by David Barton of www.wallbuilders.com

America’s first Tea Party in 1773 was not an act of wanton lawlessness but rather a deliberate protest against heavy-handed government and excessive taxation. Its leaders took great care to ensure that nothing but tea was thrown overboard – no other items were damaged. The “Indians” even swept the decks of the ships before they left.

Tea Parties occurred not only in Boston but also in numerous other locales. And those who participated were just ordinary citizens expressing their frustration over a government that had refused to listen to them for almost a decade. Their reasonable requests had fallen on deaf ears. Of course, the out-of-touch British claimed that the Tea Parties were lawless and violent, but such was not the case.

Interestingly, in many ways, today’s Tea Parties parallel those of long ago. But rather than protesting a tax on tea, today they are protesting dozens of taxes represented by what they call the Porkulus/Generational Theft Act of 2009 (officially called the “American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act”). For Tea Party members (and for most Americans), that act and the way it was passed epitomizes a broken system whose arrogant leaders often scorn the concerns of the citizens they purport to represent.

Tea Party folks agree with the economic logic of our Founders.

• “To contract new debts is not the way to pay off old ones.” “Avoid occasions of expense…and avoid likewise the accumulation of debt not only by shunning occasions of expense but by vigorous exertions…to discharge the debts.” George Washington
• “Nothing can more [affect] national credit and prosperity than a constant and systematic attention to…extinguish the present debt and to avoid as much as possible the incurring of any new debt.” Alexander Hamilton
• “The maxim of buying nothing but what we have money in our pockets to pay for lays the broadest foundation for happiness.” “The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.” Thomas Jefferson

These are not radical positions – nor are the others set forth in the Tea Party platform – that Congress should: (1) provide the constitutional basis for the bills it passes; (2) reduce intrusive government regulations; (3) balance the budget; (4) limit the increase of government spending to the rate of population growth; (5) and eliminate earmarks unless approved by 2/3rds of Congress. Are these positions dangerous or extreme? Certainly not. In fact, polling shows that while Americans differ on the way they view the Tea Parties, they support these Tea Party goals by a margin of two-to-one.

Citizens are angry about the current direction of government. As John Zubly, a member of the Continental Congress in 1775, reminded the British: “My Lord, the Americans are no idiots, and they appear determined not to be slaves. Oppression will make wise men mad.” But does that anger automatically equate to violence? Of course not. It does equate to action, however; but instead of throwing tea overboard, modern Tea Parties are throwing out-of-touch politicians from both parties overboard.

The Tea Parties represent much of what is right in America – citizens reacquainting themselves with the Constitution and holding their elected officials accountable to its standards. Two centuries ago, Daniel Webster could have been talking to today’s Tea Party rallies when he said: “Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution!”

(Editor’s Note:  What right-wing conservative talk show host, candidate or political figure said this?  None of the above.  It is a quote from the Congressional Budget Office from 1994 (under the Clinton administration)!   This statement is no less dead-on right today than it was then.)

The Year of State Sovereignty?
By Bernie Quigley

At a press conference last October, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was asked: “Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?”

She replied with that wild-eyed self-assurance that grew more shrill and extreme as we got to Christmas: “Are you serious? Are you serious?”

She shook her head and moved on. Her aide, Nadeam Elshami, said that questioning the Speaker about whether the Constitution authorizes Congress to mandate that individuals buy healthcare was not “a serious question.”

This week the Virginia Senate passed a bill prohibiting a requirement for Virginians to purchase healthcare insurance. With a Republican state House and governor, this bill will likely make it into law.

In an effort led by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), more than two-thirds of the states have introduced measures to stop individual mandates on healthcare. Many state attorneys general threaten lawsuits if current federal reform proposals are passed into law. The Heritage Foundation reports that state legislators across the country are considering various bills that would allow their state to opt out of key provisions of ObamaCare or provide state voters a chance at the ballot box to reject nationalized healthcare in their state.

“Regardless of legislative components of the Virginia action yesterday, conservatives should cheer the resurgence of federalism and what it means for reining in the rapidly increasing federal government. With most states starting their legislative sessions, this may be just the beginning of what could be the ‘Year for State Sovereignty,’ ” says Dani Doane, director of government relations at the Heritage Foundation.

(Editor’s Note: If this does not show how out-of-touch or even dismissive of the People and their will our Speaker of the House is, I’m not sure what would.  No one, no one disputes the need for reform.  But a cost-effective, patient-centered approach is the only way to go.  Any plan that mandates purchase of a government “option” (please!) under penalty of a fine or even jail time cannot and should not be taken seriously.  And that’s precisely why 2/3rds of the People oppose it.  ~Dan Blanchard)

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” – George Washington

“That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.”- Thomas Jefferson

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” – William Pitt

“There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation.” – James Madison

“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.” – Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address

“A fondness for power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when acquired.” – Alexander Hamilton

“With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.” – James Madison

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

“In questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.” – Samuel Adams

(Editor’s Note: It is for these and other reasons that Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, argued for  ”a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”  This is the only approach to government that can preserve our identity as “the land of the free.” – Dan Blanchard)