Jonathan Emord -- Remember Who Elected You and Why

REMEMBER WHO ELECTED YOU AND WHY

By Attorney Jonathan Emord
Author of "The Rise of Tyranny" and,
"Global Censorship of Health Information"
November 15, 2010
NewsWithViews.com

There is a strong incentive for those elected to Congress to become bedfellows of major Washington lobbyists. Unsecure about reelection prospects, many members find the temptation irresistible to introduce legislation written by industry that gives anticompetitive protection or hand-outs to well-connected and well-heeled institutions. If the new members of Congress are to overcome the wrath of the electorate, they must understand now, more than ever before, that they have been given a sacred trust, to halt government growth, to end free enterprise stifling regulation, to cut taxes, and to chart a new course that restores sovereignty to the American people and freedom to the market. If they violate that trust to feather their own nests, they will be noticed and will suffer rebuke at the next election. Voters have had enough of corrupt, self-serving members of Congress.

They are now fulfilling the wishes of the founding fathers by checking the abuses of the most profligate government representatives and officials. They stand ready to throw out the rascals again and again, whether Democrat or Republican, making career politicians an increasingly rare breed over time. They will throw the rascals out unless they heed their powerful message by cutting back government so freedom and free enterprise can prosper. They have seen what big government has to offer, and they have rejected it. They want freedom and free markets. They want a Constitution of liberty. They want those changes now but they understand it will likely take a new President and a new Senate to achieve.

Independents joined Tea Party members and disgruntled Republicans in calling for an end to government takeover of the market, an end to the notion that government knows better than the individual what is in his or her best interest, and an end to the notion that endless government spending is preferable to fiscal restraint, balanced budgets, smaller government, and endless opportunity in a free market.

The President is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he keeps pursuing his policies of takeover and stimulus, he will disillusion even more of the electorate, jeopardizing his chances at re-election. If he compromises with the new members of Congress, he will alienate the liberal wing of his party and will win few converts from those who have rejected his brand of statist politics in the mid-term elections. If he tries to pass more takeover and stimulus bills, he will be prevented from doing so by the majority now in the House. He is doomed to lame duck status from here on out. The 2010 mid-term elections shut down the Obama Agenda and the 2012 presidential elections loom ominously before President Obama like the sword of Damocles.

The new members of Congress are also in a precarious position. They must prove through word and deed that they are fully committed to cutting back government and reducing its burden on the American people. They have to propose bold measures to repeal the health care bill, to eliminate federal departments and agencies like the Department of Education, the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, among others. They must provide proposals that will chart a clear course of dramatic reductions in government programs and spending while at the same time favoring elimination of the individual income tax. In short, they must reject government in favor of private enterprise and must return to the American people their earnings so they can be sovereign and so they, not government, can decide on an individual basis how to invest and spend, resulting in a restoration of freedom and prosperity.

The temptation to wield the power entrusted to Congressmen and Senators to advance pet projects, anti-competitive industry initiatives, and self-serving measures is considerable for the majority who lack virtue, but that old corrupt system has met its match from the voters. Voters will not tolerate dishonesty. They will not tolerate the politics of favoritism. They demand sincere commitment to principle. They demand immediate action. They want a Congress that will fight for freedom and free enterprise against government. They do not want compromise. They want an end to government beyond the core functions of Justice, State, Treasury, and Defense. They want a rebirth of liberty.

If the new Congress fails to propose and fight for these reforms, the still angry electorate will be back again in two years to throw out the existing crew in favor of others. Each member of Congress should think of him or herself as a person walking a tight rope (the ends of which are held by the voters). The voters now watch their elected representatives’ every move, every twist, and every turn.

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The voters expect knowledge, principle, commitment, and action from those elected to office. They will not hesitate to pull the rope out from under the members they just elected and send them falling ingloriously from power, so the new members had better follow the course the voters expect of them or their stay in Washington will be very short lived. Humble fulfillment of voters’ expectations is the order of the day.

Jonathan W. Emord is an attorney who practices constitutional and administrative law before the federal courts and agencies. Congressman Ron Paul calls Jonathan “a hero of the health freedom revolution” and says “all freedom-loving Americans are in [his] debt . . . for his courtroom [victories] on behalf of health freedom.” He has defeated the FDA in federal court a remarkable seven times, six on First Amendment grounds, and is the author of Amazon bestsellers The Rise of Tyranny, and Global Censorship of Health Information. For more info visit Emord.com.