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Strong Local Self-government is the Keystone to Preserving Human Freedom

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 Thomas Jefferson – “The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to everyone exactly the functions he is competent to [perform best], Let the national government be entrusted with the defense of the nation, and its foreign and federal relations; The State governments with the civil rights, laws, police, and administration of what concerns the State generally; the counties with the local concerns of the counties, and each ward [township] direct the interests within itself…. What has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every government which has existed under the sun? The generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body….”

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This letter is addressed to the Mayor of Bloomsburg, Dan Knorr.Reading from the PE 08/09/09, “Socialism: Is it ‘a dirty word’? I find some of your comments disturbing. I did see you in the town park standing near a vendors stand, but I didn’t see you walk through the crowd, and I don’t recall anyone saying you were a socialist. I know I wouldn’t say that about you, as I don’t know you or about you well enough to make such a comment. I can only make judgments as I am exposed to more of your comments. So far I find you very naïve on our nation’s political framework, but, in that, you’re not alone. Our economy is based upon free market capitalism, in that you are correct. Our nation is not based upon “mob rule” Democracy, we are based upon a Republic, ruled by written laws, not laws of the whims of men. Socialism is a prop and excuse ideology. There are four basic freedoms of a capitalistic free market;

1. The FREEDOM to Try
2. The FREEDOM to Buy
3. The FREEDOM to Sell
4. The FREEDOM to Fail

There is a role government has to play, four areas of legitimate responsibility which properly belong to government. These involve the policing responsibilities of government to prevent:

1.      ILLEGAL FORCE in the market place to compel purchase or sale of products.

2.      FRAUD in misrepresenting the quality, location, or ownership of the item being sold or bought

3.      MONOPOLY which eliminates competition and results in restraint of trade.

4.      DEBAUCHERY of the social standards and moral fiber of society by commercial exploitation of vice – pornography, obscenity, drugs, liquor, prostitution, or commercial gambling.

As a small insight as to what the Founding Fathers had on the role of government, here is a quote from George Washington –

 “Let vigorous measures be adopted; not to limit the prices of articles, for this I believe is inconsistent with the very nature of things, and impracticable in itself, but to punish speculators, forestallers, and extortioners, and above all sink the money by heavy taxes. To promote public and private economy; encourage manufacturers, ect.”

Lets touch on the ‘GREAT SECRET’,
Public Schools, which are mandated by the constitution; however, the funding of public education was not stipulated. Funding of public education in Pennsylvania actually sets up an unconstitutional condition in which two rights are brought into conflict, “property rights” –vs- Right to an education. No tax should have the power to leave you homeless.

Public transportation- totally not supported by the constitution.

Welfare programs – Socialism 101 – prop – making people feel comfortable in their poverty. Taking away the incentive to succeed, too many times we see welfare recipients adopting public funding as a life style.

Social Security – Progressive Socialism – Extortion – was supposed to be a safety net for widows, orphans and the most poor, no one else was supposed to be eligible- now mandated- forced participation- newborns are required to have a SS#. One of the worst investments one could make, 2% return, forced contribution all your working years and if you die before you qualify for the benefit your family gets a mere $250 dollar death benefit. Money paid into system cannot be passed on. “Sacred Cows?” To whom?

Mr. Knorr, in a few days I will receive a new shipment of books, The 5000 Year Leap. I will make sure you get a copy. Please read it, then I’ll sit down with you and have an honest discussion on socialism. Robert RunyonThe Patriot's Voice 

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 Efficiency and Dispatch Require Government to Operate According to the Will of the Majority, but Constitutional Provisions Must be Made to Protect the Rights of the Minority

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 Thomas Jefferson - First Inaugural Address –“All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”

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Only Limited and Carefully Defined Powers Should be Delegated to Government, All Others Being Retained in the People

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 Alexander Hamilton – “ there is, in the nature of sovereign power, an impatience of control that disposes those who are invested with the exercise of it to look with an evil eye upon all external attempts to restrain or direct its operations…. This tendency is not difficult to be accounted for. It has its origin in the love of power. Power controlled or abridged is almost always the rival and enemy of that power by which it is controlled or abridged…”(Federalist Papers, No. 15, p. 111)

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The Unalienable Rights of the People are Most Likely to be Preserved if the Principles of Government are Set Forth in a Written Constitution

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“Through the centuries, the British have tried to manage their political affairs with no written constitution and have merely relied upon these fragmentary statutes as a constitutional reference source. These proved helpful to the American Founders, but, they felt that the structure of government should be codified in a more permanent, comprehensive form. It will be appreciated, therefore, that the tradition of written constitutions in modern times is not of English origin, but is entirely American, both in Principle and practice.”

The 5000 Year Leap pp.218

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