Manifesto with Explanation

Government Reclamation Manifesto

By: Lori J. Burns, October 2009

Whereas, those elected to govern our nation have forgotten their true purpose and to whom they answer and whereas the voters, are responsible for this problem, we hereby resolve to reclaim and reform our government and return it to its rightful owners, the people.

We, the people, resolve the following:

1) We will no longer allow any politician to serve for a lifetime. We will limit their terms with our votes, thus eliminating what has become the ruling class of this free nation.

2) We will no longer vote for anyone who puts party before principles and the best interests of our entire nation.

3) We will no longer elect anyone who does not believe in the profound value and sacred nature of our Nation’s founding documents.

4) We will be silent and complacent no more. We will be engaged in the political process from its earliest stages to insure we are electing the people that represent our values, beliefs and morals.

5) We will both seek out people who represent our values to run for office and we ourselves will make the necessary sacrifices to run for office, to return our government to its Constitutional foundations.

6) We will demand accountability, responsibility and honesty of our government and elected representatives.

7) We will never surrender the sovereignty of this nation to any foreign power, world organization or special interest group.

We further resolve the following:

8) To demand that our elected representatives pass legislation that will require the reading of all bills before voted upon. And that all legislation will be made available to the public for their contemplation and feedback prior to said vote.

It is a sad, sad fact that most of our legislation is never read before voted upon. In fact, quite often it isn't completely written before voted on. It defies logic. If the bills are too long to be read, then perhaps they are too complicated. Or, perhaps we need to allow more time for them to be read before taking a vote. It seems to me that this is a basic requirement of being a legislator and must become the standard.

9) To demand that our elected representatives stop the nefarious practice of earmarks.

My understanding of earmarks is that they are typically included after a bill has been passed. Once legislation passes, the politicians scramble to get "their piece of the pie" through designating budgeted dollars by earmarking them. This process is an invitation for deceit and corruption. It makes it very easy for dishonest legislators to repay special interests, campaign contributors and lobbyists without the full Congress approving that spending. If the full Congress wouldn't vote to support such spending and it won't survive the light of day, then it shouldn't happen.

Furthermore, the practice of federally funding every project in this country is problematic at the very least. Far too often, federal funding (translate your neighbor's tax dollars) is used to fund everything from soup to nuts. I have a strong feeling that if states were to stop sending so much money to DC, they would be much better able to spend it wisely at home. Why should any federal dollars fund the pet project of any given state? If it is important enough to that state to make it happen, then they should be the ones that fund it. Otherwise, we are stealing from our neighbors to selfishly fund our own pet projects. When a project is in the best interest of the entire nation then federal funding is more appropriate, and should be voted on accordingly. My theory is that the further our tax dollars get from our homes, the less accountability and higher probability of waste and fraud.

10) To demand that our elected representatives pass legislation to require that all bills contain only related content. This will eliminate the dishonest and deceptive practice of grouping unrelated items and using that as an excuse to either vote for or against said legislation.

The ongoing practice of sneaking unrelated items into "important legislation" is both dishonest and immoral. Politicians use this as a very convenient excuse for having to vote one way or another on some particular legislation. For example, it is very common to sneak some pet project into the defense spending bill, knowing it will likely pass without the notice of fellow-politicians, the media or the voters. (Of course, if they read the bills then they would still find out. ????) Then our upstanding politicians have a ready-made excuse. You will either hear: "Well, I didn't like that particular aspect of the legislation, but we had to pass the defense budget, so I had to vote for it." OR "I'm against defense spending but this bill included the funding for my pet project, so I had to vote for it". This convenient excuse must be taken away from legislators--they must be forced to stand in the light of day with their votes and their legislation.

11) To demand that the pensions of elected officials shall be given only as one year, per each year in office. The lifetime pensions must stop.

Other than the fact that legislators have voted themselves a lifetime pension for any amount of service in Congress, I can't figure out why we are paying for this. One year of pension for each year of service is plenty, then they need to go get a real job like the rest of us and save for their own retirement. Perhaps that would make them more interested in our future, if theirs isn't a cushy guarantee.

12) To demand that our elected officials will be part of the same retirement and insurance plans that the citizens are “given”.

One of the first things that happened when the discussion of health care reform came up was that our legislators voted themselves and their health plan exempt from any future legislation. I wonder if they would be more concerned with the outcome of health care reform legislation and Social Security if they were forced to use those same plans personally.

Finally, we resolve to take responsibility for our lives and our choices. We will look to ourselves, first and foremost to solve our own problems and return our government to a place of limited interference, limited taxation and limited power.

I don't need or want to live in a nanny state. I want the freedom to live, work, worship and succeed. The only purpose of any government who wishes otherwise is to enslave its population. The government has become like an inoperable brain tumor, reaching its carcinogenic tentacles into every aspect of our lives: our finances, the marketplace, the airwaves, the press and the list goes on an on. Everything it touches, it destroys. Enough is enough.

(The post below this has just the Manifesto, without commentary. If you are interested in a PDF version to print off, e-mail me, or post it in the comments, and I'll send you that version.)