A Republic - If You Can Keep It

Hope you are celebrating the birth of the greatest nation today.  I like to remember that the nation was not founded in revolution against the concepts and rights afforded British peoples, but to attain the rights the founders were due because they were Englishmen.  Even though the language of the Declaration is universalist, its concepts trace a direct lineage to the Magna Carta.

When we look at the specific abuses King George is accused of committing, we see that he thwarted the proper functioning of Republican form of government.

• He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
• He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
• He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 
• He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 
• He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
• He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

On this day, we celebrate the founding of a government constrained by constitutional limits.  We have work to do to save this Republic from despotism.  I am reminded of this quote from Benjamin Franklin, when asked after the Constitutional Convention whether we had a Republic or a Monarchy:

“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”
  “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Happy Independence Day

The words of the Declaration of Independence continue to inspire after more than two centuries. It's words and principles inspire the tea party movement and I believe is a source of discomfort to those on the left, even if they won't admit it.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

I hope you have a great 4th of July with your family and remember that we celebrate the founding of a Republic based on neither ethnic nor racial qualities, but on enduring principles that lay the foundation for liberty and prosperity.

Obama: Counter-Revolutionary

The founders of our nation bequeathed us a Republic, if we could keep it, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin. The duty of the government of the Republic was to protect the rights of its citizens. To quote the Declaration:

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

The founders didn't promise us ever increasing wealth, freedom from want or poverty; only the opportunity to take control of our own lives to pursue those ends we thought best.

But Obama, like other progressives before him, actively seeks to subvert the meaning of the revolution by pressing government into service to supply our every need. Such a government becomes our master, not the servant it was meant to be. In this way, Obama is a counter-revolutionary. He seeks to return the U.S. to the condition of Europe in which the greatness of the state and what it accomplishes, not the greatness of the people, is the measure by which the nation is judged. This is part of the underlying meaning of his so called health insurance reform, and why I so strenuously oppose every bit of that legislation.

In fact, the nation has always delivered first rate insurance and health care, but certainly not equally to all people. But that is not the promise of our nation. We will all be better off we let free people figure out how to best buy their health insurance amid freedom of choice among providers and plans. We will be better off if providers, doctors and hospitals are free to innovate not only with the technology of health care but with innovative business models for delivery. Look at the abundance of food delivered at low cost in a relatively free market. Health care will be as plentiful and filled with variety when we introduce free market reform.

Ultimately, this President, who promised to fundamentally transform America, is not the revolutionary, but a counter-revolutionary, reversing the promise of our founding, a limited government that protects the rights of its citizens.

Obamacare Quote of the Week

Dean, at Beers with Demo, takes down Nancy Pelosi idiocy about how Obamacare is constitutional because it enables the pursuit of happiness, which is of course in the Declaration, not the Constituion. Read it all here, but the money quote follows:

It's done. Some 236 years later, we've completed the journey started by our founding fathers. Not merely content with inherent or God-given rights, we've progressed to a point in our post-constitutional republic where a back room deal-brokered, kick back-laden, lobbyist-written piece of legislation that nearly two years from full enactment is going to cost twice as much as advertised as when it was voted into law, will now be the guarantor of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Betting on America

This 4th of July weekend it is appropriate to take stock of the future of our nation, even as we celebrate its founding. Walter Russell Mead has an excellent opinion piece in today's WSJ titled "The Future Belongs to America." He argues that America is uniquely positioned to be the dominant nation of the 21st century. I couldn't agree more. This might surprise some of my readers who have read my analysis on the depths of our problems. They are in fact deep, but many other competitor nations face similar problems. Americans have a history of overcoming every adversity. We were the principle force in the world that defeated slavery, fascism and communism, all of which threatened to halt the spread of global freedom. Each victory took its toll in blood and national treasure, but our ideals, which most accord with the innate God-given spirit that resides in mankind, have prevailed. Further, when faced with a government that has obviously spent too much and made promises it could not keep, America spawned a movement that demanded less, not more government spending; that demanded less, not more government intervention in the economy. Meanwhile, in Europe, proposed cuts have been greeted with mass protests and violence. Our determination to deal with our problems head on, along with our dedication to freedom, including free markets, separates us from the rest of the world.

Mr. Mead's article sizes up the competition and finds it wanting, as well. A summary of his theses.

• China is not the threat we believe. Its Asian competitors are strong and rising and have no intention of falling under its hegemony. I would add that I believe India is the Asian nation that has the most promising future. They speak English, are improving their educational system and moving increasingly towards full capitalism.
  
• We have no other real rivals. No one seriously believes the EU will overtake us.
• The philosophy of Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood is not a real long term threat. Their lack of belief in real democracy is increasingly opposed in the Arab world.
• In Latin America Chavez and Castro are jokes. Chilean and Brazillian moves towards ever greater capitalism and prosperity undermine the appeal of Caudillism.
  
• Scientific and technological driven change continues to accelerate. America is all about change, "it's our home court." I would add that our culture of freedom as well as our deeply rooted democracy enables us to negotiate technological change better than other nations.
  

Back to the subject of India, I think its success will only be good for the United States. As it renounces its socialist past, as it embraces democracy and as it population is tied together and to the world by the English language, they are a natural ally of the United States. I could eventually see a special relationship in Asia between our two countries, as our interests coincide so closely.

So have a happy 4th of July weekend. Celebrate our country's rich heritage and its founding on principles of freedom that have endured to sweep the world. And be optimistic about our future, because we have so much to be proud of in our past.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.