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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Launching SurgeUSA.org
Awakening Americans - not just conservatives - to resist the liberal
insurgency threat.
January 20, 2009 -- Thank you, George W. Bush. We will
miss you. You served us well in very difficult times.
We didn't always agree with your decisions. Sometimes we disagreed
vehemently - but respectfully, unlike some critics. When objective
historians have the facts someday to assess your legacy with the benefit of
20-20 hindsight, they will hopefully respect the tough decisions which you had
to make each day with limited and uncertain information. You never
deserved the vitriolic rants and sometimes irrational abuse in which your
critics seemed to delight, to their own disgrace.
You have faced extraordinary challenges with dignity and honor, and leave
office through a smooth transition of power. We take that for
granted too easily in this country. Few countries enjoy such peaceful
transitions and proven respect for the individual rights, freedoms, and
responsibilities which are at the foundation of the remarkable success of this
country.
This is not, however, a day for celebration just because a new President has
taken office. It is not historic because of his race, or in spite of it.
Hopefully it will not prove to be very historic at all - because this country
won't change irreparably. We will have different leadership for a few
years, with some different policies, and then this too shall pass - hopefully.
The new leadership can only achieve a good legacy by making wise choices.
Their mere election is not sufficient. They will soon be judged by their
actions and the results of their tenure for the people of this country - not by
their rhetoric. Some have acted disgracefully and dishonorably in their
quest for political power, as if that end justified all means. We need to
hold them accountable and defend against further abuses of the public trust
which has been placed in them.
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new President will enjoy more support in the U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives, but this is not a coronation. This also isn't a
parliamentary system with the majority party in complete power and the other
relegated to a role on the back bench as the "loyal opposition".
It is the inauguration of a new President with limited powers
to represent all Americans for a few years. Many liberals are eagerly
pledging allegiance to the new President rather than to faithfully respect
the constraints imposed by our Constitution. They are expecting him to
quickly impose many changes according to their own agendas. This makes
it a solemn occasion, filled with great peril for our peace and prosperity,
and for the individual freedoms we cherish which have made that success
possible. This is an assault on limited central government powers by a
network organized around divisive class distinctions, interest groups,
grievances, and welfare state dependency on the federal government. |
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Will these liberal leaders leave the country better in a few years than they
found it today? Will they expand the unchecked powers of the
federal bureaucracy through new programs as a way to perpetuate their own
power and influence indefinitely? That remains to be seen.
The point is that they must be equally prepared to leave
gracefully when their period of public service ends, and not irreparably
abuse the trust which has been briefly delegated to them. They do not
have a mandate to perpetuate their own power through an expanded federal
bureaucracy and more mandates on states, cities, counties, businesses, and
individuals.
They have a mandate to try to better serve all Americans
for a few years - to leave the country a better place than they found today.
If they do that, they just might win election again. If not, we need
to still be able to reverse whatever harm they may have done during their
tenure. |
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The
road to serfdom is paved with good intentions. There always
seem to be justifiable reasons for government to grow and spend more to do
something about some perceived problem. There are always people who
want more benefits from government, without necessarily giving careful
consideration to the resource constraints, priorities, and long-term
consequences and adverse impact of a growing federal bureaucracy. |
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This is not a time to worship benevolent politicians in Washington and
their latest ideas for federal spending programs, as though we served them
and relied upon them for our prosperity. That's the model of the
feudal monarchies, colonialism, and European liberal traditions of unchecked
central government power. Rulers (not public servants) were
constrained only by any sense of noblesse oblige toward their
subjects, or pity for the welfare and endless misery of the governed, while
effectively perpetuating social dependency and servitude. Whether this
was obvious tyranny or more subtle use of power, there was no question that
those in the central government were the ones in authority. |
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We are not the loyal opposition, whining for some consideration or
sniping from the back bench while in the minority.
We the people are still in charge here. The minority party
matters during the tenure of the majority. State and local governments
matter - not just the choices in Washington DC. This is not a
parliamentary system of dominant party rule from the top. The
political and economic power of this country is still dispersed at the state
and local level, with only limited powers delegated up to the federal level
- not vice versa.
Our central government bureaucracy has developed
demonstrable power to waste large amounts of money on dubious programs over
the last century, but there have still been many constraints on such power.
This is certainly not the time to cast aside those constraints. There
are good and justifiable federal programs, but states, cities, and
individuals should not surrender their power too readily to the federal
bureaucracy. |
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this country, we believe in the sacred honor and trust which we expect of
all public servants, regardless of political party or popularity. They
are all our servants, not vice versa. That doesn't mean that
politicians are elected to give us anything we want. They are not
elected to favor one group over others. They serve us all. This
means that we carefully protect the limited role of government in our lives,
and our ability to limit any abuses of our trust. Government must
remain firmly accountable to the people - not the other way around.
This is not a technocracy run by omniscient and omnipotent bureaucrats under
the guidance and organizational authority of our elected political leaders
in Washington. This is not a populist authoritarian regime in which a
majority vote becomes an open-ended mandate for anything the leaders choose
to do. |
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Government doesn't create jobs. Government can quickly create
sustainable waste despite market pressures to contain it.
There is a lot of talk of economic stimulus plans, job
creation through federal spending initiatives, nationalized health care, and
other issues these days. We need to assure that none of these
initiatives fundamentally alters the basic foundations and great potential
of this country. When people in this country exercise their democratic
rights again in a few years, it must remain possible to reverse course on
any new initiatives which clearly are not achieving the desired
outcomes. There has to be accountability for results. We can't
simply surrender our freedom to choose by letting new and allegedly
temporary programs or emergency measures grow unchecked forever beyond our
control. |
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the liberal public servants finish their elected period of service, they
need to leave office with the same integrity as George W. Bush has done,
with a smooth transition despite their strong differences. They do not
have a mandate to fundamentally change the basic nature and limited scope of
our system of government. They are temporarily entrusted with the
awesome responsibility to represent all of the people of this country
- not just those who agree with them or helped to elect them. They do
not have a mandate to impose their latest ideas on this country in
perpetuity through the federal bureaucracy. They have a mandate to try
their best to make this country a better place during their limited tenure -
not conspire to perpetuate their own power and tenure. |
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This is a time for vigilance - like the Minutemen at the start of the
Revolutionary War, and the founding fathers who so carefully crafted a
Constitution to protect against abuses of power while also avoiding the
problems of divisive weakness (as in the Articles of Confederation).
They knew the tyranny of a distant government which was allegedly protecting
their interests and governing wisely, while not really listening to them or
respecting their views. This is no time to be complacent. We
need to be ready to respond quickly to any new threats to our freedom. |
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The liberal insurgency in America is an existential threat to the prosperity
of this country, and to crucial freedoms which we take for granted.
It is a subversive and organized struggle to achieve unchecked political
power through government programs. It must be defeated through local
vigilance and commitment to the development and promotion of better
alternatives which respect the limited role of government. |
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We expect more of our political leaders and other civil servants than to not
be caught and prosecuted. We expect them to adhere to much higher
standards of conduct in their public service than convicted criminals or
disgraced individuals. In Illinois, that basic truth
still seems to escape the grasp of our governors and some other politicians.
Governor Blagojevich is unfortunately just an extreme recent example.
Even in Illinois, we should expect more of our public officials at all
levels of government.
The standard of expected performance in office is not
whether they can be proven to have done something for which they can be
impeached or prosecuted. The burden of proof is on them to exceed our
expectations through their achievements while respecting their limited
mandate and resources. Public officials should be role models for
future leaders, constantly raising the bar for performance in office.
They are not elected to serve their own interests for as
long as they can cling to as much power as they can attain. We expect
them to honorably attempt to do what seems best for the people of this
country at the time, to listen and learn from their mistakes, and then leave
this country a better place because of their limited period of public
service. When it is time to go, they should be ready to leave office
gracefully with pride in the legacy of a job well done for the benefit of
all the people they serve, rather than in public disgrace for their abuse of
our trust. |
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George W. Bush and countless others who served in his administration have
met that standard. That doesn't mean that they always made the "right"
or most popular choices, but they served with honor and can justifiably be
proud of many good achievements. Americans should be grateful for
their performance. We shall see whether their
successors show similar respect for those who don't share their liberal
agenda. If not, we should organize a conservative surge at the state
and local levels to deliver better results in those places where the voters
have trusted us. In a country where the people are free to choose, we
can be confident that they will choose what demonstrably works to improve
their lives. Conservatives need to demonstrate that their policies
produce better outcomes. This isn't about competing "policy
positions". It is about delivering proven results.
This country was not built on the foundation of a network
of liberal community organizers seeking favors for their constituents from
Washington.
That may be part of the tradition of local Chicago machine
politics, but it is also a fast path to economic ruin, as proven in many
countries and various states and cities here. Government programs are
not the foundation of our success. Limited government with
accountability at the state and local level is crucial to our success as a
check on the tendencies to consolidate money and power in a liberal federal
bureaucracy. |
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For More Information Contact:
info@SurgeUSA.org
Media contact:
Bruce Donnelly
Tel: 847-304-4655 Chicago
c/o Global Direct
Investment Solutions
www.gdi-solutions.com and
www.ShortListNews.com |
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SurgeUSA is an independent private initiative. It is not
affiliated with any political party, nor endorsing anyone or doing any
fundraising. It is not a non-profit or for-profit venture. It is
a personal contribution to help ordinary Americans find and support
alternatives to liberal programs. It
exercises the right of free speech of the author to respectfully caution
against changes which are perceived to be harmful, and to help spread
awareness of alternate approaches from a conservative perspective, with a
particular focus on state and local initiatives which produce demonstrably
good results.
The fundamental premise behind SurgeUSA is that the
people of this country are interested in better outcomes from the work of
the public servants we elect or hire to do the work of a limited government.
State and local governments are most directly accountable to the people.
We therefore need to "surge" through local actions and results, rather than
rely on leaders and bureaucrats in Washington DC.
We must be vigilant about abuses of our trust, rather
than just focus on any unethical conduct by those who we mistakenly trusted.
The issue isn't whether we like them, or like how they act, or like what
they say. Our focus needs to be on the actual results of their public
service. |
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