Special Fourth of July Notice:

From the Albuquerque Tea Party of New Mexico

We have all watched in awe as Iranians took to the streets of their nation to protest a corrupt and abusive government. Do we have the courage to stand up to our government and tell them we won't take it anymore?

"The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv'd them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas'd them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. — Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that "if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom." It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event."

--Essay by Samuel Adams, written under the pseudonym "Candidus," in The Boston Gazette (14 October 1771)

Government Health Care is Hazardous to Your Health

On June 25 a town hall meeting was held in Rio Rancho, New Mexico to discuss Obama's health care plan. The meeting opened with a televised study of the Canadian and UK's health care plans. Afterwards, a factual report of the Obama plan was presented. Listening to it, I felt like I was in 1938 Germany listening to someone explaining Nazi proposals to crush everyone under an iron boot.

The Obama plan is a full-scale collectivization of America, of our lives and of our relationship with our government. It is the undiluted destruction of our individual right to life and property, a denial of the right to choose what to buy, from whom to buy it, how much we choose to pay and at what time we choose to pay it.

It proposes to tell doctors and others working in the medical industry what to do, and what to charge, what treatments to offer, and what prescriptions are permitted. It proposes to tell patients who they may have access to, what treatments they may have, how long they must wait for treatment and whether---as in the case of those over 70 years of age---they will be treated at all. On top of all that, it forces earners/producers to pay for what they do not want.

It spreads its fetid breath over every aspect of health care. The result is total control of every citizen's well being and ultimately of every citizen's life. It is not a health care plan. It is the destruction of individual rights and the transformation of our nation into a socialist state. This is the "change" Obama promised. He meant it then. He means it now.

Obama's universal health care plan proposes to force American earners/producers to pay the medical bills for every United States resident, whether a citizen or not. The same idea in principle was tried in New York City many years ago with welfare checks. Every moocher, looter, free-loader, malingerer and other form of parasite dwelling elsewhere, moved to NYC to take the checks that New Yorkers were forced to pay. Within John V. Lindsey's first term, the city was swamped with "migrants" who lived on welfare, cluttering the city's streets, esplanades and parks. With Obama's "medical care for every resident," the result will be the same and very likely considerably worse.

Additionally, the plan requires by law that everyone have health insurance whether they want it or not, making the government the single, sole payer. The single payer concept means there is no alternative the citizen may choose from, there's no way to redress a wrong. There's no way to seek a different opinion, there's no way to select a doctor you feel more comfortable with or a treatment you prefer. Doctors and patients alike will be under the command of government bureaucrats.

Most important the single payer concept effectively eradicates competition and makes health care into a monopoly. In private enterprise, monopoly doesn't exist for very long because competition eventually finds a way to get a foot into the market---by lowering prices, improving products, offering different products. But a government monopoly is enforced by the gun. A government monopoly guarantees ruinous practices, lower quality goods, decreasing competence and efficacy, higher prices and, therefore, higher taxes. The best example of this is the U. S. Postal System.

The self-employed doctor will be effectively eliminated. Those working at health care facilities, clinics, hospitals and other voluntary associations will be government employees. Without any competition to make money in medicine, loaded down with government paperwork and bureaucratic "watch dogs," doctors will not be able to see as many patients as they might like. They will not be able to improve their skills and discover new treatments or develop better, more effective skills. Without competition to make good money, interest in the field will decline and the quality of care will deteriorate while political pull-peddlers will replace skilled medical personnel.

Do not make the mistake of attributing to this health care plan and its sponsors the currently fashionable bromide of "good intentions with unforeseen consequences." There are no good intentions in this bill. The government knows exactly what it's doing. Here's one telling piece of evidence: All members of Congress and all of their staff will be exempt from the plan.

Like the stimulus bill, Congressional representatives have not read the health care bill. They will vote on it without knowing what they are voting on. And like the stimulus package, it is expected to pass. In 2 weeks.

Please call your representatives in Congress and insist they vote against all the government health care plans pending.

ABC Network Corporation & Town Hall Meeting

Following is a communication received this a.m. from the Co-ordinator of the Albuquerque Tea Party.

"ABC is going to the White House on the 24th of June to hold a townhall on health care and has specifically refused any participation by someone with a different point of view (response to Republican National Committee was flat, "Not going to invite anyone to Republican alternative.") To protest the health care reform and that kind of blatant media bias, tell people to show up with a sign at the corner of Carlisle and Comanche in front of KOAT, our local ABC affiliate, at 6 PM on June 24. But tell people to remember that it is ABC Corporate that made this decision, not KOAT, so be respectful and polite and just ask them to "pass it on to Corporate." These "mini-rallies" will be taking place all over the nation.

Pass the word and post where you can. This is NOT an ATP sponsored event as there are many groups working together."

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Sylvia Bokor Comments:
It should not be necessary to point out that a town hall is specifically understood to mean "open to the public to express one's point of view." Of course, as a business enterprise, ABC Network Corporation has a right to invite whom they want. But it's noteworthy that the ABC Corporation refuses participation of those with a different viewpoint:

First, it contradicts the principle of free speech---which one might hope the media would be willing to defend. Evidently not.

Second, it underscores something I'm running into as I help the Albuquerque, NM Tea Party distribute flyers: some businesses are scared of government retaliation to take a position that is contrary to the Administration's socialist polices and programs. Thankfully, however, most small and middle size businesses are showing courage to speak up for their individual rights.

Third, it shows an exceedingly dangerous trend as government becomes more involved in control of communications, nationalizes businesses, tells corporate CEO's what to do, and continues to increase the enormous power of the Treasury---all of which is done without much objection.

Censorship is THE most deadly threat to our freedom. With many in the media presently writing outright lies about the Tea Parties, this latest attack on dissenting viewpoints should galvanize us all to a concerted and renewed effort to peititon the government to limit itself to its proper and only job: the protection of individual rights.

Report on the Albuquerque, NM Tea Party

Last night the Albuquerque Tea Party Organization met in preparation for the July 4th rally. About 60 New Mexican volunteers were present.

The Albuquerque Tea Party leadership is impressive. The men and women are personable and easy to work with. They are affable, dedicated and hard working individuals, objective thinkers who understand the importance of principles and of working toward fundamentals without being way-laid by narrower concerns that often bog down start-up organizations.

The evidence of the ABQ Tea Party leadership's objective thinking is shown by their position paper. For instance,

Mission Statement:
"To preserve the Constitutional Rights of the citizens of the U.S.A., by limiting government; constraining government spending and taxation; and advancing a free market economy."

Core Issues: "
Excessive government spending, taxation, intervention;
Individual's Constitutional Rights;
Free market Economy (Capitalism).

Those interested in the development of tea parties may already know that a vast network of organizations has been and is presently escalating across the nation. The Tea Party Patriots at present seem to dominate most of these and are coordinating a national effort. To this end, most of the Tea Party organizations in cities throughout the nation are now affiliated with the TPP. Some of these affiliates have undertaken various and different kinds of goals. For instance, some of them advocate anti-abortion positions and religious concerns.

The ABQ Tea Party is affiliated with TPP but is more philosophically oriented. This is certainly the better route to take. The way to overturn government excesses is to pound home on the fundamentals of limited government, capitalism and individual rights. Get these; the rest takes care of itself.

The Albuquerque group has a clearly thought out foundation. They are in it for the long haul with their focus presently out to 2012. Primaries are being looked at during "lulls" between Tea Parties to consider candidates best to support and "throw out the bums" as one man said.

A town hall meeting is planned for June 25 to argue against universal health care.

Way to go New Mexico!

Socialism In Action

In the Boston Globe on June 3, 2009, appeared an article by Jeff Jacoby entitled "China's 'socialist road' to misery." It is a harrowing report of the Chinese government's atrocities against her citizens--in particular the hideous persecution of Falun Gong. How can anyone commit such horrors on another human being?

One must remember that the perpetrators of such foul evilness are actions committed not by human beings but by the irrational, the mindless, the sub-human to whom obedience is the only criteria, the only value and the only goal of "the socialist road with Chinese characteristics."

Let us be warned that the United States is not immune from such horrors now that we have allowed socialism to take over this nation. It CAN happen here. But we can change it. We can stop socialism dead in its tracks by voting out of office all those who support to any degree such a vicious doctrine as socialism.

For those interested, the article may be accessed at
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_ opinion/oped/articles/2009/06/03/chinas_socialist_ road_to_misery/

America At A Crossroads

Today's political mix includes liberal and conservative Republicans, and liberal and conservative Democrats. The Republican and Democrat tags no longer accurately identify political doctrine. The designations liberal and conservative have also changed from their original meaning.

Today's liberalism is a perversion of Classical Liberalism, which stressed the essential goodness and rationality of man and his ability to recognize and solve problems, all of which led to systematic improvement in man's life, exemplified by the Enlightenment.

The corruption began in 1848. Karl Marx and Friedich Engels, ignoring the vast improvements the Enlightenment made possible, argued that the state should advance the welfare of individuals. Since the state has no income except by taxing those who produce, those who produce were sentenced to provide for those who did not, violating the rights of producers.

The corruption spread in the 1930s when Roosevelt signed into law the minimum wage, progressive taxation, Social Security and established Fannie Mae to provide low-interest mortgages. Classical Liberalism was dead. Liberalism and the welfare state became one: socialism.

Conservatism originally supported limited government and free enterprise. But it also held that political, social and religious institutions represented ageless wisdom and that the source of individual rights were "gifts from God," not man's nature. Rights, therefore, were considered privileges meted out in obedience to God.

The communist victory in Russia disarmed conservatives. They recognized that their own views did not contradict communism. Politically "You are your brother's keeper" was collectivism. Seeking to disassociate themselves from communism, conservative patriotism devolved into "my country right or wrong." By 2008, John McCain solidified this view explicitly with the campaign slogan "Country First," stressing duty and placing the group above the individual: nationalism.

In the decades following World War II, liberal and conservative doctrine continued to draw closer. Both attempted to defend the nation against communism using questionable methods. During the 1950s, conservatives used abrasive, sometimes intrusive investigative methods. In the 1960s liberals attempted to assassinate a communist head of state.

During his inauguration speech John F. Kennedy, sounded the conservatives nationalist theme scolding Americans to "Ask what you can do for your country," then in his liberal role doubled the number of government regulatory agencies. Two decades later, conservative Ronald Reagan continued Kennedy's big government policies and signed Affirmative Action into law, violating the rights of businessmen by telling them whom to hire.

In 1965, liberal Lyndon Johnson established Medicare and Medicaid, violating the rights of doctors, the medical profession and those requiring its services. In 2003 conservative George W. Bush violated another large segment of the medical profession with the Prescription Drug Act.

By such actions as these and many, many more, conservatism and liberalism merged to become nationalist-socialism, hardly distinguishable from each other in their violations of individual rights.

Nationalist-socialism is fascism, a form of collectivism that shuns individual rights and the division of political power, leading to dictatorship. Fascism is government ownership of the means of production, with private enterprise ordered to do the work and take responsibility for it.

In 1970, Lyndon Johnson re-structured Fannie Mae, then added Freddie Mac, exempting both from taxation and oversight. Currently, Freddie and Fannie Mae---i.e. the government---control 90 percent of the nation's secondary mortgage market. Today, a government-created financial crisis is blamed on "greedy" businessmen and "capitalism," while the government orders CEOs to resign and to conceal vital information from shareholders.

Liberals claim they are not socialist. They merely want to force rich people to feed poor people. But individual rights determined by other people's wishes are not rights.

Conservatives claim they are not theocratic nationalists. They merely want to force people to do their duty to church and state. But rights dictated according to a group's desires are not rights.

Liberals claim they do not seek to violate individual rights---except when the violation is for a cause they deem "good," such as forcing men to practice socialized medicine. But rights restricted by some people's needs are not rights.

Conservatives claim they do not seek to violate individual rights---except when the violation is for a cause they consider morally sound, such as forcing women to have children they do not want. But rights predicated on the assumption of women's inferior status to force them into unchosen actions are not rights.

"A right is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man's freedom of action in a social context." [Ayn Rand, "Man's Rights"] To claim that a moral principle is at the mercy of another's wish is blasphemous. Rights do not include the "right" to violate another's rights---no matter what the need, wish, demand, or assumption.

America has been pushed toward a cross roads where she must choose between force and freedom, between government edict and individual rights. If we choose freedom and rights then we must dismantle the welfare state and abjure fascism. In place of the welfare state we must establish genuine free enterprise for once---Laissez-faire capitalism---which means protection of individual rights and limited government. Nothing short of this will free us. Nothing more than this is worth fighting for.
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Suggested Reading:
Ayn Rand, Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal
Ayn Rand, Philosophy: Who Needs It
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged