Big Government

Posted By Robert Allen Bonelli On October 15, 2010 @ 6:03 am

Thomas Jefferson said, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” The power of this statement is boundless, and its meaning is clear in its construction.  These eighteen common words are taken together in a unique organization to express an undeniable and unbreakable truth; that a people of liberty, united in the cause of liberty, become the strongest force for freedom in all of God’s creation.

With these words I began the fifth chapter of my recently released book, Liberty Rising, A Treatise on the Restoration of Our Constitutional Republic.  I repeat them to begin this article to remind all Americans that there has always been a third party among us, and that party is we the people.  The United States of America, more than ever before in our history since the founding, needs its people to rally in the defense of liberty, self-reliance, individualism and the real concept of American Exceptionalism.  Our great nation stands at a dangerous divide.  On one side stands the America that in 234 years has become the greatest nation in the history of man.  On the other side stands a downward spiral toward tyranny and a failed republic.

Since the Democrats took control of the Congress on January 1, 2007 and then with Barack Obama becoming President on January 20, 2009, single party rule in America became a self-appointed ruling class and began to dictate to the American people, against the will of the people.  I have no excuses for the establishment Republicans who, in the years immediately prior, lost their way and set the stage for the assumption of this elitist group of power-mad progressives who believe that their ends justify their means.  The stimulus legislation, the health care debate and resultant law, the House version of cap and trade legislation and countless un-elected special advisors and czars who were appointed to positions of power without even the consent of the Senate, are all examples of how in just 20 months the state has placed itself above the people in an arrogantly un-America fashion.

The response, however, has been typically American.

People across the country grouped together and began to speak among their family members, friends and neighbors.  They then began to speak to others outside their inner circles, and then to the public at large.  They found out that they were not alone and that their numbers were legion.  They formed study groups, activist groups and staged rallies.  They phoned, e-mailed and wrote letters to their House Members and to their Senators.  They visited the offices of these elected officials and they demanded to be heard.  They marched on Washington and in the streets and on the squares of thousands of towns and cities across the United States.

Many became part of the TEA Party Movement, many acted independently.  All were mocked and smeared as being “fringe” and in some cases branded without any evidence as “racist.”  The people were no longer silent; were no longer going to be talked down to; and were no longer going to accept having their will subordinated to the political agenda of those holding elected office.

We witnessed the power of a people united in the 2009 elections for governor in Virginia and New Jersey with the victories of Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie respectively.  We admired the incredible resolve of a people of liberty in the January 2010 special Senatorial election in Massachusetts with Scott Brown’s victory.  Recent primary-elections revealed a shift in the people’s focus from the Democrats to the establishment Republicans.  The message is clear, if an elected official has acted against the will of the people then that official will be removed from office by the people.

The November 2nd Congressional election is only weeks away and those in power are fearful.  They are fearful because they have demonstrated that in this time of financial difficulty and joblessness for the American people, the only job they care about is theirs.  The actions of this Congress and this administration resulted in unsustainable growth of the central government, run-away entitlement commitments, intrusion of government deep into every aspect of the lives of citizens, deciding on politics over victory relative to our brave men and women at war and a shameful display of incompetence in foreign affairs.  In less than two years their actions have humankind visualizing a world without America.

Our third party, which is not the TEA Party (though the Movement has helped to make many Americans active and has helped to educate many more), is the people!  The people are in motion and there is hope for our nation.  The Republican Party reacted with their Pledge for America and they have the basics correct: reduce the size and reach of government; reduce spending; repeal the horrible health care law and replace it with common sense health insurance reform, support private sector oriented economic policies of reduced taxes and un-obstructive regulations and promote individualism and self-reliance.

American Exeptionalism will return, not from the hand of government but from the will and actions of the people.  We will once again see to it that the people will take their rightful place as the highest element of society in the United States of America.

Robert Allen Bonelli is the author of “Liberty Rising,” an accomplished business executive, public speaker and involved citizen.