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Heritage energy policy expert Jack Spencer discusses government intervention in BP on CNBC. More videos »July 2, 2010 | By Amanda J. Reinecker
234 Years Later, We Still Hold These Truths
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress declared to the world America's independence from the British crown. They stated with great conviction that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." The rights are natural and are not the creation of any man, monarch, or government.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence proposed a new theory of government: that the authority of the government should arise from the people and should depend on "the consent of the governed." This model of self-government was a pioneering experiment. Many expected the Founders to fail.
But two hundred and thirty-four years later, we still hold these truths to be true.
The Declaration of Independence is one the greatest statements of human liberty ever written. Its bold statements and timeless truths reveal to men of all ages that "they have a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood and flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration," proclaimed Abraham Lincoln. "And so they are." After all, they're our Founding Fathers.
The Founders recognized that governments depend on imperfect men, and they worried about the threat of an all-powerful central government, where the few dictate to the many. In 1787, as the Constitutional Convention completed its work to enshrine the principles of the Declaration into law, Ben Franklin famously said the Constitution established "a republic, if you can keep it."
In an address before the Naples Committee for Heritage, Heritage Foundation scholar Matthew Spalding recounted a story from the Revolution. It was the story of a man who fought in the battle of Concord. His name was Levi Preston. Many years later, Capt. Levi Preston was asked by a young historian why he had fought in the American Revolution. Was it the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, perhaps the treatises of John Locke? But Capt. Preston explained that he didn't use stamps. He didn't drink tea. And he never read Locke.
"Then why?" The interviewer asked. "It's very simple," Capt. Preston responded. "What we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we always had been free, and we meant to be always free. They didn't mean we should."
» Watch a video of Spalding's remarks on the importance of first principles.
The fight to remain free continues today. Today's progressives are enacting policies that expand government and limit our freedoms. Heritage President Ed Feulner explains that Americans face a new set of "Intolerable acts" -- Wall Street bailouts; "stimulus" packages; cap-and-trade legislation; and, perhaps most harmful of all, Obamacare.
But the Founders warned us of this ongoing threat to liberty: Thomas Paine once warned that "the greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes."
This Fourth of July, America's greatest defense is our commitment to the principles of our Founding. We must take pride in our heritage and echo the words of Capt. Preston, "We have always been free. And we always intend to be free." And we must do so with the same conviction, tenacity and foresightedness as those individuals who, on that glorious day in July of 1776, brought to life the United States of America.
From all of us at The Heritage Foundation, have a safe and happy Independence Day!
> Other Heritage Work of Note
- The United States cannot afford the massive increases in welfare spending -- $10.3 trillion over the next 10 years -- planned by President Obama and his allies in Congress. Like most government spending, welfare spending is on an unsustainable course, and it is in dire need of reform. In a recent analysis, Heritage experts Robert Rector and Kiki Bradley outline important reform measures. They include: slowing the growth of the welfare state; promoting personal responsibility and work; providing a portion of welfare assistance as loans, not grants; ending the welfare marriage penalty; and limiting low-skilled immigration. Rector's research led directly to the 1996 welfare reforms.
»Watch Heritage's latest video explaining welfare spending and the need for reform.
- Online media is in its "teenage phase of growth" reports Heritage Foundation vice president Mike Gonzalez, and boy does it have an attitude. Gonzalez attributes the snarky tone of new media in part to the millennial generation, who "trust nothing and no one, least of all society's institutions." Unless something changes, he argues, it could ultimately be the death of this new form of communication as prominent voices are forced to step down after their words come back to haunt them—as happened recently with Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel.
- With the recent discovery of a sloppy Russian spy ring in America, Heritage Foundation senior fellow Peter Brooks argues there is more here than meets the eye. "The Russian government still sees us as an important target and competitor, no matter how often Team Obama mashes the U.S.-Russia 'reset' button," he writes in the Orange County register.
If these sub-par Russian spies were able to operate under our noses for so long, one can only wonder how many other covert agents are living among us right now. The Chinese are widely heralded for having a great spy program. Could terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaida have covert operations also operating as we speak? These are some major holes in our counter-intelligence operations that must be addressed now before it is too late.
- Join Heritage at the Family Research Council Action's Values Voter Summit 2010 in Washington, DC, from September 17-19. The event will feature prominent conservatives including Phyllis Schlafly, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Bill Bennett, Star Parker, and many more. Heritage will hold a screening of Let Me Rise, our powerful documentary on education reform, and host a panel discussion about the connections between social and economic conservatism. Register at ValuesVoterSummit.org.
> In Other News
- Despite slim chances that anything could pass this year, President Obama is again pushing immigration reform and asking for broad, bipartisan support.Republicans remain skeptical, arguing that the President's "reform" really means amnesty for illegal immigrants.
- The June unemployment numbers are in, and they're worse than expected. Though the jobless rate fell to 9.5 percent, the economy shed 125,000 jobs.
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) used her time questioning Elena Kagan to ask: "I keep wanting to ask you about the famous camp of Edward vs. Jacob or the vampire vs. the werewolf."
- According to the CBO, the federal debt will represent 62% of the nation's economy by the end of this year, the highest percentage since World War II.
Amanda Reinecker is a writer for MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Nathaniel Ward, the Editor of MyHeritage.org, and Stephen Congdon, a Heritage intern, contributed to this report.
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Fwd: MyHeritage.org: 234 Years Later, We Still Hold These Truths
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