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Imperial, Riverside, San Diego Counties, CA | November 5, 2002 Election |
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Libertarian ideology is just between the lines...By Felix J. "Phil" MirandaCandidate for State Senator; District 40 |
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If you scan the columns and articles of various writers from many of the major online news sources today...You will find you could pull at least one or two lines that are in full agreement with the Libertarian philosophy. Why? Simply put, the closer the greatest political documents of our time are adhered to, the more we find agreement than disagreement. We call those documents The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America and The Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, many in our political system today think they know better not only for themselves but for the rest of us as well. Year after year we see our governmental leadership crumbling and deteriorating at every attempt to over ride these magnificent documents. I believe that in order to survive as a great nation and undo the harm that has been done to the citizenry we need to get back to basics. Since our great country was founded on these documents, we need to go back to them as quickly as possible. If that means literally throwing out the thousands of unconstitutional laws that exist nationwide, so be it. That is why they call it "The land of the free and the home of the brave." Many of our leadership and even citizens have forgotten that. Real People, Real Government, Real Solutions "Those who fear FREEDOM the most; are those who find endless reasons for restricting it..." fjm "Freedom does not care about your money, education or status in life. Freedom is the right to choose our own way to happiness and fulfillment and tolerating the right of others to do the same..." fjm "The worst form of slavery is the slavery of the mind of man by the twisted ideologies of a very small group of men over the masses." fjm "Our present leadership is like a kid winding up a toy plane. When you turn the rubber band tight enough, beware you don't let go! Well, the rubber band is about as tight as it can get without breaking. It has to be let go... and in the end, it will be up to all of us to clean up the mess...." fjm All obstructions to the execution of the laws with the real design to direct, control, counteract the constituted authorities, are destructive...and serve to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests. ...They are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.George Washington"The greatest political myth ever promoted in this country is that we are, or should be, a democracy. We are, in fact, a Constitutional Republic. There is a very significant difference between the two. Our founding fathers considered democracy to be mob rule. Under democracy 51% of the people can elect to do whatever they choose to the remaining 49%. Under a Constitutional Republic there are many issues that neither individuals nor their representatives in Congress, get to vote on because they would violate the Constitution. In deciding which you prefer, you should remember that a government that has the power to do things you like also has the power to do things you don't like. .....we all agree that our present government is vastly too large, too powerful, too intrusive and too corrupt. We must restrict the federal government to the limits of the Constitution and regain control of our own lives. If you, too, want to live in a country in which you make the decisions concerning your own life, help support a strict interpretation of the Constitution; the chains that bind the Federal Government. Either the government is chained or we are chained..... " Dr. Doris V. Ball "Some people, including some Supreme Court judges, say that the Constitution must be a living, changing document which means in practice that it is a dead document with no force or effect. These people disregard the Constitution any time the government can show that it has a "compelling interest" in ignoring them. First, either the Constitution is the law of the land or it is not. Second, the founding fathers allowed for changes by providing various means by which the Constitution can be amended. However, they deliberately made it difficult to do this because they realized that the Constitution was based on the nature of man and the nature of government and this does not change. The fact that there are many times more people in the world or that we have a more technological society does not change the nature of man or government in the least. So, there is no reason whatsoever to disregard our Constitution to go along with such changes. It is still true, as it was in 1776, that the most important thing any government can do for its citizens is to defend their life and their property and to hold people responsible for the harm they do to others. Other than this, a government should get out of the way so that its citizens can pursue their own happiness." Dr. Doris V. Ball ".....Other political parties pretend to support the Constitution and their elected members are sworn to do so, but I ask you to pay attention to what they do, not to what they say....." It is human nature to want to be free to do what one thinks is best for him/her..... To consider the nature of government we must start with the definition of government. Government is a group of people who have a monopoly on force (coercion) in a given geographical area. Our Founding Fathers knew how very dangerous it is to give a monopoly on force to some people. They realized that it is the nature of government to want to become more and more powerful, and as Machiavelli stated, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." .....This is why our Founding Fathers were very explicit when they stated in the Constitution that any powers not expressly given to the Federal Government were forbidden to it. They wanted the government to have just enough power to defend the life and property of its citizens and to hold people responsible for the harm they do to others..... .....The Constitution also forbids the Federal Government to discriminate against any individual or group of individuals for the benefit of other individuals or groups of individuals. This is violated in thousands and thousands of laws....." Dr. Doris V. Ball "I believe you have the right to live your life and use your property as you see fit, as long as you respect the right of others to do the same. I believe also, as did our founding fathers, that Government exists only to defend your life and property, and to hold people responsible for the harm they do to others. As a Libertarian I support the rule of law, based on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, rather than the whims of judges, regulatory agencies or the new-age mob (the media and public opinion polls)....." Dr. Doris V. Ball "If politicians know that they will soon have to live by the laws they pass, they will be less likely to pass oppressive laws, and more likely to adhere to the laws of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They will be less willing to venture into unconstitutional areas....." Dr. Doris V. Ball THE CONSTITUTION "What is the Constitution of the United States? It is the supreme Law of the Land, the rules our federal government is obliged to follow. This means that any law passed in violation of the Constitution is not valid. This would include about three fourths of the laws we presently have. What was the purpose of the Constitution? The basic task of our founding fathers was to devise a government that would be strong enough to secure our rights against domestic and foreign oppressors, yet not powerful enough to oppress its own citizens. To accomplish this, the founding fathers severely limited the powers of the government. Also, since they wanted the Constitution to be a lasting document, they based it on the nature of man and the nature of government which does not change. It is the nature of man to do whatever is necessary to survive and pursue his or her own happiness. To do this he or she must have freedom of action, which is, therefore, our most basic right. It is the nature of government to do whatever is necessary to increase its power. This is because government is run by people and these people have the same nature as do other people - to survive and pursue happiness. Therefore, citizens and government officials are in constant conflict. Citizens want to be free and government officials want to control them. Our founding fathers meant for the Constitution to be the chains that bind the government so that it cannot enslave its citizens. Either the government is chained or we are chained. .....It is still true, as it was in 1776, that the only legitimate functions of government are to defend the lives and property of its citizens, and to hold people responsible for the harm they do to others. Other than this, a government should get out of the way so that its citizens can be free to take the actions necessary to survive and pursue their own happiness, as long as they respect the right of others to do the same. So, if you want to live in a country in which your basic freedoms are protected by the Constitution, and where you have the right to live your life as you see fit, not as politicians and government officials think you should for their benefit, then help support a literal interpretation of the Constitution, the greatest political document ever written." Dr. Doris V. Ball Real People, Real Government, Real Solutions |
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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 23, 2002 10:13
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