Liberty

Our founding fathers did not just stumble upon the idea of our form of government. They carefully studied various forms of government throughout history in search of the best ideas. They came to realize that there must be a balance of powers coupled with a live-and-let-live attitude. On the one hand, they knew that if each state declared itself independent, they would not be able to defend themselves from external threats. On the other hand, they knew that it would be impossible to bring all of these states together if the central government defined all of the rules. Clearly, they did not get everything right; they knew their own limitations, and that's why they allowed for the amendment process. Nonetheless, I believe we can solve many of our problems by returning to the Constitutional limitations on government.

In short, the primary role of the federal government is and should be the protection of individual liberty - not the provision of individual entitlements. This requires the federal government to be responsible for national defense. It also requires freedom for all people, something that our founding fathers failed to achieve in their lifetimes, but that we have since corrected. Most of the enumerated powers defined for the federal government relate directly to this role. The additional powers are mainly designed to provide a common framework for the easy movement of people and goods (also a requirement of true liberty).

Unfortunately, our federal government has grabbed more and more power. As a result, virtually every industry is affected by federal regulations. This results in increased campaign contributions as corporations and individuals attempt to have their opinions considered when the federal government decides a single law to affect all people. This has happened as the population of the U.S. has expanded, meaning that the individual feels less and less connected to their representative.

The solution is to restore the founding fathers' idea of a federal government. Most issues should be left to the individual state or local governments. If a person dislikes the particular mixture of laws in a given locale, they are free to move to another locale within the U.S. without any barriers. This is the essence of true liberty: the ability of the individual to choose the set of laws that they live under.