The Rush Towards Socialism and How to Stop It

Thomas DiLorenzo has written an excellent piece on the suicidal rush towards socialism in the United States. It was originally posted on www.lewrockwell.com.

It only took the Obama administration a couple of weeks to prove that the national leadership of the Democratic Party is guided by totalitarian-minded socialists who seek to create an omnipotent government. The U.S. government is now controlled by people who have been dreaming of living out their Utopian socialist fantasies ever since the fantasies were brought to their attention in college decades ago by their Mao/Castro/Che Guevara poster-hanging, capitalism-hating, communistic professors.

The administration’s main agenda is an explosion of federal spending and debt so large and outrageous that America will soon exceed Sweden in the proportion of the economy that is controlled by government – if it hasn’t already. That’s just for starters. They also want to sharply increase taxes on the most productive and hardest-working people in society; increase the capital gains tax to deter private investment; expand the welfare state; spend trillions on pure, pork barrel spending in a massive vote-buying spree; set all corporate compensation levels by governmental fiat; tax away the wealth of unpopular business people (only starting with those AIG executives); regulate and control all risk taking by private entrepreneurs; enforce a civilian draft to create a modern-day, American version of the Hitler Youth (See Rahm Emanuel’s creepy, Stalinist-sounding book entitled The Plan); nationalize entire industries, starting with the capital markets (they understand that there can be no capitalism without private capital markets); and double, triple, and quadruple the number of "regulators" who already regulate all aspects of human life in America.

At the recent G-20 meeting Obama even signed off on the creation of an international regulatory "authority" that could set compensation policies in American corporations. On top of this, there is a never-ending drumbeat of anti-capitalist propaganda coming from the administration and its worshipful mouthpieces in the "mainstream media."

What can be done? How can this rush toward totalitarian socialism be stopped? Will the Republicans find another old, angry geezer to appeal to the angry white male vote? How about another mumbling and incompetent Bush family heir? Will there be another Reagan who will talk libertarian while governing more like a European Social Democrat? Will they trot out another old "war hero" who will plunge us into war with Iran, North Korea, China, or whomever, to divert our attention away from the economic mess government has placed us in? These are the likely alternatives if we cling to the fantasy that "throwing the bums out" at election time leads to something other than another group of slightly different bums.

The fact is that the American people have been servants or slaves to their government for generations. It wasn’t always that way. When the Adams administration enforced the Sedition Act that made criticism of the federal government illegal, Jefferson and Madison responded with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolves of 1798 that clearly stated that the people did not intend to allow the enforcement of this unconstitutional law within those two states. Section One of Jefferson’s Kentucky Resolve stated, for example, that "the several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principles of unlimited submission to their General Government . . ." Other states supported Jefferson and Madison in their defense of free speech.

When President Thomas Jefferson imposed a national trade embargo and consummated the Louisiana Purchase, New Englanders, led by George Washington’s Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, loudly threatened to secede. They decided against it (for practical economic and political reasons) at the Hartford Secession Convention of 1814, but their actions sent a clear message to national politicians.

Outraged by the embargo, the Massachusetts legislature used the language of Jefferson’s own Kentucky Resolve to proclaim that the embargo "was not legally binding on the citizens of the state" while denouncing the federal law as "unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional" and reminding President Jefferson that "this state maintains its sovereignty and independence . . ." All the New England states, plus Delaware, did the exact same thing and nullified the embargo.

When Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of the United States, a precursor to the Fed, created 72 percent inflation in the first five years of its existence and corrupted politics with its politicized spending policies, citizens all over the country assisted President Andrew Jackson in eventually destroying the institution. The heroic Ohio legislature slapped a $50,000/year tax on each branch of the BUS, attempting to drive it out of business. "The states have an equal right to interpret the Constitution for themselves," announced the Ohio legislature, and it decided that the BUS was not constitutional. Kentucky, Tennessee, Connecticut, South Carolina, New York, and New Hampshire followed suit.

When the War of 1812 broke out the New England states effectively seceded from the union by refusing to participate. A proclamation by the Connecticut legislature was representative of the opinions of New Englanders: "[I]t must not be forgotten that the state of Connecticut is a FREE SOVEREIGN and INDEPENDENT State; that the United States are a confederated and not a consolidated Republic," and that it was refusing to support the war.

When the 1828 "Tariff of Abominations" created an average tariff rate of 45%, applying mostly to Northern manufactured goods, South Carolinians clearly understood that this was a pure act of political plunder at their expense. They convened a political convention to utilize the Jeffersonian idea of nullification and refused to collect the tariff. They even got the South Carolina legislature to allocate $160,000 for the purchase of firearms with which to fend off any would-be federal tax collectors. The result was that they forced the federal government to lower the tariff rate.

During the 1850s the "middle states" of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey developed a very active secession movement that sought to either join a Southern confederacy, form a middle-states confederacy, or support Southern secession. (See The Secession Movement in the Middle States by William C. Wright). Their overriding desire was to separate themselves from the imperious New England Yankees.

When the Southern states seceded in 1860–61, Abraham Lincoln pledged his everlasting support for Southern slavery in his first inaugural address, an address in which he endorsed a constitutional amendment (the "Corwin Amendment") that would have forbidden the federal government from ever interfering with slavery. In the same speech he promised a military invasion and "bloodshed" in any Southern state that ceased paying his beloved tariff on imports which, at the time, accounted for more than 90% of federal tax revenue. The average tariff rate and had just been doubled by the Republican-controlled Congress.

The Southern states, along with most people in the North, still held the Jeffersonian belief that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and when that consent is withdrawn the citizens have a duty to abolish the existing government and form a new one. Jefferson never wrote in the Declaration of Independence that the citizens have a duty to abolish the government and form a new one "as long as the other states all agree that you may do so." If the right of secession depends on someone else’s permission, then one does not have a right of secession. That was a fantasy invented by Lincoln, which he used to "justify" waging total war on his own country, murdering some 350,000 American citizens, including some 50,000 civilians. From that time on, government in America was no longer "for the people, by the people, of the people," as Chief Justice John Marshal once said in a phrase that was later plagiarized by Lincoln. From that time on the purpose of government has been for those who run it to plunder those who do not. Nullification and secession were no longer tools with which the citizens could control their own government.

The final nails in the coffin of government by consent were pounded in during the year 1913 with the advent of the federal income tax, the creation of the Fed, and the Seventeenth Amendment calling for the direct election of U.S. senators. The income tax and the Fed gave the federal government the ability to do whatever it wanted to do regardless of the Constitution – even to wage "undeclared" wars. These vast "riches" were used to make millions of Americans totally subservient to the state lest they lose their tiny government subsidies, and to bribe or threaten state governments to do whatever our masters in Washington, D.C. decree, lest they lose their cherished federal highway grants. The ability of the citizens to oppose the federal Leviathan by organizing political communities at the state and local levels was finally destroyed and the centralized, monopolistic bureaucracy that rules America and much of the rest of the world today was created.

The direct election of U.S. senators, as opposed to the original system of having them appointed by state legislature, ended popular control of the federal government. Today, candidates for the senate go to New York, California, China, or wherever the big money is that can be raised as "campaign contributions" to finance their political careers. The interests of such "contributors" are not necessarily congruent with those of the folks back home.

If American citizens are to resist the rush to Obammunism they must first give up on the fantasy that the Republican Party is anything but another cabal of crooks, conmen and clowns, just like the Democratic Party. The only realistic route to freedom, including a restoration of genuine free enterprise, is through the devolution of power away from Washington, D.C. via peaceful secession and nullification, the original American ideals.

Thomas Jefferson understood that democracy could never work in a country as large as the U.S., let alone one with more than 300 million people. In a January 29, 1804 letter to Dr. Joseph Priestly he wrote: "Whether we remain one confederacy, or form into Atlantic and Mississippi confederacies, I believe not very important to the happiness of either part. Those of the western confederacy will be as much our children & descendants as those of the eastern." On the topic of secession, Jefferson continued: "[D]id I now foresee a separation at some future day, yet I should feel the duty & the desire to promote the western interests as zealously as the eastern, doing all the good for both portions of our future family which should fall within my power." When the New England Federalists were threatening secession, Jefferson wrote to his friend John C. Breckinridge on August 12, 1803 that if New England seceded and created a second confederacy, "God bless them both if it be for their good, but separate them, if it is better."

Unlike Lincoln, Jefferson did not believe in threatening "bloodshed" in the case of a "separation" or secession. He understood that such behavior would be a moral abomination and an unimaginable act of barbarianism. A civilized society does not wage total war on "our children," as Jefferson described the future citizens of a new state formed by an act of secession. Yet it is Lincoln, not Jefferson, who is portrayed by American court historians as a kindly, benevolent, and charitable angel.

The Constitution long ago ceased placing any meaningful limits on governmental power. This social contract between the American people and their government was destroyed long ago by Hamiltonian nationalists. Americans now live under a series of dictators (called "presidents") who all believe that they are essentially dictators of the world, capable of ordering the bombing of any place on earth without anyone’s approval. (Within weeks, Obama dipped his hands in blood by ordering a few bombs to be dropped in Pakistan).

As of this writing, several dozen states have reportedly issued resolutions in support of the Jeffersonian principle of nullification. These will all be completely meaningless unless the American public has the fortitude to actually enforce the resolutions and begin ignoring any and all federal government actions that they interpret as unconstitutional and illegitimate. In addition, citizens of every state should learn about the Second Vermont Republic which, for several years now, has been laying the groundwork for Vermont to secede and once again become an free and independent republic, just as all the states thought of themselves as being prior to 1865.

Freedom Index

Here is The New American's Freedom Index based upon the US Constitution. Find out how closely, or more likely not, your Representatives and Senators are following the US Constitution and preserving liberty and freedom in America. (Hint: There is not a whole lot of good news).

Stop Dangerous ID

On January 21, 2009, at 1:00 pm, a coalition of 10 organizations from across Virginia will rally at the Virginia State Capital Bell Tower, 910 Capital Street, Richmond, VA 23219 in support of legislation to stop the implementation of Dangerous ID, the so-called Real ID Act of 2005. John Tate, President, will speak on behalf of Campaign for Liberty.

At least three pieces of legislation are being introduced in the 2009 Session of the Virginia General Assembly to stop the implementation of the federal mandate to come into compliance with the Real ID Act by the beginning of next year.

Similar legislation went no where last year but lobbying efforts will gain momentum as grassroots organizations take the news of the bills to the districts across the state. We are certain to shake things up in local politics with upcoming state elections on the horizon.

Leaders of the opposition consider the "REAL ID Act of 2005" to be a bad law passed under false pretenses. It was rejected three separate times by the U.S. Senate, and was only passed because it was buried in a larger bill containing disaster relief and funding for Iraq military operations. The Senate didn't want it, and the American people don't want it either. But the majority leadership in Congress imposed it on us, and so now we have to fight to get it stopped in Virginia.

Opponents fear the creation of a centralized federal database containing personal information about all Americans. Decisions about the exact nature and scope of this program will be made by Homeland Security bureaucrats in the Executive Branch. It seems inevitable that biometric information and electronic tracking tags will be included at some point. No one intends a bad use for this system today, but it is inevitable that it will be used in bad ways in the future.

There are valid concerns with regard to security of the citizen’s personal information due to the number of databases that would be storing personal information by the federal government and shared between the states across the country as part of standard procedure within Motor Vehicle Administrations in the states, and as enabled by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Neither the Federal Government nor the states can control access, which under International law includes data sharing even with Canada and Mexico. No one can know who is getting into those data bases and for what purpose.

According to the DHS, "Real ID is a nationwide effort intended to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of identification documents that State governments issue." Yet it does nothing to prevent terrorists and other criminals from fraudulently obtaining a "Real ID" by forging the required documents. In fact, with multiple on-line, federated databases shared across multiple organizations and federal and state agencies, it will become much easier.

Many good arguments can be made against this Dangerous ID, but they all reduce to one overpowering truth. The more information government has the less it seems to know. The more power government has the less it seems able to accomplish. Big Government doesn't work. The federal government needs to do less in order to accomplish more. Small government is focused government. We need smaller government, not a massive new federal identification system.

Please plan to attend and tell your Virginia legislators to stand up to Congress and Homeland Security to keep federal bureaucrats from hijacking your state driver’s license for their national citizen control scheme.

Please log in to RSVP here, or email your RSVP to me at donna.holt@campaignforliberty.com.

Dangerous Americans

The British government is protecting itself and the British people from an exceedingly dangerous American.

The Brits have refused to allow Martha Stewart into Britain.

"The lifestyle guru, convicted four years ago in the US for obstructing justice, was planning to speak at the Royal Academy and to hold meetings with several figures in the fashion and leisure industry, including Jasper Conran, and was due to travel within the next few days."

Apparently though, the Brits are comfortable with allowing US President Bush into the country! A man guilty of great violations of law and human rights.

The Lesser of Two Evils

Once again we conservatives and Christians are being asked to vote for the lesser of two evils. The problem with this argument is that we keep getting more and more evil. The federal government grows larger and more powerful. Our liberties become fewer and fewer.

There is not a shred of difference between John McCain and the two Democrats fighting it out in the primaries. John McCain is a lap-dog of the Democratic Party. He loves being loved by the press and the approving words that dribble out of the mouths of liberals like Ted Kennedy.

The Republicans are good at scaring Christians and conservatives every election cycle. And they keep falling for it. This time around the scare tactics will be judicial appointments, the war in the Middle East, taxes, and whatever else windbags such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and others can create.

Well I have personal experience with some of the Republican judicial appointments. And Republican judicial appointments are just as intellectually lazy, fraudulent, ignorant, ruthless, and tyrannical as the Democratic appointees. "Conservative" judges often want to use their power to remake society in their own image. They have exactly the same proclivities towards judicial activism and lawlessness as liberal judges.

Republicans have no problem taking YOUR money through taxation. They have done nothing during their stint in power to reduce the size of the federal government or spending. They talk a good talk but never deliver.

It's time to call the Republican's bluff. They have no intention of reducing government and restoring and protecting the liberties of the American people. They have no intention of restoring the Republic.

It is time to leave the Republican party in the ash bin of history.

Ron Paul vs. Giuliani

Ron Paul is correct in his observations of American foreign policy.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were motivated in large part by American foreign policy in the Middle East and America's unwavering support for Israel.

American politicians are woefully ignorant of the history, divisions, fractures, schisms, and other problems of the Middle East. These problems extend far back into history and will not be understood, much less solved by uninformed, short-term thinking politicians.

The current generation of Americans have inherited many wonderful liberties and freedoms. However, the problem is that Americans are so radically divorced from any substantive knowledge of the history of America's founding that Americans have no idea how these liberties and freedoms were won, much less the context of their genesis.

My presupposition is that liberty and freedom in America have worked because of Christianity. It is Christianity that has given the West stability, the rule of law, political liberty, and economic freedom.

As I said above, Americans have inherited these wonderful gifts. And America quite naturally wants the rest of the world to enjoy them. However, several generations of government (public) schooling have birthed a generation of confident incompetents...a generation so dumbed down that Americans for the most part they have no idea how these gifts were won.

My observation is that many American politicians think that the rest of the world needs to have these liberties and freedoms and that they will be naturally embraced by the peoples of the world.

In reality, I presuppose that people generally like slavery. People like being told what to do, how to think, etc. Slavery is the natural state of sinful mankind.

So American foreign policy becomes bungled, foolish, incompetent, unwise, and dangerous when it proposes to force political freedom on a people.

When six or seven generations of Iraqis have been Christianized and the reformed faith runs deep in the heart of Iraqis, then I think political liberty and economic freedom will quite naturally flow forth.

America should fully embrace diplomatic relations, trade, exchange, and friendship, shining forth like a city on a hill; but the entangling alliances and wars that America so easily entangles herself should be rejected.

Will Ron Paul Be the Candidate of the Christian Right?

Laurence M. Vance:

Will Ron Paul Be the Candidate of the Christian Right? - As a Christian, I admire Dr. Paul’s principled stand on many issues, but I don’t believe the leadership of the Christian Right will embrace him. I think they love centralization more than federalism. I think they love political power more than liberty. I think they love war more than peace. I think they love politicians more than principles. I think they love faith-based socialism more than the free market. And I think they love the state more than God Almighty.

The Once and Future Republic of Vermont

Ian Baldwin and Frank Bryan:

The Once and Future Republic of Vermont - The winds of secession are blowing in the Green Mountain State.

Vermont was once an independent republic, and it can be one again. We think the time to make that happen is now. Over the past 50 years, the U.S. government has grown too big, too corrupt and too aggressive toward the world, toward its own citizens and toward local democratic institutions. It has abandoned the democratic vision of its founders and eroded Americans' fundamental freedoms.

Vermont did not join the Union to become part of an empire.

On Liberty

Americans for the most part LOVE the current system. So long as they have access to easy credit, keep the credit card payments up to date, abort their children, keep the bribes (taxes) to the US Treasury paid up, keep fuel in their fancy cars, and stay off the radar screen of the US Attorney's Office, absolutely NOTHING is going to change.

And why should there be any change? Our social engineering program "works" because it is tied to the free market and gives the illusion of prosperity.

Change won't happen until the whole house of cards comes crashing down. So I say let it come crashing down.

I don't want to save or reform the current system. It needs to be trashed thoroughly.

The final nail in the coffin of the US Constitution was hammered in with the defeat of the South in 1865. I don't think that the American people could live under such a system of freedom as the US Constitution affords them. It requires too much responsibility and character to maintain those freedoms.