Rice County Republicans

One of the recent mailings I received from the Bly campaign (via the Minnesota DFL State Committee) promises that

“He’s working for Rice and Scott Counties to get our fair share.”  [emphasis added]

Our fair share?  Our fair share! This short-sighted, what’s in it for me, attitude toward government money is the ruin of democracies.  Neither party is doing its job well right now (consider the bailout), but this egregious and blatant attempt to buy votes stands out in this economy like a warning buoy in a channel. It says, “this is the wrong way, do not go this way.“  And we will not go that way. We must vote, proselytize and keep the discussion on the important principles that guide us.

We cannot win this battle one bill at a time, we must win it at the principles level.  There are many possible creeds out there that claim to be Republican.  Some are close … claiming

• That the free enterprise system is the most productive supplier of human needs and economic justice.
• That all individuals are entitled to equal rights, justice, and opportunities and should assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society.
• That fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of government.
• That the Federal Government must preserve individual liberty by observing constitutional limitations.
• That peace is best preserved through a strong national defense.

Others more basic:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Others more foundational …

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, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. (Excerpt from The Declaration of Independence)

All derive from basic assumptions about the role of government. The underlying assumptions are that governments serve best that serve all of the people by:

• providing basic security by:
  • securing the borders and
  • providing for the common defense
• providing for prosperity by
  • coining and printing well regulated money and
  • enforcing legal contracts
• providing for the freedom of the individual by ensuring and protecting the freedoms we promised ourselves in the Constitution

The founders started the system with a requirement that only taxpayers (land owners at that time) were allowed to vote. They were worried about precisely the sort of appeal that we see above, an appeal to the greed of the voter by promising to get them “their fair share!” My friends, this is not good, this is not freedom. It is proper that we have extended the vote to all adults. It is dangerous that we have done so without ensuring that they know the importance of that vote, and especially the ramifications of voting their pocketbooks rather than their principles.

We are in for some turbulent times, made worse by the upcoming divisive election. Over the next two years we will be revisiting these principles-based discussions with an eye toward creating a grassroots movement to bring reason back to the ballot box in numbers that will swamp the self-serving and self-righteous who would use the power of the bayonet to subdue the people.