16th (2)

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Hard to sugarcoat what was for me a launching disaster.

On the 16th, flash floods, heavy rain and cold winds ushered in what, at best, can be described as an anemic OAS turn-out on the Washington Mall. Though we put our best face forward, the acute disappointment—indeed, the dismay-- among the few hundred OAS participants was palpable.
Owing to the paucity of participants--variously reported as  somewhere between 324 to 2,000--it was often difficult to even locate the rally amid the throng of tourists which dwarfed the number of OAS participants on the Mall.

Once the weather cleared, we cautiously anticipated an appreciable uptick in participant numbers on Saturday, the 17th. But, alas, the weekend "crowd" was no less anemic.
Though we met some stalwart and energized patriots from all over the country and enjoyed a pleasant meeting with Col. Riley at the Washington Monument—he actually remembered me—my companions and I couldn’t shake our painful disappointment. 
Among OAS participants, here are some of the refrains, or variations thereof, we so often heard: “What happened? “I can’t believe this.” “So where are all those patriots?” “This is scary.” “This is terrible.” “This is embarrassing.”  “This sucks.” “I’m pissed. Doesn’t anyone care?” “This is ridiculous.” And the most poignant: “It really is all over, isn’t it.” “Man, are we in trouble.”
Recalling what appeared to have been a sizable and determined internet base of supporters and prospective participants, the dismal OAS showing was both surprising and mystifying to us all.
So, what DID happen?
While speakers from among the participants added some congealing fervor, I couldn’t help shake the notion that high-profile patriotic speakers may well have encouraged more participation, more clout. Apparently, even patriots like to be “entertained”. But, that's only speculation.
Also, I can't ignore Glenn Beck's mischaracterization of OAS as "irreponsible and dangerous", and who, onThe Blaze, equated OAS with the 1848 Marxist "Spring of Nations", describing OAS hearts as "cold and hard". That ringing endorsement did little to rally supporters. And then there were other “conservative” personalities and bloggers who described the event as a “coup”. Wow! 

Coupled with a virtual media black-out leading up to the May 16th launch, I naturally wondered if the cacophony of negativity from the right hadn't, in fact, fatally undermined the OAS effort from the start. In this vein, I wondered if it was possible that self-destructive and narcissistic turf wars among patriotic organizations  and personalities on both the local and national levels may have materially contributed to the discouraging OAS launch. OR was it simply a matter of “sunshine patriots” doing what they do best: whine and complain, but ignominiously failing to get off their dead asses and be counted? Well, from my lowly perspective, all of these toxic factors most certainly contributed to the lackluster launch.
If there is a lesson here, for me it is this: if there is no fire in the belly of patriots, no sense of urgency, no recognition that only convincing action—not blog posts and commentary alone--can turn the Marxist tide, then the OAS  effort will continue to limp along to little or no avail and the country’s downward spiral into a fetid socialist abyss will be irreversible.
So, in short, and despite the single-minded leadership of Col. Riley and the dedication of  OAS organizers and participants alike, the OAS launch was extraordinarily disappointing and, for me, it does not bode well for the Republic's survival.

Happily, Col. Riley, undeterred, intends to push forward with the hope that real patriots from around the country will eventually step up and be counted, failing which, folks, it REALLY is all over.
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Conservative Action Plan

First, I wish to thank everyone for all that you have done to aid our country in its time of greatest need since the Revolution itself. 

Following is a conservative action plan that I first developed in 2009.  It was rejected by all of the tea party leaders that I could find at that time as too drastic.  Perhaps it is, but it could be incredibly effective.  The bottom line is that since the beginning of time, power = control of resources.

This nasty nation, the USA, created a new paradigm enshrining private property where individuals control their own resources, producing untold prosperity to the point where our poorest people now have a standard of living that would be the envy of kings of yore.  In fact, it has a built-in method of wealth redistribution that until recently prevented a handful of people getting control of most of the resources. 

At present, the single largest pool of money is the private retirement accounts of the baby boomers, totaling around $17 trillion.  I am sure this is the next target of the government.  Prior to the Obama administration, the pool of wealthiest people in the nation was very fluid, with most people only staying there briefly.  We saw that our greatest financial successes, from the infamous robber barons to today’s wealthiest, eventually tire of making money, and promote themselves to positions of philanthropy. 

From the Carnegies and Mellons to today’s Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, they reach the pinnacle of power and CHOOSE to redistribute their wealth.  That is the end result of unleashing the liberty of self interest, people get tired of “themselves” and seek deliberately to aid others.  There has never been a more benevolent system of economics in history.  It is only opposed by those who cannot create and crave control over others' resources.  This conflict dates to the dawn of history.  Our free market system defeats that conflict, and therefore, must be destroyed by those who thrive on conflict.   

 

Since 1776, the Royalists and their descendants have been trying to put the genie of liberty back in the bottle.  The only reason that “social” issues have any relevance at all is that they are used to cajole us out of our resources.  That’s it, power mongers don’t care about health care, the environment, children, gay people, religion, God or gun crime; they only care about getting their grubby hands on our accumulated wealth.  They use all of the social issues and often create social issues to use as emotional levers to expand their control, not to improve our lives.

 

The only hammer we have to control our out-of-control government is our cumulative wealth.  It is the only tool we have refused to use to date.  For the past 3 years, conservatives have spent untold dollars and hours in a futile effort to get our government to respond to our demands.  We tried the election method, only to be subverted by a combination of a deceitful media and election fraud.  I am presenting this very simple and very doable action plan because I hope you will take it seriously and help to promote it.

 

Another aspect of conservative activism that we have been ignoring is that we don’t have the manpower to reach all of our possible voters.  We have fewer foot soldiers because most of us have jobs, families and commitments to churches and civic groups.  Liberals don’t have most of that, or don’t invest much time and energy in them.  Additionally, approximately 40% of the population self-identifies as conservative – we have twice as many people to contact door-to-door.  It’s a logistical nightmare, and as we saw in 2012, it didn’t work.  The reason my proposed plan can work is because it is a 2-stage spending freeze program for individuals.  They don’t have to do anything, they just have to not do something.  It is a very passive protest not requiring any particular time or energy.  But it directly targets government revenues to the degree that we can disseminate this program.

 

We want the government to stop spending.  They won’t.  The obvious solution is to give them an object lesson in “not spending”.  The following action plan focuses on a short term plan to bring this government to its knees and submit to our demands, then a long term plan to restore our Constitution to actual use, not just rhetoric.  If it shocks you too much after first reading, please save it, mull it over and read it again in a week or so.  It’s really incredibly simple and would be 100% effective if we can get it promoted broadly.  If we can get it to enough people through back-channels, it can work:

 

One of the major premises of a representative republic is that collectively, we are wiser than competent statesmen. I believe that is correct and look forward to hearing from all of you as I believe this plan can be improved.

 

CONSERVATIVE ACTION PLAN
To
Restore the Republic

Since I first drafted this Conservative Action Plan in 2009, we have seen our nation deteriorate on many levels.  It appears that our government is on the verge of yet another destabilizing spending binge.  In the past 3 years I have yet to see a bold plan that will enable us to rein in our government to constitutional limits.  In the absence of a successful plan of action, I am proposing this Conservative Action Plan again.

We the People of the United States of America hereby demand our nation and our government back. We demand all egregious spending, including the Stimulus Package, Omnibus Spending bill and the Budget be rescinded immediately.  All socialist legislation, including Health Care Reform, Cap and Trade and any other wealth redistribution legislation must be rescinded immediately.  All restrictions to energy exploration and development must be revoked.

As an object lesson for our government, We the People, are about to embark on an object lesson in how to "not spend money".

EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN

We have concluded that our government no longer represents us.  After calls and letters to the government were between 100 to 1 against the TARP program and all subsequent spending, Congress passed all of that legislation in open defiance of the American people.  Indeed, our government has demonstrated such contempt for us, for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that we have difficulty recognizing it as a government of the United States of America.

These actions constitute gross betrayal and abuse of our trust and shall not stand.

Emergency Demands

     1.  Repeal the Stimulus Package.
     2.  Repeal the Omnibus Spending Bill
     3.  Recall the Budget, eliminate all unnecessary spending and pork and resubmit for a vote
     4.  Rescind health care reform
     5.  Reject Cap and Trade legislation
     6.  Revoke all restrictions to domestic energy exploration, development and production
     7.  Engage in immediate and serious reform of all entitlement spending to relegate most safety net
          activities to private charities where they belong.

Phase 1 Protest

     1.  Weekly 24-hour spending freezes on Mondays beginning immediately
     2.  When the media can no longer ignore the spending freezes and begins to report on it, Phase 1 is
          complete.

During Phase 1, no one will reduce spending, and may increase it while stocking up on non-perishable consumables.  Businesses can participate in and support this freeze by not transacting business on Mondays.  Retailers can close on Mondays, or stay open with a skeleton crew for emergencies.  They can also prepare for the long-term spending freeze by saving cash to sustain their businesses during that period or supplement their services and products to include consumable necessities.

Phase 2 Protest

Halt the 24-hour spending freezes and engage in a long-term discretionary spending freeze.  During this long-term freeze we will refrain from making any purchases or investments which are not absolutely necessary to hold our jobs and feed our children.

This spending freeze will continue until all of the above terms are met.

While engaging in the spending freeze, we will further research and debate the following initial recommendation for a long term strategy to fully restore our republic and self government:

STRATEGY TO RESTORE THE REPUBLIC

     1.  Restructure the House of Representatives to equal either the 1 Representative per 30,000 citizens as
          stated in the Constitution, or at a level at which citizens can successfully run for House seats.

          1. Split all Congressional districts during each succeeding census, increasing the number of
              Representatives until the target ratio is met. (Recommend 1 representative for every 100,000
              citizens as I believe modern technology can support such a ratio.)
          2. As the House becomes better populated, more and more Representatives can reside in their
              districts most of the year and participate in debates and votes electronically from their home
              offices.
          3. Offices in Washington, D. C. can be shared and rotate to allow all Representatives some time in
              Washington, and most of their time in their home offices where they are available to their
              constituents.

     2.  Repeal the 17th Amendment allowing general elections to select State Senators. Restore to the State
          Legislatures the right of selecting the Senators to hold office in the Federal Senate as this
          amendment has diminished the sovereignty of the States.

     3.   Repeal the 16th Amendment allowing the Federal government to tax income.  This will reduce federal
           revenues by about 50%.

     4.   Dismantle all Federal agencies, bureaus and departments not specifically authorized by the
           Constitution, delegating those deemed necessary to the States.

           Where desired by the States, they can assume authority over those federal bureaus, departments and
           agencies as are hosted within state borders and continue their operation at the individual state
           discretion.

SUPPORTING LOGIC

Recipe for Tyranny

In 1911 the number of Representatives in the House was limited to 435. Two years later, the 16th Amendment granted the Federal Government the right to tax “income” (though the exact definition of “income” remains in some dispute).

These two events created two corresponding statistics, one going up and one going down, that have reached critical mass in their relationship.

The two statistics are:

     1.  Per capita representation in Congress which is going down. At present, with a population of over
          306,000,000 and approximately 435 members of the House of Representatives, we have
          Representative for every 703,000 people. When the Constitution was written, it stated “The Number
          of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least
          one Representative;”
     2.  Federal revenues from income tax are going steadily up. The liberal desire to “spread the wealth” may
          have some merit. We currently have, by one revenue chart, as much as 40% of the GDP of our entire
          nation under the incontestable and un-monitored control of 535 people who are more answerable to
          campaign contributors and lobbyists than to their constituents.

This is a recipe for tyranny. Whether it results in an oligarchy that engages in socialism, communism or any other ism is immaterial. Losing our right to control our individual and national destiny is a problem that warrants some attention, even some action.

The Citizen Statesman and Self-Government

The purpose of the lower house, the House of Representatives, is to ensure self government by the Citizens of the United States of America. The House was to be composed of citizen statesmen, not professional or career politicians. The term is only for 2 years for multiple reasons, to prevent too long of an interruption in the citizen statesman’s career, and also to prevent complacency and self indulgence to take root.

This body of citizen statesmen is the only arm of the government empowered to introduce new legislation to raise revenues. Yet, our President repeatedly demanded such of them, and they have complied against the will of the people they represent.

The upper house, the Senate was to be composed of longer term, career statesmen who can provide balance and guidance to the members of the House. Neither the executive branch nor the judicial branch is empowered to introduce new legislation, only Congress. And that lower house was to be composed, not of politicians, but of citizens.

With each Representative representing a constituency of over 700,000, it is no longer possible for a common citizen to communicate effectively with enough of these people to acquire a majority of votes.  Only the independently wealthy are able to run for office.  People who need to work fulltime jobs are prohibited by logistics from office.  This is the greatest tragedy and the single greatest reason for the deterioration of our republic to an oligarchy.  We must, reduce the ratio of citizens to representatives to a level which will enable an average working citizen to campaign and fund-raise on a part-time basis and be able to win.  If it means enlarging the House of Representatives to a full 10,000 members, to the level of 30,000 citizens per representative, then so be it.

Summary

The Constitution of the United States of America was so designed that all laws are to originate with the people, via Congress, not the government.  It was designed to prevent the tyranny of an elite minority over the majority, to prevent a cabal from seizing the reins of government.  Yet, over the past century, this is exactly what has transpired.  Per our Declaration of Independence, it is not only our prerogative to take action, but our duty.

This proposal is submitted to the people of the United States of America for consideration, debate, and comment. It is a starting point; please feel free to add comments and refinements to help us Restore the Republic.

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