Robert W. Peck - Constitution Party

An Independence Day Message from President Garfield

4 July 2016 –

Before being elected President, while serving in Congress, James Garfield stated at the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1876:

“Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature … If the next centennial does not find us a great nation…it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”

I’m sure that quote will garner its fair share of “amens,” especially among the political right. However, I expect most of those “amens” will be predicated on the supposition that it’s “the other guy” who has tolerated ignorance, recklessness and corruption in Congress by his vote for, and support of, “the other party.” You might want to hold up on passing judgment just yet, and look at some numbers first.

Over the past 20 years, Republicans have held the majority in Congress 65% of the time, leaving the Democratic Party a relatively disenfranchised and powerless entity that only wielded control of Congress 35% of the time. If this were professional football, the Democrats would have a 6 and 10 record – pretty much time to fire the coach, sell the team and pack it in.

So if, in the words of President Garfield, Congress has been ignorant, reckless and corrupt over the past two decades, it is because the Christian-conservative-right has tolerated ignorance, recklessness and corruption by electing, and reelecting, a party of pachyderms that has perpetually increased the size of government, increased spending, increased the national debt, funded the welfare state, funded the warfare state, funded the police state, funded the healthcare state, never defunded a single unconstitutional or extra constitutional bureau, agency or program, and has generally disregarded the rule of law under the Constitution.

I believe if President Garfield were here today, he would admonish us to declare our independence from political parties, powers and leaders that obviously do not represent our values. When we continue to support, or affiliate with such entities, we become parties to, and responsible for, the ignorance, recklessness and corruption that we authorize by our vote.

It is time for “those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation” to withhold their time, their treasure, and their vote from any who are not clearly and consistently “intelligent, brave and pure,” as President Garfield put it. It is far past the time that we ought to have declared our independence from the established forms of political association that have become destructive of the ends for which they were established, and that we should begin to vote not for party, but for principle, and for men of character who Honor God, Uphold the Constitution and Contend for Liberty.

Robert W. Peck
Chairman
Constitution Party of Washington

Republish with attribution and link back to http://robertpeck.net

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CP COMMENTARY: Boehner Resigns and Conservatives Cheer

by Robert W. Peck, Constitution Party of Washington state chairman

Conservatives of late have been openly bemoaning Boehner’s performance in office. However, I remember watching the live election coverage with a friend back in 2010 when Boehner and the republicans won control of the U.S. House. It was called a “Tea Party victory” and conservatives were all aflutter believing “we’ve won, we’ve taken our country back.” Tiny Tears Boehner was crying live tears for the camera as conservatives joined in with tearful joy that “we’re saved!”

I had already been fooled by George ‘”new world order” Bush in 1988 and Newt Gingrich’s Republican Revolution in 1994, then watched as the conservative right bought into GW “record deficit” Bush as being a true conservative in 2000. By the time Boehner came along, I just felt like I’d seen this movie too many times to not be able to predict the outcome. There’s a saying about, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Nevertheless, the conservative right seems to be once again getting aroused with hope, this time the hope that something good will come of replacing Boehner. Meanwhile, the current Presidential circus, and infatuation with Donald Trump, would seem to indicate that we like being fooled and are ready to buy a ticket for another elephant ride.

I don’t mean this as discouraging negativism in the vein of “nothing will ever get any better; there’s no hope; let’s all sing another chorus of ‘Gloom, despair and agony on me.” What I do mean is that nothing is going to get any better until we start paying attention, determine to not get fooled again and realize that to change our government we have to change our vote.

Read the Washington Times article about Boehner’s resignation here.

Is The Constitution Dead?

17 September 2014

by Robert W. Peck, State Chairman

Constitution Party of Washington

Today we celebrate the 227^th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution and ask the question, “is the Constitution dead?” Has it survived despite the many years of degradation it has suffered or did it succumb long ago?

The other day I was confronted with the idea that perhaps the Constitution is already null and void and has been for some time now based on the many unconstitutional acts of the federal government, some beginning as long as a hundred years ago. I’ll be the first to admit that much, perhaps even most of what the federal government does, is not allowed under the Constitution. But does that mean that the Constitution has failed, that it doesn’t work, that it is no longer valid, has become irrelevant and that we should quit contending for the founding principles of the American Constitutional republic? Or does it merely mean that we the people have ignorantly and foolishly elected persons who are now subjecting us to an unconstitutional, and therefore alien, form of government?

I believe some people confuse conservatism with Constitutionalism and the conservative movement with the current efforts of Constitutionists. The two tend to be treated as synonymous and lumped together under one title. I admit that some who are called conservatives are Constitutionists, though not all, and Constitutionalism is what conservatism once was, or sought to be. However, Constitutionalism and modern conservatism are quite different entities. I contend that it is conservatism that has expired and lapsed into irrelevance while the principles of Constitutionalism remain ever relevant and worthy of our most valiant efforts to contend for.

Conservatism began as an attempt to “conserve” or “preserve” our Constitutional form of government and its accompanying liberty. Conservatism also came to include endeavors to preserve the traditional Christian morals of our society. Conservatism has been failing for a half century now as everything that it sought to preserve has been continually slipping through the fingers of the Christian-conservative-right. With each defeat, the banner of conservatism moves a little to the left and finds itself planted on a new piece of ground from which it attempts to preserve the new state of affairs. Much of what is being called conservatism today would actually have been fought against by the founders of conservatism. If Barry Goldwater, the acknowledged founder of the conservative movement, were to come back from the dead, he would slap John Boehner and the Republican leaders silly and call them liberal, socialist traitors and enemies of the Constitution. It could easily be argued that conservatism is dead, or at least that the “new conservatism” is irrelevant, useless and not worth spending effort contending for. But what about Constitutionalism?

If I may use an analogy to help us see the matter – let’s suppose that there is a small town of good, generally moral people, most of whom attend the town’s one church. There is no tavern in town and no vices are publicly practiced. One day a bar opens for business and the town’s people start getting drunk, including some of the church goers. The pastor starts a movement to “conserve” the morals of the community and preserve its current state. Over time, more and more people start hanging out at the bar until hardly anyone is left attending church. Then a nightclub with strippers opens up and the town’s people start leaving the bar and heading for the nightclub. So the preacher now moves out of his church and takes up residence at the bar where he begins pleading with people to “conserve” the current morals of the community by staying at the bar and not go to the nightclub. Next an opium den opens and… well, you get the picture, the cycle just keeps repeating.

Has the preacher’s attempts to “conserve” the morals of the community failed? Quite obviously. However, has the Bible been defeated? Have it’s precepts been disproved as irrelevant and no longer worth contending for? Absolutely not! The Bible is still as relevant as the day the bar moved in to town. The Bible still holds the answers to all the troubles of the town’s people and is the cure for all the woes for which they seek to become intoxicated enough to be able to cope. The counsel of God’s word can still fix every problem they have. The Bible is totally relevant, totally applicable to their situation and its preaching and teaching in the community is needed now more than ever.

The U.S. Constitution, as well as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, are to the nation much like the Bible is to the church or to the individual. The Constitution, and the Biblically aligned principles that the founders based it upon, are still relevant, still right and still hold the answers for what ails government and society today. The Constitutional principles have not been defeated nor disproved any more than the Word of God has been defeated or disproved, they simply haven’t been practiced in awhile, and that to the detriment of society.

Government may not currently be following the precepts of the Constitution, but the document and the principles upon which it was established are still true, are still sound, are still the law of the land and would still produce liberty, peace and prosperity if observed. Like with the Bible, it is when men are not following sound principles that those principles are in the greatest need of being taught, preached and proclaimed so that a wayward nation can find its way back by following the voice of the American founders crying out to us through our founding documents and through those who are still contending for the principles that they embody.

Constitutionalism has not been defeated nor disproved, it simply hasn’t been practiced, but that doesn’t mean we should stop contending for it.

Happy Constitution Day!

Robert W. Peck is a Christian, Constitutionist and political activist who serves as the chairman of the Constitution Party of Washington and is a member of the Constitution Party National Committee. Bob lives in Spokane Valley, Washington where he is a landlord-handyman. You can find more of his writings at: American Perspective

Illegal Immigration — Who’s Responsible?

1 August 2014 – by Robert W. Peck, Constitution Party of Washington State Chairman

Illegal immigration into the U.S. has been on the rise for the past year, but in the last month or so an unprecedented wave of immigrants has hit the border and started to make headlines. In California, citizens took to the streets to physically block buses from bringing more illegals into their community. Texas Governor, Rick Perry, is said to be preparing to deploy National Guard forces. Rumors are flying about various citizen militia groups heading south to secure the border. Meanwhile, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has begun a million-dollar ad campaign across Central America warning potential illegal immigrants of the dangers of the journey and that there will be “no permiso” – no permission to stay – once they get to the border. General John Kelly, Chief of the U.S. Southern Command, calls the region a “Crime-terror convergence” that is an existential threat to the nation.

Though the subject of illegal immigration has gained new attention through the recent and somewhat exceptional events, the issue itself and the general factors surrounding it are nothing new. The number of illegal aliens in the U.S. has been on the rise for a half century, including throughout the Bush administration, arriving at a record high in 2007 of nearly 11.8 million. The number had since declined slightly, but now appears to be on the rise again.

While nothing justifies entering someone else’s country uninvited, it is also true that nothing happens in a vacuum. So long as the law of cause and effect is in place, there will be reasons why things happen and factors that contribute to it. We can’t honestly expect to fix the illegal immigration problem until we understand and address those contributing factors.

Contributing Factors

Welfare

Welfare use by immigrants, legal and illegal, is about double that of native-born Americans. However, employment levels are about on par. It would appear that illegal aliens are as willing to work as the native citizens are, but are paid less and use more social service programs to make up the difference. The presence of such programs that supplement low income provides considerable incentive for illegals to come to America.

Welfare has also helped to create the job opportunities that illegals come here to fill. George W. Bush, a proponent of amnesty, indicated that we need the illegal aliens because they do the jobs “Americans won’t do.” But who did those jobs before the 1970’s when illegals really began to come here in earnest? The answer is that until the Great Society welfare state sprang up in the 1960’s and began to pay us not to work, those jobs were, for the most part, done by Americans. As a result of the welfare system that pays people not to work, we really do need illegal aliens who are willing to do the jobs that we are paying Americans not to do.

Economy

To get a feel for the difference in economic conditions, I looked up the annual gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in both the U.S. and the four countries immediately to our south. In the United States, there is $54,980 of GDP available per person. In Mexico, there is $16,111 of GDP available per person, in El Salvador $7,549, Guatemala $5,208 and Honduras has only $4,700 available per person. In other words, the inhabitants of the four neighboring countries to our south are living on from 9% to 29% of what U.S. residents are.

My friend, Constitution Party Vice Chairman, Randy Stufflebeam, recently participated in a television documentary on illegal immigration that took him to Mexico and El Salvador. Randy found that nearly everyone there both knew what the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was and blamed it for much of their economic woe. It appears that many family farmers have found themselves unable to make a living growing food crops since the implementation of NAFTA and have resorted to growing marijuana as the new cash crop. Watch this presentation that Randy recently gave to find out what else he learned while south of the border.

Violence

Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, the three countries now propelling the greatest number of illegal immigrants toward the U.S. southern border, have the first, fourth and fifth highest homicide rates in the world with Honduras now at 90 homicides per 100,000 as compared to the U.S. rate of less than 5. In San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where the homicide rate has reached 180 per 100,000, The Guardian reports that survival depends on knowing the rival gang boundaries, seeing and saying as little as possible and paying the “war taxes” the gangs extort from businesses and the “protection taxes” levied on family homes.

The violence emanates from the gangs and drug cartels that exist to service the U.S. demand for narcotics. General Kelly of U.S. Southern Command recently stated that, “All this corruption and violence is directly or indirectly due to the insatiable U.S. demand for drugs.”

This issue also ties back to the topic of welfare. A considerable portion of the tax dollars that are spent on welfare programs end up either directly or indirectly supporting the drug trade. Just ask your friendly neighborhood drug dealer how much his revenue stream jumps on the day the welfare checks come out.

Amnesty

Talk of an amnesty plan that will allow illegals who are already in the country to remain, is no doubt prompting many to try to get across the border in time to get in on the deal. Some are blaming the recent surge on President Obama for stirring up immigrants’ hope of getting a free pass through his talk about the DREAM act. This of course is to be expected as President Bush’s 2004 push for amnesty was also followed by a surge in illegal border crossings. Fuel is poured on the illegal immigration fire when House Republican leadership is also pushing for amnesty.

Deportation

When deportation goes down, hope of getting in and managing to stay goes up. The Obama administration’s deportation rate is behind that of the Bush administration at 800,863 per year as compared to Bush’s 1,291,106 per year. However, both are eclipsed by Clinton’s record of 1,536,363 illegals deported annually. It appears the deportation process has been slowed in part by an act passed during the Bush administration in 2008 which puts unaccompanied children under the care of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Obama administration has indicated that it wants that bill amended to empower Border Patrol agents to expedite the deportation process.

Visa Applications

Many complain that illegals should just go back home and apply to come here the legal way. However, while in Mexico doing the television documentary, my friend Randy Stufflebeam was shown visa applications from as long as 20 years ago that are still waiting to be processed. I haven’t done the research to determine just how systemic this is, but if the visa application system is as “screwed up” as Randy says, then this would also be a factor in why people are coming here illegally as going through the legal channels would not necessarily be an option.

Border Security

I purposely put this one last because it’s what everyone thinks of first. In fact, it’s generally the only factor that anyone talks about or considers. Yes, border security does matter. If security were tight enough that no one ever got through, then eventually everyone would stop trying. However, so long as the other factors listed here remain in play, motivating people to come here for the welfare, for jobs, to escape poverty, or to flee from drug cartel violence, then it’s unlikely that any amount of border security will be sufficient to completely stem the tide.

Who’s Responsible?

Certainly those who cross the border illegally are committing a crime and bear responsibility. The above list of contributing factors may help explain why illegal immigration is happening, but it doesn’t excuse it.

But is anyone else responsible?

Well, it’s the fundamental duty of the man in the Oval Office to uphold the laws of the land, secure the borders and protect the citizens – failure to do so makes a President worthy of being removed from office. However, that would apply to both this and the previous Presidents under whom the illegal alien population in America has steadily grown for a half-century.

Given the multiple effects that America’s social welfare system has on the problem, the Congress and state legislatures that fund that system are also responsible. However, that would apply to both the Democrat controlled Congresses that have instituted welfare programs, the Republican controlled Congresses that have continued to fund them and the legislatures that propagate the welfare system at the state level.

Considering that it is we, the American people, who have elected, reelected and reelected again the politicians of both dominant political parties who have presided over the never-ending wave of illegal immigration and have perpetuated the policies that are contributing to it, then at some point we have to say that we are responsible.

Remember, nothing happens in a vacuum. We’re not experiencing a half century long, random act of spontaneous illegal immigration taking place due to some temporary lapse in the law of cause and effect. We live in a highly ordered universe created by an Intelligent Designer Who told us that neither He, nor the laws that He designed into His creation, will be mocked – what men sow, they will reap. If we’re reaping something that we don’t like, then somewhere along the way we’ve sown the wrong seed. We have sown the seed of being a nation that consumes such a large quantity of drugs that it has enriched the cartels that service our habit to the point that they can destabilize and spread a reign of violence over four sovereign nations.

We have sown the seed of inordinate loyalty to two corrupt political parties, neither of which honors God nor follows the Constitution anymore. We have sown mindless, ditto-head following of talking heads and political isms that we let do our thinking for us so we don’t have to do the hard work of actually understanding the issues for ourselves. We have sown the forsaking of virtue and courage – voting for politicians who we know do not represent what is truly right, but we are afraid that the other big government, secular humanist, socialist, career politician might get in instead. We have even sown the seeds of hypocrisy as we angrily rage against one President or political party, then turn around and let ourselves be duped into supporting another that perpetuates most of the same policies.

The real problem didn’t originate solely south of the border, nor entirely inside the beltway. Until we take responsibility for our own country’s spiritual and moral condition and for the results of our own political choices, no amount of complaining, marching in the streets or writing cards and letters to our Congressman is going to fix it.

Let’s take responsibility, admit to God that we’ve screwed up, then ask Him to show us what seeds to start sowing so we can reap a better harvest.

Stop Fighting the Fruit – Start Chopping the Root

Stop Fighting the Fruit – Start Chopping the Root

– 8 March 2014

– by Robert W. Peck, Constitution Party of Washington state chairman –

I’m always looking for the principle behind a thing, the key thing, the root thing, the thing that makes it all work. I can’t walk into a building without starting to analyze the structure to figure out which is a load-bearing wall, which is a facade, what holds this up and what supports that.I’m that way with politics and government too. I want to find the foundational principles that make for good government, the eternal truths that can tell me which policies are right or wrong. I want to make sure I’m getting to the root of the matter and am not being distracted by something superficial.

I realize not everyone is like me and I don’t expect you to be. However, there are times in life when we absolutely must understand what is at the root of a matter and make sure we are dealing with it at the source. If not, we’ll be destined to futility in our dealings with it and we’ll never be able to fix it when it’s broken. Think about it – you don’t go to a doctor just to talk with him about how you feel, then have him give you something to relieve those symptoms. You go to a doctor to have him correctly diagnose the root cause of the symptoms so you can fix the problem at its source.

Likewise, in matters of politics and civil government, we cannot afford to become distracted with superficial things that are mere symptoms of a more systemic, root matter. We risk getting caught up in treating the symptoms of our political ailment and failing to fight the disease at the root.

I was recently reminded of the importance of understanding key issues, principles and underlying causes while reviewing an article by Memphis attorney and 2008 Constitution Party Vice Presidential nominee, Darrell Castle. In his article on “How the Republic Became a Monarchy,” Darrell went all the way back to President Woodrow Wilson, the 16^th Amendment (the income tax) and the establishing of the Federal Reserve in order to show his readers how key things that happened 100 years ago are at the root of much of what we are dealing with today. I highly recommend a review of Darrell’s article, both for the sake of the information provided in it and as an exercise in learning to identify key issues that are at the root of our nation’s maladies. If you prefer, the same information is available as a four part series of audio podcasts (about 5 mins. each) at www.castlereport.us (Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4).

While I say this in love, seeking the best interest of my friends, brethren and fellow countrymen, I have to point out that the Christian-conervative-right has, in great part, lost sight of the key issues, root matters and foundational principles. We have become distracted with the symptoms of the diseases that plague our land and have come to devote the majority of our time and effort to suppressing the symptoms instead of eradicating the disease.

The conservative movement has become like a man with a tree in his backyard that is producing poisonous fruit. His strategy is to grab a stick and start swinging at whatever piece of fruit happens to catch his eye, hoping to knock some of it off the branch before it matures. But no matter how frantically he swings at the fruit, it keeps coming back faster than he can knock it down. He has become so distracted by his frenzied fight with the fruit on the branches that he fails to notice the root feeding the tree. If he would just take an ax and start chopping off the roots instead, he could rid himself of all the toxic fruit.

Through a combination of distraction and a forgetfulness of the foundational Biblical values, strict Constitutional limits and key principles of liberty, the conservative movement has come to a place of counting a slower loss as a win and the partial alleviating of a symptom as a major victory. Today’s conservatism appears to only be playing defense and is singularly devoted to the strategy of trying to slow the spread of the disease and ease some of the symptoms. My friend, former Montana State Representative, Rick Jore, refers to members of his former party who follow this strategy as, “Slow Death Republicans.”

Let’s look at just a few examples of key issues, root causes and foundational principles versus distractions and treating the symptoms.

THE INCOME TAX

How much time and energy did the conservative movement expend fighting to get, and later to keep, the so called “Bush tax cuts”? By the attention given to them, those tax cuts would appear to have been the conservative event of the decade and probably were the high water mark of conservative achievement during that period. But how much difference did those tax cuts actually make in your everyday life? How much more disposable income do you have now?

The fact is that those tax cuts only made a few minor adjustments to a huge, complex and evil system of taxation that a Republican President and Republican controlled Congress had it in their power to abolish – possibly by repealing the 16^th Amendment, but at least by defunding and dismantling the IRS. Conservatives heralded as a tremendous victory this barely discernible relief brought to just one of the nation’s multitude of maladies. But the conservative movement, as represented by those to whom it had handed the reins of power, utterly passed up the opportunity to lay the ax to a major root providing the revenues that feed a plethora of un-Constitutional branches of government.

THE FEDERAL RESERVE

Conservatives spend massive amounts of time and energy fighting policies and agendas that come down through a vast maze of un-Constitutional and extra-Constitutional bureaus, agencies and programs. All forms of federal taxation combined are not sufficient to support the heavy load of all these agencies and programs. In other words, these can only exist through deficit spending – deficit spending that is facilitated by the existence of the Federal Reserve and its ability to create fiat funny money out of thin air, backed by nothing. During the conservative reign of complete Republican control from 2000 to 2006, the President and Congress had it within their power to repeal the Federal Reserve Act and restore Constitutionally authorized money coined by Congress and backed by gold. This would have chopped off another major root that feeds the branches of un-Constitutional government through deficit spending. But who in the dominant conservative movement or the Republican Party even alluded to this possibility, much less called for it?

“GREAT SOCIETY” PROGRAMS

This isn’t just happening at the federal level. The distraction from key issues and fundamental principles is taking place in the states too. Today’s brand of conservatism at the state level seems to consist of contending for performance audits and better management of the state’s many Great Society, welfare and social services programs. Conservative law makers tout it as a great victory whenever they can sustain the current state programs and agencies without raising taxes. But if the conservative movement were remembering its origins in the principles of liberty and limited government in the spirit of the American founders, it would be contending for the complete defunding and dismantling of every one of those socialist programs. And in case you think it’s the Democrats that won’t let them do it, keep in mind that fully half of the states are currently under complete Republican control with a majority in both houses and the governorship.

EDUCATION

Today’s brand of conservatism thinks it is really taking a stand when it answers the education establishment’s demands for increased funding with timid suggestions that maybe we should audit the government schools first, or evaluate teacher performance. But the Bible teaches that the education of children is the sole responsibility and jurisdiction of parents. When government mandates and regulates the educating of children, it comes between parent and child, violates the God ordained order and is outside of its God given jurisdiction. When government taxes one man for the education of another man’s child, it now engages in legalized plunder, violation of that man’s liberty and establishes socialism. If conservatives were discerning the root matters and committed to fundamental principles, they would be calling for the abolition of government run education, not trying to “fix it.”

BEING “CONSERVATIVE” SOCIALISTS

Just the other day, I received an email from a “conservative” legislator representing one of the most conservative districts in my state. One of the bragging points in his legislative report was that he had brought home the bacon to the tune of $1million for a “skills center” (aka vocational school). This is a foray by government into an area of education where many privately operated vocational schools and technical institutes have been meeting the need quite well. This is governments’ making the conscious choice to go into competition with existing private sector business and doing so with the advantage of being taxpayer-subsidized. Today’s “new conservatism” boasts that it brings home the bacon, gets us our “fair share” from the bucket of socialist slop and, by the way, it pats us on the back for being fiscally responsible, bragging that our “skills” center has the lowest cost per square foot of any similar socialist program across the state – boy, aren’t we conservative!

The Republicans are not in the majority in my state and may not have had anything to do with funding this particular program, but it’s sad when the best that the new conservatism can do is to congratulate ourselves as to what fiscally responsible socialists we are. Even if a legislator is not in a position to eliminate such socialistic programs from the state’s budget, couldn’t he, we, or the conservative movement, at least use an occasion like this as an opportunity to share a lesson on fundamental principles of liberty, limited government, private sector free enterprise and Biblical jurisdictions? How is anyone going to learn to discern socialism from liberty, or know that it’s bad and why it’s wrong when “conservative” legislators don’t speak out against it?

These are just a few examples that show us that the conservative movement has become distracted from the key issues and root matters and has ceased fighting the disease and settled for treating the symptoms instead. The new conservatism, as manifested by the Republican Party at least, now accepts socialism and prides itself on being able to make un-Constitutional, secular humanist, socialist, big government work better than the other party.

We need to learn to think like Americans again because we’ve obviously forgotten. May I recommend the short weekly commentaries of Institute on the Constitution co-founder and 2004 Constitution Party Presidential nominee, Michael Anthony Peroutka, at www.theamericanview.com. Subscribe today and in no time at all Michael will have you thinking like an American again and believing that “there is a God; our rights come from Him; government exists to protect those rights.”

May I challenge us to begin scrutinizing every political issue to discern the difference between key issues and mere distractions. Darrell Castle’s news and commentary podcsats can help with this. It only takes 5 minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at www.castlereport.us.

Then, once we’ve learned to tell the difference between the root and the fruit, let’s grab our ax and start chopping at the root.

Bob Peck is the writer of the American Perspective blog – Politics, government and society from a Christian and Constitutional perspective. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Constitution Party of Washington, and is the Senior Coordinator of the national CP Multimedia Group, his specialties being videographing and podcasting. You can read more of his work at: bobpeck.wordpress.com.

Draft Judge Napolitano — But Not As A Republican

Draft Judge Napolitano — But Not As A Republican

~ 5 February 2014 ~

by Robert W. Peck (Chairman, Constitution Party of Washington) –

The other night I ran across a Facebook page titled “Draft Judge Andrew Napolitano for President.” I found that it is associated with a website devoted to the same purpose of convincing the judge to seek the Presidency in 2016. I like Judge Napolitano. I’m not aware of his having ever said anything that I disagree with and I would be pleased to have him as President. However, I have one problem with this effort.

The “Draft the Judge” petition concludes by calling on “Judge Andrew Napolitano to offer himself as a ‘Republican‘ candidate for President of the United States” (emphasis added). This despite the fact that after identifying numerous of our country’s ills, the petition rightly identifies both the Republican and Democrat Parties as the source of our problems, stating that they have “worked in tandem as an entrenched political duopoly to put the United States on this path, despite both parties’ claiming fundamental ideological differences.”The petition goes on to state that “both parties have done so because they are controlled by professional politicians and special interest groups that do not hold the best interests of the American people at heart,” to which I say, “oh how true.”Continuing, the petition says “the only way to transform a system riddled with such corruption and cronyism is to support groups and candidates currently outside the government and neither controlled by nor invested in such special interests.”

Excuse me, but how exactly is seeking the Republican nomination an act of going outside the controlled Establishment and special interests? The “R&D” duopoly are the epitome of controlled, insider, Establishment politics that’s bought and paid for by power brokers and special interests.

Have we learned nothing after twice watching the “R” party leadership lie, cheat, steal and do whatever it had to to prevent Ron Paul, a Constitutionally sound and courageous candidate that they cannot control, from getting the nomination? And have we learned nothing after watching the same party subvert the campaigns of similar men of principle at the state and local level?

Election cycle after election cycle I’ve watched as the “R” party Establishment leadership works to undermine the campaigns of any overtly God-honoring, Constitution-upholding, liberty-loving candidates in the primary election. I’ve heard story after story of the shenanigans pulled by the party leadership to push the Establishment choice through the nomination process, will of the membership be damned. When the occasional God honoring patriot makes it through the primary, the party has been known to actually undermine that candidate’s campaign in the general election, preferring a Democrat who will maintain the status quo over a man of courage and integrity who will uphold the Constitution and rock the Establishment’s boat. Even on the really rare occasion that a Constitutionist does get elected and goes to Congress, or the state legislature, they find their endeavors to honor God and uphold the Constitution opposed and thwarted by their own party’s leadership. They might as well have been elected and served as Democrats.

So what am I suggesting – that the judge run on a third party ticket, or as an independent? That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.

“Oh, but a third party or independent candidate can’t win” you might say. Well wake up – have any overtly God honoring, strict Constitutionists who are sincerely contending for liberty won as Republicans? Well, about a half dozen or so have won in Congress and the numbers are about the same in most state legislatures. But I expect that many of those candidates would have won as independents or third party candidates based on their local name recognition and reputation. If the local folks who agree with a candidate’s views would simply give them the same support without regard for party label, then I’m confident that most would have won even as third party or independent candidates.

But why not run as a Republican? Because every time a good man, with good values, who honors God, upholds the Constitution and contends for the real principles of liberty runs as a Republican, he lends his credibility as a Christian and a Constitutionist to a party that has become anything but Christian and Constitutional.

Now I realize that there are a lot of nice Christian people still trapped in the Republican Party and I know that people will point out that the Republican Party has a good platform. But did Jesus say we should know a tree by its leaves or by its fruit (Mat 7:15-20)? The Republican Party may have a lot of nice Christian leaves (members) and be cloaked in a quite conservative platform, but the only test that I’ve been instructed to judge a thing by is the fruit that it produces. So what fruit has the Republican Party produced?

Now before you say “oh, but those pesky Democrats won’t let the Republicans do anything good,” let’s stop and consider that over the last quarter century that I’ve been paying attention to the affairs of government, the “R” party has been in power about half the time. They have held the Presidency with a Democrat controlled Congress (1988-92), they have controlled Congress under a Democrat President (1994-2000), they had the whole enchilada from 2000-06 and even now they control the branch of the federal government responsible for all bills for revenue and thus have full control over the nation’s spending habits. The “R” party also controls fully half of the union states with 25 states having both an “R” majority in the legislature and an “R” governor.

Despite all this opportunity, can you name for me one time that the Republican Party produced even one piece of good, God honoring, Constitution upholding, liberty restoring fruit? Can you name one time that the budget has been balanced, the borders secured, Constitutional money restored, abortion ended, foreign aid eliminated, foreign interventionism and international meddling ended…? Can you name one “R” party controlled state that has exercised its 10^th Amendment rights and stood up to federal usurpation, nullified un-Constitutional federal acts or produced overtly God honoring, Constitution upholding fruits of liberty?

It’s time to judge the tree by its fruit and the fruit is corrupt.

But why not run as a Republican anyway per adventure the judge might have a little better chance of winning? Because every time that a good man associates himself with a corrupt entity, he lends his reputation to that entity and brings it credibility – credibility that causes well meaning Christians and conservatives to continue to be held hostage by a party that is only serving to shove toxic, bitter fruit down their throats.

Running Constitutional candidates under the banner of an un-Constitutional party is only helping to deceive people into thinking that party is Constitutional. Running sincerely Godly candidates under that banner is only misleading people to perceive that party as Godly.

It’s time to stop perpetuating the lie. It’s time to “Come out of her, my people” (Rev 18:4) and “Be ye not unequally yoked” (2 Cor 6:14) with an entity that is not even trying to go in the direction that Christians and conservatives claim to want to go.

Am I saying the judge could win as an independent or third party candidate? Probably not – not without a major change in the spiritual condition and general moral climate of “we the people.” However, I expect he would have about as good a chance as he does of winning the Republican nomination.

More importantly though, by refusing to associate himself with an entity that in truth does not represent Biblical values, Constitutional limits or the founding principles of liberty, the judge could help shake good people free from their dependency on, and captivity in, a party that truly is holding them hostage and exploiting them for nefarious purposes.

I believe much more good could be accomplished by Judge Napolitano’s choosing to only associate himself with people and organizations of like mind who are sincerely committed to the principles and values of the American founders. I would recommend for the judge’s consideration, the Constitution Party, an organization that from its inception has held the values of the Founding Fathers as its guide. Associating with such an organization would be an equal yoking and would help bring attention to the principles and values that need to be restored in America rather than wasting a good man’s reputation on bringing credibility to a corrupt entity.

Even running as an independent would help shake people loose from their political strain of Stockholm Syndrome that keeps them supporting their political captors. At a minimum, a high profile, Constitutionally credible candidate, running outside the Establishment duopoly would help shake the political powers that be and perhaps lessen their hold on power and their hold over the people.

As much as I appreciate Judge Napolitano, if he chooses to run as a Republican, I won’t be able to bring myself to expend my effort in support of his campaign. Spending time, money or the reputation of a good man on anything associated with the “R” party would be tantamount to giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Let’s find courage – courage to stand and not bow to the power brokers and party bosses that tell us that we need them, their influence, their money or their party initial after our name. Let them be accursed along with their lust for power and their willingness to sell our American birthright of liberty to get it.

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For more thoughts on this topic, please refer to my article on Whether to Run as a Republican

Education, Taxes & Government Schools

by Robert W. Peck – Chairman, Constitution Party of Washington

School levies will once again be on the ballot in various districts around my home state of Washington on February 14 (Valentine’s Day). The education establishment learned some time ago not to put bonds and levies on the regular November ballot as they often fail at elections where larger numbers of voters turn out. In recent years, such levies are nearly always voted on in a so-called “special election” at an off season when nothing else is on the ballot and few voters participate. If the education establishment can get its base of support to turn out, and if few voters participate overall, then an ever increasing flow of revenue for the bloated education bureaucracy will much more likely result. Never mind the waste of taxpayer dollars spent on a special election – “it’s for the kids!”

My friend Rick Kiesz, editor of the Palouse Patriot together with his wife Carolyn, has written a great article on the topic of government schools and why he will be voting “No” on ALL school levies. I wholeheartedly agree with Rick’s sentiments and encourage you to read his article. However, I have a few thoughts of my own that I’d like to add.

I’m sorry to have to say it, but those of us who identify ourselves as Christian, conservative or Constitutional, tend to spend more time complaining than taking action. We’ve become too preoccupied with talking about how big the education establishment is, how much money they have and how much power they have. We’ve convinced ourselves that there’s nothing we can do to stop the Godless, humanistic, socialistic brainwashing of a generation by the all-powerful government education establishment. But I beg to differ. In fact, I dare say that there are few if any problems facing America today that we couldn’t lick if we had the courage of our professed convictions and were willing to endure a little hardship and make some sacrifice.

For example, I’m persuaded that if Christians, conservatives and Constitutionists were to act on their professed values, we could demonstrate for all to see that there isn’t even a need for a government run education system. If the large percentage of the population that identifies as Christian were to place their children into Christian private schools, or homeschool (an equal or in some cases even better alternative), the government run schools would become virtual ghost towns. The injustice of taxing all the citizens in order to prop up the establishment bureaucracy that serves only a few, would become evident for all to see. The people would soon demand their tax dollars be returned to them to be used on the education option of their choice. The government education bureaucracy just might be put out of business altogether.

Now some will say “oh, but we can’t afford a private school tuition.” This is where putting our money where our mouth is comes in. If everyone who rails against the deplorable and depraved state of the government schools were to donate $5, $10, $25, or $50 per month to a private school (or a neighborhood homeschool family), that school could then reduce it’s tuition rate so that most any family could afford a private education. Those with successful businesses, or those who have finished raising a family and whose household expenses are now reduced, have no excuse.

If every Christian-conservative-Constitutionist were to act on their professed convictions, private Christian schools would become the new booming industry in America. They would be springing up in every neighborhood. They would be hiring teachers who would be set free from the bureaucracy of the government education establishment and turned loose to teach with all of their God given natural talent – free to honor their Creator as they educate children with all of the gifting that He has given them. And thanks to people like you giving to help support those private schools, they could offer assistance to families who truly cannot afford the tuition. The devotion of parents to their children in homeschooling or sacrificing to pay a tuition, and the sincere charity of others in assisting those who need it, would soon replace the bloated, bureaucracy ridden, government education establishment.

Gee, I’m getting myself all worked up here. Maybe I’ll just have to practice what I preach. Okay, I just stopped and wrote a check to the K-8 school at my church. Take that government schools!

This might sound like the lofty, idealistic vision of a dreamer, but the fulfilling of the dream is really only as far away as each of us giving up going to a movie once a month, or giving up a latte a couple times a week – a sacrifice alright, but much less sacrifice than those who laid down their lives and fortunes to give us this country. My point is that it is doable if we are willing to do what it takes. Therefore, whiling away my days complaining about the current state of affairs just isn’t an option for me, not while action can still be taken.

While the current government run education system remains, please don’t talk to me about the need for a levy or bond until the entire education system, from Washington DC, to Olympia, to the local school district, has undergone and implemented all of the recommendations of an independent performance audit and is running at the efficiency levels that would be expected and required in the private sector. You see, I’m persuaded that the problem isn’t that taxpayers aren’t taxed enough. I’m persuaded that the problem lies in a bureaucracy that consumes most of the funds before they ever make it to the classroom.

If it were up to me, I’d start by firing everyone in DC, Olympia and the local district except the teachers, the building maintenance staff, one principal and secretary per school and one administrator and secretary per district. I believe our teachers are smart enough to figure out how to properly educate children without an army of bureaucrats in far away places telling them how to do it. And if the district administrator isn’t capable of ordering the books requested by the teachers and assigning maintenance staff and funding in a manner that properly maintains the facilities, then we need to add hiring a new administrator to our to do list.

Perhaps this sounds excessively harsh, like I’m being too severe, I mean really, expecting a government bureaucracy to tighten its belt and live like those of us in the private sector, yea, that’s just plain unreasonable.

On this Valentine’s Day, or whatever day levies might be on your local ballot, let’s have a heart, show some love for the kids and vote “No” to heaping more debt, taxes and government bureaucracy on the backs of future generations.

Get more information about schools and levies at http://www.taxfacs.com/
(information is for Spokane County, but is indicative of the situation elsewhere)

If you agree with the content of this article, please forward, post and publish far and wide. If you don’t, who will?

Robert Peck lives in Spokane Valley, Washington where he owns and manages residential rental properties. He serves as the Chairman of the Constitution Party of Washington and as Western Area Co-Chairman for the Constitution Party National Committee.