About a week ago, my sister Kathie sent out an email to several friends with information about the health care bill and what it will mean to us if it is passed. There were some on this email list who Kathie knew were likely to be for the bill, but fortunately she sent her email to them anyway -- after all, it's not the like-minded people who need convincing, but rather those who are uninformed about what lies hidden in the bill.

Not long after, Kathie received a response from one friend who believes this bill is the right way to solve our country's health care issues. It follows below, in white text. Interspersed in red italic text is the reply Kathie sent back to her.

Hi Kathie,

Congress has excellent health care paid for by their employers, us. They do not pay for it but they will deny the employers, us, the same care they receive. Why should private employers pay for coverage for the people who work for them and again for the congress? If you watch the news you will realize that more We still will not receive the same care and coverage as Congress has if this bill is passed. Nor will they have the coverage that we will have under the bill because they won't lower themselves to the conditions that the government healthcare bill (all 2000 pages of it) will provide us. and more employers are dropping health care as being too expensive. There will be no competition between government health care coverage and private coverage because government with its unlimited supply of money from us, the taxpayers, and their printing presses, will always be able to make premiums lower than private insurance companies. Dropping the premium prices to where private insurance companies cannot afford to compete will put private insurance companies out of business. The government also will set the standard for prices for care and procedures, medications and medical devices (which are they are doing thru medicare now) and doctors will not be able to afford to do business at the rates set. That is the reason that so many doctors now do not accept Medicare patients, or only a limited number of them. However, I believe that with the current plan, doctors will not be allowed to "opt out." They'll be forced to accept patients at the reimbursement rate offered by the government healthcare plan. Don't you understand that private industry can always provide a service more cheaply than government can? Large companies are at a disadvantage on the global market due to the fact that all other first world countries have national health care. Yes, other countries have national health care, but it is always substandard to ours, no matter what Michael Moore says. Why else are people from England and Canada coming to our country for healthcare for serious disease or surgery that is readily accessible here? I hope you are reading the accounts of people who are having to wait months for tests we can get here within days. Their employers do not have to figure that cost into their prices. Ultimately we are all paying more taxes, and that affects the prices of goods and services as much as the cost of the healthcare policies companies pay. We the taxpayers will always bear the burden of cost, regardless of where government or business tries to hide it. They then flood the American market with their cheaper products. Jobs are being out sourced to other nations at an alarming rate. And this will only increase as it costs our domestic companies more in taxes to pay for the "free" healthcare the government is promoting -- actually nowhere does it say "free". The truth is that working people will be paying higher premiums to help cover the cost of the "underprivileged." Take a look at the "underprivileged" in this country. They have cell phones, flat screen TV's, subsidized housing, free breakfasts and lunches, ad infinitum. No one in this country really goes without health care. They just walk into an emergency room. Then add the benefits of being an illegal immigrant. We the taxpayers, through the generosity of our Congress, foot the bills for them also instead of sending them back where they came from. Where does it stop? At what point does it stop making sense to work because you are footing the bill for masses of people who won't work? My neighbor has had a cleaning business for years, and she tells me that she can't get blacks to work for her. I've cleaned for others. I don't understand how someone who needs money can afford to turn down employment. American companies say they cannot compete. Unemployment goes up. Young people fall into poverty at an alarming rate for the cheaper labor. If you read a reliable source for who is without health insurance, you will find that many are young adults who choose to spend their money on things other than insurance -- their choice in a free country. They lack coverage because they choose not to buy it. Under the new plan, they will either buy it or be fined an amount probably comparable to what it would have cost them to purchase the insurance. And I could be wrong here, but I think the bill also gives the IRS the right to collect this "fine".
Insurance companies decide if and when you can have surgery and\or other treatment. Now the GOVERNMENT will make the decisions, and there is no recourse -- who do you turn to when the government says "no" to that expensive treatment because it doesn't guarantee you a cure or you're too old or unproductive to spend the money on? They will have a panel to decide what is "cost effective" treatment based on a formula they devise. The details of this are not spelled out in detail in the bill, but rather creates a panel to "study" and set the standards. They also decide where you have it and who provides it. Again the government will now be holding the pursestrings and will be deciding for you. Maybe not a big issue if you're 25 and healthy, but for those of us are retirement age and not too many years ahead of us, it is a scary proposition. Meanwhile their CEO's are given multi-million dollars pay checks and golden parachutes if they fail to make a large enough profit for the stock holders. You can choose not to buy any product whose company pay policies you object to. And what is wrong with this in a free country? Every person in this country is born into it with the same opportunities. CEO's got where they are through their own efforts. Maybe not all of us are CEO material, but we all have the opportunity to work hard and be rewarded for our efforts. In this the richest country in the world no one should be denied basic health care in order to allow someone else to live an opulant lifestyle. This country IS the richest nation in the world because of CAPITALISM. With the policies this administration is rushing to put into place, not just healthcare but also cap and trade and others, we will become a socialist nation. There will be no incentive to work hard and produce because of the "spreading the wealth". Really, would you work hard and make sacrifices if you were going to be paid exactly what the slacker next to you will be paid? I don't think so. What makes you think that after the government takes money from the richest of the rich, it won't be taking more money from you too? No one should lose their home, car etc., because they are ill. No one should have their insurance capped or cut off when they get sick. If you are really sick and unable to work you are laid off and you then loose your insurance. Cobra doesn't help because if you are unemployed you can't pay the full cost of the insurance. This happens all the time. It is time something is done about it. I agree that serious reforms are very much needed. But this bill is more than simply health care reform -- it's a means to control you and many facets of your life which you cannot begin to realize until you try to read and digest almost 2000 pages of convoluted legal-speak that makes reference to other legislation, the IRS, etc. Honestly. The bill is online. Try to read it. Tell me how anyone in good conscience can vote for a bill they haven't read in its entirety. And tell me where it guarantees that you will receive whatever treatment you choose or you need. You won't be able to because there are no such guarantees in this bill.

Many other suggestions have been made (including a petition that would bind our lawmakers to signing up for this healthcare program, but none have agreed to that, nor will they. They, our Congress, will become the new elites in place of the corporate CEO's whose earnings you resent.) Tort reform -- ridiculous lawsuits -- are a huge part of the cost of our current health care. But every attempt to make necessary changes to the process to seek redress for medical damages, has been blown out of the water by Congress because most of them are lawyers and profit from the laws they create. Another option that would help to increase competition and bring down prices would be to loosen the restrictions on insurance companies enabling them to compete across state lines. That possibility has also been denied by the Democrats. Ask yourself why. What do they have to lose? What is the REAL agenda here? I guarantee you that healthcare is not the primary agenda. It is merely the means of building a huge government bureaucracy that will insert itself in our lives in ways we can't begin to comprehend. Where are these congress people obtaining their financing? Chances are they are paid by the health insurance and pharmasudical lobbies. Look them up. You are probably right, there is plenty of graft in the congress, both houses and in both parties, and that should be addressed as well. That is a separate issue and won't be resolved in the slightest by this bill. If anything, 2000 pages of legislation will make way for more opportunites for fraud and corruption.

I'm sorry to disagree with these people but I think we can do better, much better. If this great country is to survive we must. Linda, we as a country will survive, but if this legislation passes, you will not recognize the country you grew up in. Your choices will become very narrow as the government decides what is best for everyone, not just with regard to your healthcare, but in virtually every facet of your life. Prepare yourself for a shock.

Here are links to some additional reading. You may or may not agree, but you owe it to yourself to understand both sides of an issue:

http://www.heritage.org/LeadershipForAmerica/health-care.cfm Many additional articles and resources

http://www.gopusa.com/news/2009/october/1030_health_business1.shtml This one shows the wheeling and dealing done behind the scenes.

http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf Here's the actual bill. Take a peek. Good luck. I heard the other day that the bill that created the federal highway system was 36 pages long. Not that a highway system and healthcare are comparable, but the concept of keeping bills readable and understandable by an average person is pertinent.

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Now this bill has passed in the House of Representatives by a mere two votes. It still must be reviewed and voted on by our Senators before returning to the House for their final vote and then to the President to be signed into law. If we don't stop it in the Senate, it will become law. Please, please email and call your own senators and others each and every day until it is defeated. Much is at stake, far beyond who does or does not get some semblance of health care. Ask your friends, family and neighbors to do the same.

A Young Woman's Message to the World

Allie was a little girl growing up in our neighborhood in Gaithersburg Maryland when we lived there several years ago. I knew her family casually, but did not know them well. I recently met Allie here in Utah as we volunteered for the same political campaign, a candidate we both believe will help to get things right in Washington.

Allie's brother, James, was born with an undiagnosed condition which has affected him and his family for all of his life. I think James would be in his late 20's or early 30's now. He recently fell from his wheelchair, broke his hip, and has suffered subsequent complications, in addition to the multiple problems that he lives with each day.

With her permission, I'm sharing this "Message to the World" that Allie posted on her Facebook page yesterday because I believe people like Allie know better than I what works for people in her family's situation. I hope you'll read it with your heart and feel moved to do something to make a difference for good in our country. If not us, then who? If not now, then when?


My Message to the World

Allie Winegar Duzett


As many of you know, my brother is very probably in the act of dying. And so, I feel a need to write an overall message to the world. But first, a recap of his issues:

- broken hip, which has been replaced but which reduces his mobility by about 100%
- pancreatitis, potentially incurable
- possible stroke
- cranial cancer
- rectum 1200% the normal size, last seen almost puncturing his lungs
- distended bowel
- atrophied esophagus
- muscular dystrophy
- missing gallbladder (yeah... awkward. just discovered this one today.)
- seizures every 2-5 minutes (grande mal, tonic, and all the other kinds too)
- possible cirrhosis of the liver
- potential osteoporosis
- bent spine (I know this has an official term, but I don't remember it--his spine is shaped to his recliner)

In addition, he is unable to talk; he has never been able to talk; he cannot communicate in any way; he does not respond to pain; and he requires diapers.

His overall condition is undiagnosed; we describe it as an undiagnosed chronic degenerative metabolic condition, essentially meaning that 1) we don't know what's overall wrong with him; 2) as time goes on, it gets worse; and 3) the overall condition has something to do with the inability to process nutrients.

People ask what they can do to help. My husband was asking what he could do to help earlier tonight, and I thought of something.

The obvious one is to pray. Right now, we're just praying for him to go peacefully. I invite you to join us in our supplications.

But the not-so-obvious one is to wake up--politically.

I know a lot of you probably think I'm crazy. My politics are unconventional for this age, and I am very passionate about them. But I want you to know that everything I do regarding domestic politics has its root in my brother, and everything I do regarding foreign policy has been influenced by my years living overseas with my grandfather, a former official for the United Nations.

My brother has taught me so much about life. About freedom: he has none. He can't choose anything in the world. He has taught me kindness, compassion; he has taught me to realize that just as people would never know that I have dealt with this grief every day of my life, I would never know how other people suffer every day. He taught me that we all have secret pains, secret sorrows that break us and break against us until we are either broken or strong. He has taught me what it means to have strength, and to fight back.

In the practical world, he has taught me that the government is largely incompetent. That they are the last people you should ever go to to solve a problem. The inspectors that come so frequently to observe our care of James--they are absolutely incompetent. We tell them James cannot speak, or sign, or communicate in any way and he never has been able to, and yet they insist on asking him all the moronic questions anyway. They WILL have these conversations with him, dang it! A normal person would be satisfied with the fact that James has never had a bedsore in his life. A typical government inspector probably doesn't even know what that would indicate.

I could tell you about the time we tried to sign him up for Medicaid, and they wouldn't let him until he'd signed up for the Selective Service. Yes, my 100% dysfunctional brother had to be enlisted in the Selective Service to gain access to the money his own parents paid in taxes to help the handicapped. Retarded? Yes.

I could tell you about how my parents had to start charging my brother rent to live with them, because otherwise the government wouldn't let them keep their own money to support their son.

Or I could tell you about how growing up, we never had much money, because so much of it went to James. I could tell you about wearing mostly hand-me-downs from other people, and about living on iceberg lettuce and cereal, and growing up in a neighborhood where every last soul picked on me and my little brother constantly, because we were white.

I could tell you about how even now, my parents each work multiple jobs, and while they make lots of money, most of it just gets siphoned back into James. We have a big house, but we got it at a discount because the previous owners took pity on us since it was the only house in the entire Village with the right floor plan for my brother's continued survival. The house is for him. We make a lot of money that goes right back into care for James--his medicines, his insurance, his babysitters, his schools, his therapy, the house we had to buy for him, our freakishly high water bills every month from having to wash every linen he owns practically every day without fail--but the government doesn't care. We are still taxed at obscene levels, because apparently we are "rich." Because the government doesn't give a damn about actual reality; it's all about the redistribution of wealth, to take from the "rich" to give to those "more deserving."

Please. Find me someone more deserving than my family. Find me someone more deserving than my family. I have been providing full personal care for my OLDER brother since I was eight years old--that was when I learned to use the gastric tube. I began changing his diapers when I was twelve. I cared for him every day after school every single day of high school. I have carried him in my arms; I have picked him up off the floor, despite the fact that until recently he's been bigger than me. Even now we are just the same size, although he's gotten pretty skinny. I have helped to plan his funeral multiple times. I have written music for it. My parents have worked 2+ jobs each just to keep our family afloat ever since I can remember. We're better off now than we ever have been financially, but that doesn't change the past, or the potential future. If the liberals of America get their way, my family will be screwed indefinitely.

And I will tell you why: because currently, our political climate is determined by the outliers--but only one set of them. You always hear about the welfare queens, the single mommies who were too selfish to marry before having kids; you hear about white-on-black racism and families too poor to afford health care because the parents never married, or they didn't graduate from high school, or they're too drunk and addicted to whatever to get a freaking job. Don't you feel sorry for those people? Don't you just want to steal from the rich and give to the poor to make their lives easier? The lives of those poor unwitting victims of that awful capitalism?

Here's who you don't hear about: the families that make a lot of money but who siphon all that money into medical care for their extremely handicapped children. The families who work hard and get their money taken away to pay for other people's illegitimate children. The families who struggle to make ends meet, and when they succeed, their "excess" is taken away for "the greater good."

And you don't hear about the racism so prominent in the black communities. I grew up thinking that people were just different shades of brown--lightish brown and darkish brown. It wasn't until kindergarten that I got my first taste of racism: when other kids parents' wouldn't let their children play with me because of the color of my skin. I tell you, the only time I've ever seen white-on-black racism was in Europe--never in America. Ever. But I've been the victim of the opposite since I was four years old.

I was an outlier in high school. People with high IQs are not really catered to in the public school system. I was bored in every class I ever took--in my life--and when I tried to graduate early every official known to man tried to stop me--because they needed my test scores. My guidance counselor sunk to the level of attempting to set me up with cute boys so I would stay. And yet, when I took night school to get my last English credit, I was surrounded by people who could barely read--who were all graduating early because the school wanted to help these poor losers get a head start on life.

My family is an outlier, too. We are just as much outliers as the welfare queens and the crack babies. But no one is standing up for us. We are outliers because we are honest; we are hard workers; we are smart and we sacrifice and prioritize. We plan ahead. We don't believe in taking advantage of others. And so, we are taken advantage of by the government and every self-righteous lib out there. I always say--I don't have a problem with people being Democrats; my grandparents have been Democrats. There are many good people who are registered Democrats. I have no problem with my own self voting Democrat. The problem is liberalism. I could vote for a Dem, but not for a lib. The problem is when other people think they know what's best for America, because they think they are just soooooo compassionate and smart, they know better than anyone else what's best for Americans. And that is the attitude that makes up liberalism.

Well, how about this? How about making the government butt out of "equalization" of the economy, so people like my family can actually take a breath for once? The redistribution of wealth is killing us, and I don't care if you think promiscuous minorities are more worthy of our money than we are. You need to tune into reality, because these "progressive" policies are tearing down the people who should be encouraged most to succeed.

And who are you to say that my family deserves to succeed less than the family of crack addicts who chose to sleep around and spend recklessly and all the rest? Who are you to decide who should keep MY money?

The fact is, no matter what, some people will suffer. Under a capitalist system, people suffer because of their choices. Under a socialist system, people also suffer because of their choices. The difference is that under a capitalist system, people suffer when they make stupid choices. When they decide to sleep around, they pay for it by dealing with the consequences out of their own pocket. When they decide to fail out of school, they pay for it by not being able to get jobs to support themselves. On the other hand, capitalism rewards people naturally for being smart, for working hard, and for trying.

Under a socialist system, those who produce, who try, who work, are exploited for the gain of society's losers. People are punished for working hard; they are punished for trying to succeed. In the short term, the morons who waste their lives with TV and addiction benefit, and in the long term, no one benefits, because eventually the producers just give up. Eventually, Atlas shrugs--and when he does, the world rolls right off his shoulders to shatter on the floor of the universe.

Right now, we are living in a partially-socialist system that is already taking its toll on millions. Here is your choice: you can choose to go all the way with either system. You can choose one that rewards producers and lets those who fail, fail; or you can choose a system that rewards failures and taxes to death those who produce. It is YOUR CHOICE. It is all up to you.

And I will tell you, the lives of people like my brother are in your hands. The lives of my parents are in your hands. My mother has stressed herself into Hashimoto's disease from working so hard to care for my brother under these political conditions. She could literally die from it at any time, if she forgets to take her medication. Never thought I'd see the day that my mother might die before my older brother. And my father has developed degenerative disc disease from it all--from working so hard to keep my brother well and healthy and taken care of. They are good people who work hard to honestly pay for their son's medical care. They work all day, and half the night, and spend the rest of their time caring for their son. Will you really turn around, and knowing all this, seriously vote for yet another tax-and-spend liberal Democrat whose only goal is to blindly tax the "rich" without even considering that the so-called "rich" are people too, with problems of their own?

This is my message to the world. Grow up. If you've never cared about politics before, start caring. This is your future. The crap going on in Washington is your future. Right now, debt and corruption is the future we're all looking at, and if we get it, it will be YOUR FAULT. Don't give me any crap about how you don't have time to get involved, or it's too hard to learn the history of how we got here, or it's too tough to keep up with current events. You have time for what you make time for and people's lives and livelihoods are at stake. Do you not get this? What kills me is when my best friends say they care about me, and about my brother, and then don't even bother to lift a finger when major legislation goes through that would seriously further damage our already foul situation. EARTH TO EVERYONE: LAWS MATTER! LAWS AFFECT PEOPLE! LAWS AFFECT MY DYING BROTHER, YOUR DYING GRANDMA, YOUR FUTURE CHILDREN AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, YOU! And the fact is, either you care, or you don't. If you care, you're the one marching in the TEA Parties, emailing your congresspeople and talking to your friends about this stuff. If you don't care, you're the one making pathetic excuses not to get involved or informed.

Those who don't care are the fence-sitters, the ones the Bible says God will spew out of His mouth in disgust. Sucks, huh? And if you don't believe in the Bible, believe in this: you are the one we will all look down on when either side wins. Because the strong take sides and fight. The pathetic sit and make excuses.

Here is a fact: it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're on--if you knew what was actually going on in Washington, you would be outraged. You would be ashamed. You would be embarrassed for your votes. I know good people who have liberal views--and all good people know that corruption is wrong. Hi. We are operating under a grossly corrupt political system and no one can seriously deny that. Everyone should care about that. And furthermore, we should all care enough about that to take a stand for it. So here are the real questions--

Who are you?

What do you believe?

Do you believe in freedom, or do you believe in government control?

Do you believe people should deal with the consequences of their actions, or do you believe that it's society's job to prevent anyone from dealing with their own foul mistakes?

Do you believe that people know what's best for themselves and their own families, or do you think the government actually knows what's best for you and yours?

Have you seriously researched every aspect of the issues at hand? Have you bothered to look at the other side of the stories?


The fact is, either you're fighting for your freedom, or you're not. Either you're fighting for the rights of the handicapped, or you're not. Either you're standing up for truth, or you're not. So where are you? What are you even doing?

Where you will stand when it comes to my brother?

And you know, if this post is too controversial for you, I invite you to please unfriend me. I don't need fairweather friends attacking me on a stupid networking site while my brother dies.

If you'd like to know more about what it was like to grow up in my particular situation, let me know--I've been working on a memoir and it would be great to see how many people would be interested in reading it. I hope it doesn't make me a narcissist to think that perhaps the world could gain a thing or two from learning about the things I've lived through.

And in the meantime, please ponder these things. Open your mind a little. Today, millions of Americans participated in the making of history with our 9/12 March on Washington. Where were you?

If you were among them, I commend you. And if you were not, I beg you to please choose today. Take a side and fight. For as it's written in Ephesians, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Things are going on today that you should know about--and if you don't, it's because you are choosing to remain in the dark. The information is there and waiting for you to find it. There are things you can do today to make a difference. So where do you stand?

Happy Independence Day!

I was at the starting line for the 5K Freedom Run, part of Provo's annual Freedom Festival. Events for this festival begin in January, but then gear up in a big way for the week long celebration of Freedom that ends with the grand finale, the Stadium of Fire, a huge fireworks display with lots of music and entertainment. The host once again this year is Glenn Beck, and the top billed entertainment will be the Jonas Brothers.

I was also at the finish line of the 5K run, but must confess to taking a shortcut between. I was not there to run, but to take pictures and to support my candidate for U.S. Senate from Utah in 2010, Cherilyn Eagar.

Here she is: Ready for the race -- and for the 5K run.



Here's Cherilyn's husband, Randy, also ready for the race, and the 5K run.


Earlier this morning, the Hot Air Balloon launch provided this backdrop for the day's festivities which also includes a parade.



Here's my friend, Julie. Doesn't she look happy and fresh? She's always happy and fresh. And fun.



Interesting people...






Cherilyn and Randy cross the finish line.


Julie, too. It should be noted, the last leg of this run was uphill.









This is when I will run...

(when pigs fly)

So, let's celebrate our wonderful country today (and every day). Let's go to our parades, Tea Parties, and backyard barbecues. But when day is done, let us fall on our knees and thank our Heavenly Father for the blessings we enjoy in this magnificient country.

And when we awake each day, let's once again give thanks, roll up our sleeves, and engage ourselves in the business of preserving the freedoms we enjoy as individuals and as a nation by taking part in the political process.


God Bless America, and thank Him for this wondrous blessing which it is.

Government of Laws, High Principle and Lofty Ideal

From yesterday's post:

"I am an American because I believe in a government of laws and not of men, and in national allegiance to high principle and lofty ideal instead of to a personal sovereign." -- J. Reuben Clark

I've been thinking about this today. What a difference there is between striving to live according to "laws, high principle and lofty ideal" and being at the mercy of leaders who, at their own whims, would lead blind followers around by their noses.

Principles never change. People change. If as a nation we make decisions and laws based on proper principles, then we will not go wrong. We will remain free and strong. If we put our "hope" in any human being, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment at best; tragedy, or worse.

In the news just this week was Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina. A good man, a true fiscal and social conservative. Someone who we needed to lead out with these principles in these times. But he has fallen from grace. He made some very poor personal choices and has drastically altered the course of his life, like it or not. He is a sad disappointment to countless people, not the least of whom are his family and close friends. In this instance, the change was a personal one, not one that directly will affect the nation as a whole, other than we lose a man who could have been a great leader. Men are human; they make mistakes, sometimes very serious ones. Sometimes their mistakes affect only themselves and the people closest to them, but other times, their choices will affect nations.

Another example of change: Obama. He campaigned on change. We surely need it as a nation. We need to change the way Washington works -- the graft, the deceit, the self-serving politicians. Yes, there are many things that need to be changed. But I don't think changing the very principles and foundations of the country is what most voters had in mind. Our core national values and principles are sound. I doubt very few voters had or have any idea where Obama's vision of "change" will take our country. Some still don't care -- they love the man, they love his empty words and lofty deceitful rhetoric. They can't see that his words and actions are not the same. They will follow him, like a herd of lemmings, to the edge and beyond.

Our Founding Fathers carefully constructed our government in a way that best protects and preserves our personal and national freedom. The closer we strive to base our laws on the Constitution and personally live moral lives, the safer our country is from tyranny. Putting our faith in any man leaves our nation vulnerable to his whims. The rule of (righteous) law, unwavering unbendable law, and man's striving to live lofty ideals will not lead us into the abyss. A corrupt sovereign will.

Why I am an American

by J. Reuben Clark

I am an American because I believe in a government of laws and not of men, and in national allegiance to high principle and lofty ideal instead of to a personal sovereign.

I am an American because I believe in a government with three distinct, separate branches, each mutually independent of the other, with no power of delegation or appropriation of rights or powers by any one to or from any other.

I am an American because I believe that government must derive its "just powers from the consent of the governed" and that branches of government and officers shall have such powers and such only as shall be given by the people; because I believe that the assumption by branches of government or by officers of rights or powers not specifically conferred upon them is usurpation; and because impeachement or other trial lies against an officer who so usurps rights or powers not specifically conferred.

I am an American because I believe in the greatest possible measure of self-government and because I believe in a federal system of government which keeps local affairs in the hands of local governments.

I am an American because I believe in a bill of rights which places wholly beyond the reach of lawful government certain matters affecting "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and specifically the right of freedom of conscience and worship, the right of free speech and a free press, the right peaceably to assemble and petition government, and the right to gain and hold property without molestation except by due process of law.

I am an American because under our form of government the people of the United States have made a progress never before made by any other people in the world in an equal time during the whole period of recorded history.

I am an American because standards of life and of living of the entire American people are far beyond those enjoyed by any other people in any other part of the world, either now or at any other time, which is a living testimony and evidence of the kindly beneficence of our free institutions.

I am an American because this Nation has no scheme or plan of conquest, because it has a respect for the rights of other peoples and of other nations, because it promotes justice and honor in the relationships of nations, because it loves the ways of peace as against war, as shown by the repeated peaceful adjustment of its own international disputes, because it has conquered the land greed which so afflicts the nations of the world, as demonstrated in Cuba and the Philippines.

I am an American because my country abolished slavery after it had become deep-rooted and because men still are free to work, and are secure in the enjoyment of the products of their labor.

I am an American because I firmly and earnestly believe that our Constitution is an inspired document designed by our Maker to set up a government which would make sure and secure the rights set forth in the Bill of Rights, and particularly the right of freedom of conscience and worship.

I am an American because I believe that the destinty of America is to be the abiding place of liberty and free institutions, and that its own practice and enjoyment of these blessings shall be to the world a beacon light wich shall radiate its influence by peaceful means to the uttermost parts of the world, to the uplifting of all humanity.

--Reprint from Congressional Record, June 11, 1940.

Rally Against ABC and Nationalized Healthcare

The following pictures were taken at last night's rally in front of the ABC building in Salt Lake City. About 250 people came out to protest ABC's one-sided reporting of the President's proposed nationalized healthcare plan.

Our current senators and representatives were back in Washington preparing for the upcoming votes on Cap and Trade and Card Check, but they arranged for assistants from their local offices to read their messages about the ills of socialized medicine and the pitfalls of the President's plan to the quietly protesting crowd. The highlight of the evening was the broadcast of an address that then-actor Ronald Reagan gave in 1961 or 1962 declaring government sponsored healthcare as a giant step toward socialism, and a serious threat to our country. His message was eerily applicable to our situation today.



Dave Hansen, Chairman of the Utah GOP, with Cherilyn Bacon Eagar, conservative candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Robert Bennett


Larry Jensen, protester












Chris Herrod, Utah House Rep from District 62, also one of the originators of The Patrick Henry Caucus





























Thanks to David Kirkham and Brian Halladay for organizing this important event!

On Tyranny

"Now, in the last years, we in America have gone a long distance towards the adoption of the Roman concepts, and the abuses against property rights and human freedom and liberties which are possible under that system. And let me say here and now, that in the whole history of the human race, from Adam until now, Tyranny has never come to live with any people with a placard on his breast bearing his name. He always comes in deep disguise, sometimes proclaiming an endowment of freedom, sometimes promising help to the unfortunate and downtrodden, not by creating something for those who do not have, but by robbing those who have. But Tyranny is always a wolf in sheep's clothing, and he always ends by devouring the whole flock, saving none."

J. Reuben Clark
"Inroads upon the Constitution by the Roman Law"
Stand Fast by our Constitution, Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, 1962, pp.4-5.