Bringing LIBERTY to Capitol Hill -- 2008
OZARKS VIRTUAL TOWN HALL
Saturday Morning, December 1, 2007, 10:30am
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A Discussion of The President's Saturday Morning Radio Address
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Click here to listen to a replay of the December 1, 2007 Ozarks Virtual Town Hall |
Notes and Summary of the President's Address -- Congress Between Vacations
President's Radio Address
In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "Congress must address four critical priorities. First, Congress needs to pass a bill to fund our troops in combat. Second, Congress needs to make sure our intelligence professionals can continue to
monitor terrorist communications so we can prevent attacks against our people. Third, Congress needs to pass a bill to protect middle-class families from higher taxes. And fourth, Congress needs to pass all the remaining appropriations bills to keep the
Federal Government running."
How the President Differs from the American vision of "Liberty Under God":
- The war in Iraq in unconstitutional and unwise.
- Constitutional guarantees of privacy are completely ignored by intelligence agencies
- High taxes and exorbitant spending shows that President Bush and the Democrat-controlled Congress are completely out of touch with the original vision of America
- America's Founding Fathers took up arms over British taxes that did not exceed 3-5%
- Americans today are victims of taxes ten times greater than those that fomented the American Revolution.
- Today's Income Tax began in 1913 as a tax only on the super-rich.
- The Government promises to be our Savior, and Taxes are our offerings to a false god.
- America is, on the one hand, a nation "under God."
- America is, on the other hand, a nation that ignores God and commits idolatry.
- Idolatry is when we fail to trust God (our national motto is "In God We Trust") and trust the Government to bring us
"salvation."
- Americans must think about these issues, not just in terms of the Constitution, but in terms of the values enshrined in the Declaration of Independence -- the philosophy of "Liberty Under God."
| President's Radio Address |
Liberty Under God |
| THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Next week, Congress returns from its Thanksgiving recess. Members are coming back to a lot of unfinished business. And the clock will be ticking, because they have only a few weeks to get their
work done before leaving again for Christmas. |
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| Congress must address four critical priorities. First, Congress needs to pass a bill to fund our troops in combat. Second, Congress needs to make sure our intelligence professionals can continue to monitor terrorist
communications so we can prevent attacks against our people. Third, Congress needs to pass a bill to protect middle-class families from higher taxes. And fourth, Congress needs to pass all the remaining appropriations bills to keep the Federal Government running. |
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| Congress's first priority should be to provide the funds and flexibility to keep our troops safe and help them protect our Nation. Beginning in February, I submitted detailed funding requests to Congress to fund
operations in the war on terror. Our military has waited on these funds for months. The funds include money to carry out combat operations against the enemy in Afghanistan and Iraq. They include money to train the Afghan and Iraqi security forces to take on more
responsibility for the defense of their countries. And they include money for intelligence operations to protect our troops on the battlefield. |
Total cost: $3-6,000 per man/woman/child. Would you have authorized the federal government to take more than $20,000 from your family to overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein and put an Islamic Theocracy in its place? What is the
benefit of this war? Is it really worth the cost?
The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible."
— Washington, Farewell Address (1796) [Washington’s emphasis]
I deem [one of] the essential principles of our government, and consequently [one] which ought to shape its administration,…peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.
— Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (1801)
“Businessmen make the best diplomats."
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| Pentagon officials recently warned Congress that continued delay in funding our troops will soon begin to have a damaging impact on the operations of our military. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has already notified
Congress that he will transfer money from accounts used to fund other activities of the military services to pay for current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and no more money can be moved. So he has directed the Army and Marine Corps to develop a plan to lay-off
civilian employees, terminate contracts, and prepare our military bases across the country for reduced operations. Military leaders have told us what they need to do their job. It is time for the Congress to do its job and give our troops what they need to protect
America. |
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| Another priority Congress must address is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. FISA provides a critical legal framework that allows our intelligence community to monitor terrorist communications while
protecting the freedoms of the American people. Unfortunately, the law is dangerously out of date. In August, Congress passed legislation to help modernize FISA. That bill closed critical intelligence gaps, allowing us to collect important foreign intelligence. The
problem is, this new law expires on February 1st -- while the threat from our terrorist enemies does not. |
FISA 72 hours
III. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Bush is promising perpetual war, perpetual violation of our Constitutional Rights.
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| Congress must take action now to keep the intelligence gaps closed -- and make certain our national security professionals do not lose a critical tool for keeping America safe. As part of these efforts, Congress also needs
to provide meaningful liability protection to those companies now facing multi-billion dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend our Nation following the 9/11 attacks. |
Intelligence bill may hinge on immunity for telecoms - USATODAY.com
"Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., promised to lead a filibuster to block approval of retroactive immunity. 'Retroactive immunity set the terrible precedent that breaking the law is permissible and companies need not worry about the privacy of their customers,'
Feingold said."
The problem is not the abuse of power,
the problem is the power to abuse.
Big Brother Is Listening to Your Cell Phone Calls
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| Congress's third priority should be to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax. The AMT was designed to ensure that the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes. But when Congress passed the AMT decades ago, it was not indexed
for inflation. As a result, the AMT's higher tax burden is creeping up on more and more middle-class families. If Congress fails to pass legislation to fix the AMT, as many as 25 million Americans would be subject to the AMT. On average, these taxpayers would have to
send an extra $2,000 to the IRS next year. This is a huge tax increase that taxpayers do not deserve, and Congress must stop. |
Original 1913 tax rates: you earn half a million dollars (in today's money), you pay 1%
"bracket creep" a result of the creeps in the Federal Reserve, who print money for their friends and make your money worth less.
Taxes of only 2-3% in 1776 led to Armed Revolution.
It wasn't the money: Founders were willing to "Risk our lives, our Fortune, and our sacred honor"
Taxation is theft |
| Finally, Congress has important work to do on the budget. One of Congress's most basic duties is to fund the day-to-day operations of the Federal Government. Yet we are in the final month of the year, and Congress still has
work to do on 11 of the 12 annual spending bills. Congressional leaders are now talking about piling all these bills into one monstrous piece of legislation -- which they will load up with billions of dollars in earmarks and pork-barrel spending. |
Review the enumerated powers doctrine, the fundamental theory of our government.
99% of the budget is unconstitutional, and even constitutional programs (e.g. USPS) are unwise. Capitalism works, socialism fails.
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| This is not what Congressional leaders promised when they took control of the Congress at the start of the year. In January, one congressional leader declared, "No longer can we waste time here in the Capitol, while
families in America struggle to get ahead." He was right. Congressional leaders need to keep their word and pass the remaining spending bills in a fiscally responsible way. |
Political rhetoric never matches promises. |
| The end of the year is approaching fast, and Americans are working hard to finish up their business. Yet when it comes to getting its business done, Congress is only getting started. Members of Congress now have only a few
weeks left before they head home for the holidays. Before they do so, I urge them to do their job: fund our troops, protect our citizens, provide taxpayers relief, and responsibly fund our government. |
Congress should:
- de-fund this unconstitutional war
- protect the constitutional rights of our citizens by denying the desire for domestic spying by an unchecked Executive Branch
- provide taxpayers relief by abolishing not just the Alternative Minimum Tax, but the entire income tax and IRS
- responsibly fund our government, by strictly adhering to the Constitution, and funding only those agencies which are expressly authorized by the Constitution.
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| Thank you for listening. |
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The Democrat Party Radio Address:
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter delivered the The Democratic Party Radio Address, covering a dozen assorted issues.
Additional Resources:
Kevin Craig's Platform:
- War and Foreign Policy
- Domestic Spying
- Taxation
- Pork-Barrel spending
DownsizeDC.org Blog | Senate Judiciary Improves But Doesn't Perfect FISA Amendments Act
Company Will Monitor Phone Calls to Tailor Ads
By Louise Story (New York Times, 09/24/2007)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/media/24adcol.html
GPS is turning cellphones into social mapping devices
By Laura M. Holson (International Herald Tribune, 10/22/2007)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/22/business/mobile.php
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John W. Whitehead Articles:
Constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead
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Click here for a replay of this edition of the Ozarks Virtual Town Hall
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