America is under attack—from within. American Manifesto identifies the enemy—self-serving federal legislators—and proposes a peaceful, legal solution: depriving them of re-election.

American Manifesto highlights the current decline and envisions the possible destruction of the United States of America. It places responsibility on the self-serving and self-perpetuating behavior of the United States senators and representatives who have spent and borrowed us to the brink of financial collapse. By pandering to the American Left, labor unions, lawyers, environmentalists, and other vote-buying interests instead of conscientiously serving us by effectively addressing our excessive spending, the insolvency of entitlement programs, our arbitrary and unduly burdensome tax laws, and the erosion of our military strength and international standing, these professional politicians have our once-great country on the brink of ruin.

American Manifesto proposes to make federal legislators work for us rather than themselves in the only way possible—and outlines just how this can be done.

AMERICAN MANIFESTO

By Robin Fawsett

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Robin Fawsett
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-6241-6

Contents

Chapter 1. The Problem, the Struggle, and the Solution................................................1Chapter 2. Micawber's Advice on Financial Responsibility..............................................12Chapter 3. Human Character and American Federal Lawmakers: The Solution Explained.....................18Chapter 4. The American Left: its Control over Politicians............................................34Chapter 5. A Free-Market Economy, or an American Brand of Socialism?..................................43Chapter 6. Relations between Nations are Not about Friendship.........................................58Chapter 7. The Iraq War, Pandering Politicians, and Our Safety........................................71Chapter 8. Iran: Looming Disaster.....................................................................85Chapter 9. The Labor Unions...........................................................................90Chapter 10. The Environment, the Environmentalists, and the Politicians...............................100Chapter 11. The Plaintiffs' Trial Lawyers.............................................................108Chapter 12. Federal Taxation, Fair and Unfair.........................................................114Chapter 13. What Health Care Crisis?..................................................................121Chapter 14. Social Security...........................................................................128Chapter 15. Pressure from Both Sides..................................................................133Chapter 16. The Only Solution.........................................................................137

Chapter One

The Problem, the Struggle, and the Solution

American Manifesto identifies and explains what I consider the most dangerous and destructive problem faced by the United States of America and its people. This problem has caused a decline in the economic strength, the international standing, the military effectiveness, and the national character of the greatest nation ever to exist. The problem has brought our country uncomfortably close to potential economic collapse as the result of grossly excessive federal spending and borrowing of money. The problem, to which I propose the solution, is the self-serving, self-promoting, and self-perpetuating behavior of our elected federal legislators, the United States senators and the members of the House of Representatives.

Unlike in Revolutionary War times—when national and personal survival were at stake and federal legislators had compelling reasons to act in the best interests of the new nation—too many of today's senators and representatives act like guests who don't know when to go home. They presume their hosts' hospitality as an obligation and view their hosts' money and other property as their own. They vote and otherwise act to advance their own interests, to the exclusion of and to the detriment of our interests and those of our nation.

American Manifesto explains how and why that selfish and abusive behavior takes place and examines its consequences. This writing proposes the way to end it, which will require our elected lawmakers to legislate in the best interests of the United States of America, instead of in ways designed to serve their own interests. The solution is to remove reelection entirely from the senatorial and congressional picture. The only way to accomplish that is to limit federal lawmakers in both houses of Congress to a single term of, say, four years, to be served in only one of the two federal legislative bodies.

While arrogant and selfish conduct of federal lawmakers has been with us since the birth of our nation, it has reached extreme levels. The Constitution established the Senate and House of Representatives to serve us, not to rule us, but that important distinction is not being observed by senators and representatives. Too many members of the Senate and House see themselves as ruling elites and wish to maintain that status.

Federal legislative misfeasance and malfeasance have become intolerable and require correction, partly because many federal lawmakers act like rulers instead of public servants, but also because of a titanic and nation-defining internal conflict that has our country at its most important crossroads since the Civil War. Throughout history bad things have happened to nations when the personal interests of their leaders have taken precedence over the national interest. The selfish conduct of our federal lawmakers, in combination with the internal struggle in which we are engaged, may mean disaster for the United States. The internal conflict, like the American Civil War, has been developing for decades. Unlike that war, this struggle is not an armed conflict. However, its outcome, like that of the Civil War, will have a profound and lasting effect on the strength, prosperity, and character of our nation.

The first important phase of the struggle was the New Deal, which was a product of the Great Depression and federal legislators who favored increased state control of private business activity as the antidote to the economic woes of the time. They determined that the federal government should manipulate the American economy and the behavior of Americans by taxation, spending, and regulation of private industry. The New Deal and the social legislation enacted during the 1930s, affirmed by federal courts that treated the Constitution like a used rubber band, were an unprecedented expansion of the federal government's power as it dictated the behavior of private citizens and businesses. The New Deal was popular with those who, directly or indirectly, received money taxed from others, and it was bitterly criticized by those who did the paying. Politicians in both major parties learned from the New Deal experience that the votes they needed to keep them in power could be bought with other peoples' money. That has been proven to be a hard lesson to unlearn.

As the Great Depression dissolved into World War II, a crisis that deprived America of the chance to determine whether government control of the economy was beneficial or detrimental, another aspect of the growing division became manifest. It had to do with loyalty and national security. It grew out of the war and the rise of the Soviet Union as an aggressive world power. On one side of the struggle were some high-level federal employees who, both during and after World War II, were Soviet sympathizers and, in some cases, outright Soviet agents. On the other side were senators, congressmen, and FBI agents who tried to expose the sympathizers. It was unclear whose side the various government officials who protected and defended the sympathizers were on.

The conflict intensified in the 1960s, to the accompaniment of expanding non-military government spending, defeatism, illegal drug use, and unprecedented unwed parenthood funded by the government. The Watergate affair, which demolished a president and weakened the presidency, was an opportunity that became a victory for one side. The general election in November 2008, with the ascendancy of President Barack Hussein Obama and far-left leaders of both houses of Congress, was a major victory for that side and a devastating, but possibly instructive, blow to the other.

The struggle is between ideas, ideologies, and opinions, but tangible things of immeasurable value are at stake, including our material and financial well-being and our continued status as a free people. I believe a sweeping outcome is inevitable and not far off, and it will determine whether we in the United States of America will continue to experience life as we know it.

Despite the importance of that outcome, and without regard to my own opinions, this book is not written to praise or condemn either side in the conflict, or to advocate any particular outcome. There is an abundance of such writings. Instead, this book deals with how the legislative decisions that will determine that outcome will be made, what sorts of persons will make them, and the conditions under which they will be made. In my opinion, the one-term limit is the only way to negate the self-interest of the federal lawmakers as they make those vital decisions. I suspect my proposal will be denounced by virtually all United States senators and members of the House of Representatives.

Two opposing forces are exerting relentless pressure on our self-interested federal politicians. One side, well-organized and, recently, well-funded, is the American Left. As I see the American Left, it blames America for many of the world's troubles; urges pacifism and appeasement of America's enemies; dismisses capitalism; considers the profit motive (of others) evil; promotes government control of the American economy by means of taxation, regulation, and outright takeover; denigrates Christianity and Christians; and is tolerant of societal and cultural decay. It foments class envy and wealth envy and favors legislation that rewards non-achievement and failure with wealth taken from achievers. Its goals include the expansion of a class of Americans who value government action for their benefit over their own personal accomplishments. It believes that the federal government should have increased power and control over the business activities and private affairs of American citizens. Its goals do not include continuing America's status as the world's most powerful nation. Its supporters include labor unions, wealthy trial lawyers, the great majority of television networks and newspapers, environmentalists, and tens of millions of Americans who see themselves as dependent on government for their well-being.

The other side is not well organized. It is beset by debilitating internal conflict, including recent bitter election contests between the established Republican Party and what is collectively called the Tea Party. The Tea Party, in my opinion, is as much a state of mind as an organized entity. I see this other side as consisting of those who openly love America; who want it to remain the strongest nation in the world; who do not covet money and benefits taxed from others; who believe in self-reliance; and who believe in the Christian God. They believe in minimal government control over business and personal activities, thus favoring increased personal freedom over increased government caretaking. Most of them are not focused on what the Left is trying to take from them and do to America.

In short, the Left has a specific and agreed upon agenda that it aggressively pursues. The other side is not in full agreement on any complete set of policies and actions. The Left, therefore, cleverly and effectively depicts the other side as being reactionary and negative in the face of the Left's initiatives.

The United States is facing and must address many problems and threats. Some are economic in nature. Foremost among them is a financial crisis caused, in simple terms, by our government spending money enormously in excess of what it receives. That destructive process is driven, in the opinion of many, by too much earned wealth taken by law from individuals and businesses that create and earn it, and bestowed on those who contribute little or nothing to the economy. Other dangers are posed by implacable and deadly enemies from abroad. The latter include armed conflicts involving American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, which some on the American Left did not and still do not want us to win; a variety of ruthless Islamic extremists who want to kill us and destroy our property and way of life; a fanatical Iranian regime that is building nuclear weapons, which it or other enemies could use to annihilate our ally, Israel; and the possible acquisition of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal by Islamic jihadists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Other serious problems are the potential control of our oil supply by foreign powers, from supposed friends like Saudi Arabia to self-declared enemies like Venezuela, who are siphoning our wealth into their bank accounts; an influx of unskilled illegal immigrants who expect and receive more value—in free education, medical care, and other benefits—than they contribute, and whose presence in our country is encouraged and welcomed by the American Left; cultural crises, in which huge numbers of children are born to young, unmarried parents who do not always support them, and in which millions of people are addicted to or otherwise committed to buying and using illegal drugs; a government-owned, low-quality education system dominated by teachers' unions and inept administrators, which produces young people who cannot think critically or write correctly; an intentionally overcomplicated, expensive, and easily manipulated system of federal taxation, which is used to wield power over us; government-created retirement and health-care systems that will soon be insolvent; and worst of all, a collection of self-important United States senators and representatives, who see their elected positions as valuable life careers, and who therefore promote their own selfish interests and those of their supporters over the interests of the American people. The American Left has largely taken over the Democratic Party, which regularly does its bidding. The Republican Party has lost its bearings and courage.

Those issues and more stand between the American people and our ability to deal timely and effectively with aggressions against us and our way of life from an array of foreign enemies. Some of these enemies have declared themselves as such more than others, but they all have in common an implacable hatred of the United States of America and a determination to end our tenure as the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world. Those forces are using terror and stealth attacks against our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and against free people in those and many other countries. They murdered over three thousand innocent people in New York City, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. That event is now trivialized by some on the Left, which agrees with building an Islamic teaching center six hundred feet from "ground zero," as proposed by an imam who publicly claimed that we helped cause the attacks. Some of our enemies are using the price of oil to advance their interests and drain our wealth. The names of some of our enemies are Iran, Syria, al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Venezuela and its president, Hugo Chavez, Cuba, and North Korea. A major enabler of the Islamic jihadists is our supposed friend, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with an unknown but large number of its wealthy citizens. China is actively seeking to take our place as the dominant world power. It appears to me that the American Left is tolerant of, and in some cases even supportive of, our enemies.

Unless a one-term limit for senators and representatives, further explained in chapter 3, is adopted, there is no hope that our federal legislators will improve our situation. The critical work they are elected to perform on our behalf has become purely political, with ideology and self-interest displacing reasoned, transparent decision-making based on all available evidence. I believe that too many of our senators and representatives see themselves as the central part of what Professor Angelo M. Codevilla describes as the Ruling Class in his essay, The Ruling Class, published in 2010 by Beaufort Books. Codevilla's Ruling Class is a loosely organized group of men, women, and organizations with inflated opinions of their own worth, who believe they should rule the rest of us. With their self-proclaimed superior wisdom, they prescribe how we should act, think, and do business. They take good care of themselves and their allies at the expense of others. Federal legislators with the opportunity for unlimited tenure furnish the legal force for their grand design over the rest of us, the non-ruling class. Given that opportunity and the compulsion of self-interest, few senators and representatives are fit to have a role in determining how our current great struggle unfolds. That is because these members of Congress are primarily interested in being reelected and thus remaining members of Codevilla's Ruling Class. They act to that end, instead of in America's best interests. It is axiomatic that human behavior and the choices humans make are driven by self-interest. No one can legitimately quarrel with that. Citizens will always vote for whom they believe will help them. However, our elected senators and representatives, because of their power and responsibilities, must be held to a different and more elevated standard.

The American people need to become aware of and knowledgeable about the conflict, the issues, and the consequences of a bad outcome. They must make their positions known, taking an active part in the fight. Because America is a republic in which we are represented, for better or worse, by the fellow citizens we elect, it is critical that those we elect be required to act in America's interests, instead of their own.

In the context framed above, let's look at a few things the two sides have done lately.

The Left, which tends to control the Democrats in each house, has since World War II shrunk from the use of force to advance American interests. It seeks to appease or bribe, but not defeat, America's enemies. It has difficulty distinguishing between allies and enemies. For example, in 2009 our government, seemingly to please Russia, which is not our ally, reneged on our commitment to place missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic, both staunch allies of the United States. What possible, legitimate reason could Russia have to oppose strategic measures intended solely to shoot down incoming warheads? If someone pressures you to become defenseless, don't you need to ask why? Iran, an obvious enemy, is well on its way to having nuclear weapons and becoming a dominant hostile power in the Middle East. During the riots in Iran in 2009 protesting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's seemingly rigged reelection, our leaders chose to say and do nothing to support the opposition. Yet in early 2011, when protesters filled the streets of Cairo and other cities of our important ally, Egypt, our government supported the protests and called for President Mubarak to step aside. The Left's (and our current government's) solution to the problem of atomic warheads in Iranian hands rules out force in favor of endless talks and a series of "sanctions" that have been ineffective. In 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as reported on July 23, 2009, in the Wall Street Journal, "caused waves in the Middle East" by publicly stating in Thailand that the United States "could extend a `defense umbrella' to protect its Arab allies if Iran succeeds in developing nuclear weapons." Our leaders seem more interested in imposing debilitating conditions on our democratic ally, Israel, such as pressing it to relinquish control of territory from which hostile forces can then fire rockets at its cities, than in using any means needed to stop our enemy, Iran, from having a nuclear arsenal.

(Continues...)

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