Problem Solving
Hello, Fellow Lovers of Liberty!
I want to thank all of your who are planning with your friends and your family to come out to the United Stand for America. We appreciate your sharing and promoting of this pivotal event.
We all know that America is in dire circumstances on many levels. Our economic problems are glaring and obvious. Yet the cause of that looming catastrophe is not fundamentally economic, it is caused by misguided – or nonexistent – principles. We need to approach the solution to this problem and others not in a superficial fashion, but by addressing our solutions to the causes of the issues.
These solutions will be simple in principle and concept, though they will by no means be easy to carry out. Nevertheless it is absolutely imperative that we carry out the effort. Our children’s lives, and their children’s lives…in fact our own lives, are jeopardized by the huge amount of debt we are all assuming, on a scale never before imagined in any generation before.
I have 2 young children growing up facing this burden, and I fear that, if we as a nation do not immediately begin to be economically responsible, my children will be living in a very different country than the one we all grew up knowing…and it will happen because we allowed it to happen.
Yet, even in the face of this crisis, we are pressured to toe party lines on stereotyped grounds, and those people who choose not to occupy the box in which they are expected to reside, because of the color of their skin, or their gender, or some other aspect of their background, are reviled, and subject to vitriolic attacks. We absolutely must break out of those stereotyped ways of thinking. We have to reach out to the vast group of people who don’t belong in any stereotype, who may not realize the fact that they are our allies. There are far more of them than you might think. We have to make outreach, and inclusion, a central plank in our platform, instead of the easy acceptance and reinforcement of false presumptions.
We must also remind our fellow Americans just why limited government is so crucial, and help them to recognize that government tinkering and intervention has only acted to decrease our prosperity, as individuals and as a nation. Before we leave for the USA event tomorrow, lets make sure to call our friends and knock on our neighbors’ doors and invite them to come with us and share in the conversation. Let’s invite the business-owners in our neighborhoods, in our personal networks, in our LinkedIn contacts, and point out to them that America the highest corporate income tax rate in the world, beating out openly communist and socialist nations. Because of this, the business environment in America has devolved into a trackless morass.
Just look at the history of Detroit in the last 60 years. Detroit was once among the leading manufacturing regions in the world, and the wealthiest locale in America. Over time, the government’s intervention, coupled with the effects of Union overreaching, priced the workforce in the area out of the market…and contributed to the decline and fall of a great city, which now retains a fraction of its former population, many of whom only stay because they have been so devastated by the economic collapse that they have no ability to go anywhere else.
Do not think we are safe in affluent and wealthy neighborhoods in Palm Beach Country from such possibilities. Detroit is a visceral reminder, a microcosm of what could happen to the entire country. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan used to be so prestigious that the CEO of General Motors, the largest corporation in the world, called it his home. Now it too is suffering from the blight that has stricken the entirety of Southeastern Michigan.
These are also the reasons we in the Palm Beach County Tea Party are so concerned about the Medicaid expansion issue. The public has been misdirected by the fact that the State of Florida is being offered “federal money.” People are being disingenuously misled that the Medicaid expansion is to be financed by free money. Yet we know that it’s not. Federal money means nothing, because there simply is no money there anymore. We are in so much debt that our entire country’s economy is on the verge of collapsing on itself, because right now we aren’t creating anything like enough wealth to keep up with the bills.
We need to go into all levels of communities and remind people about this fact. The attacks by the President on the wealthy are reprehensible smoke and mirrors, stating that they must pay their “fair share” when they already pay the vast majority of the tax revenues, which are being poured into a pit of debt that is being dug far more rapidly than anyone could ever fill it. These wealth-disparaging statements breed enmity between people whose interest coincide, because the primary interest is rapidly becoming simple survival. When each side thinks the other is somehow taking or keep something that doesn’t belong to them–the fallacies that the wealthy have unfairly large amounts of money that they obtained by cheating, or that the poor just want everything given to them and don’t want to work and support themselves–the only ones who benefit are those who would seek power over the lives of others.
That is not the American way. We should be outraged that such concepts are being given respect and credence in our country.
Our speakers tomorrow are some of the most important patriots that we have in the Conservative movement. The very thought of throwing in the towel on our country would never cross their minds. They are reaching out to people from all walks of life, to urge them to take responsibility for their government, for their actions, for their prosperity. These admirable individuals are helping us call America to action, helping us to look at ourselves and reassess our priorities, to reach out to each other as lovers of our country, of freedom, and to recognize that freedom is responsibility for one’s actions.
We must seize this call to action, with the energy born of our righteous indignation, we must be heard…and above all we must be seen, as we lead by example, as we reach out and as we make our STAND. We cannot give up. We cannot let the fact of the dysfunction in Washington or the election last year make us despair. We must be galvanized to action as we have never been before. The loss of the election is no reason not to stand up. We are not looking for a “dear leader,” we are not looking for a “savior.” We are our own only saviors. We are individually responsible.
We must make our Stand, tomorrow, and every day thereafter.
Thank you.
Dominique Feldman
Communications Director
Palm Beach County Tea Party
Exciting Times for the Palm Beach County Tea Party!
Hello Patriots!
This has been a very exciting and interesting week, and we’ve all gotten a boost to our adrenalin and our enthusiasm for our Country…and for that for which it Stands. In light of these facts, I’d like to go over some important ideas and thoughts about the current and future state of the Palm Beach County Tea Party and our movement in general.
The American people are hungry for a return to Fiscal Responsibility…to Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Enterprise. They fervently want these truths, as do all rational human beings who know that their lives belong to themselves and not to their government. They want to return to a place where we the American people don’t feel the need to have government regulating and legislating every aspect of our lives. That idea, that the government exists to serve the people of the Country, not the other way around, is the reason this country was founded. It doesn’t matter whether that government is in London, as it was in 1776, or in Washington, D.C., as it is today. The government exists to serve the People…not to exert autocratic rule.
In light of this fact, it’s important that we all be reminded that the real, fundamental divide in American Political Philosophy is not between the Left and the Right, nor between Republicans and Democrats…it is between top and bottom. I’m not referring here to some imagined class conflict or anything of the sort; I’m referring to the question of where the power to govern resides, with the State or with the People. Does the government own the citizens, or do the citizens own the government, and own their Country as well? Are we Statists…or are we believers in the Liberty of the Individual?
When we’re honest with ourselves, we all know the answer to that question, but we may not recognize all of its implications in National Politics. There are those on both sides of the aisle who think that all control and change has to come from above, that the government has to decide for the People of America how things should be run, even their own lives. This is logically untenable, given that those in the government are fundamentally not any wiser or better than those they govern, and cannot therefore know better than we how we should live. Unfortunately, logic often takes a back seat when power and control are involved.
This is part of the reason why Karl Rove has recently made public his animosity toward the Tea Party and openly declared himself opposed to it: The Tea Party is a threat to so called “Conservatives” like him, who are Republican in name only. If the Tea Party’s ideals truly become ascendant again, then such men, who are all about controlling the movement of politics and running things from the top down, will no longer have a place. Remember, Karl Rove is the classic example of the Consultant Culture, and he recognizes that in the long run the Tea Party movement is a threat to his influence, so he would like to knock it down. In this, he shares the same point of view as those Statists on the other side of the aisle who believe that our government is an end in itself, instead of just a means to the end of protecting the rights and freedom of the people of America. They use language in different ways, so it seems to the casual observer that their ideals are diametrically opposed, but at root, Karl Rove and President Obama share a point of view: The State, and they, know better than you do, and should be the source of and have control over your life.
Such ideas are the typical refuge of mediocre minds. We don’t need to be intimidated by them, but we do have to counter them, and we will. In fact, the Palm Beach County Tea Party has had a well-timed boost to our spirits this week in the person of Mark Meckler. Those of you who attended the meetings and spent time with Mark know just what a motivating and empowering person he is, and how well he understands the situation to which I have been referring.. Our eyes have been opened and the fog has begun to clear. Now we all have a very welcome surge of enthusiasm as well as some great advice and support from a person who was one of the reasons the Tea Party movement became so big so fast. We will use our energy, our motivation, and our commitment to the Ideals which made America, to make our stand against any forces which would threaten the freedom and self-determination of the American people, and to share the good news about the importance of these ideas and their embodiment in the Constitution of the United States.
That said, I am pleased and thrilled to be able to take this opportunity to officially announce our upcoming United Stand for America, which is the name for our pre-tax-day event this year. We’re calling it that because its message is all about being true to our convictions, and taking a stand in support of the principles upon which our Country was founded. For those of you who indulge in Social Media, we’ll be sharing about it using #UnitedStandforAmerica and #USAme, so follow those hashtags. The “me” at the end is there because the answer to the question, “Who will stand for America?” for each and every person in this country should be, “Me!” When we pledge our allegiance to our Nation, we are not just mouthing empty words, but making a commitment to this Country and to what it represents in the world.
This will be a gathering featuring inspiring guests who are thought-leaders, commentators, public figures, and private citizens. By this event we are calling on all Americans to stand up for personal and fiscal responsibility, for limited government, for economic freedom, for self-determination and the right to the pursuit of happiness. We are calling on the American People to remember that they own the government, that they are responsible for what it does, and that even inaction is a choice with consequences…usually bad ones.
To experience an articulation of that last point by a particularly Great Communicator, watch this video on YouTube of a powerfully moving speech by the man I believe was the last truly Great American President of the 20th Century.
We have a lot to do and a lot to look forward to in the Palm Beach County Tea Party. I’m honored and humbled to be serving with all of you in this great and important work. Together we will respond to this CALL to ACTION!
In Liberty,
Dominique Feldman
Communications Director
Palm Beach County Tea Party
communications@palmbeachcountyteaparty.org
