I would like to thank everyone for coming out and attending the Liberty Convention. I am truly honored to have the chance to speak with likeminded people. My name is James Williams and I will be talking about where our country is heading and the future of American liberties.
The existence of government, as we know all too well, poses the greatest potential threat to freedom and liberty. For many years, freedom and liberty have been stripped away from the people and the United States of America. To gauge the present state of our country, you can say that the average successful businessman probably has more to fear from the government than does the average mugger. Again and again, the muggers and other violent criminals either are not apprehended or are quickly turned loose by our revolving-door of justice. At the same time, successful businessmen are prey to an army of government agencies enforcing arbitrary rules and regulations.
Our Founding Fathers understood very well the nature of freedom and the threat posed to them by government. In the strongest possible term, the Declaration of Independence upholds the principle of inalienable individual rights. The Constitution of the United States and its Bill of Rights are to be understood as an attempt to control and regulate the government not the American people. The Constitution is to protect the citizens from their government and provide for a division of powers.
The first sentence in an oath of office is as follows; I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Right in the first sentence, our elected officials swear to defend the United States Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies. This includes our federal government and people in our federal government who may by trying to strip away our constitutional rights. The second sentence states; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. This means that every elected official bears allegiance to the constitution of the United States and not to special interest groups, large corporations, or to the political wheels that strip power away from the American people.
Just this week, our House of Representatives have moved to do two main things and the European Union has said one major thing that can and will put more power in the government’s hands. First they put together a new set of rules that regulate what our elected officials can say to, or about the President or other Representatives in the house. This is a blatant violation of the first amendment. As I look forward and see the future of our country falling into the tyrannical hands of the federal government; I realize that we as Americans need to stand up as soon as possible and make our voices heard. This is one example of the amount of control that has been stripped away from Americans. On the basis of such beliefs, freedom can easily be lost in the idea that we do not have the right to discuss our discontent for policies that are passed on the federal level. If we let this type of governmental control go un-checked, than it is a matter of time before the same rule gets applied to the American people. We have seen this type of oppression with the current administration and our conservative talk radio shows across the country. The first step is to oppress the willing, than move to silence the media that speaks out against the administrations agenda, and then slowly move to oppress the people. The second thing our Legislators voted on was to move all funding for student loans in to the hands of the government and out of independent industries. This is going to take place by 2010. As I get more details I will let everyone know what’s in the bill. The only thing I was able to find out before this meeting was that all free market student loans will be eliminated by 2010, and that there are funds allocated to ACORN. As I find more out I will have it posted on my website. The one thing that the European nation has been talking about is one of the scariest things that could happen to our nation for us and our children. As we know, our President is preparing for the G20 summit and other foreign meeting that will take place in the next month. Europe has stated within the last week one main goal of their next meeting is to discuss the implementation of a basket current in America. The European Union fills that the American currency is hindering their economy and the only way to fix it is to move to their form of a basket system. The question is what effect will this have on America, not to mention that the European Union will control the value of the basket currency. As a country we are left with a major problem, who controls the money controls the country. Is this not the main reason for the Declaration of Independence? To have and protect our liberties and freedoms from foreign control? If our government makes a move in this direction, we as a country will move back in time to the same position we were in before we declared independence. Let’s not forget the life’s that were lost in the fight for our freedoms instead let’s bring to ear today and remember what we have gained. This way we will not lose our liberties tomorrow.
When our federal government starts to interfere and moves to take control of private business’, it leave the door open to control the people that work for those companies and the products that are produced or sold. Our federal government would like people to believe that if they allow capitalists to have economic freedoms and liberties; they will cause poverty and misery for everyone else. It leads people also to believe that what will improve conditions is government intervention, most notably, labor legislation. We can see this today in the insurance and lending industries. We also have a Czar that is appointed the pay Czar. Once the pay Czar can fully control the pay checks in one industry, they will continue to move through all businesses in the United States. This is something that has been tried many times in the past. And this system of government intervention has never worked. It has only been proven to kill small business, increase the unemployment rate, and slows economic growth.
Our federal government has implemented, and is working on bills and legislation to do just that. We as a country are being held down by government thugs that are proceeding with Socialism by an iron fist. Between the housing bubble that our government mandated institutions lend money to individual that are unable to repay them, to the government takeover of private business. We can see large layoffs, trouble American people, and bankruptcy filing rising every day. The American people have stated in many ways that we will not accept a government run health care system, so our administration has put more people out of work. This means that more people have no health insurance, and more people are collecting unemployment. In the future, very near future, this will benefit the government because as people continue to have no work or health insurance, our administration will be able to scare the American people in to the government health program. Americans have been willing to give up many liberties and freedoms to have security and stability. Our federal government will use this to scare people into Socialism. The one major thing that people in American has forgotten, is that the federal government has no money. The money comes from taxing the American people. That is you and me.
Despite the history of the world and the overthrow of socialism in many countries, it is human nature to work toward socialism. This is because people are compassionate and are willing to support and help other people in need. As our country moves forward we see this in our government today. This is going to be a continuing problem that we need to address. The problem is not in the charitable idea of helping other people, but in the idea government is the solution. Anytime the government becomes the solution, they also become the problem. As soon as the people and the states give up there freedoms in the name of compassion, the government will than take control of those freedoms for the own. We can see this today and will continue to see this type of control in the future. One way to reverse this is for people to accept more responsibility and to be compassionate with their time and money, but the federal government is working to maintain the control over the people. We see this through taxes and the unemployment rate. If you control the money, you control the country.
So this poses the question, what things can every American do? You can talk to your neighbors, write blogs, start face book groups, make signs, make phone calls, send e-mails, and be proactive. You can be part of a group that fights for our liberties and freedoms or you can start your own group. This country has lost its way because conservatives and constitutionalist have not been diligent in their dealings. If you are motivated enough and believe that you can work for the people, you should stand up and run for office. This is a right that every American has. Not just the rich, or the elitist, or the Harvard and Yale graduates. But this is your right as an American. The main thing we have to remember is to remain peaceful. The last thing you won’t to do is discredit the cause that we are fighting for, or to discredit yourself. Get your message out and get your message across in the most effective way possible. Liberty is the hardest thing to maintain because it requires due diligence. We need to stay motivated and diligent to make progress. Freedom will never survive in a society of compliant and complacent people. We as America needs to stand up and fight for our constitutional freedoms with due diligence. I have learned in the last year that anything is possible if we stay motivated, and if we stay motivated we will find the path back to our constitutional freedoms. We will find the proper role of government, and we will maintain our liberties.
The goal of capitalism, if and when it occurres, would mean the reduction of government to a defensive role of protecting the individual citizen, whether by common criminals or by foreign governments. We need to have a major reduction in government spending at all levels, in the order of 80 to 90% percent, and an even more substantial reduction in the government’s influence over people’s lives. If we could abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, we could eliminate the government’s ability to dictate the spending of trillions of dollars of private funds.
We will need to move to a very low flat tax, and we need to drop corporate income taxes along with the inheritance and capital gains taxes. As soon as we come out of a deficit we can then abolish the income tax. Social security, Medicare, and Medicaid will also need to be abolished, along with the special taxes that pay for them. The great majority of today’s cabinet departments and all of the administrative agencies would then start to disappear. Even those cabinet departments that survived will only do so in a considerably reduced form. At this point, we will have what is considers “the proper role of government”.
Having the people maintain the possession of this ultimate goal would serve as a guide and standard for the political action leading to its achievement. Those who make the choice to fight for this goal will be motivated to advocate specific measures moving the country in the direction of freedom. We can systematically and repeatedly introduce proposals designed to reduce the power of the government and increase liberty. In so doing, we will seize the political initiative from the left, which even now never tires of advocating measures leading in the direction of socialism and does not rest until they become law. As advocates of capitalism we need not tire or give up in the face of political setbacks, but continue with the encouragement of all essential features of our program for however long it might take for them to be enacted.
The enemy of freedom and liberty is knocking at our door. Our future will only hold socialism if we chose to do nothing or think that someone else will do something. We are at a great time in the present to make liberty minded changes for our future generations. We need not forget that the fight we have today will make great change tomorrow. Consider this: In a short time of more than a generation, the left has abandoned its previous claims to represent reason and has now openly moved to the point where its attitude toward reason and freedom is indistinguishable from that of socialism. This is the face of the left today. This is their views and agendas. A future generation just a few thousand strong, that are liberty minded and constitutionally driven, will be able to overcome such opposition and ultimately succeed not only in restoring liberty but in bringing our country back to its constitutional principles.
Fortunately, as I look forward I believe that whoever takes up the work passionately of advancing the cause of liberty will quickly find great personal rewards, and they will continue to do so throughout the years they devote to it. For it has been expressed that "he who fights for the future, lives in it." This is another way of saying that there is great reward in the pursuit of truth and justice; this is what the case for liberty is all about. For man to be truly happy, he must be free to prosper.
I believe that ever person sitting here today can and will make a change. We have gathered here to express our views and opinions of liberty. Our forefathers have passed down the United States Constitution with the hopes that we will continue to be a moral and just society. And that our elected representatives will be moral and just. Our government has become corrupt and we need to band together to overcome political wheels of socialism. This is why I have made the choice to run for the United States Senate against Senator Bob Bennett. We have 28 principles of liberty and need not stray from them. If we follow and fight for liberty, our cause will come to pass and we will reap the rewards of a free nation.
Thank You.
