The Profoundly Good, Is Also The Profoundly Productive
Do we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by our nation’s founding fathers?
What freedoms do we now have, and for how long? We the citizens of the USA need to demand and insure the freedoms intended by our founding fathers are never stolen from us. But, do we have the wherewithal and the guts to ensure those freedoms and recover our national morale and our morals as “One Nation Under God”, where once again America is respected in the world and looked to for leadership.
To do all that, we need a great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense, a national rediscovery that we can apply to today's social, political, economic, and national security environment.
That kind of rediscovery resulted in the Reagan administration. Common sense told us, President Reagan said, that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, he cut tax rates, and people produced more than ever before.
Reagan’s economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our nation’s history: real family income up, the poverty rate down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology. The USA was exporting more than ever, and protectionist walls abroad were knocked down instead of erecting them at home.
Common sense, Reagan said, also told us that to preserve the peace, we had to become strong again after years of weakness and confusion. Through his leadership our defenses were rebuilt heralding a new global peacefulness.
The lesson Reagan noted, as long as we remember our first principles and believe in ourselves, the future will always be ours. He said, “Once you begin a great movement, there's no telling where it will end…. (and) the moral way of government is the practical way of government: the profoundly good, is also the profoundly productive.
Our own Congressman Chip Roy is a sterling example of what President Reagan evangelized. Congressman Roy’s Freedom Caucus is leading the way forward to that kind of profound productivity in many ways including their upcoming battle within Congress to protect the border and the military, as well as preserve fiscal responsibility.
“It’s time to demand change,” Roy said. “Congress cannot sit around waiting to take action. No, we must fight the out-of-control bureaucracy today – Americans are counting on us.”
The American people have a right to know how their tax dollars are being used, Roy said. That’s why he and Congressman Andy Biggs called out the Biden administration for reports that the federal government is funding camps in foreign countries for U.S.-bound migrants. If true he said, Congress has a duty to stop it.
Mr. Roy says he joined the House Freedom Caucus “reiterating our commitment to cut funding for the federal bureaucracy to pre-pandemic levels and demanding that any government funding bill address the crisis at our border, stop the weaponization of the Department of Justice, and end the woke indoctrination of our military.” Government shutdown will be in the news next month. You can bet the caucus will take that sage advice, "You just have to learn to say "no."
Chip Roy is a fabulous example in being profoundly good. He obeyed President Reagan’s 11th Commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Mr. Roy never got personal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Rather he fought for improved House policies and procedures to facilitate the passage of conservative priorities. His approach was far different than the demagoguery of others, who often get personal. That’s important advice for our local political candidates who would take the pedestrian route and slam their opponents rather than describing what they can do or would do to improve our lives.
As he was leaving office President Reagan said, “Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: We the People. We the People tell the government what to do; it doesn't tell us. Our Constitution is a document in which We the People tell the government what it is allowed to do. We the People are free.” But do you feel it working that way in this administration?
We Republicans need to stand for values and principles, superseding loyalty to any individual. Loyalty to our nation yes; kissing the ring of an individual no. Let’s stand up for that code of conduct and demand it.
By Art Humphries
Member of the State and Kendall County GOP