An Open Letter To Congress

Dear Friends,

Below is a letter to Congress. These should not just be my words, but the words of every liberty loving American in this country. What I would like you to do is take this letter, copy and paste it into a word document, fill out your Congressman/woman's and/or senators names (choosing the correct prefix of sir or madam) and then find out their fax numbers and then print and fax this letter in to them. I would recommend sending it to your representative or senator who you know will vote for the impending health care bill. But also write, call or fax your rep. or senator if they are against it, and thank them for standing for liberty in this country. We are the power of government in this country, and some in Congress must be called to account. That is your duty, my friends. Hold them to their jobs, and let them know your displeasure if they are not doing it. Let them know they are there by the good graces of us, the good people of the United States of America, and let them know we will not be dictated too! Stand up for your rights! Stand firm in your resolve! Do not yield one inch of your moral rectitude! We will be heard!

Publius

 

To the Honorable _____________________

Dear Sir/Madam,

I sincerely believe, as an American citizen, that by passing this health care "reform" bill through Congress, you will have destroyed every principle that this country was founded upon. This is a country of liberty, of freedom, and of the choice to take whatever path in life that one wants to take. Government was not instituted in this country by the generation of 1776 to impose upon people what they were going to do. That is exactly what the Founding Fathers separated from England to get away from.

In 1765, the Stamp Act, one of a long line of reprehensible taxes, and one that caused an uproar throughout the colonies, was passed, placing a tax on a commodity, in this case, paper. No newspaper, letter, legal document, and other papers, were legal unless it had the stamp, meaning the tax had been paid. This caused mass protest among the colonists, as this tax was placed upon them without their consent, and they saw it as unlawful and infringing on their rights as Englishmen. This would start the cries of "No Taxation Without Representation." The act was later to repealed, only to be followed soon after by the Townshend Acts of 1767, which placed taxes on tea, glass, and other such commodities. Once again, this was imposed upon the colonists without their consent, and they once again protested, leading to a partial repeal of the Acts. However, Parliament again did not learn their lesson, and when the colonists protested against the remaining tax on tea, by throwing the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts were passed, taking away from the citizens of Boston and to a larger extent, the colonies, certain rights that they were guaranteed as British citizens. When it was realized that they would never get fair treatment, because Parliament did not represent their interests, they stood for their rights, fought and created the country that we live in today.

When the Founders created government, they created it for a very explicit purpose, which can be found throughout the writings of many of these brave and wise men. Thomas Jefferson said it best in his First Inaugural, when he stated: "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. That is the sum of good government." (emphasis added) That statement, from the man who so eloquently stated the cause of freedom in the Declaration of Independence, sums up what the purpose of the men and women we send to Congress is.

Unfortunately, the purpose of government has seen a change over the two hundred years since it was founded. Instead of citizen legislators who have been elected by their constituents to represent their interests as a nation in Congress assembled, it has become about power and pushing one's own agenda, instead of listening to the people of this great nation. The Founders did not mean for the power to rest in the hands of 435 House members and 100 Senators; they left the power in the hands of the citizens of the United States. Thomas Jefferson wrote that "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." George Mason wrote in the Virginia Declaration of Rights that "all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the People; that magistrates are their trustees, and servants, and at all times amenable to them." John Adams said that it was a '"most excellent maxim that the original and fountain of all just power and government is in the people."' Do you know why that is? Because we the people of this country know what is best for us. I as an individual know what is best for me, and I have the God given right to make the decisions that affect my life. I did not vote for a person to go to Washington to tell me what is best for me; only I know what is best for me. If I make a bad decision, and there are adverse effects, that is on me. I will hopefully learn from my mistakes, and be a better person for it. But I need to make that decision, not some politician in Washington. It is on each individual person to make the decisions that affect their lives. That is not your job. That is not what you were elected to do.

James Madison stated: "Public opinion sets bounds to every government, and is the sovereign in every free one." If this is to be so, then why do you not listen to the people of this country? Why do you instead insult them as being a group of uneducated, dispassionate and hateful people who cling to their "guns and religion?" Are they not doing what it is their Constitutional right to do, and dissenting? Are they not allowed to make their voice heard as to what they think of the national government? It is a fundamental right that cannot be denied. To refute it is a footstep onto the path of despotism. All year, thousands upon thousands of Americans have made their voices heard, from protests all across the country, to standing up at town hall meetings and making their opinions known. Yet they are maligned, told that they are a mob, uninformed, and stupid, by the ones that claim to represent them. When the approval rating of Congress stands at 25%, and when 56% of Americans think that this country is headed in the wrong direction, it is time to listen to them, instead of attempting to force upon the people a partisan agenda that it is quite clear a majority of American citizens disagree with.

You are in your position by the good graces of the people of your district and/or state. They put you in the office, and they can remove you from it just as easily. By attempting to push a partisan, political, and all too often personal agenda upon the people, you have failed in your duty as a national legislator. You have lost the confidence of the American people, as is becoming quite clear. It is time that you stepped back from this agenda of legislating how people should live, and start doing what is right for this country, by getting us back on the right track to the liberty that we were endowed with by our Creator. Only then can you regain the confidence of America. Only then can we be the country that we were created to be.

Sincerely,

A Concerned American Citizen.