Congresssman Dan Boren Town Hall Meeting

I attended Congressman Boren's Town Hall Meeting at Bacone College in Muskogee this week. I did not vote for Mr. Boren but I was none the less impressed with his presentation at the meeting. He did an admirable job of explaining where the federal gov't revenue comes from and where it goes. He also demonstrated quite clearly why we have such enormous budget deficits. He was very clear that gov't spending will have to be reduced in order to ensure a prosperous future for our nation. While he did a good job of presenting the problems facing our nation he fell far short of proposing any real solutions. The gov't cuts that he said he supports would hardly put a dent in the overall budget deficit.

I was disappointed that he never questioned the constitutionality of any of the programs that the federal gov't spends money on. But the most disappointing part of the meeting was the question and answer period. After the Congressman had spent 45 minutes explaining that we have to cut spending to survive one person after another got up and asked for continued financial support of their particular program or agency. This is why gov't continues to grow and cannot resist the urge to increase spending even when there is no money left. A man who tells his constituents that, "We cannot afford that" or worse yet, "The gov't is not constitutionally empowered to do that" will not get elected or re-elected.

We must return to constitutionally limited gov't or we will fail. We will collapse from within, the weight of our own gov't will be more than we can carry. We must educate our population. We need to understand that we are not a democracy. We are a constitutional republic with democratically elected representation. It has been said that, "A democracy cannot last, for as soon as they people realize they can vote themselves money from the public treasury their greed will kill it." This is why we must get back to the constitutional republic that our founding fathers gave us.

So, while I was pleased to see that Congressman Boren has a good grasp of the problems we face, I think we need to look for a statesman that understands why we need the limited gov't that the founding fathers invisioned.

Limited Government

Limited Government seems like a long lost dream these days. The federal government has become so incredibly bloated and invades every part of our lives so extensively that it seems the "genie" can never be put back in the bottle. So the question is, can the size of government be reduced in any meaningful way? Probably not without major disruption to our way of life. As we've seen in Wisconsin over the last couple of weeks, the people who benefit from bigger government are not going to be willing to give it up without a fight. But, the day is going to come and in many ways is already here when the producers can no longer pay the bills. What can we do. Begin by voting ONLY for candidates who promise to reduce the size of government at all levels. Second, contact your current Representatives and Senators and encourage them to vote to reduce government. We have to reduce ALL of government, nothing is sacred. Current wisdom seems to indicate that if all government spending was eliminated except for Social Security and Medicare we still are in a deficit situation. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS BROKE! The spending has got to stop no matter how "worthy" the cause may seem. Third, be prepared for the time when civil disobedience becomes necessary. The Founding Fathers were the perfect examples of civil disobedience which of course evolved into a war because of the response of the despotic government which they felt compelled to "throw off" at risk to their lives, fortunes and sacred honor. We may be able to turn things back peacefully but the possibilities of that diminish with each passing day that the government continues to grow and deny its citizens their natural rights. The time to act is now. GET INVOLVED!!!