Warning for Republicans

At this point many Republicans are feeling elated at the results of the last General Election, but it would be a mistake for the party to think that it can go back to business as usual. The electorate is unwilling to accept within our political system what has been perpetrated by both parties in the past. Voters are becoming acutely aware of the fact that what the politicians say has little relationship to the actions taken by them. It is clear that many in the media have a mistaken concept of the Tea Party movement, and there are those in the Republican Party that think that the movement can be co-opted. This belief is erroneous because the movement has an ideological base that is not interested in holding office; its prime objective is to get government to adhere to the principals set forth by our Founders.

One important principal is to limit the size of government; our government has gotten too massive at all levels, and has intruded into our lives in areas that are the domain of the individual. This increase in government’s size has placed a tax burden on citizens, which is having an impact on our private sector’s fiscal viability. The reduction of government needs to be done with great care if it is to be accomplished without causing harm to our system. The course correction should be guided by the principal of growth within the private sector; meaning that where possible government jobs should be transferred to the private sector. Major reductions are possible within management level positions in various government agencies.

Along with the reduction in the size of government, one has to give consideration to establishing a greater separation between the Federal Government and a state's government agencies. The Federal Government has been gaining too much power, and the ability of states to exercise control over their individual states has declined drastically. One of the advantages of our system was the ability for each of the states to come up with a system that worked for a particular state. This approach allows our states to become proving grounds for divergent systems. This paradigm encourages an evolution of systems that is beneficial to a given locality, while at the same time extending the options for other communities.

Republicans will also be expected to support appointments of judges to the Supreme Court that will make decisions guided by the intent of the Founders; this means that they will have to consider the spirit of the Constitution as well as the written word. The Constitution is being subverted by judges that view this document as something that should reflect the attitudes of the day, rather than a paradigm intended to bring our Nation to a responsible and self-sufficient state.

The Republicans are being given an opportunity to move our Nation back to the principles that were set forth over two hundred years ago. Our population has never been educated to understand their responsibility in bring forth the fruits of our Constitution. Our politicians give us a lot of rhetoric about education, but in reality that is the last thing they want for the electorate. It is time for the electorate to step outside the box that our educational system is trying to put us in. One gets the impression that many of our educators are apprehensive over the possibility of a dialog that may expose their faulty propositions, or to question the interpretation of the history being presented to our students.

It may be too soon to suggest how this movement, that is creating an upheaval in the evaluation of our political system, is going to influence our government, or how long it will last. The impression that one gets is that this movement is growing, but there are still some concerns as to its staying power over time. If anything good is going to come from this group of concerned citizens, the participants will have to stay involved for at least two generations. One can only hope that the electorate will maintain its vigilance, and that the numbers will grow over time, but this will require an educational program outside of our current educational system.

Charlie Allo