EDITOR’S NOTE: Today, June 25th, 2011, we celebrate the 5 year anniversary of the Tenth Amendment Center! THANK YOU for all the support you’ve provided – logistically, morally, and financially. We’re proud to have made it this far and have big plans for our future. And, as the mainstream media continues to attack us (this week alone in the New Jersey Press, the Thom Hartmann show, Raw Story and others), we realize that while we as an organization are small, our ideas are so big that they make the establishment quake in their boots. But, it’s not us alone that can do this. It’s up to people like you to keep this movement growing.

In that spirit, instead of presenting some long official statement about our anniversary from our internal team, we felt it was more powerful to do something different. Below, please read an appeal from Jeff Matthews, someone who’s been supporting our work – sometimes from the sidelines, and sometimes on the forefront – for a number of years now. He, like you, is sick and tired of the endless centralization of power going on in this country – and decided that he would step up to try to do something in his own way. Please take a few minutes to read his message, and join us to help the Tenth Amendment Movement continue its “dangerous” growth…

More than anything right now, we need your help to keep our winning team moving forward. The road is tough, but our cause is just.
–Michael Boldin

*******

Freedom Isn’t Free. Seriously.
by Jeff Matthews

The establishment pretends to offer a choice – left or right. The truth, however, is that the ball isn’t hidden under either the shell on the right or the shell on the left. There is no ball, and the two-shell “choice” is just a gimmick.

Then, there came the Tenth Amendment Center.

We’ve come a long way in a few years. The left has ridiculed us. And more recently, the right has begun to do so. This is extremely heart-warming. Why? Because it shows we are a threat to the establishment. They thought they could co-opt us or marginalize us to the other side. We showed them we are not suckers, that we are determined, that we know bullshit when we see it, and that we mean what we say. It scares them on both sides… and rightly so.

​What a dose of refreshment to see a platform for peace, liberty and prosperity through demanding adherence to the Constitution, which was expressly designed to preserve these virtues. I am calling for a return to these ideals. I am calling for massive financial support of TAC. We must reverse the course of the American people heading towards mediocrity. (click here to pledge your support today!)

​I will continue to bear in mind that you and other TAC members may have other reasons of your own for supporting TAC, including diametrically opposed reasons. However, restoring most policy-making to the local levels is what I find to be the over-arching aim of the Movement. Even if we disagree on some policies, local control promotes liberty and prosperity by allowing us to vote without dilution from far away constituents who ought to have no business in our local affairs, needs and desires. And of course, it will always allow us to vote with our feet.

​​​I have noticed a shift in that we who call ourselves “conservatives” are re-defining what it means to be conservative. We are promoting traditionally liberal ideals – e.g., distrusting government and political power, questioning authority, decrying massive bail-outs for the elite, increasingly holding disdain for war, demanding liberty and holding scorn for an evolving police state. This is what Blacks did in the Civil Rights Movement. This is what the hippies did in the Freedom Movement. This is even what liberals are currently doing despite having a so-called “liberal” in control of the White House. Articles from the left abound, like at Huffington Post, bashing Obama on his sell-out of the American people by TARP, etc.

Holy Cow! They look more and more like…. us! Or maybe we look more and more like… them. Call it liberal. Call it conservative. Call it what you want. Realize that labels don’t matter. Peace, freedom and prosperity do.

​Despite our progress, we have a long, long way to go. The internet is like TV with a billion channels. Even with a stroke of luck, or a referral from a friend, the odds remain slim that anyone will know that there is such a thing as the Tenth Amendment and that Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution vests Congress with very limited powers. We must spread this message. We must get into the mainstream media, particularly billboards and short TV spots.

​As a regular commuter around town, I can tell you that the effectiveness of billboards is tremendous. Billboards can unleash an almost unstoppable force. A case in point involves billboards that were rented in Houston to display the slogan, “Stop Lawsuit Abuse.” As a result of these ads, tort reform overtook Texas like a hurricane. The message worked.

​This type of mainstream exposure is what we need. Our message needs to become so prevalent that it sweeps into acceptance by literally millions of Americans. The establishment needs to be put on the defensive.

​Imagine just one billboard in each major city or a 6-second spot on a major network:

They’re all Rotten!

TenthAmendmentCenter.com

​If you’ve been sitting on the bench financially, it’s time to remove the splinters. Make a real commitment. A serious one.

​$5.00, $20.00 and $50.00 donations are certainly graciously accepted by TAC, but since I am not an “official” spokesman or employee of TAC, I am going to go out on a limb and state that everyone can do better – much better. How much do we squander on pizza, cell phones and miscellaneous junk we really don’t need? Don’t get me wrong. I like to squander money here and there, just like the next guy. But is life really meant to be all about “bread and circuses?” Or are we going to put our money where our mouths are?

​It disturbs me somewhat to look at TAC’s budget as posted by Boldin and to see the difficulty and length of time involved to raise a measly $15,000. That kind of money ought to flow to the cause in a single day!

​Previous to TAC’s formally-announced drive for contributions, I made two contributions to TAC over the last 4 or 5 months. They were for $500 each. I don’t miss the money a bit. I don’t even care that it didn’t qualify for a charitable deduction. All I care about is that it went to a cause that I consider well-grounded. And don’t think I’m a rich guy because I’m a lawyer. I happen to prefer ample free time and digression, rather than putting all my time and effort solely into lawyering. I have a few debts I could have paid down with that money.

​I am not suggesting that everyone needs to feel compelled to donate this kind of money. If amounts like this would lead you to insolvency, then, by all means, put food on your table first. But, by all means, find ways to put aside “bread and circuses,” and do without some unnecessary junk to support the cause.

​Rest assured, if you agree with our cause…. if you support our cause…. if you want it to succeed, there are vast forces against us. The establishment is a huge political machine. Money is influence. Money buys media. Money buys politicians. Money buys laws. Money wins wars. The average American has less money and is losing an important domestic war over our liberty and our prosperity. As I always say when it comes to politics, laws and regulations, “Follow the money!” If we always do this, we will see the economic war being waged on those of us who would promote liberty and prosperity in America.

​In summary, contribute more money to TAC. TAC is leading the way to peace, liberty and prosperity. Don’t get carried away and put yourself at financial risk to contribute. But, by all means, do what you can afford, and afford as much as you can.

​Our message is good. It is pure. It needs exposure where the masses can see what we are doing and how it is to our general benefit. Unlike the amorphous Tea Party platform which is poorly defined and easily capable of being co-opted by the establishment, ours is different. Ours has a sound, concrete, written platform – the Constitution. Every time. No exceptions. No excuses. Compliance with our platform, unlike the others, is much easier to measure. All we have to do is read the Constitution and see if it is being honored.

​Boldin is a great leader. It is unbelievable what he, with the support of others, has accomplished on a $32,000 annual budget. However, we need to show him – really show him – that his financial goals for TAC are much too small. We must do better. If you can afford only $20, consider the possibility that you might have 10 – 20 friends who would also chip in $20 a piece. If you can afford $100, do it. If you can squeeze $500, squeeze. If you are capable of $1,000 or more, be a trend-maker. If you have already given, thank you…. and give again. We will do great things with great resources.

​I will continue to do my part. The time is past due to restore the Constitution. The centralized beast needs to be dismembered to restore peace, liberty and opportunity. Whatever your reason, whatever your motive, if you commit to promoting a return to the honor of our Constitution…. E pluribus unum!

PLEASE HELP THE TAC WITH A GIFT TODAY: CLICK HERE TO PLEDGE RIGHT NOW

Jeff Matthews [send him email] is a practicing attorney in Houston. He graduated from the University of Texas, School of Law in 1993 and was licensed that year.

Copyright © 2011 by TenthAmendmentCenter.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit to the author and this website is given.

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