photo credit: Why Tuesday?
I don’t pay attention to talk radio because even though I am very conservative I find that the conservative perspective shared on talk radio is generally laced with too much thoughtless and inflammatory perspective that is designed to stir reactions rather than provide information. Despite that general disinterest I was intrigued when I heard about Glenn Beck calling for a re-founding of America. The idea fit so well with what I have been focused on that I thought I would share my perspective on the idea here.
On January 1, 2008 I wrote that what America needs is a new birth of freedom. Before I wrote that, and even more since then, I have been looking for exactly that within our nation. The final answer is as difficult as it is uncomplicated – we need people to be converted to the idea of America – no more is it enough to be born here – we must individually be converted to the idea of liberty that our founders fought and died for. During the last couple of years I have found two groups that give me hope for a way forward in giving this nation that new birth of freedom.
The first group is Downsize D.C. They argue that electing the right people will not solve this problem. Their platform is that we should instead focus our efforts on putting pressure on Congress to change the way they function and to hold them accountable for what they do. They support bills such as the Read the Bills Act, the One Subject at a Time Act, and the Enumerated Powers Act. They are right about this focus on pressure because Washington, with all the money and power that funnels through there has a corrupting capacity on all who are supposed to serve us there. Only three things can solve that problem and Downsize D.C. focuses on the two that will have the greatest immediate impact (and that most other groups spend less time focusing on) – having an informed and engaged public looking over the shoulders of their elected officials (they have build a great tool that they call “Educate the Powerful” which makes contacting you elected representatives very simple), and promoting bills that will reduce the power and money flowing through Washington.
The second group is the Independence Caucus. They, like so many others, focus on the need to get better elected representatives. Unlike other groups they are very good at showing how both parties are betraying their constituents and they are building the network of volunteers and information necessary to identify and support candidates who are committed to upholding the Constitution. Long term I think their work at exposing the corruption and abuse of the two party system will do even more good than Downsize D.C. but the nation may not survive that long unless Downsize D.C. can keep the immediate pressure on the Congress that we already have.
If we are to take back our government so that it can once again be a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” these two groups appear the best poised to help us cross that chasm.
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