The profoundly good, is also the profoundly productive

Do we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by our nation’s Founding Fathers?

What freedoms do we now have, and for how long? We the citizens of the United States need to demand and ensure the freedoms intended by our Founding Fathers are never stolen from us.

But, do we have the wherewithal and the guts to ensure those freedoms and recover our national morale and our morals as “One Nation Under God,” where once again America is respected in the world and looked to for leadership.

To do all that, we need a great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense, a national rediscovery that we can apply to today’s social, political, economic, and national security environment.

That kind of rediscovery resulted in the Reagan administration. Common sense told us, President Reagan said, that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, he cut tax rates, and people produced more than ever before.

Reagan’s economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our nation’s history: real family income up, the poverty rate down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology.

The U.S. was exporting more than ever, and protectionist walls abroad were knocked down instead of being erected at home.

Common sense, Reagan said, also told us to preserve peace. We had to become strong again after years of weakness and confusion. Through his leadership our defenses were rebuilt, heralding a new global peacefulness.

The lesson Reagan noted, as long as we remember our first principles and believe in ourselves, the future will always be ours.

He said, “Once you begin a great movement, there’s no telling where it will end … (and) the moral way of government is the practical way of government: the profoundly good, is also the profoundly productive.”

Our own U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is a sterling example of what President Reagan evangelized. Congressman Roy’s Freedom Caucus is leading the way forward to that kind of profound productivity in many ways including their upcoming battle within Congress to protect the border and the military, as well as preserve fiscal responsibility.

“It’s time to demand change,” Roy said. “Congress cannot sit around waiting to take action. No, we must fight the out-of-control bureaucracy today. Americans are counting on us.”

The American people have a right to know how their tax dollars are being used, Roy said.

Roy said he joined the House Freedom Caucus “reiterating our commitment to cut funding for the federal bureaucracy to pre-pandemic levels and demanding that any government funding bill address the crisis at our border, stop the weaponization of the Department of Justice, and end the woke indoctrination of our military.”

Government shutdown will be in the news next month. You can bet the caucus will take that sage advice, “You just have to learn to say ‘no.’” Roy is a fabulous example of being profoundly good. He obeyed Reagan’s 11th commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

Roy never got personal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Rather he fought for improved House policies and procedures to facilitate the passage of conservative priorities.

His approach was far different than the demagoguery of others, who often get personal.

That’s important advice for our local political candidates who would take the pedestrian route and slam their opponents rather than describing what they can do or would do to improve our lives.

As he was leaving office, Reagan said, “Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: We the People. We the People tell the government what to do; it doesn’t tell us. Our Constitution is a document in which We the People tell the government what it is allowed to do. We the People are free.”

But do you feel it is working that way in this administration?

We Republicans need to stand for values and principles, superseding loyalty to any individual. Loyalty to our nation, yes; kissing the ring of an individual, no.

Let’s stand up for that code of conduct and demand it.

Art Humphries is a member of the State and Kendall County GOP.