To the Editor:
The media and some political pundits describe Tea Party people as “extremists” and “out of the mainstream”. While each Tea Partier has his or her own views, most want smaller, fiscally responsible government, the rule of law not men, and greater economic freedom. Does that sound extreme to you? As a Tea Partier, I wonder which of my views, which I think are shared by most Tea Partiers, are so different from yours?
Both Republicans and Democrats have failed to keep their promises to the American people. Both have over promised and overspent. Both extended government services without ensuring adequate funding and too often into areas of questionable constitutionality. Neither party has the courage to eliminate programs that don’t work, are counter-productive, or are not worth the cost, and both have put our country onto a collision path with bankruptcy and a dramatic loss in our standard of living.
The sad thing is that we, the people, allowed our politicians to do this to us, to our Country, and to subsequent generations when we accepted their promises of “free stuff“ (or more than we pay for). Tea Partiers say…
… “No more! Never again!“. We demand changes to put our government back on the right path, operating fiscally responsibly within the US Constitution.
Budgets must be balanced, and the debt left to our children and future generations must be eliminated.
Government spending must be dramatically reduced. There is NO justification for the average Federal government worker’s salary plus benefits being twice the average of private sector workers. This recession hurt millions of Americans, but not the increasing number of Federal government employees. This must end.
US courts must operate based on the “rule of law”, i.e., within the intent of the framers of the US Constitution which is the contract between the American citizens and the US Government. When judges decide cases based on what they want the Constitution or a law to say, they are usurping the authority of the American people who are the sole owners of the Constitution. Such judicial activism has lead to numerous injustices that the American people have lived to regret, e.g., approval of slavery. “separate but equal”, the alien and sedition acts, the internment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans during World War 2, and the recent Kelo decision that allowed a city to take property from one owner and give it to another who promised to generate more tax revenue, and expansion of the Interstate Commerce clause to apply to crops grown for personal use. These usurpations of the authority of the American people must end!
Government intrusion into private enterprise via excessive taxation and regulation drives American jobs overseas, destroys opportunities for American citizens, destroys American businesses, distorts normal market forces (e.g., ethanol), lowers the American standard of living, and jeopardizes the future financial health and security of our country; these must end!
Finally, Tea Partiers believe in American exceptionalism. Our country became strong because of our US Constitution and our free enterprise system. Our strength has been used for good, e.g., to release hundreds of millions from the tyranny of Hitler and Tojo, and hundreds of millions more from the USSR. In today’s dangerous world, our strength protects us and billions of others from chaos and loss of freedom.
Tea Partiers reject politicians who deviate from the Constitution and whose actions harm our free enterprise system. This means most current Senators and Congressmen need to be replaced.
Join us, vote for limited and responsible government, lower taxation and spending, the rule of law not men, and more freedom.
