Tennessee

The War at Home While brave men and women fight overseas for our American way of life, we have a war raging at home that many Americans are just waking up to. Some try to label this war Right versus Left, or Republican versus Democrat, but those are smoke screens for the real battle – Statism versus Individual Liberty. It’s time we get down to the crux of the disagreement – do you believe you know best how to run your life or do you believe that the government knows best how to run your life?

Let’s look at a couple of battles in this war.

HEALTHCARE

Our current system has never operated under free market capitalism. Statism won this battle from the start. Since the first health insurance program was conceived by Blue Cross in the 1920’s, government has been involved in subsidizing and controlling how health insurance is offered. Since that time, there has been increasing government intrusion in the health care industry to the point that in 2010, the government has effectively taken over the industry. The “Individual Liberty” option never had a chance, even though we have seen Statism tried and failed in Europe. Universal health care is bankrupting Europe while providing inferior service.

So, what would the “Individual Liberty” option look like as applied to health care? 1. Competition amongst insurance companies, including the ability to buy health insurance over state lines (the original intent of the Commerce Clause), which would be an incentive to lower the cost of coverage. 2. Owning your own insurance versus employer-paid insurance. Which means you don’t lose insurance if you lose your job. 3. Choice on scope of coverage just like in your auto or home insurance, you don’t pay for the coverage of expenses your lifestyle doesn’t require. Repealing the laws that prevent these 3 changes would deal with most of the problems in today’s health care chaos.

BAILOUTS

Here again, we have tried the Statism approach of the Federal government making the decision for all of us that certain business were “too big to fail”. The bailouts didn’t achieve their stated goals and arguably made the problems worse. GM claims they paid off their loan but, in reality, they just borrowed more money from you and me to pay off what they already owed you and me. TARP (for which Congressman Wamp and other Republicans voted yes) transferred billions of dollars from taxpayers to a select few bank executives to do with what they willed with essentially no strings attached. Has credit been freed up? Have you been able to get a better mortgage or business loan?

Now let’s look at the “Individual Liberty” approach. GM made a series of poor decisions that led them into bankruptcy. GM would argue that the government is to blame as there were so many regulations to comply with. They are right, in part, there are too many regulations that make doing business in the US very difficult, and that should be changed. However, other car companies are surviving even this economy. The Liberty approach would have let GM fail; we wouldn’t be out the billions of dollars we gave them, other companies would have bought up GM’s assets and put them back to use and employed the laid off workers. Same story for the failed banks. The bailouts have actually prolonged the recession by preventing this natural recovery process.

These are just two of the many examples of Statism making problems worse instead of solving them, so why this battle against Individual Liberty? It’s simple. Statism empowers those in government, typically by appealing to the busybodies that want to “help” others with taxpayer money. They convince voters of their concern for the “environment” or for “the children” or for “the less privileged” and that they know what to do about it.

The battle between Statism and Individual Liberty rages on now more than ever because the Statists aren’t willing to give up the power that they have accumulated, and because the busybodies aren’t willing to give up the baseless notion that they can solve all our problems for us. Americans are finally waking up to this war at home. The economic collapse in Europe and repeated failures of socialistic countries give us stark examples of how Statism turns out. The question for voters this 2010 election will be this: do you recognize what’s really going on? Will you pick Liberty or Statism?

Van Irion, Candidate for Congress, Tennessee District 3

www.van4congress.org

During the 9/12 march in DC I saw a sign held by an old man wearing an army uniform. It said “I didn’t serve 25 years for Socialism!” For 234 years Americans have fought and died to defend the American way of life. They fought for freedom. They fought for the right to keep what you earn. They fought for the right to make decisions for themselves. They even fought for the right to live with the consequences of their own bad decisions. These are the ideas that made America great. These are the ideals that we fight and die to defend.

On Memorial day we honor those that have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of America. Most of those heroes died far from home in lonely places. Many left children at home that they never got to see grow up. All gave up precious days on Earth. They gave up the only life God granted to them.

Such sacrifices cannot be forgotten. We must remember their sacrifice, but we must also remember the reason they sacrificed. Their gift to us is freedom. But it isn’t ours to use up and throw away. It belongs to our children, and our children’s children. Our fallen heroes died to preserve the American way of life for all generations that would follow them. They knew that if freedom is lost, it may never be regained. That is why they were willing to give everything they had to defend the ideals that made America. Those of us left behind must defend the way of life that our fallen heroes gave so much to preserve.

The American way of life is about to be lost, not to a foreign invader, but to our own tyrannical Federal Government. We have let our own government ignore the Constitution and because of that, we’re losing our freedom. Government taxation to fund entitlement programs is Socialism. Socialism is not freedom. It’s the opposite of freedom. Governmental control of corporations is not freedom. It is Nazism. These are the evils that our fallen heroes fought against for most of the twentieth century. Yet we’re now electing politicians that ignore our Constitution, and ignore the sacrifice of those that died to protect freedom. We must stop this abomination and return to our founding ideals.

Please remember our fallen heroes. But more importantly, please remember why they were willing to die. They gave us a gift that we must now fight to recover for our children. Please fight to prevent our own government from destroying the American way of life.

Van Irion, Air Force Veteran, Constitutionalist, and Congressional Candidate, TN03

I believe in the principles and ideas first set forth by our founding fathers. The genius of the men who bravely defied England to establish our country is best illustrated by the Declaration of Independence and Constitution they drafted so many years ago. Our Constitution has stood the test of time and remains the keystone of our form of government. 

When I read the Mount Vernon Statement, drafted by conservative leaders, I recognized immediately that it reflected my beliefs and principles and that it was a document I would proudly sign. So I have done exactly that. 

The authors of the Mount Vernon Statement wrote, "We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding Fathers. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government."

I agree completely with the Mount Vernon Statement and believe strongly that most of America's problems can be solved today by following the principles and ideas of the men who founded our country. We must move in the right direction – back to the principles first set forth in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. 

I believe in constitutional conservatism that follows the principles set forth in the Mount Vernon Statement:

• It applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law
• It honors individual liberty
• It encourages free enterprise, individual entrepreneurs and economic reforms
• It supports America's national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world
• It informs conservatism's firm defense of family, neighborhood, community and faith.

To learn more, please visit: www.chuckforcongress.com

Follow me on Twitter: @chuck4congress

As long as I live I will never forget being a part of the movement to kill the income tax when it was being proposed a decade ago here in Tennessee. So many Conservatives from across the state came together to tell our Governor, and our legislature, that an income tax was not what this state needed. We understood that lower taxes equal a more prosperous people, and an income tax would have placed a heavy burden on us – and we knew it needed to be stopped. It was a great day for our state when the idea was finally rejected and the voices for low taxation had won the day.

When I go to Congress I promise to continue to fight for lower taxes, less government regulation, and less government spending. The projected federal deficit is almost $1 trillion annually over the next ten years. We must work to reduce spending and make permanent budget cuts. $20 billion in earmarks is unacceptable. $55 billion in overpayments to federal programs must end. And the fact that discretionary spending has increased 74% faster than inflation since 2001 is unconscionable. President Obama’s miniscule spending freeze over the next decade does not come close to solving the problem. Real action must be taken.

It is imperative that we overhaul our current tax system in order to reduce the amount of red tape and money that is spent and lost due to an overly complicated tax system. I am a strong proponent of looking at moving to a system such as the Fair Tax that would do all of those things.

I will also continue to fight against a government takeover of health care, and fight for reform that truly works for the people. As I have been saying since day 1 of this campaign, we need tort reform, Health Savings Accounts, and portability of health insurance. All of these reforms will lower costs and allow the free market to do what it does best. We cannot allow the federal government to turn our health care system into a waiting line at the DMV.

Finally, I promise that special interest groups in Washington will not find an open door in my congressional office. I have fought for Conservative values all my life because I know those are what work best for us, the people. I fought against the income tax because it was going to hurt the citizens of Tennessee. Having owned a small business for the last 23 years, I know how to balance a budget, create jobs, and what policies work best for everyday Americans. I will always fight for the Conservative policies that help everyday Americans – not politicos, party bosses, and special interest groups in Washington.

To learn more, please visit: www.chuckforcongress.com

Follow me on Twitter: @chuck4congress

As I listened to the President speak about the problems facing our nation and how he intends to solve them I heard one phrase repeated over and over again - more government. I wondered why the President isn't listening to the American people. They don't want the government involved in every part of their life. They don't trust Washington to solve their problems any longer. The President has learned nothing from his failures over the last 12 months.

A year ago he delivered a speech to Congress regarding health care, education, and a stimulus package for the economy. Yet tonight he was again talking about health care, education, and a stimulus package for the economy that he is now calling a jobs package. After the American people rejected his health care proposal(s) and after his stimulus package was a failure in keeping the unemployment rate under 8%, he is still talking about health care legislation and spending billions of more dollars on government created jobs. The President, and the liberal leadership in Washington, just doesn't get it.

The American people do not want a closed door health care deal that involve billions of dollars in bribes for individual states and does not bring about true reform. Instead of a government run system, we need tort reform, access to purchase health insurance across state lines, and Health Care Savings Accounts.

While his proposal for a spending freeze is laudable, it does not go far enough. His spending freeze would save $250 billion over ten years, but our current monthly deficit is close to $200 billion. What we need are major, permanent cuts in our spending. The bloated bubble that is the federal deficit needs to be popped.

The President was again tonight on top of his oratorical game; however his substance was lacking and not what the American people are wanting. The President must learn that the people of this country need less of the government on their backs. When I go to Congress I will fight every day to make sure the American people are as free as possible to use their own ingenuity, because we are the ones that know best – not the party bosses in Washington.

To learn more, please visit: www.chuckforcongress.com

Follow me on Twitter: @chuck4congress

Thirty-seven years ago the United States Supreme Court, in a display of judicial activism and constitutional revisionism at its worst, handed down the ruling in Roe v. Wade that made abortion, for any reason, legal. Since this decision, 52 million unborn children have had their lives taken from them, and the number grows each day.

Not only is it important for Roe v. Wade, and other rulings such as Planned Parenthood v. Casey, to be overturned, but it is also important that we work to discourage mothers from having abortions. I support the advocacy that crisis pregnancy centers are involved in which provides counseling to expectant mothers and provides options to them other than abortion. I support many different pieces of pro-life legislation, such as a mother who is considering an abortion being given the opportunity to have an ultrasound, that are helping lower the number of abortions taking place in this country.

The respect and value of human life, at all stages, is the defining difference between a civilized society and an uncivilized society. It is imperative that those of us who have a voice and a vote take a stand for the millions of unborn children who do not have a voice or a vote. While we are saddened by the law and precedent set by the court almost forty years ago, we take heart in the great work that has been done since then to stop abortion and stand for the sanctity of each and every human life. The work has been made possible by people like Norma McCorvey, who was the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, but is now a part of the pro-life cause and supports making abortion illegal.

It will take Americans from all walks of life coming together to make sure this horrendous practice is no longer a commonality in or society. This is not simply a religious issue, this is a humanity issue. We can not sit idly by why the most liberal in this country allow children to have their lives taken from them. We must stand up for the voiceless and continue the work that has begun.

To learn more, please visit: www.chuckforcongress.com

Follow me on Twitter: @chuck4congress

Today I signed the Club for Growth's pledge "to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government."

It is imperative that we stop the passage of a government takeover of health care. However, if this legislation does pass, we must repeal it when we take back Congress in November. So I am writing today to encourage you to sign the citizen pledge in order that your voice may be heard so we can fight this takeover together – and repeal the legislation if necessary.

We need true health care reform; this means allowing the purchase of health care insurance across state lines in order to create more competition within the market, permitting individual Americans to create Health Savings Accounts, and bringing about tort reform in order to lower medical costs. Please join with me and sign the pledge, because together we can win this fight.

To learn more, please go to: www.chuckforcongress.com 

Follow me on Twitter: @chuck4congress

My campaign announced today that we have raised over $520,000, and had over $450,000 in the bank, as of the end of 2009.

I continue to be humbled by the support I am receiving from all across East Tennessee. Even though I started this race with virtually no name recognition and without ever having held political office, I’ve worked non stop these past few months to meet and talk with the people of the 3rd District and they are responding positively to my message of less government and lower taxes. I am honored by their overwhelming support of my campaign efforts both through volunteer hours and their hard earned dollars.

Chip Saltsman, my chief strategist and former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee, said, “This proves that Chuck has more than enough resources and backing to run and win this campaign. We are excited to see all of the support he is receiving from across the 3rd District, and look forward to a victory in November.”

Whether it is in Oak Ridge or in Chattanooga, voters know that I will go to Washington and put a stop to the out of control spending, and expansion of government, that has become so popular with a Democrat President and Democrat Congress. My campaign will continue to work hard to earn more support from across the District so that the principals of fiscal and moral responsibility will have a voice in Washington come this November.

To learn more, please visit: www.chuckforcongress.com

Follow  me on Twitter: @chuck4congress 

The President promised on 8 different occassions to have the health care negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN, and now that push has come to shove he isn't actually interested in following through on those promises. Once again he has proven that he is only interested in talking about change. He just doesn't get it.

We can't count on the media to hold him accountable, and that is why I need your help in sending me to Congress so I can bring conservatism, true reform, and accountability to Washington.

For more information, please visit: www.chuckforcongress.com

Follow me on Twitter: @chuck4congress

The right has lost its way and a lot of people are starting to recognize this.  Books are being written (The Death of Conservatism, Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party, etc.)  Here are my thougths on what is wrong and what needs to be done about it.

Discredit those who are not helpful

Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, etc. have said a lot of downright crazy and dumb things (people with AIDS should be quarantined, etc.)  and are far too tied to Christianity.  They should be called out for that and pushed to the side so that true leaders on the right can rise to the top and give the right a real chance at regaining credibility and the minds of those who are undecided or in the center.  Those who espose hate, and anger should also be discredited and pushed to the side (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc.).  It is long past time for Conservative talk radio to become more academic, constructive, and hopeful sounding, and cater to the best in us (love, hope, unity, civics, etc.), rather than the worst (fear, anger, race, etc.).

Stop catering to the Christian right

Christianity has nothing to do with conservative ideas and theory on money, foreign policy, etc.  There is also supposed to be a strong seperation of church and state.  Our country was formed partially for freedom of religion, and if our government is run by someone who wants to impose their religion through laws and perspective, then we lose that.  In addition, America is not a Christian nation; though nearly 80% are Christian, there is still another 20% that are not.

Stop simply opposing every idea President Obama has and propose alternative solutions

The right has really been a thorn in our Presidents side instead of working with him to solve the problems in America.  The way to gain credibility and get some conservative ideas into law is to honestly work with the left to create good policy, and also proactively propose laws to solve some of our problems before the left takes up the problem.

Stop supporting causes that have nothing to do with Conservative ideology

The right should disassociate itself with such issues as abortion, and other things that are outside of the ideas of conservatism.  Abortion is an issue thats argument against it is primarily based in religion.  The same applies to marriage equality for gays; the argument against it can only be made from a religious standpoint.  Because of this, and because no party should be tied to any religion, just as our government should not be tied to any religion, the right as a whole and Republicans as a party should disassociate theirselves with abortion and start supporting equal rights for gays.  These two issues alone keep some of those in the center and on the left from ever supporting a Republican candidate.  It might cause a lot of those on the Christian right to be upset, but then they can choose the party that best conforms to what their idea of government should do on all other issues, or form a new 3rd party that is tightly tied to Christianity.

Stop being inconsistent

Right now many on the right are opposing government run health care on the idea that even though it may save a lot of lives, it isn't proper for the government or taxpayers to help others.  Yet, many of those same people are in support of the war in Iraq to give people in another country freedom and save their lives.  Why should we spend taxpayer dollars to police the world yet not spend taxpayer dollars to save those within our own borders?  Either we shouldn't spend money to help others, or we should and if we should then we should definitely want to help those within our own borders before those who are not within our borders.

Stop being hawks

The right has become a group of hawks and this is contrary to conservative ideas on foreign policy.  Conservative ideas on foreign policy are as spelled out by the Cato Institute:

Cato's foreign policy vision is guided by the idea of our national defense and security strategy being appropriate for a constitutional republic, not an empire. Cato's foreign policy scholars question the presumption that an interventionist foreign policy enhances the security of Americans in the post-Cold War world, and maintain instead that interventionism has consequences, including the formation of countervailing alliances, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and even terrorism. The use of U.S. military force should be limited to those occasions when the territorial integrity, national sovereignty, or liberty of the United States is at risk.

Conservatives need to re-embrace those ideas.  They are the ideas that our nations founders had in mind, and they are the ideas that are the most ethical and that might also allow some on the left to consider the rest of our ideas.

Have a well thought out income tax policy

There either should not be an income tax as Libertarians would like, or there should be an income tax that works to support Conservative values.  A tax that is progressive helps strengthen families at the lower incomes and therefore helps literacy rates, etc. which helps to preserve conservative values of strong families, an educated populace, etc.  Right now the government has taken on far too much responsibility and therefore spends too much and our national debt is growing because of it.  It is time to start cutting back on spending, but at the same time increasing revenue and the only realistic way to increase revenue is through a progressive income tax because those in the middle and lower class cannot support any higher tax burden.

Start supporting alternative energy and embrace that global warming is real and might be caused by us

The science is in, global warming is real and it is probably caused by our actions (and can we afford to gamble that it is not?).  Most of the oil that is easily available is in countries with citizens that do not like us.  Because of these two things, it is long past time to start looking into energy sources that do not emit CO2, and that do not require us to work with countries that are not friendly to us.

Stop catering to Israel

We give far too much money and support to Israel and it hurts our credibilty around the world and doesn't help to reduce the hatred towards us in the Muslim world.  It is time to treat Israel as we would any other country that is a friend and ally of ours.  We should work with them, and be friends with them, but we should point out when they are doing something that works against peace in the middle east and use our monetary aid as a tool to help control their actions rather than blindly supporting them at all times.

Start rethinking drug policy

The war on drugs does not work, and will never work so long as it is punitive rather than based in medicine.  It only makes organized crime stronger, and leads to a larger role of government and often leads to violations of our constitutional rights.  The punitive war on drugs was originally based on racism, and is now based in morality that is derived from religion.  For these reasons, it is time for the federal government to take a non punitive role and start considering policy that would put organized crime out of business, make drug use safer and less damaging to society, and help those who are ready to reform their lives through cessation of drug abuse.