by Kerry Thomas
August 17, 2005
When the Wisconsin Legislature granted Wisconsin’s governors
the power of the line-item veto, they abdicated their responsibility to
legislate. At the time, the Legislature
had a friend in the Governor. It was an
act of obedience to a man, not law.
If, indeed, we are a nation of laws, not men, then the same
power that is wielded sparingly by your well-intentioned friends can and will
be used at every opportunity by your enemies.
The USA PATRIOT Act granted seeping law enforcement powers
to the Executive Branch of our federal government. Under President Bush, those powers have been restrained. But imagine for a moment if those same
powers are granted to a President Hillary Rodham. We all saw what she did behind the scenes when her husband was in
the Oval Office. Was your FBI file one
that her operatives sifted through?
Today, anyone who the President’s Attorney General labels as
a “terrorist” has most of their Constitutional rights suspended. That person can be imprisoned indefinitely,
pending judicial review of their case.
Would you trust President Hillary with such power?
Governor Jim Doyle’s wielding of the veto pen would make the
most skilled surgeon envious. By
crossing out single letters and digits, Governor Doyle has managed to sign into
law legislation completely contrary to the measures passed by the Legislature. If Jim Doyle had had such power at the
Constitutional Convention, our First Amendment might well read something like “Congress shall establish religion, prohibit the
free exercise thereof abridge the freedom of speech,
of the press the
right of the people to assemble . “
In
the coming year we are going to hear a lot of political promises from
candidates at every level. We are going
to have to decide if we want politicians who say they will take care of us, or politicians
who see us as intelligent responsible citizens, capable of taking care of
ourselves. Keep in mind that the same
politician who promises to give you everything you ever wanted also will have
the power to take everything you ever wanted away from you.
Today’s
“progressive” politicians are promoting not progress, but a national regression
toward a governing model proposed in 1848, a model that seeks to punish
achievement. It promises equality for
all, but not abundance for all. Those
who fall for this broken promise would reduce us all to a lowest common
denominator, in all aspects of our lives.
President
Reagan reminded us that America is too great a nation to dream small
dreams. Walt Disney’s philosophy was that
if you can dream it you can do it.
Politicians who embrace the notion of personal liberty and
self-determination don’t need to explain these concepts. They’re evident in their actions. The laws they propose serve to foster these
concepts. Free from government restraints,
the American imagination conceives and strives to achieve abundant bounty for
us all.