Wily is correct. Armery just fails to understand that Wily. The state of our government and our debt etcetera is the way that we have decided it should be. When we decide to raise taxes and pay our debt then we will do so. As long as we have guys like Armey, Tea Partiers etcetera WE will be in the same perdicament. I suggest to Wily and any other intelligent folk to join me in a new party I call the Koffee Klatch. This is not a tea sipping buch of wimps but realistic people who will face truth and stand up for an economy of correct taxation and spending as responsible people. You can reach me at mroybruce@msn.com.

Archer above proves his imbecility. He knows nothing about me or me, my background, my education or experiences. But that is no different than all of the other stuff he doesn't know but chooses to pontificate on. In fact there is an inverse ratio between the amount he knows and the amout he pontificates.

If you google "invention of the word capitalism" you might learn something maybe even Ron Paul. The Oxford English Dictionary says it was first used in an 1853 novel. Of course Marx popularized its use as a description of a system that was superior to feudalism. No where is it written of as the whereall and end all of economic thought. Adam Smith considered the consumer to be the most important element and the moving force of the "invisible arm" of economics so maybe "Consumerism" should be the thing we glorify or some may think that "Laborism" should be our economic mantra. All mantras however and especially "Capitalism" destroys thinking and Ron Paul a physician should know better. Our greatest "capitalist" partner is a "communist" nation; that being China. So go figure about words, hey!

Michael since Adams and apparently others had that attitude before Wall Street Reform, before TV, computers, etcetera means that that this optirectimitis attitutde has nothing to do with what is going on in todays world. It is a pshychological mind set. It is a beautiful day today where I live and we here have faith, faith in the future because we know that as Americans we have always solved our poblems and made thing better. And faith that we can keep doing it.

I given a three because he overstates his case. We all know this is not capitalism. I was told in 8th or 9th grade that this is "state capitalism" and that was in 1957. We don't want capitalism. We want to be in control of our towns, villages, evironment etcetera. That we should have no voice over our lives, politics, environment etcetera and be beholden to corporations and money is anathema to everything that the Revolution of 1776 was about. Hopefully this is the last jerk to be quorted for awhile. In none of our political documents to my knowledge does it say that this nation is or must be capitalist. That a guy like Ron has to write a book or give a speech to adults about such a simple fact as "this is not capitalism" when I learned it in 8th grade is sad indeed. Read about Capitalism in the books of Charles Dickens and in the motives of the employers of illegal aliens in this country. Those are the true capitlaists, and they should be takein out and ....

I meant shave in my last sentence above.

McFadden was a backwoods no accout. The kind of guy who goes to a city and is shocked to find buildings over three stories high. No wonder he could not relate to something like the Federal Reserve. The quotes today are all by jerks. Shave on liberty-tree for "airing" such trash.

All the quotes today are by jerks. The IRS employs approx 90,000 of your neighbors and fellow citizens. Some stay for a few years, some stay for a life time. The best way to sell a book and make a nice profit is to attack the IRS. That is what this no account guy did. That is why he is a jerk. And those he read and suck up to these book writers are saps.

The wall of taxes need to be increased for "rich", "middle" and "poor" alike. Senator Saxby Chambliss darling of the republicans made a speech several Saturdays ago saying. "Our children and grandchildren are going to have to pay higher taxes." What he failed to continue to say is "because we are not paying enough". When you fight wars you must pay for them, we have not done so. If the Feds folded shop today they (that is WE) still have a 13 trillion dollar debt. Honest politicians cannot get elected because Americans will not stand up, be responsible and DEMAND HIGHER taxes.

While interesting sounding is it not amazing that we have continued along for over 200 hundred years since he wrote this. And of what time or period was he talking, his current late 1700's or of some earlier society be it in the colonies or Europe. He is correct in that all things like commerce between men and relationships between people and governments be they local, state, national or elsewhere need constant vigilance, audits, controls, and regualations. His overall dismal attitude is unfounded and untrue. Human beings have abided their institutions before, during and after Adams wrote this and will contiue to do so but maybe now with Wall Street reform etcetera we can come off of the Cheney -Bush debacle of the last 8 years. The expression of racism like Davids above currently entering the public political debate is breathtaking and scary. What has triggered this current BS. For folk to blame each and every perceived problem on a minority 12.5% population is scary indeed. Davids handle Ben-Ariel sounds Jewish or Semitic. Anyway I pray that public opinon and rational public discourse can rise above this kind of BS.

It is a psychological ruse. What is big government. Remember when we all resented our big parents ruling over us and telling us what to do. This "big government" thing is just the same thing, it is simply a mind game people play with themselves to expalin there own ineptitude. Now getting near election day 2011 acquaintances of mine and some in the public spotlight are playing the race card again. Bailouts are the fault of African-Americans etcetera. These people are 12.5% of the population. No one needs to blame some bogey man whether it is the straw man "Big Government" or "African-Americans" for their own self perceived ninconpoopieness.

Mike as always is on his off base tantrum. The republican government in the Constitution is a government of, by and for the people. No aristocracy, no meritocracy, no nobility. Never has been and never will be. As far as ignorance goes yes we have our share in the Senate and House, always have and always will. This is what republican government is US the people in all of our ignorance and bliss. The meritocracies have all done much worse. The Nazi's being the prime example, they were the good, moral upstanding people, go figure.

Not real clear. But if he is idolizing republicanism because it is power to the people, government of, by, and for the people, wisdom has shown that in the long term it is the enemy of ignorance. In the short term a republic and its people can do ignorant things. Over the long term it is the wisest course.

Mr. Pantz I think you miss a sublte point here. Each of our opinions and expressions and writings change the world. You have changed mine by your post above. The change may not be the one that the individual or small group intended but it will have an effect even like a pebble in a pond causes a ripple. The error individuals make is that they think that they do not matter. They think they do not matter because in actuallity it is not enough for them to have a say or state their piece but they wish to be controlling. It does not work that way in a democracy.

Assuming this was written sometime in the early 1900's I just say thankfully we are no longer in the times of which she speaks.

Something liberty means the absence of law, others think unbridled liberty is the same thing as being a "libertine". The word libertine was made famous in the song "We Got Trouble" in the "The Music Man" with the lyric "libertine men and scarlet women". Some teach that there is no true liberty without law and describe the Ten Commandments as the "law of liberty". Just some food for thought to ge figure on.

John Uhlich it is great to hear form Downers Grove. I use to live in DuPage County. As far as Reaganomics his government was supported by selling bonds to the Japaneese who bought them with all the car money we sent to them. Reagan also financed his tax cuts primarily for the rich by raising social security taxes on the everybody else, that is why the general tax fund owes social security several trillions of dollars. As far as the other neo-nazi sounding anti-free traders, anti-capitalist they have their lingo all twisted up. Free trade NAFTA etcetera is the dropping of tariffs etc and gives less management to border traffic and customs. If you all think back or read history you will find that the colonies were run under mercantilism. Cotton was grown here and sent to England for processing. Then it went to the textile mills in New England, then the mills to the south and then to China. True to capitalism the industru sought the cheapest labor. The problem and where government and protection is needed is to be sure we are not held to an unfair advantage by requiring our labor to be treated better or paid more or conversely to be run into the ground in sweat shops. The "rich" bring illegals here because they pay them poorly and take advantage of them - a form of modern slavery. We need a balance but the world is benefited by trade among nations.

Jennifer, government is composed of people. Jim K the IRS is not supposed to be compassionate, it is suppsed to apply the law. Abigail if people actually gave all of the money they claim to have given on theier tax forms this would be a great boon to charitable organizations. There are some who would like to do away with the Income Tax. In your logic it would then follow that charitable giving would be eliminated. If people like J from Austin and Carlton, Mike, and Archer would stop their constant harping, and wasting energy berating government and acutally do something maybe even in concert with government what a great place this all might be.

Ingratitude comes from the feeling true or not, possibly prideful that "I can do this all by myself" I don't need any help from an attitude of entilement, "So what if he or she helped me, they have got more than enough to help me anyway." The sad ones are the ingrates who can do it but don't. Those who do do for themselves are the ones who are grateful for what others and government can also do. I am grateful for the public works of my community, state and nation and for all that this "STATIST THEOCRACY" hath provided, including are excellent military. I am saddest about the ungrateful tax cheat freeloaders. I will give it thumbs down becauase not all people are ungrateful for the personal sacrifices others.

Let us stand up like Patirck Henry and demand taxes sufficient to pay our debt. They sacrificed in 1776 can not we do the same today.

I don't understand the quote so I am not rating it. I do understand that the power of the US economy comes from the fact that we are such a large continental free trade zone. Just as the European common market has done wonders for them and NAFTA, and world wide free trade zones are doing wonders for the world. Those who want to down size these free trade zones and empower smaller and smaller politcal entites seek to destroy the economic benefits of the commerce clause.

Sounds good but how would this statement be construed duiing an epedemic of a contagious disease or Katrina, oil spills etc. Do not economic and natural disasters, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and huuricanes amount only to individual suffering, excetp when there are enough individuals involved most of the non-suffering including goverment get on board to help them. It is unnatural that government should act cold and non-compassionate when it is composed of human beings who are warm and compassionate. Cleveland and Hoover being a few of the exceptions.

I feel sorry for folk who can't cook and must go out for three meals a day.

A lot of words but why do people generally stay where they are born. If we all had this freedom would not there be a greater mix of people all over the world that were born elsewhere. Now in this late hour of mans existance there is greater mobility and diversity but the fact remains the overwhelming majority remain where they were born, so what has that to say about the idea of freedom in action.

I read this AM that Jefferson's preliminary notes used the spelling "inalienable" but he demurred to "un". Yeah let us move on!