Fooled me once, twice, no more! (commentary written for CNB 12/24/2010)

by Nickie Summers

American citizens across this great country are having postmortems over legislation enacted by political officials during the lame duck session of 111th Congress. What happened to the ‘resounding message sent to the White House’ after the midterm elections? What about the ‘shellacking?’ Yes, politics as usual continues. The phrase that comes to my mind “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.” How many times will The People be fooled by political officials who campaign on The Will of the People, but govern to the will of big money and special interest?

Let me introduce you to the Professional Political Core. They are elitists who made politics a professional career and whose careers are funded by special interest money. They are people who entered politics for honorable reasons, or so I want to believe, but over time became addicted to the smell of money and power. They take personal pleasure living large at the expense of taxpayers while dismissing the U.S. Constitution. They view their political career as a means of personal profit verses serving the people. The Professional Political Core is a dangerous species firmly entrenched in U.S. government – a ‘closed’ faction with a hard shell; difficult to penetrate with new ideas and fresh faces.

But enough is enough. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Who had deceived thee so often as thyself?” Americans have trusted politicians for too long. We must accept that we’ve been fooled again, but for the last time. We are in an era of change and it’s The People’s change: eradicate the Professional Political Core that exists today and establish a framework that prevents it from settling comfortably back into our government’s structure.

Since the Tea Party movement, Americans are more engaged in the political process and educated on the U.S. Constitution. They’ve erected a spotlight putting in plain view for all Americans to see the back door dealings and corrupt behaviors in the legislative process. All of this culminating with record numbers of citizens involved in rallies, phone calls, and emails to legislators and the media. But this is not enough to effectively change the political culture in Washington. What more can we do?

A proactive approach is needed to turn the tables back to the days of our Founding Fathers. When and how people served honorably for the purpose of the country, before the culture of the Professional Political Core took over. Three basic ideas can set the framework to restore, enforce, and protect the purity of the elected office:

1. Set term limits for federal lawmakers. Currently there are no set term limits. This opens the special interest financial doors to career seeking politicians and under minds the electoral and legislative process. During the midterms of 2010 we saw this in California, Nevada, and New York among others. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) and several colleagues are proposing a Joint Resolution that would limit service in the Senate to 12 years and service in the House to 6 years. To get details on the resolution go to http://demint.senate.gov/public/_files/TermLimitsForAll.pdf
2. Set reasonable salaries for federal lawmakers. For those who have idle time on their hands, do a little research on the history of congressional salaries…automatic pay raises, no accountability, WOW!! Benjamin Franklin, among other Founders, felt passionately about retaining modest salaries in government and felt that earning any wage at all as a politician could lead to conflicts of interests and corruption. Today the congressional base salary is $174,000. A push is underway to freeze congressional salaries for 2011. I believe that doesn’t go far enough. An analysis of all salaries and associated performance should be reviewed. Also, a resolution to the 27th Amendment with unambiguous language is needed to manage congressional salaries and accountability to The People – like the other amendments do! To get details and history on the 27th Amendment, go to http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11- 27.html
3. Apply equal force of the law to federal lawmakers as it is applied to their constituents. Legislatures exempt themselves from the law and then pontificate their justification! Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York) is the latest politician who violated the law, but received a congressional slap on the hand – a censure. I could walk into any grocery store and find at least one person who is currently being audited and looking down the barrel of a major tax penalty bill and mounting legal fees…no slap on the hand and go ‘on your merry way’ for them! Benjamin Franklin said it best “There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.” We see this over and over again with Democrats, Republicans, public officials, and constituents. No one is exempt from having the freedom of choice to do right or wrong; therefore no one should be exempt from equal application of law. Today, virtue is in the hands of The People and, through their local representatives, they must restore it in Washington. Which brings up the 17th Amendment, but I’ll table that for another day…..

History is wise and teaches us so much if we would just listen. A final quote from Benjamin Franklin – author W. Cleon Skousen set up the quote well in his book The Five Thousand Year Leap:

Franklin fervently hoped this policy [that man would seek public office for honor verse profit] could be perpetuated in America from generation to generation. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he [Franklin] gave a discourse on the need to fix the course of American public service so that it would always attract men of public virtue and repel scoundrels scrambling for a soft job. He [Franklin] said:
“Sir, there are two passions which have a powerful influence in the affairs of men. These are ambitions and avarice; the love of power and the love of money. Separately, each of these has great force in prompting men to action; but when united in view of the same object, they have in many minds the most violent effects. Place before the eyes of such men a post of honor, that shall at the same time be a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it. The vast number of such places it is that renders the British government so tempestuous. The struggles for them are the true source of all those actions which are perpetually dividing the nation, distracting its councils, hurrying it sometimes into fruitless and mischievous wars, and often compelling a submission to dishonorable terms of peace. (Smyth, Writings of Benjamin Franklin)

The 112th Congress brings a sense of hope to American citizens – hope to restore the U.S. Constitution, protection of rights, limited government, and fiscal responsibility. But, the responsibility lies in the hands of The People to be proactive with their state and local representatives creating enforceable legislation that will set new rules and real accountability with federal lawmakers.

Nickie Summers is the creator of Stand Up Be Read™, author of the Children’s Book The 4th of July A Celebration of Independence, and regular contributor on Conservative Network Broadcasting.

http://www.amazon.com/4h-July-Celebration-Independence-Founding/dp/1452066353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288323300&sr=1-1

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-4th-of-July-A-Celebration-of-Independence/Nickie-Summers/e/9781452066356/?itm=3&USRI=nickie+summers

America is a Republic NOT a Democracy! (commentary written for CNB 12/6/2010)

by Nickie Summers

A Rasmussen survey recently reported that out of 1000 likely voters polled nationally, forty-five percent (45%) believe that the Federal Government is working outside the limits of the Constitution. Yet thirty-nine percent (39%) believe they are working inside the limits and seventeen percent (17%) don’t know. These numbers show there is still much work ahead to educate Americans on the Founding Fathers’ ideas behind the Constitution and the boundaries of government. From FDR’s “New Deal” to Bailouts and Obamacare, Americans have been in a slow cooker of progressive socialism, suffocating under the nationalization of charity in the quest to advance Democracy. America is NOT a Democracy!!

In the early 1900’s politicians and special interest groups began integrating the word Democracy into the consciousness of America. They linked the word to so called “charitable” programs designed to serve the betterment of Americans and “Our Democracy.” As a result, the phrase “Our Democracy” replaced “Our Republic” in everyday dialogue. Overtime, the so called charitable programs, all for the sake of Democracy, did nothing more than create a welfare state and put America on the path towards socialism and fiscal destruction. We Learn The Constitution points out that Samuel Adams, Founding Father and among those who signed the Declaration of Independence, said the ideas of a welfare state were made unconstitutional by the Founders – “The utopian schemes of leveling (redistribution of the wealth) and a community of goods (central ownership of all the means of production and distribution) are as visionary and impracticable as those which vest all property in the Crown. (These ideas) are arbitrary, despotic, and, in our government (a Republic), unconstitutional.”* Unfortunately, politics of the early 1900’s saw things differently and began to overhaul and redefine freedom, liberty, and charity under the label of Democracy.

Today it’s common place to hear public officials and/or icons from Obama to Bush and yes, even Palin, refer to America as a Democracy. Every time I hear it, it’s like nails on a chalk board!

Democracy is a form of government in which supreme power lies in an organized body of people where decisions are based on “majority rule” and are binding to the rest of the people. Unlike a Democracy, America is a constitutional Republic, in which supreme power lies in a body of citizens who elect people to represent them. A Democracy, when unchecked, can quickly turn corrupt because its structure has no balance of power, making it possible for tyranny rule under a single political power or organized group; the majority oppresses the minority. A Republic, as designed by the Founders and protected by the Constitution, is the most balanced form of government because it delineates a separation of power (Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branch) and, by the voting power of an engaged electorate, public officials can be replaced – this constitutional framework best avoids an accumulation of power, promotes independence at its core, and best protects individual freedom and liberty.

Around the world we see Democracies in trouble; countries going bankrupt from the financial drain due to excessive welfare programs and corruption. America may be on the same path of destruction. In part due to the systematic plan to govern America from the perspective of a social Democracy instead of a constitutional Republic. First, politicians, schools, and the media perpetuate a culture of corruption and ignorance towards the Constitution. As a result, the line has become blurred between a Republic and a Democracy. Second, powerful unions and special interest organizations created a professional political core from which the “political chosen” are thrust into the spot light regardless of experience and high merit, but solely for the self-serving purpose to accelerate transforming America into a Democracy…on the verge of tyranny. In the day of the Founding Fathers, The People nominated and chose their public officials based on proven experience, constitutional wisdom, and personal virtue. The Tea Party movement brought these principles back into the theater of the electorate and created a shockwave of ‘uh-oh’ among the high power political core. As a consequence, put power back in the hands of The People to restore Our Republic.

Our country is far removed from the Constitutional model set forth by our Founding Fathers and Americans must remain vigilant to 2012 and beyond. Continue to educate the difference between a Republic and a Democracy. Teach the Constitution so the next time likely voters are asked, “Is the Federal Government operating inside the limits of the Constitution?” their answers coincide to an electorate that embodies a Republic instead of a Democracy.

I’ll close with three quotes from James Madison, Founding Father and 4th President of The United States of America:

“Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; have in general been as short in their lives as they are violent in their death.” - Federalist Papers, No. 10, November 22, 1787

“We may define a republic to be… a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during [the people’s] pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior.” – Federalist Papers, No. 39, January, 1788

“It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freeman of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle.” – James Madison “A Memorial and Remonstrance”, 1785

Nickie Summers is the creator of Stand Up Be Read™, author of the Children’s Book The 4th of July A Celebration of Independence, and regular contributor on Conservative Network Broadcasting.

Let Freedom Reign (commentary written for CNB 11/22/2010)

by Nickie Summers

The midterm elections of 2010 are over and We The People sent an overwhelming message to change the course of policy in government. The elections proved to be the highest conservative gain in the House in over 60 years. With that comes a more balanced, constitutional approach towards governing and protecting freedom…or does it?

This week I began research for my next book. While reading quotes from the Founding Fathers it became clear to me that balance is best achieved from two fronts. First, fix Washington D.C. and state governments and second, engage our children in the quest to protect freedom: individual prosperity verses government handouts, self-reliance verses government dependency.

The Founding Fathers often refer to the importance of educating children on the principles of freedom, why our country fought to be free, and the safeguards to remain free. I believe in order to perpetuate the ideas, concepts, and love for freedom as expressed by the Founders, parents and grandparents must educate young children on the founding principles passionately and frequently. If not, the cycle of education will be broken and as a result the ties to our country’s past will be forgotten, rewritten, and freedom will no longer reign.

This brings me to a piece I wrote earlier this year before the historic midterm elections. I share it as part of today’s commentary because it reflects thoughts as an American and a mother facing and preparing for an uncertain future and finding strength through the prism of hope and the resolve of the Constitution:

Saturday, February 20, 2010 – Nickie Summers
Today I spent the morning watching my son practice his golf game, chipping, putting, and driving. The sun was shining and the temperature was 55 degrees…just a beautiful day. While he was playing, he moved out of my view so I decided to pull from my purse my pocket Constitution and I began to read it, again for the umpteenth time. And again, I was awed at the brilliance of our Founding Fathers and, again, dismayed at the profound neglect, absence, manipulation of their words in politics today.

I pondered at how the erosion of the founding principles didn’t happen over night; it’s been a slow, methodical evolution. I began to wonder ‘who is the person today bold enough to be our modern day refounder? Who has the capacity and backbone to lead citizens of the United States of America back to her founding principles, back to the freedoms and liberties declared at her birth? Will it be a mom who looks at her children and decides she is going to jump into the political fight on behalf of her children’s freedom and future? Will it be a dad who lost his job and decided to promote his ideals and lay a new path to fight for the survival of free markets and capitalism? Is it a collection of individuals creating a movement whose force has flustered the mindset of traditional political groups?’

My thoughts drifted back to the present when my son came back into view. From the distance he looked at me with a smile on his face and I smiled back. At that moment I thought deeply on what the future will bring to this beautiful 12 year old boy. What if he chooses to have a family and children? What will their future bring? Will they live in a free country of liberties and rights endowed by God, declared in the Declaration of Independence and protected by the Constitution? Will I be telling stories to my grandchildren about when the United States of America use to be a free country?

Sad to loose freedom having experienced it; sad to never have had it at all! And so that’s it…that’s the key!! We MUST protect what we have. Protect our freedom and demand we return to the principles under which this great nation was founded…it is time for a new birth. Abraham Lincoln led this nation through a new birth in 1863, it can be done again! We The People are in control, We The People are empowered…we can do this; the Constitution is our ammunition…it was written for us to protect us…Read it, know it…be educated…be empowered…be hopeful…

Nickie Summers is the creator of Stand Up Be Read™, author of the Children’s Book The 4th of July A Celebration of Independence, and regular contributor on Conservative Network Broadcasting.

Safeguard America From Tyrants, Teach Our Children Early (commentary written for CNB 11/15/2010)

By: Nickie Summers

John Adams, Founding Father and 2nd President of the United States, in defense of the Constitution said “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.” Other Founding Fathers echoed the same sentiment in order to keep the fire stoked on the flame of the US Constitution and what it represents: a form of government called a Republic that protects liberties and lawfully establishes that government works for and is responsible to the will of America’s people.

It is often said that learning is best absorbed in early childhood. So, the question is ‘how early do we teach children the principles of freedom?’ Having school age children myself, I have come to the conclusion that teaching children the principles of freedom is best introduced before they start formal school; before they become indoctrinated by the liberal assault on history’s truths. Preschoolers are taught lessons from the Bible, the Torah; we teach children second languages and other complex subjects. Why not teach them the principles of freedom that early as well? They are America’s future and should be prepared to lead this county in the lawful constitutional path laid by our Founding Fathers.

Recently I wrote a children storybook on freedom and liberty; straight forward writing and colorful illustrations on the events that led to the legacy of the Founding Fathers. The main characters are America’s colonists, King George III, and the Founding Fathers. They are important to the story because their relationship developed into an opposition of ideas that created distrust. This evolved into a revolt by the colonists that started the Revolutionary War. Led by the Founding Fathers, the colonist were victorious and the result was the birth of the United States of America; a free and independent country governed for and by the will of the people.

The book’s purpose is to help parents and grandparents introduce and educate preschoolers and young children on America’s greatness and exceptionalism before starting formal school.

The inertia of current events and tyrannical elitists are trying to extinguish the flame of freedom and liberty from our children. In an effort to push back people are advancing their knowledge on United States history. Shouldn’t preschoolers and elementary age children be educated as well? It’s time Americans fulfill their legacy for future generations as did our Founding Fathers for us more than 200 years ago. If not, I believe our generation could be the last to experience individual liberties that made it possible for us to pursue happiness to the extent of our own will verses being limited to what the government orders us to.

Read history to your children and grandchildren; read it often and stoke the flame of liberty for future generations.

Nickie Summers is the creator of Stand Up Be Read™, author of the Children’s Book The 4th of July A Celebration of Independence, and regular contributor on Conservative Network Broadcasting.

***To purchase this book for your children, please visit one of the following links…

http://www.amazon.com/4th-July-Celebration-Independence-Founding/dp/1452066353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288323300&sr=1-1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-4th-of-July-A-Celebration-of-Independence/Nickie-Summers/e/9781452066356/?itm=3&USRI=nickie+summers

Americans Take Back America (commentary written for CNB 10/29/2010)

by Nickie Summers

The debate continues on whether national, state, and local politicians advocate a progressive agenda. However, one thing is true, for most American’s the term progressive in the political sense is a relatively new term. The presidential campaign of 2008 put a face on the progressive movement on both sides of the political isle. It became clear that overtime America was taken hostage by corrupt radicals seeking control and power. When did this happen, how did this happen? The answer is complicated, yet basic. The American people took their eye off the political ball and trusting Americans were lead astray by politicians.

Over the last two years, Americans reclaimed their leading roll in the political process; reconnecting and educating themselves on the founding of this great country and the Constitution. In recent months, we’ve seen again and again how everyday Americans know more about the political process than career politicians. Say what you will about the troubles we face in America today, one thing is certain, people from coast to coast are engaged involved and taking back the political reins. America is going through a ‘rebirth’ to quote President Lincoln in 1863 when the United States and the Constitution were tested, but prevailed. America is loved by her citizens and she will be restored and protected; for that there is excitement in the air that is undeniable.

As a child, my parents helped guide me out of problems. They also knew I had to experience failure in order to succeed in the future. History has an uncanny way of guiding and educating nations; showing politicians the path to failure and the path to success. Politicians choose to ignore the truth of history and repeat failing practices over and over. Some people call it ignorance to apply the same failed policies and expect different results. I tend to believe its purposeful; create a crisis to transform. Both beliefs are dangerous and lead to an abyss of destruction.

The midterm elections on November 2, 2010, will prove to be the first step towards stopping the pattern of destruction; apply a tourniquet to massive spending and self-serving decisions made by corrupt career politicians. Put the country back into the hands of the people to restore her for our children and grandchildren.

These are historic times in America. People are exercising their right as United States citizens; expressing themselves peacefully and boldly to set forth our country’s future on the path laid by our Founding Fathers. In the months ahead, I look forward to new political faces, fresh ideas, and a resurgence of conservative values in the framework of policy. More importantly, I look forward to politicians working hard to regain my trust by their lawful governing to the will of the people according to the United States Constitution.

Nickie Summers is the creator of Stand Up Be Read™, author of the Children’s Book The 4th of July A Celebration of Independence, and regular contributor on Conservative Network Broadcasting.