Tulsa County GOP State Committee Members

February 2014

Defending Freedoms and Letting Go of the Notion of Constitutional Rights by Joanna

Francisco

A Response to David Boren

by TC Ryan

I am involved in many groups that are educational and activist in nature with an emphasis on pushing back against government encroachments upon our various liberties. As I engage in discussions with people in this effort, I am getting the feeling that a misguided belief has crept into our thinking: If a right or freedom is not expressly listed in our founding documents, it does not exist. We need to understand this foundational concept. Our rights do NOT come from the Constitution nor its first ten Amendments. In addition, our rights as human beings span far beyond those ten enumerated rights. We are endowed BY OUR CREATOR with unalienable rights that are NOT limited to, but include, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is not an issue of semantics. Understanding the origin and limitlessness of our natural rights is essential and we need to get it right when framing the discussion. The Bill of Rights enumerates some important rights. But you also have the right:

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Frdric Bastiat Recently University of Oklahoma President David Boren penned an OPED in which he defended receiving stolen funds taken from Oklahomans through government force and coercion known more commonly as the state income tax. I know, I know; the words may seem harsh, but it is the truth. For those of you who believe that paying taxes is voluntary, try not paying them and see what happens. The Oklahoma state income tax is nothing more than a penalty on work and one in which is in fact counterproductive to the growth of Oklahomas economy and our prosperity as a people. Recently, I attended the Growth and Opportunity Summit in Tulsa which was conducted by OCPA, AFP, and the Tulsa 9.12 Project. One of the speakers, Travis Brown, has created a fantastic chart that shows you the direct impact of higher taxation and the movement of money it creates. Check out www.HowMoneyWalks.com for more info. I understand why Mr. Boren would attack a decrease in taxation, after all his institution directly benefits from the labor of others, and so I was not surprised or upset by him writing the OPED. However, I am growing increasingly annoyed at the continual fear-mongering conducted by those who benefit from big government. Ultimately their rally cry boils down to this, We know better than you the ways in which to spend your money. I believe they are wrong. Big government, with all of its great minds and all of its grand schemes, cannot centrally plan our society into prosperity. It can, however, benefit a few at the expense of the many through continual tax and spend proposals. If Governor Fallin wanted to see real growth and opportunity in Oklahoma, she would have fought to abolish the state income tax all together instead of trying to barely nibble around the corners. Boy, I would love to see Borens face if that were ever to be.
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to travel freely without having to ask permission of the State to purchase weapons and use them for defense to keep and enjoy the fruits of your labor to enter into voluntary agreements with others to consume any food or beverage regardless of its approval status by State agents to ingest, inhale, or cultivate a plant to not have your body touched or seen naked by agents of the State to not be forced by a government entity to be vaccinated to not be forced to attend or fund government institutions to be free from warrantless surveillance including electronic data surveillance
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The proponents of big government will always use the fear of catastrophe to keep you from keeping your money but in reality if entrepreneurs and private industry were able to conduct themselves in a free market, the outcome would be to the benefit of all. Mr. Boren, in his OPED, decried the tax decrease as the downfall of education, roads, and bridges and even suggested that overcrowded prisons are ticking time bombs. This type of fear -mongering has become all too popular for big government advocates to spew, but Mr. Boren went a step further in stating This proposed tax cut is certainly not based on the principle that those who can reasonably contribute more should do so. Have we forgotten what Jesus said about the value of the widow's mite? So now Jesus is an advocate of government theft? I, like Mr. Boren, also believe that Oklahomans are a generous people. I too believe that Oklahomans want the best for their communities and their children. But giving should be just that, a voluntary interaction between two or more people. If Mr. Borens idea of generosity means stealing from Peter to give to Paul, then just how generous is it? I guess where I differ from Mr. Boren is that I believe in the people of Oklahoma enough to know that Oklahomans will and can take care of Oklahomans without the force of the great overseer that is big government or its theft of all. TC Ryan State Committee Republican Party of Tulsa County TC_Ryan@yahoo.com

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to not have data collected and stored about every aspect of your life to build, recreate, plant, farm on your own property as you see fit to fully own your own property (the right not to be forced to pay rent to the State) to use barter and alternative currencies for trade to not fund government expenditures against your will to not fund another persons existence or pay for other peoples poor decisions to be free to accept the consequences of your own actions to be free from other peoples preferred rulers to be free to practice your religion, even if your religion differs from the majority to be free to not practice any religion at all to deposit or withdraw any amount of your own money into your own back account without government scrutiny to not be compelled by law to take safety precautions (seat belt laws, helmet laws) to remain in ones home during a State -declared emergency to retain ones firearms in the case of a State -declared emergency to simply be left alone by ones government

Put your mind to it and I bet you can think of more rights and freedoms. But remember, these are YOUR rights to defend. No agent of the State is going to be compelled by the State to fight for these rights and freedoms on your behalf. Agents of the State represent the State, not you. Stay vigilant and push back. Find like-minded allies and get creative. Do not resort to using the language of the aggressor such as Constitutional Rights or our rights as Americans. Never resort to using its tactics such as the initiation of violence. And be consistent. Everyones natural rights are worth protecting, not only those you personally agree with, but all of them. Foc us on the aggressor rather than your own personal agenda. It is illogical to entrust the protection of your liberties to the entity that relentlessly encroaches upon them. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Yours. Joanna Francisco Tulsa County GOP State Committee Member j2and4@sbcglobal.net

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