The Freedom Factory

4/9/2009 – AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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Highlights from transcript:

I’m here today to offer my unwavering support to the millions of Texans that are tired of Washington D.C. trying to come down here and telling us how to run Texas.

The 10th Amendment was enacted by folks who remembered what it was like to have a very repressive government, to be under the thumb of tyrants and an all powerful government. Unfortunately, the protections it guarantees have melted away over the course of the years.

You’re prob familiar with that old adage of how to boil a frog: You just get him to sit there in that pot and you turn up the heat a little bit by a little bit, before you know it the frog doesn’t realize it, but he’s done.

And since the U.S. constitution has been ratified the federal government has been slowly turning up the heat, and they’ve eroded the notion of states rights.

Texans know best how to govern Texas. We’re proof that good things happen when government lowers taxes, and lowers regulations, it reduces spending and encourages private sector growth.

I happen to believe that the constitution does not empower the federal government to overrule state laws without restraint. I agree with Texas’s 7th governor, Sam Houston, who said “Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may.”

I believe the federal government has become oppressive. I believe it has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion in the lives of its citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state.

The question of whether or not some law or action being taken by U.S. political leaders is constitutional is always showing up in the news. Such coverage begs the question, why pay attention to a piece of paper written over two hundred years ago? What relevance does this document have to politics in the modern world? And how does it affect my life?

A Contract

The U.S. Constitution is a contract between citizens and their government. It divides government into three branches. Each branch has certain powers, but none of them have total power. This prevents too much power being concentrated into the hands of one or a few people (despite popular consensus, Hope, Peace, and Change require more than one man). Concentrated power leaves a nation of millions subject to the whims of one individual. The Constitution prevents such a situation.

Protection

The Constitution states clearly what the government cannot do. Nearly all of its amendments begin with the phrase “Congress shall make no law…” Similarly, it delegates many powers to the states. This gives each state the freedom (each having varying demographics) to make laws that suit its own needs. This increases personal freedom by giving individuals the ability to make their own laws locally, rather than submitting endlessly to politicians in Washington DC (which is not even a state).

One Line between Freedom and Tyranny

The Constitution is inviolable because it restrains government. Without such a document, we have to rely on politicians to restrain themselves. This is obviously a difficult task even with the authoritative help of the Constitution. It is imperative that we do not allow politicians to break this contract, even when claiming national crises, emergency, or necessity. If we allow the Constitution to be ignored, then there is no stopping the control the Federal government will take over our lives. The Declaration of Independence declares that “all men were created equal;” therefore, we cannot allow ‘the few’ to rule over ‘the many.’