Year: 2010

Some folks seem to be skeptical of the notion that the GOP will roll back ObamaCare. I’m skeptical too, because they’ve shown little inclination to dismantle federal leviathan when they were in power. But why does it have to be that way? I don’t think this is like the seasons, the tides, and the waxing and waning of the moon. Big government is not a force of nature. If the people really decide they are sick of it, it can be changed. It won’t be quick, and it definitely won’t be pretty, but it’s not impossible.

And to be honest, change will come at one point or another. Right now we’re faced with a choice — big government gets rolled back because the people are sick of it and demand it be rolled back or big government gets rolled back because the government finds itself unable to borrow any more money, unable to squeeze any more money out of taxpayers, and unable to meet its obligations. I fear that the latter is the type of change we’ll get, but the former is not out of the realm of possibility. I will work to try to make the former a reality, since the latter will be a disaster for this country. The latter is essentially the United States becoming bankrupt.

I don’t think we can really win this by putting all our eggs in the GOP basket. We have to hold both parties accountable to liberty. But there are positive developments out there that I think could make a big difference. The first is this National Precinct Activist Movement. It’s pretty simple idea:

MOST PEOPLE ASSUME that they get to choose their party candidate who runs for office by voting in the primaries. Have you ever wondered who chooses the candidates that run in the primaries? And who decides the requirements of those candidates!

THE CANDIDATES ARE CHOSEN by the special interest groups who in return will do their will for campaign money and then the party bosses dictate to the precinct committeemen who the party is going to support in return for political favors. So, you see before you even get to vote in the primaries the fix is already in and since both parties are corrupt the special interests groups don’t care which party wins.

EACH OF THE 3141 US COUNTIES have an average of 160 committeemen seats, of those seats one third to one half are vacant, of the occupied seats many are appointed. The appointed committeemen have no vote and most of the remaining voting committeemen are influenced by favors from the party bosses.

TO BECOME A COMMITTEEMAN you need only to get about 5 to 10 signatures on your petition from the people in your voting district. Because of the many vacancies and appointments most seats will be won unopposed. If you are challenged then your name will appear on the ballot in the primaries and the candidate with the most votes will win. Because we are more highly motivated we should win majority of the challenged seats.

IF WE SEEK OUT PEOPLE in the tea parties and all the liberty meetup groups we can easily find 160 people to become committeemen in each of the 3141 US counties. And then “We the People” get to decide who the candidates will be and not the corrupt party bosses and special interest groups.

This could have a huge impact if people who love liberty get involved with this. I’m already watching this play out in my district, as the GOP establishment gets behind their favorite squishy son, Mike Fitzpatrick, who’s exactly he kind of maverick you love to hate. The Tea Party groups here, who are organized and understand this game well, are getting behind a fiery new candidate known as Gloria Carlineo. I will back Fitz in the general election if he comes out ahead in the primary, but I’m backing Carlineo for now.

The reason the Republicans have never taken to dismantling the federal leviathan is because the people have not demanded it. There’s a lot of anger out there now, and not just in my district. Anger that wasn’t present when the New Deal and Great Society were passed. In my lifetime I’ve never seen anything like this. Maybe it goes nowhere, and the United States ends up flooring the accelerator off the cliff of bankruptcy, but maybe this anger is more permanent and enduring, and maybe it can be used to avoid a national disaster. It seems to me liberty loving people might finally be to the point where we’ve had enough. Given that, I’m certainly willing to ride this train and see where it takes us.

UPDATE: More along similar lines here, via Instapundit

Apparently that’s what the Dems were chanting as they crossed the magical 216 number to pass the Health Care Monstrosity. Let me just update the Democrats on what this really means.

• YES WE CAN! Send you back to your district in 2010.
• YES WE CAN! Put the Republicans back in charge of Congress, ensuring you never see your bribe pay off promised by Pelosi and her far left leadership.
• YES WE CAN! Make your benefactor Obama a one term President who will be such political poison by 2010 and 2012 that we won’t be able to do anything to help you.
• YES WE CAN! Implement a comprehensive market-based overhaul the Dem health care plan, getting the government out of deciding for you, and putting the people back in charge.
• YES WE CAN! Ensure the Democratic Party locks itself into an ever shrinking handful of urban centers, and finds itself unable to get back to a legislative majority.

I can play this game all night long. Enjoy your victory. It will be a very short one.

It’s a difficult thing for me on this blog to decide how to handle an issue like Health Care, because many of the Congressmen and women the GOP will be targeting heavily in 2010 are NRA A-rated, and I do not wish to damage the NRA’s political reputation by suggesting folks ignore the gun issue. But we all, to some degree, have to balance interests. So for those readers who are looking for some paybacks for what Obama and Pelosi have foisted on us in the realm of Health Care, I have some advice.

1. The first step is to identify key races in your state. If you’re lucky enough to not have any Obamacare traitors in your state, pick a neighboring state, or a state where you feel you have some connection or interest.
2. Do everything you can to raise the profile of his or her opponent. Facebook and Twitter are two highly valuable tools for the engaged activist. Generally speaking, if find Twitter superior for activist work, but Facebook isn’t bad either.
3. When it comes close to election time, that’s when it’s time to start volunteering. Politicians typically have a wide variety of volunteer work they can use, and that kind of thing gets noticed and appreciated very quickly. Volunteers are worth gold, especially if they are willing to make phone calls or knock on doors. This doesn’t take much time to do. At most you’ll give up a weekend or two.
4. If you don’t have the time or dedication for volunteer work, being a pocket book isn’t a bad alternative. All things being equal, money is probably more important than volunteering to help bring votes to the table, because money helps get your name in front of voters. The great thing about donating is, even if you’re not a constituent of the politicians, by being a donor you will have some sway. It doesn’t honestly take that much of a donation before you’ll carry as much weight as a constituent. If you don’t have time to volunteer, and many people legitimately don’t, spread some money around to opponents of the Obama/Pelosi axis. It doesn’t take millions, or even hundreds, to have an impact.

If there’s one bit of advice I could most give for 2010, and probably 2012 too, it would be — don’t just bitch about how much things suck. If all you do is bitch all things will ever do is suck. This is the reason liberty loses in the political process. People who love liberty are very good at complaining that liberty doesn’t get a fair shake, but are very bad at inserting themselves into the process and doing the difficult things to make sure it has a place at the table. There are lots of reasons for this. The chief reason being that liberty minded types are not all that interested in getting halfway toward liberty. They want it all. I can sympathize with this, because that used to be me not too long ago, but things just don’t work that way. Maybe they should, but they don’t. If all we can get is half-way toward liberty in a Constitutional Republic, that’s certainly better than living in a Social Democracy while feeling good about yourself for being true to your principles. It’s time to jump into the pen and wrestle the pigs. You’re going to get dirty, and he’s going to like it, but if you want to feast on bacon, you don’t really have an alternative, do you?