by Steve Palmer
Is this what anyone thought they were voting for in 2008? On Saturday, our democrat President signed legislation to renew the Patriot act. This legislation was first passed by the democrat controlled house and the democrat controlled Senate. Let’s review what our democrat leaders *used* to say about the Patriot Act….
“This is legislation that puts our own Justice Department above the law. When National Security Letters are issued, they allow federal agents to conduct any search on any American, no matter how extensive or wide-ranging, without ever going before a judge to prove that the search is necessary.”
“This is a massive invasion of the privacy of the American people, not just some idle threat. The Washington Post reported last month that the FBI hands out more than 30,000 national security letters per year, a reported hundred-fold increase over historic norms. How did this happen?”
“Now, what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas, but not in this instance. It’s in some federal data bank. That’s what the Patriot Act is doing to the American people. And we have to make sure that big brother doesn’t take over this country.”
Based on what these leaders were saying, did you expect them to renew the Patriot Act when they were in control? President Obama was right in 2007. Liberty minded people who have actually read the bill have been saying the same thing since 2005 and before. Unlike the political class in Washington, DC, their opinions didn’t change along with the party in power.
So have you figured it out yet? Do you get it? Washington is not going to check itself. You feel oppressed by republican legislation from the previous administration? Tough. The democrats are not going to roll it back. Not this year. Not any year. They’re too busy working to extend their own reach.
Once we lose one of our freedoms, we don’t get it back without a struggle. Neither do our children or their children or theirs…. If we leave it up to Washington, A freedom lost is lost forever. Our two party oligarchy keeps marching down the path towards tyranny.
Just to be clear, I am not arguing that it’s only the democrats who contradict themselves so transparently. Let’s take a quick look at the federal debt limit. Last month, the republicans objected to the federal debt and claimed to be the party of fiscal responsibility when all thirty nine republican senators voted against increasing the debt ceiling.
There are two problems with this claim of fiscal responsibility, though. First, a mere four years ago, fifty one republican senators voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling while forty four democrat senators voted against it. A complete reversal in just four years. Second, Scott Brown had just been elected Senator from Massachusetts when last month’s vote was taken. He was elected, but not yet seated.  If seated, the democrats could not have broken a unanimous republican filibuster.  If the republicans had truly wanted to take more than symbolic action against raising the debt ceiling, they would have objected to this vote being taken without first seating Scott Brown.
This is not to say the two parties are the same. They’re not. The (R) vs. (D) rivalry, constantly stoked by the media, exploits the differences between the parties and distracts us from noticing that the truly important contest is the one between Washingon and the rest of us… And Washington is winning that one. The two parties complement each other to form a power grabbing whole. They decry the other party’s actions when they’re out of power, but they never correct them when they’re in power.
It is up to the States and the People to start correcting both parties’ abuses in order to reestablish the freedom that should be our childrens’ heritage. The Tenth Amendment is one tool for doing it. Get involved in your state. Join the Tenth Amendment movement to work towards true protection of your Liberties.
Steve Palmer is the State Chapter Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Tenth Amendment Center.
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