Be Happy! Don't Worry!

Constitution Party ^ | February 2003 | Jim Clymer

[TBP]

"Be happy! Don’t worry! We have a true conservative in the White House!" At least that is the message that I keep hearing from many who have duct taped a "conservative" label on themselves these days. The proof, they contend, is in the $674 billion dollar "tax cut/economic stimulus" plan the president is proposing. For that, they think he should immediately be stamped with the "Good Conservative Seal of Approval" for exhibiting sound conservative credentials. But should we really have no concerns?

Now don’t get me wrong, I think the tax cuts are great. But in this case, they don’t go nearly far enough for I desire to see the American people liberated from the chains of the income tax entirely. But this proposal, which the White House probably does not think will be adopted in total, does at least take a small step in the right direction. So, they want to cut taxes? I say, "Sounds great! Do it!"

But before we pass out the confetti and the party whistles, we had better make sure that there is cause for celebration. Has the tremendous burden of the cost of government truly been lessened by the Bush Administration? You might think so if all you listened to was the rhetoric coming from the White House press office. Unfortunately, the big picture is cause for genuine concern. While the distracting bone of a "tax cut/economic stimulus" is being thrown for us to fetch, the torrential flood of federal spending that is gushing out the back door of the Bush Administration White House is rapidly increasing in volume. And somebody's going to have to pay for it...and we all know who that "somebody" usually is - the American people.

We all deal with these economic realities in our personal lives. If we buy things or services, we will have to pay for them, if not immediately, eventually. In like manner, every citizen can readily understand that each dollar spent by the government equals a dollar that will have to be taxed on someone, somewhere in some form. If the money is borrowed, it is creating an obligation that the American people will someday have to pay, along with the interest that goes along with the debt. Even if government "creates" some of the "money" to pay its bills by printing it, it represents a tax upon us through inflation, since such action devalues our currency and is reflected in the higher cost of goods and services.

There is no way around it, the debt piper will be paid - and he will be paid on the backs of the American people.

So here we are faced with a contradiction of evidence. On the one hand, we have a President that is promoting himself as a fiscal conservative by pitching a modest tax cut package to us. On the other hand, we have that same President, proposing the biggest expansion of government since President Johnson’s "Great Society" adventure into the dangerous land of socialism. And that is not to even consider the White House's troubling efforts to gut the Constitution's protection of our civil liberties through an unprecedented amassing of federal police power.

Of course, if the President sought to fulfill his oath of office which requires him to support and defend the Constitution, this would not be happening.

If the spending side were kept within Constitutional boundaries, the taxing side would not be a problem. And if the functions of the federal government were kept within Constitutional boundaries, our liberties would not be so threatened by the prospect of the possible use of already unconstitutionally obtained federal police power by future Presidents and government officials with personal leanings towards tyranny.

Unfortunately, President Bush is typical of the "New Republican" that throws even the pretense of frugality and limited government out of the window. He defies the principles of sound government and seeks to have his cake and eat it too. He keeps the Liberals "happy" by pouring billions into the expansion of the welfare state and seeks to appease the conservatives by proposing modest tax cuts, while not mentioning the massive increases on the spending side.

Who cares what budgetary problems it may create down the road? We are living in the here and now! Let's all join in the chanting of the new neo-conservative maxim: "Deficits-do-not-matter...deficits-do-not-matter...deficits-do-not-matter!" Now lets close our eyes and forget all about what the Bush Administration is doing. You don't have to pay attention, he's a compassionate conservative and has your very best interests in mind while he grows the federal government bigger and bigger. So let's forget about all that. Instead, imagine in your minds going to your "happy place", wherever that might be. See... isn't that better? No economic problems, no impending war, no growing federal police state, no concerns about how you will be able to provide for your family once the consequences of the present government policy come home to roost. Happy Days are here again!

Be happy! Don't Worry!

But in case you are not really comfortable with remaining in a state of artificially induced ignorant bliss, you might want to instead consider the words of one of our nation's founding fathers, John Adams:

"...[T]he jaws of power are always opened to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing. And if the public interest, liberty, and happiness have been in danger from the ambition or avarice of any great man, whatever may be his politeness, address, learning, ingenuity, and, in other respects, integrity and humanity, you have done yourselves honor and your country service by publishing and pointing out that avarice and ambition...be not intimidated...nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberty by any pretenses of politeness, delicacy, or decency...

...Be it remembered, however, that liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a...divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers. Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority that they themselves have deputed, and to constitute abler and better agents, attorneys, and trustees."

Sound government includes true fiscal restraint and accountability on both the spending and taxation sides of the ledger, a respect for the God-given rights of the people, a dedication to justice and a commitment to remaining within the power limiting boundaries that the Constitution places upon government. It is within these confines that all efforts to honorably fulfill the proper duties of government should be undertaken. But, unfortunately this is not often seen today, which is why the Constitution Party exists...because there is a real need for a real change.

The Constitution Party is not satisfied in remaining in, or publicly promoting an artificially induced state of ignorant political bliss. Nor are we interested in chanting the mantras of faux "compassionate conservatism" which is in truth neither compassionate, nor conservative. Instead we are determined to be the vanguards of the God-given liberties and rights of the American people. It is for this reason that we are dedicated to and focused upon the promoting of, as John Adams put it, "abler and better...attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people" in the halls of civil government.

If you are concerned about the future of our nation and desire to see the present march towards corruption abated, I urge you to join and support our efforts to restore integrity to American government.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Bush is 80% of what I want in a President. I thought it would take a miracle to get a 60% President, in these times. He has my support, and my vote.

[TBP]

So increasing Federal spending on Federalized education, social programs for the elderly, and other Big Government domestic programs, supporting the unconstitutional campaign finance law, and passing laws like the Patriot Act gives you 80 percent of what you want? You have low standards. Bush has done a great job on the war, but look at his domestic record. It's just watered-down liberalism with a few tax cuts thrown in to keep conservatives quiet.

[TBP]

And what would the liberals do that this Administration isn't doing?

[Texasforever]

You have to be kidding. How about Kyoto, the ICC, taxes, military spending cuts, just to name a few.

[Mr. Mojo]

I voted for Bush because I wanted LESS federal gov't, not more. I doubt I'll vote for him in 2004 at this rate.

Seminar poster alert. Frankly, I'm surprised you've lasted this long (almost two weeks).

[nopardons]

Since joing FR, late ( very , the 28th , to be exact ) in April of THIS year, perhaps you need to go looking for a different forum to join, or to stay here , read until your eyes pop out of your head and you finally manage to learn something about politics.

If you aren't really just a troll/disruptor, then you really need to learn what politics is and what it is not. Your post pegs you as an all or nothing kinda person, who would rather have NOTHING , than accept a part of what you wish a president to do.

Sooo, you are you going to vote for, in '04...Dean, Gephart,Kerry ? LOL

[nopardons]

Wake up and at leasts attempt to use your brain. Third/fringe parties are for losers. Not voting for a Republican, so as to " teach him ( the party ) a lesson ", does N-O-T-H-I-N-G , zip, nada, zero, bupkiss, except to aid, abet, and give comfort to the Dems. Maybe you " feel " better/superior/principled; however, the reality of it is, that you've done absolutely nothing at all, to change things nor to further your desires.

The CP doesn't even show up on the vast majority of the populace's radar. It might as well not exist. Neither is it going to ever get anywhere.

[nopardons]

Obviously, no one has reported him/her yet... or perhaps, just not often enough.

On your mark, set go ... hit the button ! :-)

[WoofDog123]

"And what would the liberals do that this Administration isn't doing?"

25% more of the same. If they controlled congress, maybe a little more gun-control after the terrorist attacks in ny and dc. who knows about the euphemistically named "patriot" act (talk about orwellian naming of laws)....that this is pretty full of big-brother without the dems putting their version in.

I will say this...a Gore defense/foreign policy team would have done a worse job in afghanistan, and wouldn't be in iraq right now unless it was under the UN flag.

[TBP]

OK, so how does voting for a party that is operatively Democrat, as the Republican Party is, a party that gives us the new campaing laws, the Patriot Act, a massive new prescription drug plan for the elderly, the massive farm subsidies, the massive education bill, and other liberal abominations, that has increased spending every year, do ANYTHING to advance conservative principles? Until we start voting for real conservatives and not just whatever pale imitation the GOP condescends to give us, we will just be taken for granted and trampled upon and we will continue to lose more and more and more ground. After all, why should Republicans pay any attnetion to our wants, desires, ideas, or principles when they know that conservatives like you will vote for tehm automatically, no matter what they do?

[TBP]

Perhaps you didn't read his post. I, too, want LESS Federal government, not more. I expect those I vote for to move the ball in our direction. I don't expect them to be perfect or get the job done overnight, but I expect them at least to make a start on restoring Constitutional government. Enacting a new prescription drug plan, signing on to massive subsidies for education, airlines, and farmers, supporting restrictions on campaign speech, enacting laws like the Patriot Act don't ven begin to move the ball in our direction. They move the ball in the other direction. Other than a penny-ante tax cut (which I support, because any tax cut is better than no tax cut), what has this Administration done for us? They've been very good on the war, but otherwise the record is not good at all. Remember appeasing China after they shot down our plane? And the Administration refuses to do anything about illegal immigration.

I could go on and on, but this short list provides several good examples.

[Blzbba]

Learn to think for yourself and stop insulting those of us who possess the capability of doing so. Just because I don't swallow every Bush policy hook, line, & sinker (like you, apparently, from the wording of your post) doesn't make me any less eligible to post or read on this site than you.

I noted that my point of Bush running on the platform of less gov't, yet creating more, was not addressed or denied by you. So I guess that you want more Fed. Gov't in your lives. Fine, but that's not been a platform of the GOP for awhile now. Why do you calmly accept this? Your grasp of politics seems tenuous at best.

And I'm no troll or disruptor, but a member of an apparently-shrinking base: Moderate Republicans who wish their politicians would focus on fiscal and foreign policy (the latter Mr. Pres. has excelled at, IMO) and stay out of religion and other personal decisions that are unimportant to this country.

[Blzbba]

"Seminar poster alert. Frankly, I'm surprised you've lasted this long (almost two weeks). "

What kind of Repub. are you that you would WANT more federal gov't? Instead of the meaningless post that you responded with, how about addressing the issue?

"Lasted this long"? Well, apparently, any moderator can read my posts and see that I'm clearly a moderate Bush-supporting Repub. but hardly a fundamentalist/extremist. How about you addressing the issue of my post - Bush creating more gov't after running on a platform of less - rather than some meaningless sentences about "seminar poster", whatever that means. I mean, you could say that the events of 9-11 and Iraq war forced him to expand or that he had the surplus to spend on it, etc. instead of choosing the liberal, I-don't-have-any-facts-so-will-insult-instead method. Are you a member of DU? That's the way they respond to discussion over there.

I'm sorry that me thinking for myself was so politically incorrect to you.

[billbears]

bookmarker bump

[Blzbba]

"Perhaps you didn't read his post. I, too, want LESS Federal government, not more"

He didn't read my post and he's apparently the GOP type the DOES want more federal gov't in his lives and has zero problems with his elected officials trashing the platforms that they ran on.

[Mr. Mojo]

No. ...I'm a fan of small gov't. It seems you don't understand what a "seminar" poster is. Well, I'll tell you. It's someone who signs up, claims to be a Republican/Bush supporter, and then says he's "had it" with either the party or the party leadership. In fact, the (seminar) poster in question is a big-gov't loving Democrat whose sole purpose is disruption --- to attempt to persuade others to a course of action (ie, NOT voting for Bush). Whether you in fact are one of these people remains to be seen, but your sign-up date combined with your statement I highlighted above makes you mighty suspicious.

[Blzbba]

"No. ...I'm a fan of small gov't. "

Good. At least we do agree on this!

"It seems you don't understand what a "seminar" poster is. "

I didn't - thanks for informing me. I can assure you that I'm not bolting to the left anytime soon, but I do hold my elected officials to a standard: To at least give lip service to the platform they ran on. You cannot deny two things: That Bush ran on a platform of Less Big Gov't...and that he has done little to accomplish that platform.

Why me expressing disdain at Bush's failure to rein in gov't spending and size makes me some kind of bad guy here, or worse, a stinkin' liberal Democrat, is ludicrous. Noone despises the anti-individualist, more-gov't-in-your-lives movement of the idiot liberal left more than I. Which is one of the reasons I voted GOP (I've yet to cast a vote for a Dem in my lifetime, fyi). Still, just because I vote for GOP doesn't mean that I don't hold them to standards. I applaud Bush's foreign policy moves, esp. given the unstable world he "inherited" from Clintax. But that success doesn't make him impervious to criticism elsewhere in his adminstration. Remember that his Daddy's "Read My Lips" broken pledge helped lead to his unfortunate outing in '92. Actions have consequences, and I, for one, do NOT want to see the Leftist Sheep have any 'broken-campaign-promises' ammo in '04. Why you don't have a problem with this puzzles me.

"Whether you in fact are one of these people remains to be seen, but your sign-up date combined with your statement I highlighted above makes you mighty suspicious."

I give you my heartfelt apologies that I failed to stumble across FR until recently. Other than that, any "mighty suspicious" behavior I've noted is coming from any of us GOP supporters who refuse to hold our politicians to the standards we elected them to. If they have any brains (questionable), the Sheep may use these failed promises of smaller gov't against us in '04. If they do, don't blame me!

[nopardons]

Unlike you, I mostly refrain from talking about things which I do not know much/anything at all about. You don't know me from Adam, nor what I think; however, you have seen fit to post what you assume to be my views/positions regarding President Bush. Of course, you're totally in error. Talking utter drivel is getting to be , unfortunately, quite standard for newbies to do. LOL

Not only do you NOT appear to " think for yourself ", you also know extremely little about politics and what can and can not be done by a president.As to hooks, lines, sinkers, and whole cloth, you apppear to have gobbled up imagininary/delusional positions and then decided that these are factual reality ... when they are not.

Why talk about making government smaller, when obviously you don't understand what steps have already been taken and the wee fact that since 9/11 other things have been just a trifle more important. As to your self proclaimed Moderate Republican status, do be careful. Many FREEPERS ( though not I ) hate such beings. :-)

Being a political naif, doesn't help you, any more than your patently ridiculous pronounciomentoes, without a shred of evidence, about other poster's positions. ; ^ )

[nopardons]

Unlike you, I mostly refrain from talking about things which I do not know much/anything at all about. You don't know me from Adam, nor what I think; however, you have seen fit to post what you assume to be my views/positions regarding President Bush. Of course, you're totally in error. Talking utter drivel is getting to be , unfortunately, quite standard for newbies to do. LOL

Not only do you NOT appear to " think for yourself ", you also know extremely little about politics and what can and can not be done by a president.As to hooks, lines, sinkers, and whole cloth, you apppear to have gobbled up imagininary/delusional positions and then decided that these are factual reality ... when they are not.

Why talk about making government smaller, when obviously you don't understand what steps have already been taken and the wee fact that since 9/11 other things have been just a trifle more important. As to your self proclaimed Moderate Republican status, do be careful. Many FREEPERS ( though not I ) hate such beings. :-)

Being a political naif, doesn't help you, any more than your patently ridiculous pronounciomentoes, without a shred of evidence, about other poster's positions. ; ^ )

[Blzbba]

Let's go thru your pretty-weak, non-factual response and point out how many times you are a hypocrite:

"Unlike you, I mostly refrain from talking about things which I do not know much/anything at all about."

Well, the rest of your post spouts off illogical assumptions about who I am, so Hypocrite Point #1 earned here...


"You don't know me from Adam, nor what I think;"

Correct you are, since you never mention anything FACTUAL in your posts...at least not in any reply to me. So my assumption is that you don't and/or can't think. :)

" however, you have seen fit to post what you assume to be my views/positions regarding President Bush. Of course, you're totally in error. "

Correct again! I was wrong to assume that you knew ANYthing, seeing as how you've YET to mention one single factual thing! Hurling insults and invective != Fact :) :)


"Talking utter drivel is getting to be , unfortunately, quite standard for newbies to do. LOL "

Then you MUST be a newbie yourself, as I continue to fail to find ANYthing factual in your posts. Please PLEASE say SOMEthing of substance! :) LOL!

"Not only do you NOT appear to " think for yourself ", you also know extremely little about politics and what can and can not be done by a president."

Hypocrite Point #2, since you admitted above to "..mostly refrain from talking about things which I do not know much/anything at all about", yet you are doing that exact thing here! LOL @ U!!!


"As to hooks, lines, sinkers, and whole cloth, you apppear to have gobbled up imagininary/delusional positions and then decided that these are factual reality ... when they are not. "

STILL WAITING FOR SOMETHING FACTUAL! An example of what I did or did not do in your above sentence would've helped immensely, but since you refuse to use fact (and fact is, I was right), your post continues to lack all credibility! :) LOL


"Why talk about making government smaller,"

BECAUSE THAT IS A PLATFORM OF THE GOP, naif! LOL! :)

" when obviously you don't understand what steps have already been taken and the wee fact that since 9/11 other things have been just a trifle more important."

Gee - federalizing the airlines has been such a resounding success! Why, the airlines are just rolling in the profits from the return of passengers wanting to fly! More gov't employees and gov't in your life is exactly what all us GOP voters wanted! (sarcasm) LOL!


"As to your self proclaimed Moderate Republican status, do be careful. Many FREEPERS ( though not I ) hate such beings. :-) "

Jesus preached moderation. I attempt to follow that creed in all facets of life....but don't always succeed! LOL @ me! Personally, to hell with extremist politics and those who support it. If people want extremism, let them go to Saudi Arabia and join the 'peaceful religion' of Islam.


"Being a political naif, doesn't help you, any more than your patently ridiculous pronounciomentoes, without a shred of evidence, about other poster's positions. ; ^ )"

Hypocrite Point #3!! We have a winner! "without a shred of evidence" or fact sums up all your response to me to date! Please don't waste any further time replying to me UNLESS you can point out specific ideals/examples of my idelogy or posts that are in error. If you aren't going to do that and are just going to continue to use the LIBERAL SHEEP DEMOCRAT method of outshouting your opponent with insults, then know that your response to me will be ignored.

You SEEM to think you know something about politics; however, there's no evidence to this in anything I've read yet. Enlighten me, if you are able, else remain an internet forum naif! :)


Because only an Internet NAIF would hit the damn POST button twice! LOL@U!