Tea Party; the New Party…

I don’t understand how any politician can look at the federal and a majority of state budgets and not see an impending disaster without swift and practical cuts in expenditures. I can’t believe that these people are this stupid to think that the course we are on is sustainable. There must be some sense of invincibility which is delusional. The United States can go into an economic tail spin destroying our current wealth and future American Dreams for generations of Americans. That is the reality of our circumstances and it is plain to see.


The federal workforce, programs, and entitlements must be trimmed. A recent GOA study on federal duplication reported finding hundreds of federal programs charged with the same mission, all housing their own bureaucracies with a total waste equaling hundreds of billions of tax dollars in the next few years. It is what we instinctively know about government; it is a monopoly that breeds inefficiency. Like the post office, department of motor vehicles, Amtrak, and the IRS, Americans know these organizations flush money down the toilet of inefficiency every year. I believe this report is only the tip of the ice berg.

So why are politicians unwilling to address this inefficiency to balance the budget? It seems these would be easy targets unlike Social Security. The bottom line is every program we eliminate is one less bargaining chip they have to get elected. The bottom line is that politics has been taken over by the most corrupt in our society. Self interested people that have no skills relevant for the private sector and a disposition that allows them to be useless to society and get paid handsomely for it. Corruption, corruption, corruption, is what stands in the way of a balanced budget. Both the Republicans and Democrats are showing an unwillingness to do what every adult knows must be done; be damned the re-election process. It is time to send Americans to congress not politicians. The Tea Party is going to have to replace every Republican or start their own party once and for all.

If there was truly a will, there is a way to balance the budget within five years. I know state and federal workers are crying about how they have become the target but the salary and benefit packages they garner from our tax dollars have become the envy of the private sector. And unlike the private sector their salary increases are not based on their improvement of services but rather union thuggery and political corruption. The fact is that a modest change in short term compensation and a long term cap on pay, benefits, and pensions is a reality whose time has come. A fair wage is one thing, but the public sector is long overdue for a correction. They have the option to join us in the private sector if they choose, but we can’t afford the current cost of the public sector anymore.

Balancing the budget is not a hard mathematical task; it is simply an exercise of political will. Caps on entitlements, elimination of the duplicative departments, closing a number of useless and unconstitutional agencies will quickly move us to a balanced budget. A constitutional amendment needs to be passed to secure the future. Many argue you will hurt the economy by adding to the unemployment rolls with laid off public sector employees. I believe it will be a very short term impact because once the private sector is unleashed by this fiscal discipline the job creators will be in full hiring mode. Public sector employees will see what the reality is in the wage, benefit, and pension arena of the private sector and understand why we are wild about limiting government and bureaucracy.

The Tea Party is about to abandon the Republicans in droves (my opinion) so the next step is to consider a strategy to take back control from the two parties. This is an important step and needs to be considered carefully but it is necessary. The Republicans are going to force our hand and if we are to survive as a Republic we need to be ready…

The Party System is Being Trumped by the Constitution…

The GOP is showing its true colors as the Tea Party continues to throw the old guard out in primary elections. They are taking the ball and going home. They are giving up a number of fights by withholding money from the duly elected candidates in the Republican Primaries.

It is a circle the wagon attitude by the two parties as the political class is being thrown from power by the power of the people. Both democrats and republicans that have enjoyed the power given to them by the people and are now criticizing the will of the people by inflicting harsh attacks and tactics against the same people they supposedly work for.

The Tea Party is a true revolution in this country and the parties in power are the target. It is not the same old game of party politics. The people want their country back from the people currently controlling the game. The control is being lost and the elites don’t like it. The Tea Party candidates can and will win with or without the national party apparatus. The party elite don’t understand the depth of the anger in the electorate this year.

The GOP is showing its true colors to the people and the people don’t like what they see. It is not a good time to be a party insider. The culmination of years of neglecting the electorate has congealed this election cycle. We will see an end to political contributions to national party organizations and an increase in the direct infusion of cash to individual candidates. That is the way it should be. It is bad enough that the parties have abused the money given to them by the people by spending lavishly on jets and caviar, but when you abuse the people that donate you will eventually have no one left to abuse.

This is truly a revolutionary year. Never underestimate the power of an informed and passionate electorate. The only allegiance many voters have this year is to the constitution. That allegiance will be on display in November…

A Rant - Looking For Political Answers in All the Wrong Places…

Scott McInnis and Dan Maes have rattled the cages of conservatives concerned with the direction of the federal government. Some of us were hoping to stop an out of control federal government by electing a strong conservative Governor that would use his power to take back the responsibilities outlined for the state in our U.S. Constitution. What are we going to do in Colorado?

Colorado is in trouble, and conservatives in particular are going to be left with a choice that is handed to us by the leaders of the Republican Party. The same party that has helped drive our federal government into our board rooms, our living rooms, and lunch rooms. These “limited government” advocates want a government limited to what they want and be damned the constitution. The same party that spends lavishly on expenses for party leaders while purporting to support the small business community they are robbing blind with taxation. The same party that has made it nearly impossible to see the line between them and the democrats with the exception of abortion and the Supreme Court. The party that knows no end to what the federal government can “help” us accomplish.

We are supposed to believe they are going to choose a candidate that will have the interest of the common business man, common citizen, and the future of our children at the forefront of their efforts. As John Stossel is famous for saying, “Give me a break!”

The choice for Governor on the democratic side is an enemy of the people. He is an elitist that believes and is supported by people that believe in global governance, global warming, universal taking of rights through healthcare, and every other utopian scheme that is bound to assist in our destruction as a state and nation.

This is what we get to choose from in Colorado? What are we Oshkosh (sorry Oshkosh!)? Who are we as a people to be left with this despicable set of circumstances with all of our eggs in the basket of a handful of incompetent party leaders? What have we done to deserve this predicament we are in? We have ignored the political process for too long and we must organize around something other than the Republican’s choice for a candidate.

As Colorado citizens we should reject both parties and organize around an individual willing to fight the federal takeover of our economy, liberty, and future. Damn it - we can do better than this…

Thank you for your support!

For the past eight months or so I have been an unaffiliated candidate for Governor of Colorado. I will be officially ending my effort and will be off the Secretary of State’s candidate list once I find time to do the necessary paperwork to end the campaign. I learned a few lessons, validated some things I suspected, and now know what is needed to be a candidate in today’s political climate and culture.

I would like to thank all of you that worked on the petition drive and visited my Blog on a regular basis. I hope you continue to come back here as I change my focus to education rather than a political campaign. The Blog will take on current affairs from the perspective of the constitution. I don’t expect to change the world here but I want to do my part to keep the constitution in our political conversation as a nation. We have lost our way because we no longer utilize the constitution as our guide. Both political parties are guilty.

Lessons learned:

• Political campaigns are a full time job which means if you are a an executive at a start-up firm building a business and jobs you will not have time to run for office. This is why we get the politicians we do, rich, retired, or living off the dole.
  
• Politics is broken because we the people have stopped paying attention. The Tea Party movement is changing that but my prediction is that too will fade.
  
• Money is the root of the evil in politics. I don’t care what anyone says politicians today spend most of their time cow towing to political donors and don’t stand on principle anymore.
  
• Term limits now.
  
• The two parties are both corrupt and self interested and we should continue all efforts to end the way our parties control the process.
  

Validations:

• People hate politics in general and suspect politicians have ulterior motives.
  
• We are in big trouble because the people we need with real experience to run for government have too much sense to get into the cesspool we call politics.
  
• The media is derelict in their duties to cover politics in a way that gives citizens a true picture of the political landscape. The media should be ashamed of themselves. They are lazy and part of the corruption.
  
• Family always comes first.
  

What you need to know if you run for office:

• You will be ignored by everyone but your friends and family. It will get lonely.
  
• People will support you privately but most will not lift a finger to help until the bandwagon is rolling.
  
• You can do one thing and one thing only; sell yourself and your campaign
  
• The people that are in politics are mostly good people but the system is so broken it will frustrate you to no end.
  
• Money is the root of evil in politics but it is the only way right now to make a difference. It is why most people hate politics.
  

I am off to educate now. I love teaching my kids about the constitution and anyone else that will listen. It is the key to our future and what we need to fix this nation. Always consider the constitution in every conversation about the government. Always ask; where is the government getting the authority to address this issue (put any issue here)? Show me the place in the constitution…

The constitution and our founders were given to us by God. Always remember without morality and law, we are the same as every two bit dictator and communist nation around the world. It is individual freedom and free markets that have made us the envy of the world not government. Capitalism is the greatest economic system in the world when we operate on moral grounds. Take away morality and every system fails. We must return to a government that was outlined in our founding documents.

The more government grows, the less free we are as individuals, the more bankrupt we become, and the closer we get to tyranny… Our founders knew how to fend this off with the framing of the constitution; now you can too…

Divided We Fall…

The two parties are at it again. The Republican Governors Association is running an ad against Mayor Hickenlooper, the democratic candidate for governor, trying to link him with the unpopular Bill Ritter, but do we really need this? What is the purpose of the ad? What will be the result of the ad in the end?

The purpose of the ad is simple, to paint candidate Hickenlooper in such a negative light that people will vote against him, therefore helping the republican candidate to win the election. But the democrats are going to respond, most likely creating an ad that will attempt to demonize the republican candidate. And so it will go, on and on, ad after ad, the good people of Colorado will be inundated with negative ad after negative ad, and they will be left to wonder; which candidate is the lesser of two evils.

That is our two party system in a nutshell. Demonize the other party’s candidate to the point that your candidate looks less evil than the other party’s candidate. All in the name of “winning”. I ask; what do we win in the end? No matter which candidate wins in the end, the people in both parties are left with the perceptions from the campaign pounding each has received. So we end up with a dysfunctional ability to govern. Democrats won’t listen or be open to anything a republican winner has to say, and the Republicans will not listen to or be open to anything a democratic winner has to say.

People are so disillusioned with the political process, and yet we are told that negative ads are an effective campaign strategy. These ads may be effective for the party that wins, but not for the people, and the ability to govern. Negative ads are an excuse and an easy way to campaign. The most effective way to win a campaign is to convince people through argument and debate that your positions are right for the direction of the state. Topic by topic, vetted in a forum, not bound by commercial time restraints, but real open and elongated debate. Where people have the opportunity to hear every issue discussed ad-nauseam to the point of conclusion. So why don’t politicians do that?

Simple; the people are not willing to sit and listen to it, and the media does everything in bits and bytes. We the people are partly responsible because we don’t do our homework and are not willing to invest in vetting candidates or protecting our freedom. The media is responsible because they play into the two party horse race, and never give anyone else a chance to be heard. They limit the debate instead of nurturing it.

So how does it change? I don’t know but the first step is for people to do more homework. My campaign is an example. I receive dozens of notes encouraging me and saying they respect and admire what I’m doing. But when it comes down to brass tax, people are not willing to take the effort to support alternative campaigns. We are lazy as an electorate and have been duped into believing what the two parties dish out. There are many alternatives to the two parties but the effort to make the change seems too much for most.

The two parties have been losing members for years and there are more people that find themselves unaffiliated than ever before. That’s a good thing, but leaving the party system is not enough. If you want to end the negative ads that divide us as a people, you need to punish the people that are doing it and support alternatives. Maybe I’m not the right candidate but there will be no change to this divisiveness unless we all get involved to change it...

Is winning a principle or the result of following your principles?

The republican choir keeps getting louder on the subject of “winning” in November. The fear of third party candidates, independent candidates, and rival republican candidates are getting the inside pundits nervous. Well, they should be. But what they don’t understand is that people are looking for principled candidate’s period. They have seen what happens even when republicans win; many abandon their principles.

That is the reason we are in this mess. The people “in charge” of producing candidates, have become corrupted in the pursuit of winning. So what is winning? In the Republican Party’s eyes it is having one more republican than democrat in congress so they can control the committees, and therefore the agenda. Based on Obama’s lightning bolt efforts to ruin this country that is not all bad. But if the people in Arizona elect John McCain, the man currently pretending to share conservative and limited government values, will we get a candidate for limited government? No way, he is the typical republican candidate willing to “compromise” to get legislation passed and frustrating the rest of us who want principled constitutional government.

The two parties are spending lavishly on themselves while the expansion of government continues. Eighty percent of Americans don’t trust the federal government and I would suggest that number is not far from what people think about the two parties. So what do we do?

Do we continue to vote for the lesser of two evils or do we purge the evil? We need to change the foundation of the way we elect candidates and it starts with principles. We need to find principled candidates and help them win. The culture in political parties is corrupt and we know it. We watch people giving large sums of money for access, and we watch party insiders spending that money on getting more money from big donors that have one principle in mind; their own interest. The money is poisonous, the backroom deals are criminal, and we are focused on winning. We are helping to elect people that are willing to compromise our principles for the good of a party.

Again I ask; is winning a principle or is it the result of following our principles? We can follow our principles but as our founders stated in the Declaration of Independence “we must mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor”… Our founders knew what principle was worth but do we?

The Party of the “Working” man and the Party of “Limited Government”…

You would think the party of the “working” man (Democratic Party) and the Party that claims to be for “limited government” (Republican Party) would be sensitive to the “average” American out in the real world struggling to make ends meet. The latest report of the two parties lavish spending is out and the spending suggests that neither party lives up to the claims they make.

Both national parties have raised over $100,000,000 (one hundred million) dollars in campaign contributions and many of those contributions come from people that believe each party has their interest at heart. But what they really have at heart is their comfort and lavish lifestyle.

Limos, booze, luxury restaurants and hotels, nearly a million in office supplies, corporate/private jets, golf, fishing, and meetings in Hawaii are typical expenditures. Officials from both parties suggest they have to spend money to get the big donors to contribute. These expenditures totaled $60,000,000 (sixty million) for the democrats and $74,000,000 (seventy four million) for the republicans.

Read the article yourself. Don’t get me wrong here, I believe they can spend the money any which way they want to, and for the places and people they are spending the money on, it is good for their economy. But don’t tell we the people that you represent them. Both parties are part of the culture of corruption that has permeated our government.

They raise money by demonizing each other and they are doing quite well. This is a game to them and they are taking your hard earned contributions and rubbing them in your face. How often do you get private limos in Hawaii, after boozing it up on your private corporate jet? These people are telling you they are going to change the government. It sounds like the way they spend their money, they are just as corrupt, unaccountable, and as out of control as the government they say they want to change.

Is this the change any of us want?

Sean Hannity; “Conservative Victory”; is wrong about the “Party”…

Our nation was founded on the principle of individual self rule, supported by common Christian values. We were the first and only government to believe in the individual over government and class structure, and it has made this country the greatest most respected nation in the world. No matter what the anti-American minority say; we are envied by the rest of the world because of this simple principle. People instinctually know a government of the people is better than a government over the people.

Over the years, many of us have taken for granted that it would always be that way and ignored the political process. There have been turbulent times but never the feeling that we were losing the principle of individual self rule and our moral foundation, until now. The voters and people have awakened. This is good for our country and good for our future. But being awake is not enough, we need to do our homework and fix not only the people we put into office, but the way we do it.

We have been watching a ping pong match between the Republicans and Democrats, each promising to be better than the other, but each party has continued to trample our individual spirit and freedom. Both parties have systematically taken the government from one of limited role to a “starring” role. That must change. Government needs to take a back seat to the individual, free market, and ingenuity of the American people. We do that by restoring the constitutional role of our federal government and auditing our state governments to determine what we want the role of government to be at the local level.

We don’t need a third party to win back our government. We don’t need any party; we need people paying attention to the issues and candidates. I am not a third party candidate; I am an alternative candidate to the party candidates. Sean Hannity is out there promoting “Conservative Victory” but he is trying to convince people that the Republican Party is where you need to place your bet. I say you will be throwing your money down the drain again if you are truly looking for a change in the way government interacts with the people. Until we stop paying attention to the divisive tactics the parties use to garner votes and money, we will not be engaging in the real fight. The fight is about our principles as a nation. Not defeating the other party but defeating the ideas that big government is better than individual freedom.

I admit the party apparatus has two advantages; it is a fundraising machine, and the candidates have ballot access. Beyond that the two parties have all of the tendencies big government has; self perpetuation. Not for the individual but the party. As Barak Obama campaigned in 2008 on “fundamentally changing the government”, we must elect people that are willing to fundamentally return our government to the people, and respect our constitution. We have seen where we are going and we are scared, angry, and ready to fight. We need to be all in to defeat the people that have given us this mess. Both parties have brought us to this point.

It will take our individual ingenuity to get us out of this mess…

From The Patriotic Resistance…

The latest scandal in politics just happens to be from the Republican Party but this story would fit well in either political party or any union or corporate board room. This quote was posted by someone that goes by the handle “Midnight Cowboy” on the ResistNet website. An organization of grass roots conservatives. I am not sure how all of the tea party folks feel but I know what this does when I read about it; It makes me ANGRY! This is why I despise, big business, unions, and party politics. This quote is about Michael Steele’s “leadership” of the Republican National Committee:

“He recently took some heat for moving the RNC annual meeting from Washington, D.C. to Hawaii. And one recent analysis by Politico.com found that compared with 2005, the last comparable year preceding a midterm election, RNC spending on private jets had doubled, limo trips had tripled, and meal expenses jumped from $306,000 to $599,000.”

It is Michael Steele today, but this is not specific to the individual as much as a culture in party politics. This activity goes on because the political parties have become “corporations” with special interests and an agenda that has lost alignment with its members. It is a group dynamic that supports high flying, back room deals, constituent favors, all on the expense of the individual schlep paying the bills. The GOP is acting just like big business and unions do in the pursuit of power and influence. Big business, big government, big unions, and big groups of any kind eventually and unfortunately drift from the roots of the original intent of the organization if leadership is not held accountable by the members. The people are now starting to hold government and political party leadership accountable, and they don’t like it.

Not every Republican candidate is part of this problem but every Republican Party member has accountability in this behavior. The members of the party can brush this off as an individual indiscretion, but is it? Or is there a culture in the two parties that accepts the high life for their leadership while the individual member pays the bills and the price with their individual reputations. Is this the same party you joined and put your faith in? Or is there a need to hold them accountable by demanding fundemental change?

I have personally had enough of every organization that thinks we are just out here to vote or pay the bills. We have a say and we don’t need the organized parties or businesses, or unions to smear our reputations with their behavior while they ignore us; the people paying the bills, doing the hard work, and living life to a higher ethical standard. We do not accept this behavior and we want people in charge that share our values.

It is time to be Jeffersonian in our approach; individual over group leadership…

Independent Thinkers Needed…

Thomas Jefferson was the epitome of independent thinking and was a political genius. His genius was his true understanding of human nature. Jefferson knew how groups of people that fomented mob mentality were a danger to individual liberty. He was a man of faith but knew how allowing the men of cloth to dominate political affairs was dangerous for individual liberty. He could separate his religious beliefs from civic principle. He knew morality was the foundation of our republic and that by keeping faith separate from government it would allow faith to flourish which in his mind would preserve the foundation of our representative republic and principles.

Jefferson believed that party politics was a natural outcome of any political argument or election, but he believed the inherent problem with parties was the undermining principle of group over individual. He was a thinker on every subject and I often wonder what he would have said about today’s two party system. Probably the same things he said in his day; "I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789.

I value his words and I share with you my reason for actively running unaffiliated from any party. It is not because I disagree with every issue being represented by party politics, it is because I like to think about issues and make choices that are not influenced by how they impact a political party, but how an issue impacts individual citizens. I believe there are more people that think like me but are addicted to the “machine” that has fueled party politics. That machine is mostly a fundraising mechanism. There are so many good people in the party system but I believe we are better served when we serve individual liberty over party unity. I am not alone and the numbers support my argument.

There are 1,078,896 Colorado residents that have chosen to be unaffiliated voters. Compared to people that have chosen the Democratic Party, 1,058,785 and 1,048,669 in the Republican Party. The Unaffiliated voter group is bigger than either party. These statistics from the Secretary of State’s office tell a story that must be told. We need to ask ourselves as voters why we continue to invest our votes in a party when we have chosen not to associate with that same party organization. This year I am doing my part to represent the unaffiliated voter; the largest group of voters in Colorado.

This is NOT a third party movement; it is a movement to elect candidates that are not tied to the special interests of either party. In the traditions of one of the greatest political thinkers of all time, Thomas Jefferson, I am reaching out to individual voters of every party to stand as Coloradans against the tyranny of an out of control federal government. We must rally around our founding principles and stop the division fueled by our party system.

The federal government has recently shown what they think of our rights and the constitution by shoving through the Healthcare bill against the will of the people. The next Governor is the best line of defense to reaffirm our constitution and to stop the federal government’s trampling of our rights. They are governing as if they have dictatorial power, and have unrestrained rights to force you into any program they choose. They can do this because of the way the party system has created the rules in congress; parties matter more than individual representatives. The constitution gives the congress the authority to set the rules of how the congress operates. The rules favor party politics over individual district representation. We have given the parties too much power at the federal level. They have the power to change it but they will not. That would mean that we would actually have true debate about ideas and issues instead of party line votes. That would mean we would have to elect thinkers to congress instead of party loyalists.

At the state level we don’t need political parties to elect good candidates. We only need voters willing to do their homework about what their choices are for candidates. You do have more than two choices in the 2010 election. I hope you think for yourself and do your homework…

Unaffiliated Voters; You have a chance for the Governor’s seat - and the support of Thomas Jefferson...

I have a website with information regarding my positions, published 3 books, over 400 Blog posts, video and podcasts explaining my principles and thought process. I try to write every day on issues that impact the state and country at this Blog. I do not rely on slogans and sound bites because I am a thinker, and believe each issue and topic needs thoughtful analysis. I answer e-mail requests for clarification on positions and I do not pander. If you don’t like my positions there are other choices in the race. I will only serve for four years. At the end of four years I hope to endorse another candidate like myself who is unaffiliated and holds similar values.

Don’t fall for the fear argument from Republicans: Don’t fear that voting for someone besides a Democrat or Republican is a wasted vote. The state registered voters are divided in this way:

• Democrats: 800,648
• Republicans: 832,170
• Unaffiliated: 716,801
• Other: 13,159

The unaffiliated voter, who has no interest in party politics, is a significant number. That is who I represent. The Republicans argue that my candidacy could divide the vote and cause a democrat to win. I believe when you look at the numbers that argument falls flat. I believe voters that are unaffiliated have spoken with their feet and have left both parties because they are not happy with having two choices for any elected position. I start with a base of 716,801 that I need to win over. They don’t need to be convinced to vote against their party, they don’t have one. I only need to convince a small number of Republicans and Democrats to vote for me and I have a chance. That is the battle ground. Why should an unaffiliated candidate defer to the Republican Party, and not fight for the 716, 801 unaffiliated voters in this election? The Republicans have not maintained the trust of the voters and they need a choice.

The tactic is to convince you that if you don’t vote for a republican you will be electing a democrat. That does not hold water. You only have to understand the numbers to realize that the unaffiliated voter is the fastest growing voting block and it is time they start voting to support their own commitment to breaking party control. My candidacy has a great chance if unaffiliated voters pay attention.

I urge you to spread the word to get people engaged in the fight. It is time to send an unaffiliated candidate to the state house to represent a significant number of Colorado citizens.

My favorite founder and greatest political thinker, Thomas Jefferson wrote much about about political parties and here are two quotes:

"I can scarcely contemplate a more incalculable evil than the breaking of the Union into two or more parts." Thomas Jefferson to George Washington 1792

"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789

Criminals are running this country…

Extortion, bribes, “rules” changes to usurp the constitution, and defamation of character is the Modus Operandi of our current congress. Every day we hear a new scheme being calculated or pursued to pass an illegal bill. That’s right it is an illegal bill. To make citizens of the United States buy something with the threat of force and imprisonment has taken us to the final step; taking back our government.

I have been arguing here that the only way to stop these criminals is to elect Governors across the country that will end this criminal activity. Return the power back to the people and the states through constitutional government. We are facing a mob in DC that is using criminal tactics to pass bills that have no constitutional standing. These politicians are rubbing our nose in their power, ignoring our clear direction to stop this madness, so I ask what are we to do?

Thomas Jefferson believed we would have to revolt and revise our government often. He knew that human nature was such that people like the ones in congress would always end up in charge. No matter how strong the system of checks and balances was, people would always work the system in their favor. He was a genius. But we don’t have the backbone to do what the founders of this nation were willing to do. But we also have more power than the founders had at the time of our founding revolution.

We have the tools to organize quickly, and we have seen the power of the grass roots movements like the Tea Party and 9/12 organizations. We have access to transportation, information, and have the ability to stop this if we can think like Americans and not leave this up to the politicians.

This congress is sticking an ice pick in our eye while invading our privacy, our property, and our economic prosperity. And while we get angry they continue on their march to take the hill. What are we going to do? When will we say enough is enough? When we will force the change necessary to end this threat we face from our own government. Will we wait until they have destroyed our healthcare? Will we wait until they destroy our financial health through bankruptcy? Will we wait until we are all standing in food lines for our next meals?

This election is not just another election where we can afford to put the same party, different name back in charge. We need to be bold and try a revolutionary idea like voting for the person and not the party. We need you to run. We need to stop playing the games that our political system has created to keep themselves in power. We need to wake up to the criminal activity we have going on all around us in the political world, and do what we need to do to rid us of this madness.

We need to be loud, consistent, and willing to go outside the boundaries in electing the next generation of politicians. We need to look beyond the current “family”. The late William F Buckley Jr, a brilliant conservative once said, “I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.”

I totally agree with his assessment but I would also add along with Harvard University the current politicians and political parties… Let’s take back the hill…

Why Republicans Have a Problem in 2010…

An excerpt from a great post at Town Hall by Armstrong Williams:

“This sounds to me like the same shenanigans Republicans pulled when they ran the show in Washington earlier this decade. I worry it signals they haven't learned their lesson: that good governing requires making hard choices and telling people "No" some of the time. And I also worry that Republicans actually buy into the idea that government spending, as long as it's done right, is good for the economy.”

This is one of the problems with being tied to a party. When the individual decisions are made by politicians the entire party is blamed. It works the other way as well. When the party takes a stand on an issue all individual party members are painted with the same brush.

Tonight in Colorado Springs two Republican candidates face off for the fight for their party’s nomination. They are two individuals that will govern differently if elected but they will be painted with the same brush by their opponents. They will also be expected by the party to tow the line when it comes to policy at the state house. We are a country that was built on individual liberty and spirit so why do any of these politicians need to belong to a party?

My question to the party supporters out there, who by the way are a minority of people eligible to vote; Why do we need a party candidate in the Governor’s seat? Why can’t a candidate with no affiliation execute that role effectively? My guess is the party supporters have no good answer for that question. The answers I have heard is party politicians have “experience”. Really? How has that “experience” been working for us as a country?

In the meantime we watch the political parties paint each other with broad brushes, make policy decisions to protect the party, and the citizens of Colorado and our country get shafted again with candidates that are shackled by party politics. I am confident the leadership I will provide will take into consideration one party; the individual citizen of Colorado.

It is time that we elect an individual not connected to the “power” players and the special interests that have given us the current mess we are in. We can do better. As suggested by Armstrong Williams; the Republicans will revert to the same old shenanigans once they have secured your vote. How do we know that? Just look at their records and our balance sheet…

Tea Party, Grassroots, and Party Politics…

The Republican Party is aggressively courting the members of the Tea Party groups, 9/12 members and the many liberty based groups that have grown in number due to their frustration with the Republican Party and politicians in general. Many of the members in these groups are frustrated republicans that want their party back. Back to the principles many believed were the platform they signed on to support. Republicans are not the only people that are frustrated, there are many people that are new to the process and they want the current government intrusion into their lives stopped. These people are very worried about their children’s future, as well as their own. They represent a significant part of these grass roots efforts.

There is no general statement you can make about any of these group members because if you dig into the reasons people have joined there is a diverse pool of ideas and priorities. The common threads I have heard are; fiscal responsibility, founding principles, which is another way of saying constitutional government, and common sense. There seems to be little sense at all in government, never mind common sense. But these groups know that the system is fundamentally broken.

My campaign is about getting back to our founding principles and I am no different than many of the people that have chosen to get involved in all of these groups; I have just chosen to go toe to toe with the politicians promising another round of, well, promises. I would never question any of the wonderful people getting involved in these groups to show “credentials” for becoming politically active. So why would people question ordinary citizens like myself about why I “qualify” or what “experience” I have to be Governor? Has government been so efficient that we can’t try someone who doesn’t spend his day distributing taxpayer money, instead spends his day creating and nurturing business? Are we going to continue to support “experienced” politicians that are responsible for this mess?

There are a couple of qualifications that most elected offices require; proper age, and citizen status. I exceed the age by many years and I am a citizen. What I am discovering and what is really apparent is that the questions come mostly from Republican Party members focused on one thing, winning back “their” power. They have this notion that there is a proper protocol to become a candidate and if you don’t start at the bottom and work your way through their ranks, you are not worthy. I can understand their determination to win back power, but they need to understand they have had power before and people are upset with the way they utilized it. I was in the Republican Party for over 15 years and I believe that the reform has to come from the hard lessons an election can teach entrenched politicians. If we elect a Republican we must do it not because of the party but because of the candidate.

I believe it will be important to beat the Democrats this year, not because the candidate is a democrat, but because democrats mostly believe the government is the answer, and I also don’t believe the Republicans should be handed a victory because they are not democrats. The Tea Party, 9/12, and liberty groups have really stirred the political “pot” this year by taking away control of the election process from the two parties. Maybe it is time to send a strong message that we are not only going to take away the process; we will choose the candidate based on ideas and not on the letter next to their name…

Scott Brown; for President?

In the lead up to the election of Scott Brown, much hype and anticipation was thrust upon the Republican candidate as the “savior” to stop the healthcare boondoggle. There were even calls to elevate him to presidential considerations in 2012. Having lived in Massachusetts for 15 years I knew no republican candidate from Massachusetts would ever be a candidate I would choose as someone to represent me at the federal level. But that is party politics. If he wears an R after his name I am supposed to accept the good, voting against the healthcare bill, and bad, voting for the jobs bill. Where are the principles of his campaign?

Scott Brown was elected for one reason; he represented the countries frustration with healthcare. And he was elected by the country, just follow the money. But now that the one issue he was sent to stop is in another phase of process, Scott Brown has voted for a “jobs” bill along with the democrats. There is no such thing as the federal government creating a job unless it is taken from the private sector. I have many posts on this subject but the real point is; we need to elect people that represent principle not party.

The Republican Party can taste victory but if you look at what is happening with Scott Brown; is this the Republican Party you want to put in charge again? Not me, I want conservative, principled people, and some may be republicans and some may be independent, or libertarian, but the last thing I want is to be disappointed in electing republicans like Scott Brown to continue our journey toward financial ruin.

Vanity Candidate?

I was listening to Hugh Hewitt yesterday and he was talking to a republican congressman that is running for senator and the discussion turned to the other candidates in the race. The congressman used the term “vanity” candidate. I took complete offense and you should too that in a snippy fashion they both discounted all of the other candidates in that race. Hugh Hewitt just as a matter of fact stated “they have no chance of winning.” Hugh is a complete tool for the GOP. It is the one issue I couldn’t disagree more vehemently on with Hugh who I more often agree with than disagree.

People that have chosen to run have become totally disgruntled with the establishment candidates and are giving the voters a choice. And we need candidates that are not party hacks and will stand for the constitution and the founding principles of this nation. We need more “vanity” candidates because the fact is the Republican Party is as guilty as the Democratic Party for the mess we are in.

We need to vote for the candidate not the party. The party had its chance and blew it. That is the fact, and that is what people need to consider in the 2010 election.

Ask yourself; which party is responsible for the mess we are in? The answer is both parties!

Make a choice and take a chance on new candidates that are not connected to the apparatus that has served us so poorly over the past decade…

Irrelevance is a State of Mind; Change Your Mind in 2010…

No one is irrelevant; everyone is irrelevant, that is the question. I am tired of hearing people say they have no ability to change things, especially the course of our current out of control federal government. If that is what you believe, that is the impact you will have. You will have made yourself irrelevant. By believing you are, you become what you believe. The case holds true the other way as well.


I believe I am relevant even when it seems at times I am all alone in the battle. But I march on writing blogs, talking to my family, friends and neighbors, sending out a newsletter, running for office, starting a new business, writing and calling political representatives. I march on even if at times I feel like I am being ignored.


But here is the secret you must cling to when you think you are irrelevant. The most credible political and business leaders felt the same way at some time. And their efforts are now marked in history because they knew deep down that any action taken towards a cause is a small piece of necessary fuel to achieve the bigger cause. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.


A call to your senator on the healthcare bill is one call. But when you put it next to my call it makes two calls. And when you put it next to the million other callers who feel irrelevant; you achieve relevance. Each relevant action is the accumulation of people that feel irrelevant at times. We can and we will change this government to be more responsive as our founders intended in our constitution. But you must believe you can be relevant in the cause. Any time you feel irrelevant you must take an action. Action is the key to relevance.


Here is an action I have taken to be relevant; I am running for Governor of Colorado. Even though I am being ignored by the people who have an interest in making me irrelevant, I keep taking action. I am writing, reading, calling, and setting up infrastructure to take this government back. And I don’t care if I am alone right now; I know that the only way to be relevant is to get in the “game” through my actions.


Follow me here. If I didn’t have a website and Blog, newsletter, signed up with the Secretary of State’s office, created a committee to elect me, and be willing to be ignored, would I have any chance of being relevant? If I had taken no action would I have chosen to be irrelevant? You bet. Now I ask you to look at you and your actions. Are you acting in a manner to be relevant, or are you not taking action? Therefore choosing to be irrelevant.

It is 2010 starting tomorrow and it is time to become a relevant player in the efforts to return to the founding principles of this great nation. It takes action. Not one big action but many little ones. Here are the things we all can do every day leading up to the 2010 elections:

• Get informed by reading and doing research on issues and candidates.
  


• Find a campaign and offer to get involved.
  


• Read the US Constitution, and every week pick it up again when you are listening to the political arguments and find whose responsibility it is according to the constitution. (Hint: the federal government only has 18 enumerated powers (Article I Section 8), the rest fall to the states and we the people. Read the Tenth Amendment closely and often).
  


• Give $5.00 to at least one campaign you believe deserves it in 2010.
  


• Look at candidates beyond the two parties. The two parties both have track records that must be considered. Both have failed us and don’t be hoodwinked into believing you are wasting a vote on a candidate you believe in that is outside the party.
  


• Keep calling and writing your political representatives as often as you can even if it is one sentence. Let them know you are watching and intend to vote.
  


• Hug your children every day and explain to them why you are getting involved in the process. Show them how to become relevant.
  


• Don’t give up. Read about our history and the founders and the circumstances they faced at the founding of our country. Read the Real George Washington, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and other books, and what you will find is that our founding was often in peril but these men were always relevant even when the cause seemed overwhelming. Be like the founders. They are truly inspirational.
  


• And finally, remember you are not alone. Eighty percent of the country in some way believes we need to reduce government in our lives. Imagine if eighty percent of the country made one phone call to your home phone to ask you to be relevant.
  

Being irrelevant is a choice, but it is not the right choice. Make a commitment to yourself this year to be relevant.

Happy New Year!

The Two Party System Stands Against Freedom…

I cringe when I hear political pundits suggest that only the Republican Party and its candidates can “save” our country from these out of control democratic socialists. It is a view not only shared by pundits, but sadly, many voting Americans. Voters are mad at the current intrusion of our federal government and want it stopped, but they have been duped to believe republicans are the answer; again. Individuals are the answer, not republicans.

I have to say as someone that considers himself a critical thinker, I find their logic flawed on a number of levels. The first level is the recent history of the Republican Party’s track record on spending, immigration, global warming, and the constitution in general. The Republican Party is as guilty as the Democratic Party when it comes to applying the law of the land our constitution. Both parties conveniently ignore it when it gets in the way of one of their programs, and site it only when they are opposed to a program of the other party. The constitution today as viewed by the two major parties is for all intensive purposes; simply our past history.

The constitution is not past history although it was conceived and created in the past, it is the key to a prosperous future. A future of less burdensome federal laws and regulations, and a return to individual freedom with control of our destiny entrusted more closely to we the people through the tenth amendment. The Tenth Amendment has been completely ignored by our federal representatives as proven most recently in the healthcare debate. Healthcare has no constitutional foundation yet our representatives continue to debate the merits of this unconstitutional federal program. This is just the most recent example of a two party system that completely rejects the Tenth Amendment of our constitution.

Immigration law, which is a constitutional requirement of the federal government, has been turned upside down by both parties and they can’t even agree that people that cross our borders illegally are illegal immigrants. Both parties fight over the need to give amnesty to this group of people that may be nice people, do the jobs that Americans won’t do (which is a scam in itself) but are criminals. The constitution clearly gives the federal government the requirement to secure the border against these illegals but what have either of the parties done? Ignored and fought against doing their constitutional duty.

Both parties are spending us into bankruptcy, perpetuating the false movement of manmade “global warming”, and have kept us on the unconstitutional path of more centralized government. So why would anyone continue to vote for either party’s candidates?

That is the million dollar question but I have a couple of ideas. First, the media ignores every other candidate in almost every race. They often opine about the need for better candidates but they ignore any attempt by good citizens to get involved in the electoral process. They are complete hypocrites and are in total collusion with both parties.

Second, the myth that only the major party candidates have a “real” chance of getting elected is an outright lie. If people had a better opportunity to see other candidates this myth would quickly fall apart.

Third, is the notion that if you elect a non-party candidate to office the two parties will keep them from getting anything done. Again, I believe that is a complete myth. A truly effective leader would go right past the legislature dominated by the two parties and make their case with the people. The truly patriotic individuals would come around and join the bandwagon of true constitutional reform.

And my final point here is one that I believe with my heart and soul; the parties have corrupted good individuals to believe politics is an industry, and we should promote career politicians. Nothing could be more corrosive to our country than a political class that by design will always be the enemy of freedom and our constitution. In order to create a perception they are needed they need chaos and confusion so they can come to the rescue of some problem they perceive or create based on anecdotal evidence. Then play off the good hearts of most Americans to fund their perceived or created crisis.

We have all of the direction we need as a country and it is found in the constitution, and can only be realized if we reaffirm the Tenth Amendment and start managing our own affairs. If this becomes the goal of Americans we no longer need any party. We need people that will be protectors of our individual freedom and constitutional rights to limited government.

The two parties don’t realize what many of their past members like me do; the parties stand against our freedom. They are there to perpetuate their existence under the guise of protecting a constitution they don’t even believe in…

Fools, Liars, and Thieves…

The people running our federal government could be categorized into these three categories. The fools are the representatives that believe the only way to stop this boondoggle of a government is to “compromise” and move to the “center” where the people want them to be. I’ve got news for you; most people are conservative in nature and want you out of their lives. These fools believe that reducing the impact of the healthcare bill is a strategy instead of killing the bill with every piece of leverage they can muster. The fools don’t realize this is truly life or death.

Liars are almost the entire congress. Not one of them is making a constitutional argument against any bill especially this healthcare bill that they swore to uphold at their oath of office. They lied that they would protect and uphold the constitution.

They are all thieves of the treasury. Every single one of them has no problem stealing our children’s future by borrowing us into bankruptcy, transferring other people’s hard earned money from one generation to the next, and using extortion tactics to get all kinds of unconstitutional legislation passed.

This is our government at work and we are still not outraged. Oh sure some of us are but this is a sad commentary on our ability to manage self rule. The experiment is dying on our watch as we keep electing, fools, liars, and thieves…

God Bless our troops and veterans, especially those patriots that sacrificed their lives on this day in 1941.

I need your help…

Can someone tell me how to get people to pay attention to my campaign? I believe I have the message, I am principled, fairly educated, a dedicated family man, and a successful business man.

People seem to want a change from the politics as usual but they continue to vote for the same old same old. I truly don’t get it? I know you have to get your message out but it seems that many people are searching for different candidates but they are not supporting any except for party candidates. How can we expect change if we keep supporting the parties that have made this mess? Even radio personalities that I respect make the argument for supporting the Republican Party that has failed us over and over.

The republicans are arguing they are the party to stop the current assault on the American Dream but when they were in charge, where were they on the issues? They were pushing open borders, they were afraid to stand up to the global warming hoax until recently with the revelation of falsified data, and they kept growing government at every level. What makes anyone believe they have changed? To me it’s like supporting an alcoholic. We keep enabling the behavior by giving them the means to have another drink. Except we keep giving them our votes.

I am planning to petition onto the ballot, and I hope at that point people pay attention. But it seems hypocritical to me that all of these pundits and voters keep talking about how the parties have failed us but they keep supporting them. Maybe this guy or gal will be different. Maybe Palin is the answer, maybe Newt is the answer, maybe Mitt is the answer, maybe Huckabee is the answer, maybe we should just try something and someone new for a real change.

We have a mess and both parties are to blame. It is the quest for power that is causing the problems. It has become about “controlling” the house, senate, governorships, etc…, instead of serving according to our constitutional law.

Please help me understand? Do we want candidates strictly from the parties? Why are we so afraid of individuals that stand for the constitution, principles, and are not part of the party apparatus? I am curious because I believe we are ready for candidates that care for our country first, not a party…

Am I wrong?