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Tag: Private Property

  • A System of Government “Help” Control

    A System of Government “Help” Control

    Tom DeWeese will be one of our featured speakers at the Constitution Party’s 2025 fall National Committee Meeting in Sparks, Nevada October 17-18. We will be sending out several emails from Mr. DeWeese, to provide our subscribers with some background for the topic he will be discussing with us at the NCM.

    You can watch the third video from Mr. DeWeese linked below or read the rest of the email for the information provided in the video.

    Consider this…

    You are a poor minority living in a government housing project called “Affordable.” It’s all paid for by the tax dollars of mostly middle-income Americans.

    Included in still more government programs are monthly checks and coupons to supply food, free healthcare, free education, and let’s also throw in free cell phone.

    Does that not make us a generous nation? Are not the poor well cared for and satisfied? Aren’t the taxpayers proud of their contribution to the common good?

    The answer to every one of these questions is NO!

    First, consider these facts about that stipend income from the welfare check. Originally, it was called “assistance” and the purpose was to help out when the paycheck wasn’t quite covering needs.

    Then that system was changed, and the welfare check means you can’t hold a job as you are collecting that monthly check. If a recipient even tries to put some away in savings, just an attempt to get ahead, it is confiscated and possibly the welfare check stops. It’s no longer “assistance” during hard times. Now it’s control.

    Then there is that public housing situation. Here’s what it’s like to actually live in those government projects.

    In many cities these neighborhoods are drastically rundown in disrepair as lights, air conditioning, and appliances fail to work. The roof leaks, windows are broken, and the plumbing backs up.

    Trash around the grounds is in ever-growing piles, is rarely, if ever cleaned and hauled away. Don’t even think about any kind of yard work to create a place for the children to play.

    Worse, the residents live in fear of gang elements like MS-13 that have taken over the neighborhoods to rule as their territory. Pimps, pedophiles, and drug dealers prey on the children.

    And no matter how many times residents may ask for repairs, it never happens.

    Why are the conditions so bad in government-controlled housing? Government is a monopoly that has no incentive to be efficient. The taxpayers are forced to pay and the money rolls in so the politicians can puff out their chests over how generous THEY are in helping the less fortunate.

    Meanwhile, the management of these properties is by government bureaucrats with no personal stake in the projects. Their paychecks keep rolling in, no matter what happens to the properties they manage. Only private owners care about the condition of their property.

    In such an atmosphere, the inherent hopelessness leaves little room for making future goals for their lives. There is no way out once the system has a hold on you.

    By herding African Americans, other minorities, and low-income families like cattle, the government is committing them to a future worse than poverty. They have lost their rights, their choices, and their ability to excel through self-determination and personal growth.

    Yet, proponents of government’s fair housing want you to think that those favoring the programs are the compassionate ones, helping minorities to survive in an oppressive capitalist world of the rich. Essentially, fear is the common tactic used to keep minorities in their programs.

    Anyone who opposes their system of control and instead, argues sound economics and a system of equal opportunity, is accused of heartlessness and racism, determined to pull the plug on their lifeline.

    Tom DeWeese,
    President
    American Policy Center

    Tom DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence. Today he serves as Founder and President of the American Policy Center.

  • WELFARE

    WELFARE

    The Declaration of Independence declares:

    “all men … are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights …That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men …” 

    The Preamble of the US Constitution shows how these rights are to be secured, including: 

    “provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare”. 

    Two clear distinctions should be made here: 

    1. PROVIDE implies actively and financially-supporting.
    2. PROMOTE implies a more passive approach. For example, I’ll promote that we put on a grand feast, but I want you to provide it! 
    3. GENERAL Welfare is not the same as INDIVIDUAL Welfare.
    4. GENERAL Welfare would benefit the people generally. Individual Welfare targets a certain segment of society to benefit, such as the poor. 

    Providing Individual Welfare is NOT authorized in the Constitution. 

    God, who endows us with life, liberty, property, and the right to pursue happiness, also exhorts individuals to care for the needy, the sick, the homeless, the aged, and those who are otherwise unable to care for themselves. 

    America’s welfare crisis is government-induced. 

    Government social and cultural policies have undermined the work ethic, even as the government’s economic and regulatory policies have undermined the ability of our citizens to obtain work. 

    Charity and provision of welfare to those in need are not a Constitutional responsibility of the federal government. 

    Under no circumstances should the taxpayers of the United States be obligated, under penalty of law through forced taxation, to assume the cost of providing welfare for other citizens. 

    Neither should taxpayers be indentured to subsidize welfare for persons who enter the United States illegally. 

    The message of Christian charity is fundamentally at odds with the concept of welfare maintenance as a right. In many cases, welfare provisions by the Federal government are not only misdirected but morally destructive.

    It is the intended purpose of civil government to safeguard life, liberty, and property, not to redistribute wealth. Such redistribution is contrary to the Biblical command against theft. 

    We encourage individuals, families, churches, civic groups, and other private organizations to fulfill their personal responsibility to help those in need. 

  • PERSONAL AND PRIVATE SECURITY

    PERSONAL AND PRIVATE SECURITY

    The 4th Amendment states: 

    “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” 

    The Fifth Amendment further protects property, by stating:  

    “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” 

    We affirm the Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, including arbitrary or de facto registration, general and unwarranted electronic surveillance, national computer databases, and national identification cards.  

    We reaffirm that civil governments must be strictly limited in their powers to intrude upon the persons and private property of individual citizens, in particular, that no place be searched and nothing be seized, except upon proof of probable cause that a crime has been committed and the proper judicial warrant issued.  

    We reaffirm the common-law rule that protects the people from any search or seizure whatsoever when that search or seizure violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.  

    We deplore and vigorously oppose legislation and executive action that deprive the people of their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights under claims of necessity to “combat terrorism” or to “protect national security.” 

    We oppose legislation and administrative action utilizing asset forfeiture laws which enable the confiscation of the private property of persons not involved in the crime. 

    Forfeiture of assets can only be enforced after conviction of the property owner as a penalty for the crime. Such forfeitures must follow full due process of law under criminal prosecution standards. 

    We oppose the monitoring and controlling of the financial transactions of the people through such proposed laws as “Know Your Customer.” 

    Banks should be repositories of treasure and fiduciaries for the people, not enforcers for the State. Any information regarding customer transactions the State obtains from banks must be subject to the traditional Fourth Amendment safeguards.

    We support privacy legislation that prohibits private parties from discriminating against individuals who refuse to disclose or obtain a Social Security number.  

    We call for legislation prohibiting all governmental entities from requiring the use of the Social Security number except for Social Security transactions.  

    We call for the repeal of all laws, regulations and statutes that require the use of the Social Security number for any purpose other than Social Security transactions.  

  • ENVIRONMENT

    ENVIRONMENT

    James Madison, Federalist Papers #45 

    “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.” 

    U.S. Constitution, 10th Amendment 

    “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” 

    It is our responsibility to be prudent, productive, and efficient stewards of God’s natural resources. 

    In that role, we are commanded to be fruitful and multiply and to replenish the earth and develop it (e.g., to turn deserts into farms and wastelands into groves). 

    This requires a proper and continuing dynamic balance between development and conservation, between use and preservation. 

    We wholeheartedly support realistic efforts to preserve the environment and reduce pollution – air, water, and land. 

    • We reject the argument of the perceived threat of man-made global warming which has been refuted by a large number of scientists. The globalists are using the global warming threat to gain more control via worldwide sustainable development. 
    • We support protecting the environment from provable pollutions in high enough quantities to constitute a real threat. 
    • We reject the claims of man-made Climate Change or that Carbon Dioxide is a pollutant. 
    • We call for the repeal of federal wetlands legislation and portions of the Clean Water Act that claim control over water on private property. 
    • We call for the repeal of the federal Endangered Species Act. 
    • We call for the abolishing of the Environmental Protection Agency and all other unconstitutional agencies.

    The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution limits the federal power of eminent domain solely to the purchase of private property with just compensation for public use, such as military reservations and government office buildings, not for public ownership, such as urban renewal, environmental protection, or historic preservation. 

    Under no circumstances may the federal government take private property by means of rules and regulations that preclude or substantially reduce the productive use of the property, even with just compensation. 

    We oppose any attempt to designate private or public property as United Nations World Heritage sites or Biosphere reserves. 

    We call for an end to United States participation in United Nations programs, including environmental treaties and conventions, which destroy our sovereignty and right to private property. 

  • ENERGY

    ENERGY

    James Madison, Federalist Papers #45 

    “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.” 

    U.S. Constitution, 10th Amendment 

    “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” 

    We call attention to the continuing need of the United States for a sufficient supply of energy for national security and for the immediate adoption of a policy of free market solutions to achieve energy independence for the United States. 

    Private property rights should be respected

    The federal government should not interfere with the development of potential energy sources, including natural gas, oil, coal, hydroelectric power, solar energy, wind generators, and nuclear energy. 

    We call for abolishing the Department of Energy, transferring its nuclear responsibilities to other appropriate agencies.

  • You are not alone!

    You are not alone!

    National Chairman, Justin Magill

    There are many like-minded individuals out there. Get organized now for Liberty!

    “If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.” – Samuel Adams

    The strategy of tyranny is to convince individuals that they are alone and defenseless and unable to resist the oppression they are under. It is the goal of the tyrant to keep individuals living in fear and solitude so that no effective resistance can be organized.

    Fortunately, we know that it only takes a few to organize resistance and be effective. “It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

    Everyone needs to reconnect with the community around them. We need individuals to understand that they can unify around liberty and resist tyrants. We need individuals to step up and organize their community to resist tyranny and meet the needs of the community. We need you.

    “The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv’d them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas’d them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath’d to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. — Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that “if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.” It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.” – Samuel Adams

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    “Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.” – Samuel Adams

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  • Are You Keeping the Government in Line?

    Are You Keeping the Government in Line?

    National Chairman, Justin Magill

    Who is in charge, you or the government?

    What is a Citizen? In 1789, David Ramsay published A dissertation on the manner of acquiring the character and privileges of a citizen of the United States. In it he states that “Subject is derived from the latin words, sub and jacio, and means one who is under the power of another; but a citizen is an unit of a mass of free people, who, collectively, possess sovereignty.” Citizens are part owners in their government and the public functionaries work for them.

    Public functionaries derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. The just power given to our public functionaries is to to secure these certain unalienable Rights…Life, Liberty and Private Property.

    When government shifts from securing our individual rights to taking our individual rights, it becomes the very thing it was created to protect us from. What is worse, we are paying for it to violate our rights.

    A Citizen takes personal responsibility for the public functionaries in the government which that Citizen owns! When public functionaries do wrong, they need corrected. When they are not sure what they should do, they may need advice. Above all, public functionaries need the accountability of having their boss (YOU) attending public meetings to check in on them.

    Make sure you are getting to your municipal and school board meetings in your area. Get organized with others in your area so that you can keep up with what is going on by sharing the load with other Citizens.

    Read Ramsay’s work here:

    “A dissertation on the manner of acquiring the character and privileges of a citizen of the United States.”

    “Our legislators are not sufficiently apprized of the rightful limits of their power; that their true office is to declare and enforce only our natural rights and duties, and to take none of them from us.”

    Thomas Jefferson, Henry Augustine Washington (1854). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence”, page 3.

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  • Why Is private property so important?

    Why Is private property so important?

    What is it about Private Property?

    Tom DeWeese will be one of our featured speakers at the Constitution Party’s 2025 fall National Committee Meeting in Sparks, Nevada October 17-18. We will be sending out several emails from Mr. DeWeese, to provide our subscribers with some background for the topic he will be discussing with us at the NCM. You can watch the three-and-a-half-minute video from Mr. DeWeese linked below or read the rest of the email for the information provided in the video.

    Most Americans today tend to think of private property simply as a home – the place where the family resides, store their belongings, and find shelter and safety from the elements. It’s where you live. It’s yours because you pay the mortgage and the taxes. Most people don’t give property ownership much more thought than that.

    But there was a time when property ownership was considered to be much more. Property, and the ability to own and control it, was life itself.

    The great economist John Locke, whose writings and ideas had a major influence on our nation’s founders, believed that “life and liberty are secure only so long as the right of property is secure.”

    John Locke advocated that if property rights did not exist, then the incentive to develop and improve property would be destroyed;

    Private property ownership, Locke argued, brought stability and wealth to individuals, leading to a prosperous society of man.

    From the very beginning, the United States was guided by the idea of private property ownership. It was written into our governing documents. Property and freedom – one cannot live without the other.

    John Adams argued, “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”

    In today’s America, private property is quickly being destroyed across the nation, and note the growing lawlessness. The fear of climate change has become the excuse for government to dictate how every strip of land will be used.

    Have you ever wondered why these green forces focus so hard on the environment?

    That’s because the environment does not recognize political boundaries. The environment crosses rivers, fields, and mountains, all of which cross over national borders, state borders, county borders, city borders, and the boundary lines of your yard!

    That fact has given massive new power to those forces that seek to change our way of life and system of government.

    If you are determined to protect private property rights, then you need to start with a good definition of what private property is. Too many people think it just means a place where you pay to store your stuff.

    Here is a definition that was written by a Washington State Supreme Court Justice – Richard B. Sanders:

    “Property in a thing consists not merely of its ownership and possession, but in the unrestricted right of use, enjoyment, and disposal. Anything which destroys any of the elements of property to that extent, destroys the property itself. The substantial value of property lies in its use. If the right of use be denied, the value of the property is annihilated, and ownership is rendered a barren right.”

    We keep trying to defend liberty. Today, we need to take the offense. I think we can do that by taking that definition of private property as our banner and start demanding our rights.

    Tom DeWeese,
    President
    American Policy Center
    https://americanpolicy.org/

    Tom DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence. Today he serves as Founder and President of the American Policy Center.

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    Why Is private property so important? – Constitution Party

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