make the difference in the outcome of that election.

But 2012 is likely the very last year where even this will be possible. The leftists are working 24/7 to stack the deck against the possibility of retaining any America in America.

The Republican Party needs to run constitutional candidates, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because it will keep the party from being perceived as “irrelevant naysayers” without any of their own ideas on how to make the country better. Running constitutional candidates will keep you from becoming a footnote in history. And even that footnote will likely be erased with time when a permanent socialist majority takes control of all media and education.

This road to serfdom can possibly be avoided, but it’s up to the Republican Party. You must run Barry Goldwater candidates, not George W. Bush, John McCain, or Rudy Giuliani candidates. Otherwise you’re going to end up with an America you don’t recognize, while you cling to your “Don’t blame me, I voted Republican” buttons.

Politics has become far too complicated. Lawmakers don’t think they’re doing their jobs if they don’t enact dozens of new laws and endless pork-barrel projects to “bring home the bacon” every day. This leads to honest folks becoming criminals, and the federal government having a stranglehold over every single aspect of our lives. We need candidates who will simplify, not complicate. We need candidates who will leash the beast, not feed the beast.

The Republican Party must run candidates who follow the Constitution and understand natural law… people who believe in their heart of hearts that government does not grant rights, does not restrict rights, but has only one legitimate role: protecting rights.

Our Founders are likely rolling in their graves at what the Democrats are doing now. But the Founders surely wouldn’t be pleased with what some in the Republican Party have done, either.

Why make us pick from the lesser of two evils? Here’s a novel idea: how about running someone who’s NOT evil!

Try it, you’ll like it. And America will be better for it.

–Michael W. Dean
http://www.libertarianpunk.com

Celebrating independence and individual liberties

I was very glad to see the column about staying in the Minnesota Republican Party, because I also believe that it’s worth working with the party to restore our republic (“Why we’re staying with the Minnesota GOP,” June 26).

While it’s true the party has drifted in recent years from its core principles of fiscal responsibility and individual and property rights, I am encouraged to see so many members renewing their interest in and commitment to constitutionally limited government.

I am home-schooling my children this summer on the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The first lesson teaches the balance between internal government by conscience and external government by force. More of one means less of the other. The larger and more intrusive that government becomes in our lives, the less freedom we have as individuals.

From the federal takeover of automotive companies to the state sales tax to fund arts and trails, the Democrats are making entire segments of commerce and society dependent on government.

When we celebrate our independence as a nation, it’s a good time to remind ourselves that this country was founded to protect the inalienable rights of the individual, and I will work with the Minnesota GOP to fight for the liberties and privileges established for us 233 years ago.

Norann Dillon, Plymouth

The writer is secretary for the Republican Liberty Caucus of Minnesota.

In his opinion piece “Why I am leaving the Minnesota GOP,” Lt. Col. Joe Reypa paints a pretty damning picture of the Republican Party of Minnesota. As Republican grass-roots activists, we have witnessed and experienced what Joe described as “tyrannical domination over the grass-roots” of the party.

We agree with Joe when he says “it is time to stop enabling bad behavior from that party.” Joe is a friend who has been a principled champion of freedom and liberty for many years; he remains a friend. We disagree, however, with his conclusion that “the Minnesota GOP is no longer capable of being saved.”

This is why we are not leaving the Minnesota GOP. Not only can the Minnesota GOP be saved, it must be saved.

While the Republican Party has drifted away from the fundamental principles inherent in the U.S. Constitution — the primacy of individual sovereignty, the sanctity of private property and preservation of the rule of law — the Minnesota DFL has coalesced around the national Democratic Party values: the collective good over individual pursuit of happiness, the property needs of the state over the property rights of the individual, and government power restrained only by the grace of the majority, irrespective of the rule of law. History warns us that a nation so divided cannot long endure.

And this is why we choose to remain in the Minnesota GOP: Despite past leadership flaws, the Minnesota GOP remains the last best hope for resurrecting Quantcast
republican, constitutional government. It is the last best hope for individuals who want to make their own decisions about health care, their children’s education, where they live, what they eat and how they worship. The Minnesota GOP is the last best hope for preservation of the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is the last best hope for a productive society capable of creating the wealth that makes compassion possible.

The groups we represent — the Republican Liberty Caucus, the Campaign for Liberty, and Minnesotans for Limited Government, and many other like-minded liberty-oriented organizations — are evidence that hope is not dead.

To Joe’s point, many of our groups have sprung up and grown strong because the Minnesota GOP abdicated its role as protector of republican principle — endorsing capital “R” Republicans regardless of their allegiance to small “r” republican principle. But for whatever reason our groups came into being, they exist, and they are making a difference.

When the campaign for GOP officers began, the emphasis was on “Platform Conservatism,” the notion that the “best conservative,” the “best Republican,” was the one who could put the most check marks next to the 171 planks of a 5,100-word party platform. Over the course of the campaign, the debate changed.

Republicans started talking about “Principled Conservatism” as an alternative to the litmus test of platform politics. The grass-roots felt empowered; a candidate for chair was drafted by the party’s grass-roots. With no “old guard” support whatsoever, he nearly pulled off the upset.

A Web site and Facebook group, “Grassroots for an Open Republican Party,” described a Republican Party that doesn’t just win elections, but one that earns respect as a party of integrity and principle. Both the newly elected chair and deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP signed on as supporters.

Campaign for Liberty supporters of Ron Paul (who as Joe notes were systematically shut out of the 2008 GOP State Convention) remain engaged in the Republican Party, actively supporting liberty-oriented candidates and conservative/libertarian principles.

The Republican Liberty Caucus, “the conscience of the Republican Party,” exists to promote individual liberty, limited government and free enterprise within the Republican Party.

Minnesotans for Limited Government is educating the party and public on the principles of limited government and supporting liberty-minded candidates.

There is an old adage that describes change as frightening when done to us, but exhilarating when done by us. This is an exhilarating time to be a Republican.

The frightening change taking place in the country, the abandonment of republican government and fundamental constitutional principles, is a wake-up call. Now is our “Time to Choose.” It is our time to stop an ever-intrusive government from doing change to us. It is our time to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution of the United States. It is our time to put American principles to the test. It is our time to reform, re-energize and resurrect the last best hope of American constitutional government — the Republican Party.

That is why we are emphatically not leaving the Minnesota GOP.

David FitzSimmons of Cokato is chairman of the Minnesota Republican Liberty Caucus: rlcmn.org; Marianne Stebbins of Excelsior is coordinator of the Minnesota Campaign for Liberty: www.campaignforliberty.com/usa/MN; and Mitch Imbertson of Maplewood is Communications Committee Chair of Minnesotans for Limited Government: www.mnlg.org.

Louis William Rose
[address deleted]
Jacksonville, FL 32211

Secretary Janet Napolitano
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Madame Secretary:

I have read with great interest the recent report: Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment and am writing to ask if you would please add my name to the Terrorist Watch List, if this has not already been done. I am confident that many of my friends must be on your list, and I would not want to be the one left out. I think that once you read my qualifications you will agree that I definitely make the cut.

I am a veteran.

I served from 1972 to 1975 in the U.S. Army. I never made sergeant or even corporal, but I learned how to take an order, give an order, and how to disobey one. I learned how to G.I. a toilet and generally how to clean house. Also, I swore to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and … domestic.

I am a conservative.

Just as it says in your report, I reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority, agreeing with James Madison that, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”

I am a gun owner.

I have owned various rifles since I was thirteen and revolvers since I was twenty-one. I am fifty-five now and I carry an automatic so as not to appear old-fashioned. I don’t own guns for target practice, or for hunting. I decided long ago to keep and bear arms in order to vigorously exercise my natural right of self defense so that I may be confident of being able to vigorously exercise all the other rights with which I am endowed.

I am concerned.

Regarding social change, immigration and citizenship, government spending, economic collapse, I am concerned about these and other issues, discussing them with as many as are willing, so that I might gain a greater understanding. However, I am especially concerned with the suspension of the U.S. Constitution, something which I consider to already be the case and the political reality for several years. I seriously wonder what it is going to take to reestablish the rule of law and constitutional government in this country.

Yes, please ensure that my name appears prominently on your list. It would be an honor to be included.

Respectfully,

Louis William Rose
Parliamentarian,
Republican Liberty Caucus National Convention

Why I voted ‘no’ on the stimulus

by Senator Joe Balyeat

“Big government can’t solve our problem; big government is our problem.” — Ronald Reagan The budget recently passed by Montana’s Legislature was hailed as a bipartisan feat, including total spending of almost $11 billion and so-called federal stimulus spending of $1 billion. I voted against both spending bills. Why?

One senator characterized the federal stimulus as free money “… that doesn’t cost Montana taxpayers one dime.” Commenting near April 15, the irony was self-evident; any naïve notion that Montanans don’t pay federal taxes must come from someone who’s never completed a federal Form 1040.

More importantly, the “free money” is non-existent; it’s deficit spending, which is putting an insurmountable debt load on the backs of our children’s children.

Presently, the national debt is $11,246,599,828,489 — roughly $11 and a quarter trillion dollars. According to the Congressional Budget Office, President Obama’s spending spree will leave us with a $20.3 trillion debt 10 years from now. This is real debt which someday needs to be repaid by our heirs — debt owed increasingly to foreign nations, especially China.

America’s been living beyond its means on our children’s money. Now that this lavish lifestyle is coming home to roost, Obama’s answer is more of the same thing which initially created this mess — bailing us out by spending more money we don’t have. Twenty trillion dollars translates into $266,667 of debt on the backs of every family of four in the entire United States.

Even if you’re completely debt free personally, you’ll still owe over a quarter-million dollars as your family’s share of the federal debt. Our parents handed us the greatest nation on the face of the earth; we’re handing our children the greatest debt ever imaginable.

Is Montana’s state government any less irresponsible? While Montana’s governor and politicians talked of an austere budget, Montana’s total spending increases 19 percent over last session’s budget, which itself repre-sented a nearly 40 percent increase in government spending during the previous four years.

Montana’s current budget spends $10,787,000,000 — $10.8 billion for two years. This translates into $44,254 in spending for every average Montana family of four. In a state where the average wages are only $32,000 annually, how can our struggling private sector possibly support this much government?

Considering Montana’s high number of government employees per capita, the total government spending per private sector family balloons to $48,000. And much of this expanded spending is debt-financed. While Montana’s average wages languish near the bottom, Montana’s state government debt per capita ranks in the top 10 nationally. Moreover, that per-capita debt has increased almost 50 percent in just the last three years alone.

Much of this increased government is nothing but micro-meddling regulation of our lives and businesses. The Legislature needlessly “licensed” several more occupations this year, with further regulations making it that much harder for young people to better themselves by entering certain careers.

During one licensing debate, I announced that next session I’d sponsor a bill to license politicians, and the education requirement would be at least one course in economics. The wisdom of this ed requirement was proven during debate on the stimulus bill, when one senator (who’s lived off a government paycheck his entire adult life) made the absurdly false statement that “every economist knows that the government should spend more money during recession.” I refrained from providing names of at least a dozen economists in Bozeman alone who disagree profoundly with that notion, especially when speaking about deficit spending — squandering our grandchildren’s well-being under a mountain of inflationary government debt.

I also refrained from pointing out that expanding government’s regulatory meddling actually stymies economic growth, rather than fostering it. Will Rogers once said, “Thank God we don’t get all the government we pay for.” Update that quote n Thank God we don’t get all the government our grandchildren will be paying for.

My “no” vote was a vote against America’s self-inflicted destruction of history’s greatest economy, a vote against burdening the backs of each family with a quarter-million-dollar bad debt, a vote for my children and children’s children, a vote for giving them the same life of economic opportunity which my parents handed to me. Unfortunately, too few politicians just said “no.”

Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman and a CPA, is chairman of the Legislative Audit Committee and Business, Labor, & Economic Affairs Committee.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel | April 14, 2009

If exit polls and surveys prove accurate, there will be one demographic deeply underrepresented in Wednesday’s conservative “taxpayer tea parties,” to be held at capitols across the country: Americans between the ages of 18 and 29.

In 2008, Democrats dominated Republicans among these voters, winning them over by a 2-to-1 margin in the presidential race (68% for Barack Obama vs. 30% for John McCain). It wasn’t simply an Obama phenomenon, either: In races for the House of Representatives nationwide, 18- to 29-year-olds voted 63% to 34% for Democrats. In conservative South Dakota, 60% voted against an abortion ban; in California, 61% opposed a proposition (which passed) to ban gay marriage; a majority opposed Arizona’s law to ban adoption by gay couples; and even in Mississippi, longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran tied his Democratic challenger among young voters.

In the first few months of his presidency, Obama has continued his full-court press for young voters, breaking protocol by giving Queen Elizabeth a loaded iPod, appearing on television and radio and expanding the White House’s Internet presence.

But the political loyalties of that coveted demographic are not yet decided. While they seem to lean to the left, they’re actually more libertarian than liberal, a fact that will reshape the way we think about liberalism and conservatism in decades to come.

America’s Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1995) is the first to have grown up with the Internet, which leaves it the most liberty-loving generation since the era of Andrew Jackson. Liberty, the root of what meant to the founders’ generation “liberal,” describes freedom from control and interference, particularly by government. And there is no domain so free from government as the Internet.

What does it mean to have been weaned in an environment – the Internet – virtually free of government interference? Millions of Gen-Yers have grown accustomed to making purchases online tax-free. They download movies and music (much of it pirated), read their news online for free (to the detriment of print media), find recipes online and network with friends and relatives online.

In short, they love their freedom.

This love of liberty translates into a unique political composite. Gen-Yers are less nationalistic and more likely to see all politicians as corrupt than older voters. They support liberalization of drug laws and would prefer to see marijuana legalized. And they are much less likely to support restrictions on immigration than older voters. On these counts, they seem to lean left of center, at least as the political spectrum is defined today.

But they are also free-traders, much more supportive of globalization than older voters. They’re optimistic, overwhelmingly believing that they can change the country for the better. And in the most recent surveys, they support proposals to privatize Social Security, which few believe will be there for them when they retire. On these counts, they seem to lean right of center.

The truth is, this generation, which seems not to fit in any neat political category, is more ideologically consistent than either Democrats or Republicans. The conservatism that dominates the Republican Party today is a combination of limited government in some places (taxation and regulation), but bigger and more intrusive government elsewhere (homeland security, military and on social issues). The Democratic Party is just as inconsistent, preferring government to be hands-off on social and civil liberty issues, but large elsewhere in areas like health care and other entitlements.

Gen-Yers see the inconsistency. Weaned on the Internet, they understand what our founders understood and what classical liberals since have preached: that Social Security and the Internal Revenue Service represent big, intrusive government, but so, too, do a massive military, snooping spy agencies and national identification cards. They don’t want the government taxing their Internet purchases any more than they want a government agency assigning them a doctor.

It’s the classical liberalism of Milton Friedman, who argued that political and economic freedom are deeply interrelated – that one cannot exist without the other. They’ve grown up with that kind of freedom, and as voting adults, they have come to expect it.

Republicans might be tempted to reject as “liberal” these voters because of their moderate social views. And Democrats would be wrong to believe that social moderation somehow translates into an affinity for big government programs.

Generation Y, and the iPod generation to follow, likely will redefine what it means to be conservative or liberal. The first party to understand this and adjust will dominate America’s political landscape in the future.

Jim Burkee is an associate professor of American history at Concordia University Wisconsin.

*Mr. Burkee was endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus in his 2008 primary challenge to incumbent Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI).

To see a listing of the Tea Parties in your state, click here. On February 27th, an estimated 30,000 Americans took to the street in 40+ cities across the country in the first nationwide “Tea Party” protest.

So why rally? What is the point? Several reasons: 1) There has not been ENOUGH dissent in this country and the “go along, get along” attitude has plagued us for many years; 2) folks are FINALLY starting to wake up, and public rallies engage average citizens in issues; 3) public officials pay attention to large groups of taxpayers; 4) it provides a coalition-building opportunity with like-minded groups; and 5) it allows the RLC to gain visibility.

The Tea Party movement has been organized to protest the Bailouts approved by Congress, the massive federal debt that continues to grow daily, and the increasing burden on average taxpayers. There is no better day to express your distrust of government than April 15 — Tax Day.

In conjunction with the Spirit of the Founders, RLC members are organizing and speaking at Taxpayer Tea Parties throughout the country. For example, in Melbourne, Florida, RLC East Central Florida Coordinator Matthew D. Nye has organized the Brevard Tea Party.

At its website, Nye features a video from a savvy young lady who discusses the relevance of Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged to the current state of the economy. She says:

“The similarities [in Atlas Shrugged compared to] today are striking. In Atlas, we see a world crumbling under the weight of government interventions and regulations. The economy is ground to a halt. Each day, more and more businesses are shutting their doors. The government blames greed and the free market and frantically imposes more government control, but the crisis only deepens. Sound familiar?”

Atlas is currently the Amazon.com “Best Seller” in the fiction category, but it’s RLC member Nye who is educating taxpayers in Brevard County, Florida.

According to the newly chartered Republican Liberty Caucus of Alabama, “Quite a few RLC members are active in the planning of Tea Party rallies to be held across Alabama (and the nation) on April 15th.”  Similarly, RLC Tennessee Officers Gregg Juster, Bryan Haddock, and Joe Dumas are assisting with the Tea Party organizing in Chattanooga.

In Arizona, RLC member Tom Jenney will be a featured speaker, along with RLC State Representative Frank Antenori, at the Tucson Tea Party. Members of the RLC of Pima County, including organize Ken Rineer, are active participants in the Tucson Tea Party.

In northern Virginia, RLC Secretary Aaron Biterman will be addressing the crowd at the Tea Party in Reston, an outer-Beltway suburb of the nation’s capital. Biterman will be speaking about continuing the “Spirit of the Revolution” in 2009 and the importance of eliminating the federal income tax.

These are just some of the RLC members and activists who have taken an active role in the Tea Party Movement.  Look for a full report post-April 15.

In addition to attending your local Tea Party, the RLC is encouraging its members to take the following five steps to promote local Tea Parties:

• Make signs with legible slogans that send a clear message to the public and the media;
• Call local talk radio hosts to ask them to announce the location, date, and time of your local Tea Party on the air for a few days leading up to the protest;
• Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper announcing the rally;
• Write a press release and e-mail, mail and fax copies to the local TV stations, radio stations and newspapers; and
• Call the reporters that cover local events or politics and leave messages on their voice mail.

Small fringe makes Republicans look bad

There is no mystery why candidates with an (R) behind their name lost in 2006 and 2008. They defended the indefensible for years, and it made voters mad. Only people in denial say George Bush was unfairly treated, and that Democrats and the media should hound Barack Obama with the same vitriolic intensity. They need to take a little trip down memory lane.

Bush enjoyed a 90 percent approval rating in October 2001, and we had the entire world on our side. It is ridiculous to blame anyone else but him and his top advisers for securing his place among the worst presidents in history.

His actions and inactions resulted in tragedy after scandal after disaster. The Bush-Cheney team has left our country morally, ethically, diplomatically, militarily and financially bankrupt.

Sarah Palin points to a Republican administration’s “blunders with war strategy” and “trillion-dollar debt” for losing the election. Ron Paul has hinted John McCain might have won if he’d held up Bush as the example of what can go wrong with an inexperienced person in the White House.

It is the last 25 percent of Americans refusing to admit how bad the Bush-Cheney years were who make all Republicans look like the lunatic fringe.

- T.J. Facto
Des Moines