Tag Archives: Government

Thought For the Day: Citizens Must Keep Government From Error

“It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.” —Justice Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) If nothing else this … Continue reading →

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First Principles: The Accumulation of Power Into Few Hands Leads To Tyranny

“The accumulation of all powers … in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” —James Madison (1788) in Federalist Paper, No. 47 This … Continue reading →

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First Principles: An Energetic Executive Branch Is Good for the Country

“Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the … Continue reading →

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First Principles – A Republic Must Guard Against Undue Foreign Influence

“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.”   – George Washington … Continue reading →

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First Principles: Trust No Living Man With the Power to Endanger Liberty

“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.”  – John Adams, in an Oration at Braintree (Spring, 1772)     … Continue reading →

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Thought For the Day: The Loudest Voices For the Alleged Public Welfare Are Not Always The Truest

“It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797)            

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First Principles: Government Branches Should Be Balanced To Protect Our Security

“The true principle of government is this – make the system compleat in its structure; give a perfect proportion and balance to its parts; and the powers you give it will never affect your security.” — Alexander Hamilton, Remarks in … Continue reading →

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First Principles: Our Liberties Are Secured As A Gift From God, Not Government

“God who gave us life gave us Liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that … Continue reading →

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First Principles: All Governments Eventually Go Back To Their First Principles

“There is not in the whole science of politics a more solid or a more important maxim than this — that of all governments, those are the best, which, by the natural effect of their constitutions, are frequently renewed or … Continue reading →

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First Principles: True Liberty Cannot Exist Without Restraint On the Violent

“Liberty is not to be enjoyed, indeed it cannot exist, without the habits of just subordination; it consists, not so much in removing all restraint from the orderly, as in imposing it on the violent.” — Fisher Ames (1801) The … Continue reading →

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