Memphis is the home of Federal Express, and a number of other compaines.  In 1989-90, a group of entrepreneurs working in conjunction with a local museum, The Pink Palace, created The Society of Entrepreneurs to honor great local entrepreneurs and tout the benefits of starting a business in Memphis.   Its’ members include prominate figures in healthcare, chemical, real estate, business consulting, finance, construction and other industries.

Many people do not appreciate or more importantly understand entrepreneurs.  Entreprenuers are not likely to make the best of employees because of their desire to try their own ideas.  They take huge financial risks, borrowing money from family, friends a bank or even a venture capitalist.  Many entrepreneurs rise from humble beginnings.  The trials, tribulation and insights of some of these entrepreneurs are shared on the website www.societyofentrepreneurs.com.  

Although successful entrepreneurs do make a lot of money, it typically doesn’t last more than a few generations.    Future success and innovation depends on developing future entrepreneurs.  I would expect that there are many people who think we have enough rich people, or that the rich have enough, but if we take that position, we risk cutting of the lifeblood of our economy and competitiveness.  By failing to recognize the hard work, risks and rewards that face small businessowners their success is taken for granted and somehow deemed “unfair”.   Not everyone is cut out to be an enterprenuer.  I am not, but my family has benefited from some of the Society of Entrepreneur’s members by providing us jobs.   Instead of spreading the wealth of these successful, unique people we should be encouraging others to follow their dreams. 

Every politician today is saying we need to create more jobs.  Well it really isn’t that difficult to create a job. I could hire someone to butter my toast for me every morning.  Is that the kind of job that we need?  We need jobs that genuinely create value.  Jobs that grow the economy.  Entrepreneurs don’t just create jobs.  They define the job.  Without their risk and their idea, there is no job.  Has anyone at the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations considered what it takes to “create a job” that has meaningful value?  They say they are well educated, but what is the benefit of that education if it leads them to a cold park with nothing but a sleeping bag and a tip jar?

Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express is perhaps the most well known member of the Society of Entrepreneurs.  The magazine cover in my office underscores the challenges facing visionarys to get buy in on their ideas.  One member described the journey as a taking a “leap of faith.” More than 30 years since that magazine cover came out Federal Express has touched people around the globe, and has made America a stronger country and Memphis a better place to live.

I think the hardest part of moving forward is accepting where you are.  Obama’s Presidency has highlighted the values of the political class and the media, including the entertainment industry.  The country is now divided more than ever.  Unfortunately, the advantage is still on the side of the lefts and the liberals.  The fact is that we have many inherent, structural problems in our society that have allowed the left to dictate the rules of political discourse. 

If we are to convince independents, moderates, ill-informed democrats that conservativism is best for their future, than we must acknowledge the challenges that lie ahead of us, and circumvent the inherent advantage the left has in getting its message out.   Tea Partiers and conservatives want drastic change, and we’d like to see it as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately, for many American, especially those that do not make the effort to inform themselves, change is not appealing.  It is not comforting, and they will find any way to support the status quo.  The left will paint conservatives as amoral, radical, misguided or ignorant, and many will believe that simply because they don’t want to face the truth of where we are as a country and what will need to be done to fix it. 

There is no magic formula for speaking the truth to these Americans.  But that should not keep us from acknowledging that we are asking people to see the world, their country and their President in a way they don’t want to see them.  The Dresden Flags, and bizarre anti-Obama shrines that you might see rolling down a CA freeway may just drive them away.   I’d like to think about some ways that we can draw them in.  The easiest and most direct way is through conversation.  I came up with a few “fun facts” that I tried to keep simple, but also relevant to most Americans.   if anyone has any other suggestions or anecdotes that might be helpful, I would love to hear them.

On the surface the interference by the federal government in Boeing’s decision to build in South Carolina is a union issue.  I’d like to make it more personal than that.  In the past the community that offers the best overall package to a company will get the facility.  If the federal governemnt can start making these decisions rather than the company, than it could affect any community.  In a time of high unemployment, everyone is scrambling for jobs.  What if the government were to take away a business investment from your community to give it to thier political favorites.

More government power means more opportunity for corruption.  If the government is making the decisions that effect the livlihood of businesses, the businesses are working for the government not the consumers or the people working for them.

10 years ago a 250 Euro hotel room would cost about US$217, last month, it cost me $353.  The US dollar is declining

Stealing from Santorum here, but Obama’s foreign policy successes have come from his continuation of Bush’s policies. 

The deficit is too large to cover with the profits of all the Fortune 500 companies combined.  Fortune 500 combined profits in 2009 were $391 billion.   The deficit for 2011 is expected to top 1 trillion dollars.  Why are we blaming corporations for Washington’s spending problem?  http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/13/news/companies/fortune_500_profits.fortune/index.htm

Medicare will change:  The cost of this program is escalating out of the control.  Entitlement spending will consume the entire federal budget in 10 years.  There is no option to avoid changing Medicare.  Obama will have his Independent Patient Advisory Board to ration care to cut costs.  Everyone will get the same level of care.  Doctors and patients would no longer make the decisions on their care.  Paul Ryan’s plan is making an effort to save Medicare by making it more consumer focused.   

Mary Katherine Ham has noted that the nations roughly 400 billionaires have a net worth of approximately 1.3 trillion, while the deficit for 2011 is estimated to be 1.6 trillion.  The deficit cannot be covered on the backs of the rich.  http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/11/hammertime-moores-national-resources/

 My last point is one that I think about everyday.  As consumers we have the power to choose what products we want.  The corporations, driven by profit motive, try to respond to our desires through innovation and improving efficiencies of production.  Putting government between the consumer and the corporation will take away our power, and we as taxpayers will be paying our government to make decisions for us.  Is this really the kind of country we want for our kids? 

I want more people to see things my way, but some never will.  Meanwhile there are millions of Americans who do not want to think about or believe the things we at Red State talk about and debate every day.  Many of these Americans will be turned off by what they see as scare tactics.  There a many simple ways we can have these philosophical discussions that can gently sway opinions, change minds or even better, encourage fellow Americans to become more informed themselves.

Yesterday we had the county convention.  It was a beautiful day, and right in the middle of the NCAA tournament.  When we entered the building we were greeted with a slate of the suggested candidates that we vote for on each position.  We had specific seats to sit in inside the auditorium so each precinct would sit together, and roll call was done shortly after 3 pm.  No delagates would be seated after roll call, and one latecomer was denied the right to vote because she missed roll call. There was no opposition for the leading officers, including the chairman of the county Republican party.  Whew, I thought, this is not going to take long.  I heard someone say it usually takes a couple of hours, but I thought we could beat that.

Things got interesting when it came to the elections for at-large members of the steering committee.  According to my district’s outgoing steering committee member, the responsibilities of the steering committee range from deciding on how to spend the county’s money, endorsing candidates in non-partisan races such as judges, and candidate recruitment.   Last year, we did have a success story with a candidate for Shelby Country trustee.  The GOP did not have a candidate, and the committee found a good candidate with banking experience and he was elected in our sweep of county offices in late 2010. 

Each house district in the county gets to elect a member of the steering committee and there are 8 at-large positions elected during the convention.  Each at-large position was contested.  While the party did give us a list of suggested candidates by the party leaders, there were some very good candidates that were nominated to oppose the “establishment pick”.   For kicks I kept track of the tally.

At Large Position 1, Establishment Pick 121, Opposing 120

At Large Position 2, Establishment Pick 136, Opposing 107

At Large Position 3, Establishment Pick 132, Opposing 109

At Large Position 4, Establishment Pick 139, Opposing 98

At Large Position 5, Establishment Pick 109, Opposing 120

At Large Position 6, Establishment Pick 167, Opposing 59

At Large Position 7, Establishment Pick 105, Opposing 119

At Large Position 8, Establishment Pick won (I skipped out to the vending machine after we voted so I didn’t get the tally, but was told it wasn’t close).

You can see an increase in the delegates can make a difference.  Two establishment candidates were defeated by great candidates.   Other opposition candidates were also very good, despite the fact that they did not win.  That is not to say the establishment candidates were bad.  I knew and voted for three of them, and each of those was elected. 

What is remarkable to me, is that the party was clearly not prepared for close votes.  People who had been to the convention in the past indicated it never took this long.  The split in votes was acknowledged by some of the speakers as a good sign that more people were getting involved in the party.  It is my hope that some of these remarkable candidates that got defeated stay in the party and find other ways to contribute their skills, and the precinct delagates that sought to bring more diverse voices to the party stay involved. 

The precinct delegates representing each state district had a separate secret ballot election for the representative from their state district to the steering committee.  For my district we also went with someone new that has done volunteer work for the party.  It was also a close vote 19-16. 

In short, a few voices can make a difference.  While I did support some of the establishment picks, I was thrilled to get two really great candidates that were not picked by the party leadership into the steering committee.  Overall 5 of my chosen candidates made it.  It was incredibly easy to be a precinct delegate.  I just had to show up  at the caucuses.  The convention itself took close to 4 hours, but it was worth it.

There were some new delagates there that were so determined to get new voices into the party, that they only voted for opposing candidates.  Others did split their votes.  Of those I was sitting around, we all agreed that it was good to get some new people involved.  The message about the need for new blood in the party seems to be getting out.

The protests were not violent in any way. There were arguments between pro and anti health takeover forces, but no shouting.  One of the tea party leaders was actually a formerly homeless man that had lived under a bridge at one point in his life.  He knew hardship that most of us will never understand.  The Move-On group was led by a local black pastor, but aside from him the group was (sorry MSNBC) entirely white.  Many of them were older.  Much was said and nothing was resolved, but we did each sign a petition stating our position on the subject.  Ok, so what did I find disturbing?

It was a little frightening to hear the democrat talking points recited back at me like a little child reading a Bible verse without understanding the meaning.  The eyes of the protestors were vacant. Their demands were great. Their arguments were flimsy.  I sat there and asked myself, when did it become a virtue to demand something for free, and a vice to do as you choose with what you have earned?  I chatted with one woman who suggested that I might prefer a government job to my private sector job.  Her fondness of government bordered on creepy.  I didn’t really believe that there were many true socialists out there or that there would be so many people who could so easily be deceived and controlled.  It took me months to figure this out, but what bothered me most about this event was my reaction.

I felt uncomfortable standing up for my principles.  It seemed mean to tell people they should find a way to take care of themselves, that empowering individuals to take care of their needs is better for society as a whole.  I felt guilty for having what I have (which really isn’t a lot).  On an intellectual level, I knew these people were wrong, but I felt selfish and mean-spirited for standing up for my right to have what I have.   I couldn’t articulate the principle of why they were wrong.  My voice was stifled by guilt. 

President Obama and Vice-President Biden campaigned on saying well-off Americans (by their definition) should want to make sacrifices.  How are they or any of these health care protestors to know what sacrifices I have already made?  Sacrifice is not just measured in dollars. 

People who look upon me and my husband with jealousy and spite will not know about the extra years I spent in school making no money to be able to get a higher salary.  They will not know that my husband and I are in debt because of his step-father committing credit card fraud when he was just 18 and didn’t know he could protest the charges. They will not know that we kept putting off having kids because my husband went through some rounds of layoffs.  They will not care about the fact that between student loans and my husband’s debt we will be in debt most of our working lives.  These people will not consider that my husband and I both relocated away from our families to find higher paying jobs.  Some of this is by choice obviously and some not, but when playing the “fairness card” most people look through a prism of their own design. 

Highly successful people make sacrifices for their jobs and careers that others would not be willing to make.  It may be very long work hours, high risk ventures, longer education or jobs requiring heavy travel loads.  Most of us would not be willing to take on these jobs, but we need these people.  They open up other opportunities for all of us, and they deserve to be rewarded for their sacrifices. 

This country was made great by protecting the rights of the individual to keep the fruits of his/her labor.  We are facing a force that seeks to confiscate wealth and trample our rights.  It is “no time to go wobbly”, as Margaret Thatcher once said.  We cannot allow those that want to enslave us to silence because we fear what people might think of us.   We expect our politicians to stand up for our principles against the liberal media and we need to do the same in our lives.  If we are to take back our country, we must first take back our voice.

Still, I must say that my life experiences and the feedback I have received from conversations with both liberals and conservatives have given me a few things to gripe about the Right.  Not every conservative is guilty of these things, but if we are asking the lefties and independents to reconsider their behaviors and philosophies, shouldn’t we also consider how we conservatives can better spread the word about how liberating conservatism can be?

I don’t accuse all conservatives of these things, but there are some that have woven their way in and out of my life that I wanted to share.

1.)    Conservatives are so sure in their belief system that they feel no need to defend it to those around them.  We expect others to see that the economy is bad because of the democrats without explaining why.  There are so many opportunities to do this, but I will list a few of my favorites here and ask that anyone else that reads this blog and is not too ticked off to think clearly to add theirs.

a.       When do you feel more empowered?  Dealing with your school, local license branch or other government entity or at the supermarket, retail store, eye doctor.  When the consumer is in charge they will make the better choice for themselves, but if you have to go to the government you are powerless.  The only time to make changes in government is at the voting booth.  We don’t have elections every day. 

b.      When something is free, people will use it more.  We all understand the supply vs. demand equation, but why don’t we discuss that when we are talking about things like healthcare, if you make it free to go to the doctor than more people will go for more minor illnesses.  Unfortunately, we will probably see our less productive citizens using more and more healthcare services because they have more time to sit around and complain about a stuffy nose to their physician.

c.       If the government has to subsidize it, than do we really need it?  Having the government in charge of picking winners and losers, cuts back on innovation that may be truly meaningful because it keeps other people with better ideas out of the game.

d.      More government creates more government corruption.  In turn, that can also create more corporate corruption.  Larger companies give big government the fuel to grow by cozying up to politicians to get legislation passed in their favor. 

e.       Taxes are an indicator of how free we are.  If our tax rate was 100% than we would be slaves, work your way down and figure out how much of a slave you are, and why should we strive to earn more if it means the government owns more of us.

f.       Having said the above, conservatism isn’t just about lower taxes.  It isn’t just about being cheap.  It is about getting government out  of the way so that consumers can make decisions for themselves about what is right for them, and entrepreneurs can be given a fair shot at success with the right idea and hard work.

2.)    Conservatives don’t admit to being conservatives.  This criticism is blamed squarely at myself.  I have consistently avoided discussing my conservative beliefs around my liberal friends and acquaintances.  This is not to say we should lecture our friends, but simply saying nothing while liberals talk nonsense about conservatives is not acceptable.   I lost a friend recently because I started to stand up for conservative values.  He was a bit surprised to hear my views.  He began to share his views with more and more in an effort to convince me.  When I challenged him, I was shocked as to how uninformed he was.  Eventually he walked away from our friendship, and I have no regrets.  It was his decision, and I was always civil to him.  I have a right to my opinion and being conservative does not mean you are less of a person.  I do believe that many of the elite left hold that belief.

3.)    Conservatives sit on the sidelines.  The truest of all my criticisms.  I know so many conservatives who will complain constantly, but will not get out and do anything.  I have even had trouble getting conservative friends to vote.  WHAT???  It doesn’t take much to be active, and I know Cold Warrior and others have really beaten this drum hard.  I just suggest that each of us find easy, gentle ways to show our conservative friends the value of participating on the local level.  Whether it is property tax issues, opportunities to meet elected officials, overdevelopment, getting the electorate more in control of the local school boards to protect our kids’ education, etc.  Again, those that are not too ticked off at this post, please add more ideas as to how to show these benchwarmers why even a small level of participation is worth it.

4.)    Conservatives are intolerant.  I got so tired of hearing this while I was dating a super liberal, dope smoking guy in college.  Of course we hear it all the time, usually it is tied in with the “religious right” as if being religious somehow makes one’s opinion less valid.  I have spent many of the past couple of years shocked at what the left is saying and my eyes are wide open as to their intolerance for other views.  However, my time on this site and others has shown me that some conservatives just want to fight with other conservatives.  It is one thing to call someone out on something dumb, or arrogant or simply correct a poster.   For some though the passion gives way to ugliness and I wonder just what the motivations can be.  How do you expect to convince people to your opinions by condemning them?  One of the things that amazes me about Rush Limbaugh is how he handles his detractors and some of the stupid callers that call into his show.  He always gives them a chance.  His audience would not be as large if he didn’t, and his paycheck not nearly as fat (Rush is slim now, so no  pun intended!!!).   Frankly, some of the coment sections following posts it feel more like having a chat with the church lady than an exchange of ideas.  

It may be that some are content to be the smartest guy in the room, and aren’t really interested in advancing the conservative agenda.   Me on the other hand, I want to build the movement.  I want to build more activists and I will continue to use this site as a launching board for those efforts.  I am proud of the contributions I have made and conservatives I have helped elect on a national and local level.  My participation in these elections would have been far less if not for Red State

We all falter, but I will move forward and try not fall into the trap of being “one of those things I don’t like about conservatives.” 

This summer is a particularly hard one for me.  My little boy will start kindergarten in less than a month.  Of course I know he’ll do well in school, family genetics have definitely made an impact I can already see, and sometimes lament when he outsmarts me.   In fairness, he probably won’t be the greatest athlete of all time, but that probably points back to family genetics too, particularly me.  We all have our gifts and going to school and participating in extra-curricular activities are meant to bring out those gifts and guide us towards future professions.

Unfortunately this summer will also be bringing more economic killing legislation, but what is more offensive to me is the diminished opportunities available for white boys thanks to the gender and racial quotas in the new Financial Reform bill.  We have taken another step towards making white men second class citizens.  It is hard for me to accept, that I supported one of the Senators that will be green lighting this legislation.  

My son was born on the 4^th of July, I thought it was really cool at the time, but now it feels like a cruel joke.  For some reason, I had convinced myself I was having a girl.  I am ashamed to say that as I held him shortly after his birth, I had a feeling of sadness come over me when I realized he would grow to be the most hated demographic in America.  He had done nothing, but that part of his fate was already sealed simply by the color of his skin and the fact he is a boy.

Today, overwhelmed with anger over this legislation, I called each of the offices of Snowe, Brown and Collins.  I asked them what kind of professions should I encourage my white boy to pursue.   No one had any answers.  The staffer at Collins office told me he didn’t feel he should have to answer that question, and then hung up on me.  

My suggestion to each of these Senators is that they get together and sponser legislation listing professions that they believe would be acceptable for white men to pursue.  My son is very smart, but I don’t want him to waste his time getting educated in a particular area if he will be denied a job based on the color of his skin and his sex.  It reminds me of a saying I heard once, ”a mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

I took to heart Erick’s message earlier this year that it is time to put down our signs and work within the Republican party and our own communities to make 2010 a real victory for conservatives and show the Republican party that Hope and Change is coming for them.  I joined the Shelby County GOP, went to some local meetings (yes I have been trying to get involved as a precinct committeeman).  I recently did some calling to get volunteers and other support from Republican voters for the August 5^th primary and local elections.  There were few who were able or were willing to get involved.  I know it’s hot here in Memphis, but I was disappointed.  Erick’s right, we do need to work within the GOP, but they need our help too.  We need activists.  We need people committed to the cause and we need people ready, willing and able to make a stand.

I was delighted to learn that we’ll being having a patriotic 4^th of July event here in Shelby County put on by the Mid-South Tea Party Organization (www.midsouthteaparty.org).  The name of the event is “Party Like Patriots”.  The event will feature Marcus Luttrell Navy Seal (ret) and author of the book The Lone Survivor.  He will be recognized by Tennessee’s Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey (the first republican Lt. Gov. in 140 years).  The event will also be educational with a speech on the history of the Declaration of Independence and a re-enactment of Patrick Henry’s famous speech of which I have excerpted a small part below.

“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! “

This isn’t just about our history, but it is also about upcoming elections.  The campaigns for two of the republican gubernatorial candidates are listed as sponsors of the event.  Brief summary of the leading republican candidates for Governor (from sumnerunited.org)

Ron Ramsey (Campaign is a sponsor):  current Lt. Governor of TN and runs an auction business.  Key highlight:  asked Attorney General to sue over Obamacare.   The democrat Governor and Attorney General have not pursued this.  He supports Arizona’s efforts to secure their border, and he supports legal immigration.  Supports increasing tax exemptions for both investment income and inheritance income.  In fairness, Ron Ramsey is my favorite and he has been endorsed by The Memphis Tea Party PAC, a separate organization from the Mid-South Tea Party.

Bill Haslam (Campaign is a sponsor):  Mayor of Knoxville and co-owner of Pilot Corporation.  He would sign an Arizona like bill if it were passed by TN legislature, but believes TN should focus on employers of illegals.   He favors state legislation against Obamacare citing the unbearable and unfunded mandates.  Supports rolling back state income taxes on investments and estate taxes once “our economy has recovered”.

Zach Wamp:  US Congressman from TN-03.  He favors legislation similar to the Arizona law, and legislation brought by the state of TN against Obamacare.  Also favors repeal of taxes on investment income and inheritance taxes.

I urge TN residents to go to sumnerunited.org and read the Governor vetting documents.  You will find more information. 

In addition to the primary (August 5^th, early voting July 19^th-31^st), we also have elections for County Office to look towards.  While Memphis has a mayor, we also have a mayor of Shelby County.  I can’t explain that.  On the Republican side is Sheriff Mark Luttrell (not related to Marcus Luttrell).  He won the “Ferris E. Lucas Award for Sheriff of the Year in 2009.”   He is a graduate of the FBI National Executive Institute. 

For the democrats we have Interim Mayor Joe Ford.  He is from the famous Ford family in Memphis.  Much could be written about the Ford family, I only want to focus on Joe Ford’s intention to give county employees a raise.  You see a few years ago, Shelby County was in terrible condition financially, but after a healthy property tax increase (over 750 million) and federal grant money, there is more grain to feed the pig that is local government.  I left a message with Mark Luttrell’s campaign regarding a raise for public employees, but have not heard back.

I will go to the Party Like Patriots event.  I will hear 11 year old Tea Party Sensation Sara Warmack speak.  I will tear up at the sound of the national anthem, wish my son a Happy Birthday, and when the celebration is over, I’ll go back to work to Get Out the Vote in Shelby County for August 5^th (early voting July 19-31^st) and November.  I just hope that there are some who will be inspired by the days’ events enough to join me. 

“In 1986, two decades after the founding of the Black Panther Party, Eldridge Cleaver turned away from his Leninist past and ran for the U.S. Senate on the Republican ticket in California.  After years spent exiled in Cuba, China and other communist regimes, Cleaver had developed a new outlook on politics and power famously declaring ‘Pig Power in America is infuriating. . .But pig power in the communist framework was awesome and unaccountable.’ ”

One of the many things I have gained from joining Red State is the importance of participating in my local GOP party, not just the tea party.  During my second local republican club meeting, we had a speaker from a local university talk about the economics of socialism and capitalism.  One of the questions asked by a local candidate running for office is how do you respond to the notion that capitalism creates greed.

My first thought upon hearing the question, went back to a local town hall meeting on the healthcare debate where people were demanding free health care.  In their world demanding something for free is a virtue, while wanting to keep what you have earned is a vice.  The phrase “greed is good” to describe how capitalism works has allowed the left to demonize capitalism as enabling greed to victimize our citizens.  Greed is not the fault of capitalism, it is the fault of man, and has been on this earth as long as we have.  If the goal of moving to socialism is to eliminate the negative impact of greed on society, than we will have only made the problem worse.

Capitalism has become associated with greed, because it enables those that want more, or work harder, or have incredible talent to be rewarded for those things in a free market system.  We all have the opportunity to become rich.  Capitalism rewards success.  In the free market, greed is not hidden.  It is out in the open as we the people compete to achieve our own piece of the American dream.  We also benefit from the hard work of others who bring us good ideas that make our lives more convenient and enjoyable.  Even more, we the people, through our purchasing power, get to decide what ideas and products we value.  We benefit by getting the best products, and the people making those products benefit by becoming rich and having the freedom to use their hard earned dollars as they please.

In a socialist society the government runs our businesses through direct ownership or burdensome regulations.  A socialist will tell you how reducing the overhead for marketing will generate savings for the people.  This might be a good time to discuss the ballooning salaries of government employees while workers at private firms are facing paycuts and layoffs.  When does government actively work to reduce overhead?  Benefits will be cut first, last and always.  One of my favorite things to ask a socialist is where do they get better customer service – at a local government office or at a for profit company?  Where do you feel more empowered? 

While it is unpleasant to contemplate our daily interactions in a socialist economy, what is more insidious will be less obvious.  Few will notice how powerful politicians will enrich their friends and cronies at the expense of the private citizen.  Recently we elected a new mayor for the city of Memphis.  For many it was the dawn of a new era of hope as the long-time and believed to be corrupt Mayor Herenton was finally gone.  (He is now running for Congress in the 9^th district.)  Hope began to fade as one of our new mayor’s first accomplishments was to fire salaried library employees with years of experience and replace them with campaign workers.   While these employees had less experience their starting salary was equal to the fired workers.  No money was saved.  Imagine that happening at your nearest hospital?

The more power government has over the industries and products we use, the less we the people will know about how our tax dollars are spent.  One look at the stimulus package should drive people running and screaming from socialism.   There is very little accountability for the money spent.  Non-profit organizations that many have never heard of were given large amounts of money, but we have no way of knowing where that money, our money, is actually spent.

Acorn was awarded over $5 billion in the stimulus package (of course they had some issues since then so who knows where that money will go).   Mark Penn, a Hillary Clinton campaign pollster, was awarded 5 million in government contracts in the stimulus package to help him recoup debt incurred by the Clinton campaign.  The greed and corruption is hidden.  It is hidden under pages and pages of laws that few bother to read and even fewer understand, but it is still there.

Making government bigger won’t reduce government corruption.  Taking over industries won’t improve the quality of products or reduce their costs.  The government bureaucrats will use their authority to enrich their greedy friends and enact their own form of justice. 

Capitalism shines the light of day on greed, and socialism slips it out of sight.  That’s why these policies are voted on Christmas Eve or the dead of night, because that is the only way a free people can be harnessed into socialism.  The power, the money will go to the people with the right connections instead of the people with the good ideas, and the individual citizen will be poorer for it.

That seems like a lifetime ago, and for my daughter it almost is a lifetime.  Since that time, tea party protesters and others that are against the current democrat big government agenda have been demonized to say the least.  We have been called racists by national broadcasters and pundits who get paid millions of dollars to criticize this largely middle class movement.  Local and national politicians have attacked us in print, radio and television.   Some protesters have even been physically beaten by SEIU and other pro health care reform groups. 

Yet we still protest, because we believe we are right and are willing to fight for the future of this country.  If you are starting to feel like a patriot, you are.  Liberty is not free and we know that now.

But we are not here simply because we don’t like our government leaders.  Tell me if Barack Obama was pursuing an agenda to minimize government involvement in the private sector would you be here?  If Nancy Pelosi had not told us that it was fair to jail private citizens for not purchasing federally approved health insurance, would you be here?  Would you be here if the Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase and Gator Aid had not happened?  We are not here because of who are leaders are or what they look like, it is their policies that matter.

The arguments in support of smaller government are so simple and fundamental that they are rarely made. 

When do you feel more empowered?  At Sears, Wal Mart, Target or at the driver’s license bureau, IRS.  With government services you have to accept what you get even though you are paying for it.   You have no recourse.

The free market system allows us to choose for ourselves what we want.   It demands success.  The product, idea or service must add value or it fails.  Our country has become so great because we have had the freedom to choose for ourselves, and Americans have always chosen excellence.

When our industries are tied up in government regulation and ownership, than the power of the consumer is lost to the politician. 

When a bad idea fails in a free market, the product goes away.  Anyone remember the New Coke?  Remember how fast the market responded?  Imagine if that had been a government idea.

Like many of you I heard about the recent problems that Toyota had with some of their cars.  I admit I still don’t think I completely understand the situation, but I can say that I felt a cold chill when I asked myself, what if this was a GM (Government Motors) car?  Would we have heard about the problems or would they be swept under the rug to avoid embarrassing political favorites?

The arguments for big government are supported by feel good sentiments that guilt Americans into supporting bad policies. 

People say we need more government intervention to protect us from unscrupulous businesses, but who will protect us from corrupt government bureaucrats?

Others demand government regulation to help people make the right choices.  There are always good intentions behind government interference.  Do not be fooled.  How do we make people make the right choices without forcing it on them?  How do we do that without forcing it on me?

How many of you have heard that we should want to give more of our pay in taxes for the less fortunate?   Recall Joe the Plumber’s conversation with then candidate Barack Obama.  It is not sympathetic to create a class of people that depend on the government and through that on the 53% of us that do pay income taxes.  Creating a class of people that depend on their neighbors for their very existence robs them of their ambition and in my view, it robs them of some of their humanity.

Conservatives have long been criticized for complaining about high taxes.  The fact is the more a government takes in taxes the more enslaved the people are.  It’s simple math. If you are paying 25% in taxes than you work for the government 3 months out of the year, but when that rate goes up to 50%, you have just lost three months of your labor to the government. 

Destroying the free market system that made this country great will benefit some.   Large corporations that grease the right palms will do well, but the majority of Americans will be worse off.  Our power as the consumer will be gone.  Our paychecks will be smaller to pay for “free” government services.  We will have fewer options.  Our lives will be increasingly at the whim of the government oligarchy.  

That is why I am here to protest.  I want a smaller government as was intended by our founders.  I want a government that protects our basic human rights.  Today’s big government is more about fines, mandates, penalties, requirements, restrictions, regulations, taxes, debt, than it is about the will of the people.

I applaud all of you for coming out to protest despite the army of opposition to our message.  To the leaders that demonize us, I ask that you stop calling us names and explain why you think we are wrong.  Name calling is best left on the playground.

To all of you that came out here today, I must remind you that protests do not change the way this country runs.  We saw that with the health care vote.  The only way to do that is through the ballot box.  If we care about our liberty we must wage a sustained effort to get involved in our local political parties and elections.  We must make changes at local, state and national levels in our leadership. 

Stop being scared to discuss politics with your hip liberal friends.  Engage your neighbors, co-workers and friends on your favorite blogs.  Talk about how government intervention will affect each of our lives.  Talk about the take-over of the internet disguised as net neutrality.  Talk about the back room deals being made for Cap and Tax.   Spread the word.  One you have done that VOTE. 

 Remember that once we elect someone to a local political office, we have now given them a platform upon which to launch a campaign for higher office.   All politics is local!  No election is too small.  Get educated and vote in every single one.  Take a friend with you to the polls.  You can help pick the future leaders of Tennessee and America! 

It takes energy to put on an event like this.  It takes energy for me to speak at this event, and it takes energy for you to come.  Let’s channel that energy, get involved and GET OUT THE VOTE!!!  Ultimately, that is the only way our protests will be heard.