WE THE PEOPLE...

"WE THE PEOPLE"... The beginning of our Constitution, our road map to our freedom. It further  says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We the people, we are becoming a dependent people, an apathetic people, a lazy people, and soon no longer a free people.

We the people are becoming apathetic, allowing our elected officials to run unchecked. For if indeed we cared we would not re-elect these same people again and again. In business if someone does not perform the way they are trained or instructed they're fired. In politics they're re-elected. And these officials are expanding our government at an alarming rate. We are almost at a point where half our population are in some way government employees. That means anyone in the private sector is no longer responsible for their own welfare- now they're responsible for themselves and one more... James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers, "In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." Our officials have failed in at least the second part of this mandate, for it does not control itself. Thomas Jefferson said "the chains of the Constitution" should bind the mischief of government. Senator Ted Cruz said, in a recent speech, that "only when government is limited are rights protected, the rule of law honored and freedom allowed to flourish." Our government, and especially specific to our current administration, our Constitution is constantly circumvented, our rights consistently infringed upon.

We the people are becoming dependent and lazy. The more we allow ourselves to rely on the government the more freedom and happiness we surrender. To maintain its power and control it is imperative that the government grow. To limit government in any way is to allow or return freedom to its citizens. So the government gives to its citizens, or hands out, to curry favor. And citizens accept, and they become a bit lazier as a result, for they have to do less. What they don't realize is their growing dependence on government robs them of their freedom, and ultimately their happiness. For it is in our ability to produce, to achieve, that we realize self-worth, gain self esteem, and find happiness in our satisfaction of achievement. Hand outs never grow self worth or self esteem- never. Ronald Reagan said, "How can we love our country without loving our countrymen, and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they're sick, and provide opportunity to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?" He understood it's not the handout, but the opportunity that betters mankind. It's freedom, not dependence that betters us!
We the people are no longer a free people, or at least in grave danger of losing our freedom. When we trade freedom for security we soon become puppets of our government. I recently had a conversation with a local businessman, whose company has 50 plus employees, and he was lamenting how many new regulations and taxes Obamacare is impacting on his company. He had spent a day at seminar on all the new regs and was overwhelmed. He said it looked like he was going to have to hire a person just to implement Obamacare, and many questions raised by the business community at this seminar hadn't even been decided yet by the government. Our society, thinking this was such a great thing, allowed Obamacare to be shoved down our throats, and now have no idea how much freedom they gave up to the government, or how dramatically negatively impacted they will be until it's too late. The Congressional Budget Office (non-partisan) estimated that in 2014 health insurance premiums will rise across the country 125-400%- and we the people will be obligated to pay. I won't go into the negative domino effect that will happen to private business here with the implementation of this massive new government program. But it can never be good when the government attempts to control what amount to one-sixth of our private sector GNP. Allowing that control is forfeiting that much freedom. Allowing that control swells the size of our government enormously. We the people, prepare to lose what freedoms you have left, for all too often the acquisition of power leads to a hunger for more, and our government can't get more without depriving we the people of our rights.

In closing, a few random thoughts. This administration claims we need to cut back, i.e.. the sequester cuts we recently experienced, and everyone will have to share the debt burden. The cuts represent 5% cuts in budgets- how many private sector folks have cut back two, three, five, ten times that? I say we've already shouldered our burden. Obama is taking an African vacation estimated to cost tax-payers 60 to 100 million dollars- yet he canceled public tours through the White House as a "cut-back" measure. How many tours can we take with $100million dollars? One hundred and six plus years worth... That's right- for those of you who voted him in, how much does he really have our country's welfare at heart? His wife and kids went to Ireland with him while he attends the G-8 summit, but it wasn't enough to be with him- Michele took the girls to another city, and we the people footed the additional $5 million bill... These people don't care about me or you, or those precious to you. They say one thing but do another, and they're bleeding every penny out of us that they can in the process... WAKE UP AMERICA! before it's too late!

Food for thought...