On the recent eve of Independence Day, I asked my 8-year-old son if he knew what made July 4th special. "Not really," he answered. To remedy that, I sat him down and read the Declaration of Independence to him. In so doing, I was struck by how easily so many of the complaints against England's King George could be applied to President Clinton and our current government.

Let's review a few excerpts.

"The History of the present King of Great Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World."

"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." Visualize Clinton's veto pen striking down a balanced budget while his spin doctors successfully laid the blame for the ensuing government shutdown on a vilified GOP. He continually outmaneuvered the Republicans until they agreed to a mockery that "balances" the budget with spending cuts that will never happen, at least not until he leaves office.

The Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) commission was created by Congress to "de-politicize" the base closure process. A merely mortal President would not interfere with such a process, but King Bill is no mere mortal---especially in election years. California and Texas had too many electoral votes to allow a previously respected law to operate. Clinton promised to abort the process and keep their civilian jobs in place.

Clinton vetoed a ban on the heinous practice known as "partial birth abortion" and the Congressional majority was too thin to override his withheld "Assent."

"He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance." Actually, previous Democratic Congresses established this practice. Clinton's contribution was an administration of unelected bureaucrats who buried us with 70,000 new regulations as counted in the Federal Register.

"For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent." Remember the 1992 promises of tax cuts? Most of Clinton's 1993 tax hike remains in place---the impotent GOP leadership trembles in the face of King Bill's propaganda machine.

If we, the People, re-declare our independence from government tyranny and creeping socialism, we should start by insisting on a return to Constitutional government---- a government with limited authority and activity as proscribed in that document. We should insist on the original text and meanings rather than the revised interpretations as shown below.

Article I, Section 1: "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives" who generally delegate said powers to the President and various un-elected bureaucrats. When exercised, however, issued laws are often overruled and replaced with the personal preferences of the federal judiciary.

Article II, Section 1, the President's Oath of Office: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" ---except the parts I dislike, like the 2nd Amendment, the 9th and the 10th Amendments, and any others that might get in my way or harm Medicaid, Medicare, Education or the Environment.

Amendment XVI: "The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration" and without regard for common sense or brevity. The laws shall be constructed with such labyrinthine complexity and ambiguity so as to baffle their enforcers (the IRS) and to enslave citizens and confiscate a third to a half of their incomes.

Independence Day was a reminder of hard-won freedoms----freedoms we slowly forfeit to new tyrants.

Copyright Ó1997 Steve Scroggins - All rights reserved.

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