By Ernesto Cullari | The Save Jersey Blog
The founders of this nation did not know real freedom until they came to the land that would become America. They were born under tyranny. They lived most of their lives under the rule of a monarch and a privileged ruling class. They had to imagine freedom and what true liberty from tyranny would be like.
Many of these men were wealthy, they had security and privilege, but they knew their lives lacked the fundamental traits that all souls yearn for -and that is freedom and equality. They were willing to trade their comfort, their titles, their fortunes and their lives to live and to die liberated people. And so these men and their families warred against England, its king and its oligarchy.
Once victorious they spilled out their once enchained hearts and minds onto the page; through this, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were born. Freedom and justice became manifest among the people, the rule of law was preserved and the moral and legal framework to overturn injustices like slavery and the oppression of women were ingrained throughout every page of our founding documents.
Like our founding fathers, we do not live as free people. Many of us have the benefit of good jobs, comfortable homes, nice cars and growing families. Yet each year it gets harder and harder for our family members and perhaps for ourselves to realize the prosperity once enjoyed by our parents and grandparents. Ours is not a struggle of greed, but rather a struggle of need. And who is the government to say that we are not entitled to keep more of our earnings in order to realize more and more of our dreams and our personal aspirations?
Individual freedom does not exist unless all people are free and social freedom does not exist without economic freedom, just like social opportunities can’t exist without economic opportunities. How can one hope to escape poverty if even the middle class can’t escape the boundaries of the economic bell curve? Meanwhile, an insidious aristocracy grows unbounded by the economic and social struggles of the common citizen. The elite grow rich and powerful, while we grow worried and weary.
In Peter Schweizer’s books, Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of us to Prison, the author details how members of Congress have been growing richer and richer throughout America’s longest recession. At the start of the recession, Schweizer points out that the average American lost 22% of their net worth, while members of Congress saw their wealth grow by 6%. That is an income and wealth disparity of nearly 30%.
If our representatives in Congress aren’t getting rich off of insider trading they are fattening their campaign coffers by fleecing corporations and individuals for contributions. Schweizer writes, “Milker bills are often introduced in the area of taxes, says McChesney. Members of Congress threaten to impose a new tax and then withdraw the bill after campaign contributions flow in. Of course, the contributions were the point in the first place.”” (p. 148).
Closer to home the political aristocracy thrives and the political elite prospers. Democrat Congressman Frank Pallone has amassed nearly $3 million in contributions. Much of his money comes from the medical industry. You might recall the story of Menaflex a product that was at first denied approval by the FDA, but after executives from its parent company ReGen gave over $26,000 in contributions to Lautenberg, Menendez, Rothman and Rep. Frank Pallone the medical device was fast tracked for approval.
More troublesome is that fact that at the height of the recession Congressman Pallone’s wife, Sarah Hospodor Pallone received a high salaried job working for disgraced EPA official Lisa Jackson. It is hard to imagine that Pallone would’ve received such a plush job in the absence political patronage.
Like our forefathers we must imagine and fight for America, even if it means civil disobedience. The left and other factions of the political aristocracy are busy at work dividing up fiefdoms with your liberty and prosperity through gerrymandering and by expanding the power of the federal government to such a point that this government rivals any monarchy on earth. If we are to be free again we must imagine a new America, where Frank Pallone, Bob Menendez, Rush Holt and others among their elitist establishment have real jobs and real worries like the rest of us, instead of the power and privilege for life that they now enjoy.
