November 19,
2010
GUEST EDITORIAL
Hold
our elected officials accountable
By OVIDE LAMONTAGNE |
"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed that
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to
abolish it..." - The Declaration of
Independence
This
month, citizens throughout the United States and here in
New Hampshire exercised their inalienable right to alter
the current form of government. In a historic
election on Nov. 2, citizens altered government by
transferring responsibility from one party to
another. Republican candidates, who campaigned successfully
on conservative principles, must now be committed to
deliver on their promises. It is the civic duty of
the citizens, however, to see that they do so.
The deeply rooted desire for fundamental, conservative
reform expressed on Nov. 2 arose because the people have
awakened to the reality that we are a state and a nation
in crisis.
Nationally, we are in crisis because "we the
people" let our guard down and too often sat idly
while watching the growth of an ever-encroaching federal
government usurp power in areas of domestic and foreign
policy well beyond the four corners of the
Constitution. The metastasizing Washington power
grab, which occurred under both parties, is precisely
what led to unsustainable deficit spending and a
crushing national debt against which the people have revolted.
In New Hampshire, we are in crisis due to years of
outrageous spending increases funded by dozens of
harmful new taxes and fees on families and entrepreneurs.
Accounting gimmicks, federal "stimulus" money,
an LLC tax, one-time or highly speculative funding
sources and unconstitutional money grabs like the one on
the Joint Underwriting Association cannot mask the
severe budget crisis we face in the next biennium.
Whether in Washington or in Concord, it is time for
sustained, principled conservative leadership with the
backbone to take on these difficult challenges directly.
Fortunately, there is reason for optimism with the
clarion call for reform expressed on Nov. 2.
Nationally and in New Hampshire, we have elected new
conservative leaders who appear ready to take on this
generation's challenges. It is now incumbent on
the people who are the sovereign in our republic to
become ever-vigilant citizen activists and hold elected
officials accountable to serve faithfully within the
guidelines of the Constitution and to represent us as
servants, not as rulers.
The price of freedom must be paid by each and every
American who, while endowed by his or her Creator with
the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness, has consented only to be governed within
the framework of a constitutional republic. The
people must remain vigilant and demand that elected
officials honor their conservative pledges by delivering
the structural and policy changes to our state and
federal government that we demand.
I intend to do my part to ensure that the pledges taken
by conservatives over the past year are honored and that
the will of the people is honored. Tea Party
activists, 9-12 organizers and citizens throughout our
state need to challenge government officials at every
level to assure that the constitutional charters from
which they derive their powers limit their reach and
preserve our freedoms.
We need to demand an open and fair government - one free
of corruption and undue influence from special
interests. We must insist upon transparency and
procedural integrity. No more Cornhusker
Kickbacks, no more JUA takings and no more campground or
LLC taxes snuck into the budget in the middle of the
night without a hearing. Together, we will insist
upon accountability as well as substantive
performance. The hard work begins now to assure
there is a reversal of course in America and in New
Hampshire now and through the 2012 and 2014 election
cycles.
Together, let us take a "Granite Oath" to our
friends, neighbors and families to rededicate ourselves
to the authentic American and uniquely Granite State
"can-do" spirit of rugged individualism,
personal liberty and freedom.
Nov. 2 was not the last chapter of the "second
American revolution." If we remain faithful
to the underpinnings of the constitutional renaissance
and awakening we are experiencing throughout our
country, we can be assured that this year's election
results are not the end of the story, but just the
preamble to a multi-chaptered book whose end should
never be written.
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