We The People: 1/20/08

Friday, January 25, 2008

Reinventing the Conservative Movement

There has been much talk lately about the Republican Party splitting if certain individuals gain the nomination. There has also been grumblings of the old guard retiring and fresh blood moving the party in a more modern, progressive direction. This will not happen no matter who is the nominee and shouldn't happen no matter the age of the Republican leaders. I am a conservative first and a Republican second in my political mind. The conservative movement has always stood for certain ideas that were not to be compromised. Following are few of those.

A strong national defense - peace through strength. This does not mean being policeman of the world. It does mean standing up for freedom and democracy in the world.

Smaller government through less taxes - The main purpose of the government is to provide for the national defense (see the first point). This nation has slowly evolved into a nanny state that resembles a socialist government in eastern Europe. We fund departments, employ special prosecutors by the hundreds, redistribute wealth and waste money like we actually have it in government.

Grow the economy with real incentives - When businesses retain more of their funds, they can actually hire more people and grow the business, thus spurring the economy into real long term growth (see the second point). Tax rebates in an election year? Who would have ever guessed it? We all know that businesses don't really pay taxes, they simply pass them on to the consumer. This point brings me to the next.

Implement a fair tax - Now it doesn't have to be a flat tax or a national sales tax, but it has to be a simpler, more fair tax. The tax code in America is impractical and outdated. It's bad enough that we pay so much in taxes. Add to it a couple hundred dollars to prepare them and you have insult to injury.

Strong commitment to the Second Amendment - It's not about hunting or target practice. It is a freedom that our founding fathers knew must be kept alive for the democracy to survive. We need to reaffirm our stance that gun control laws only hurt law abiding citizens.

The most important conviction is our stance on Life - We must make it known that over 40 million babies have been aborted since Roe v. Wade and we are still fighting for the innocent. We believe in the right to life from conception to natural death, period. We value life as a gift from God, whether there are disabilities or nursing home stays. We will not settle for the situation as it is or turn our backs and say we have done all we can do.

The Conservative movement is alive and well in the real America. An America where people get up and go to work and take responsibility for ourselves and our families. We don't expect or need government to interfere with our lives because we can do it better ourselves, thank you very much. Let's return to our grassroots and remember what got us where we are today. I don't like talk of a remodeled Republican party and with courage we can restore our conservative values to it.