There is a clear pattern, regardless of who has been in power, of Government involvement and spending making problems worse, not better. The stock market crash occurred after the Federal Reserve manipulated the supply of currency. The Great Society and welfare have created a mass of people who are incapable of fending for themselves. Education worked sufficiently until the Government mandated how communities should correctly educate their children. It was all supposed to get better but it has not. Most would agree, things were better before we had Farm Subsidies, Unemployment Benefits, Subsidized Mortgages, FDIC, FBI and FEMA. All of them tyrants, and they have the nerve to ask us for more taxes, and to trust them to take a little more of our freedom for our own good and safety.
After going back to the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, THE FEDERALIST PAPERS, THE ANTI- FEDERALIST PAPERS, speeches, letters and writings of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams and other patriots, it became clear to me that these people who founded this country were radicals. I found myself, and most people I spoke with, were in quick agreement with these early American beliefs. The founding fathers explored classical ideas and applied them to their modern problems.
I have sought to apply classical American principles to our modern dilemmas, and to define the basic RADICALIST beliefs.
1. The RADICALIST supports full private property rights. We reject the idea that federal government may dictate use of private property or confiscate property without full and just compensation pursuant to the limits of the Constitution. As a side benefit full individual property rights will insure a clean environment.
2. The RADICALIST advocates full financial freedom. The RADICALIST believes that individuals have the right to keep all money or property they have earned, to provide for themselves and their families. The RADICALIST believes it is not government’s business to know how much money you earn, where your money or property is kept, or to require you to keep records on its behalf. Accordingly, it believes that government has no right to use any of its agencies to intimidate people into revealing how much money they have or earn, with threats of jail terms and property seizures. Government has no right to force an individual to report how much money he or she deposits or withdraws from a bank. It also has no right to force an individual to report how much money he or she takes into or out of the country. These laws force Americans to spy and report on each other. This stance requires the elimination of the Internal Revenue Service and the income tax code, the elimination of all gift and estate taxes, as well as any other direct tax not authorized under the Constitution of the United States. To the extent revenue is needed to support the federal government, excise taxes (i.e., a national sales tax) are authorized in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The elimination of these taxes would cause business to skyrocket, create millions of jobs, and significantly reduce unemployment and welfare lines. It would also reduce crime. The RADICALIST calls for repeal of the 16th Amendment (income tax). The RADICALIST endorses full economic freedom. The RADICALIST believes that government should not set prices, set quotas, or create laws concerning hiring, firing, rents, wages, unionization, or any aspect of non-coercive private commercial behavior. This would be a large help to both small and large businesses.
3. The RADICALIST believes each individual adult has the right to keep and bear arms, provided the individual has never been convicted of a violent felony involving the use of a weapon.
4. Each individual should be free to do whatever he chooses with his own person or property, provided he does not physically harm the person or property of another. People who physically harm others are to be forcibly segregated from the rest of society by government after due process has been served. It is society, not the criminal, that should be shown leniency.
5. The RADICALIST advocates a strong local police presence for violent crime. By eliminating laws against victimless crimes, police will be able to focus on violent crimes, making police more effective. The prison system will then have ample space to house violent criminals for the full course of their prison terms. The streets will be safe, the country’s legal and prison systems will work, and vast amounts of money that increase the budget deficit will be saved. A government that must break the law in order to enforce the law is not worth having. Law enforcement officers and agencies must be above reproach with regard to due process of law, personal privacy, freedom from unreasonable search and seizures, and all the other fundamental constitutional guarantees. The RADICALIST believes that any government agent or employee who does not abide by, or who violates, the Constitution should face mandatory criminal penalties.
6. The RADICALIST believes that all judges must be directed to inform every jury of its legal sovereignty under the Constitution in that it may find any defendant not guilty if it judges the law, even law upheld by the Supreme Court, to be defective, unwarranted, unconstitutional, or wrongly applied.
7. The RADICALIST advocates the maintenance of the strongest national defense force in the world. The RADICALIST does not advocate military interference in the affairs of other nations. The RADICALIST further believes that the U.S. should protect its sovereignty by maintaining full control over its own military forces and not turning them over to the United Nations.
8. The RADICALIST insists upon the elimination of the budget deficit. We will do this through a major downsizing of the federal government, the elimination of all entitlement programs, and the elimination of burdensome interest payments on the national debt by ridding the American people of this debt once and for all. All frivolous Government property would be auctioned off and the money would be used to pay down the principal on the national debt.
9. The RADICALIST calls for the reinstitution of sound money. This would begin with an audit of the nation’s gold reserves followed by the stoppage of printing of paper money until each dollar is backed by a dollars worth of gold.
10. The RADICALIST believes that federal government has no legal or moral authority in health care. The RADICALIST believes that government involvement in health care will adversely effect the health of the majority of Americans. The RADICALIST believes that federal government has no right to limit our choice of doctors, medicines or treatments, whether they be “alternative” or American Medical Association certified. Government also has no right to dictate what vitamins or drugs ought to be available.
11. The RADICALIST advocates the elimination of all entitlement programs. Just as no individual has the right to steal from you, the government has no right to steal from you on behalf of others, that is, to redistribute your wealth. The money you earn belongs to you and no one else. The price of personal freedom is individual responsibility. Consequently, it is not government’s job to “save” people from poor choices, calamities, or the vicissitudes of life. At the same time, The RADICALIST encourages everyone, individuals and private institutions alike, in the most generous terms, to give to the charities of their choice, to care for the homeless, the helpless, and the needy. Charity is traditionally the work of religious organizations, individuals, private institutions and foundations. In contrast, entitlement programs and welfare run by the federal government rob individuals of the ability and desire to be charitable. The RADICALIST further believes that the elimination of all entitlement programs will greatly alleviate the nation’s immigration problem. The RADICALIST believes in phasing out and of the Social Security program after current obligations to the elderly are met. We believe retirement programs are best handled by the private sector.
12. The RADICALIST advocates criminal penalties for crimes against the environment. We believe communities can better manage natural resources and bring those to justice that would pollute the earth.
13. RADICALIST believes Government does not have the right to legislate morality. Adult consensual behavior (“victimless crimes”) such as that involving sexual activity, gambling, drug use, assisted suicide or abortion are a matter of individual adult morality and choice and are not a matter of criminal law.
14. The RADICALIST supports Term Limits, consisting of two terms for the Senate and four terms for The house.
15. The RADICALIST supports the elimination of all corporate campaign contributions to candidates and parties. Individuals may give to a campaign, a maximum contribution, in the amount equal to the largest commonly and readily available Treasury Note from a US bank. Further, we do not believe that parties should be distributing funds to campaigns. Party funds should only go to the expenses for the Party’s Convention.
16. Under no circumstance does the federal government have the power to violate or deny the rights of an individual.
17. Under no circumstance does the federal government have the power to violate the sovereignty and authority of the states as described in the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.
It is my belief, that any citizen, regardless of his or her age or education, will be vastly more qualified to serve their fellow citizens, in any elected office, than the political lifers that govern us today, if he or she reads and acquires an understanding of the following: the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION; THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; THE ANTI- FEDERALIST PAPERS; and the speeches, letters and writings of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel Adams, all of whom were radicals that founded our country.
It is time for radical measures to be taken. Let’s do something...Anything! Even if it’s wrong! At least then we will know what won’t work.
