When we lose Religious Liberty we lose all our Freedoms

As the merry-go-round of scandals continues in Washington, the events of the world outside of our country indicate unrest and trouble in many countries.  There is much unrest in England, Turkey, and Iran. Finding a clear understanding of what is taking place is hard. Should we take the space to list the places where there is growing distrust of governing powers and rebellion against authority all we would have space for is to include a list of the nations. The growing distrust in our country is almost to the point of alarm. Surveys of the mood of citizens in our country let us know there is much concern about our freedoms and with every new revelation of what we have come to know as the government spying on the citizens, there is increased concern growing as to how trust can be restored and what it will take to bring our nation to a point of unity. There are people who want to define every point of concern as if it is rooted in racial feelings. Other people like to paint every question from one side or the other as if it is only political and is rooted in ideological differences. It is true that we can see a great divide taking place in our world and especially in our nation as we seek to move forward as a country. Surveys continue to reveal there is little trust in the national media to be able to produce a newscast that will reveal facts without commentary one way or the other to make the story being presented in a good or bad light. 

Being a freedom of speech and freedom of the press advocate, I watch with interest those who seek to control both in our time. Stories in the media continue to report the way some in positions of power in the government abuse that power by overreaching and then cover up their actions only to pretend they know nothing when they are questioned by members of Congress in a congressional hearing. This type behavior is enough to continue the impression that power abusers are out of control and they are picking off our freedoms one at the time. To be able to govern from a position of trust, the government leaders must have the trust of those being governed.

As I speak across our state in various events, the question and answer time has increasingly become tense. People are expressing their frustration and wanting to know someone is listening to them and their concerns about loss of freedom. The frustration of elected officials is being seen as a number of them are choosing not to seek reelection because of what they see as the gridlock in being able to have questions answered correctly and to reach solutions to the issues. There is a group of citizens who are sure that the answer is to throw out of office any and all who are serving now. Others want to target certain legislators to have them voted out of office and replaced with those who promise they will address the issues and reach solutions to the malaise that is keeping anything from being done in Washington. There seems to be no real answer or real long term solution to the mess we have today.

One of the recurring questions I am asked in these various venues is: “What do you see as the greatest threat in our nation?” With a follow up question stated thusly: “What do you see as the freedom that is most likely to be abolished in our nation?” My answer to both questions is the same. I believe the greatest threat, and freedom we are most likely to see abolished in our nation is religious liberty. As we study history and see the way other nations have been taken over from inside or out, one of the first freedoms lost is the freedom to choose ones religion and to be able to assemble with others of that faith to worship as personal convictions so dictate. Once the freedom of religion is lost, the other freedoms fall quickly.  There is no government that should be allowed to control the personal decision making of the citizens to force them to worship as the government leaders determine. Religious Liberty must be cherished and kept alive.

Ray Newman

Is Credibility Lost?

This will send shock waves through the minds of my readers. I want President Obama to be a success. Wait; don’t rush the stage! During the campaign and since being sworn into office, candidate Obama, now President Obama promised the American people he would have the most transparent administration ever. He also promised the American people he would insist that the rule of law be obeyed to the letter and spirit of the law. I am waiting for the time when we can celebrate as a nation of freedom loving people that President Obama is successful in obtaining those two promised goals.

We have to wonder how many more scandals will be “breaking news” as we awaken to face a new day. The “in-your-face” attitudes coming from the members of President Obama’s administration demonstrates the exact opposite of openness and transparency. When members of this administration are called to testify before congressional committees and show up to admit they know nothing or they react with an attitude of disdain for the process to the point they give answers that can be called ridiculous at best and contemptible at worst. The rule of law requires congressional oversight of policy and actions of areas of our Federal government. To have complete transparency from the government, it is required that correct answers be given to members of the committees when they ask questions. In our country, the law is broken when someone willingly lies under oath. The current administration is not the first to try these types of responses in order to skirt the law or regulations requiring total disclosure. This administration, however, promised the American people while running for office and since being in office, this type of atmosphere would not be allowed or tolerated. Thus, my statement that I am in full agreement with President Obama and support his promise to have the most transparent and open administration ever is made to point to the fact that fulfillment of his promise has not occurred up to this point in his administration.

Some people reading this column might think I am not serious and that I really do not want to see President Obama be a success. Nothing could be further from the truth or my intent in writing this column. I want to believe President Obama. I want to see the fulfilling of his promise to have an open and transparent administration that respects and keeps the law by letter and spirit.

With each new revelation of overreach and abuse of power coming from this administration, we are further from what has been promised and moving on a path directly opposite from the promises made. The bigger-government-control-crowd is certainly in place and flexing their muscle and using their power to the point of shopping around to find judges who will sign the court orders that on their appearance are subject to question and congressional review. We have reached the point in our nation where trust has been pushed out the door and believability of administration officials have fallen to the bottom of the scale.  Last week, the New York Times admitted this administration had lost credibility. When partisans on both sides of the aisle begin to call for a halt to certain actions and send out warnings of abuse of power and overreach by an administration, it is time for the advisors to the president and members of the departments of government to fess up and to come clean with truthful answers to the questions the American people are asking.

The lack of transparency on the provision of guns across the border into Mexico, known as the operation of “Fast and Furious,” the lack of full disclosure regarding what happened in Libya, the revelation of snooping on reporters, spying on the American people, and the overreach and abuse of power by the IRS against what can only be called an “enemies list” all add up to government secrecy, not openness or transparency. 

 When the Obama administration begins to live up to the promise of complete government transparency and follows the rule of law to the letter and spirit, we will all benefit as a nation. Trust can be restored; honesty can become the legacy of this administration when the decision is made to truly live up to the promises made. Until then, I agree with the New York Times, “All credibility is lost,”

Ray Newman

No Free Market Economy With Total Government Control

A foundational cornerstone of conservative thought in relation to government and the economic system is support for the free market. A free market stands or falls on its own. Government best serves the people when it allows for risk taking to be shouldered fully by the entrepreneur. We have been away from the basic understanding of a free market economy so long it sounds almost revolutionary to bring up the reality that in a free market the risk is taken by the one who takes the initiative to start the business.

Government funding and support for risk takers is the norm in business practice and now, government functions fully as the supporter of and the risk behind almost all financial ventures. This leads to total government control with the “big brother” or “nanny state” controlling all areas of business and personal life. The mantra is, there are businesses “too big to be allowed to fail” and in order to assure their success, the government must unload tons of money into the business to assure that if it fails, only the government stands to lose money and not the individuals involved. The biggest problem is that the ones who lose are the taxpaying citizens required to fund the government with their taxes. We know with every penny given by the government to a project, there are strings that weave into cords of control choking any success unless the government decides success is in the government’s best interest.

Control by government of all areas of life is showing itself more with regulations of the insurance coverage required and the lifestyle choices individuals make. The big brother crowd in government really believes they know better how to develop a menu of meals for the masses than the individual citizens. As part of the control mechanism imbedded in “Obama care,” are requirements as to government allowed body weight and body fat content of individuals. One could argue the government is trying to look after the citizens and to assure they live longer by requiring a lifestyle and eating regimen that will fit within the government allowable guidelines. That argument falls apart when we realize the government has no right to force its way onto the personal life choices of the citizens of this free nation. It does not matter that the requirements of limiting the size of a soda may be well intended; the citizens are required to be more accountable to government functionaries to obtain what they normally would buy otherwise to quench their thirst.

 In case all of this talk of government control, big brother and nanny state have you confused, the simple statement can be made for the government to get out of our life. However, we have come to be so completely dependant on the government, it is hard to make a change at this time. That being true, we are trapped in the ever slippery slope going downward into more government control of all we do. Less government, not more and bigger government is needed. We know, however, that to have less government control at this point in our republic, we must pass more legislation to reverse decisions already passed. In doing the reverse of what has already been placed into law, will in itself, require more government laws, thus we are on a failing cycle of giving up control to more government and not less government with hope to change the pattern of more government control. This is not double talk; this is the gridlock in the thinking that occurs when every new freshman class of government elected leaders are sworn into office. The newly elected officials go into office with the great hope of bringing about change and turning the wheels back to a free market economy only to be hit with the reality that to accomplish their goals they must pass new laws that will bring about more government and not less. We are at a point in our history when we must make crucial decisions about our future and our freedoms. Do we want to give up some of the support we insist the government provide to us? Do we want to continue to have our freedoms taken from us in order to allow the government to promise they will take care of us no matter what happens?  We must find a way to stop this slide into total government control of all we do and are.

Ray Newman