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About Politics +	We have two major political parties – the Democratic Party and the Republican Party and their mission is to get their candidates elected. In doing this they select principles, information and misinformation to maximize their chance for victory.  +
American Freedom's Feudal Beginning +	American freedom is the offspring of the English Constitution as it existed up to the time of the emigration to America. English Historian G.M. Trevelyan states: "Our constitution was the child of Feudalism married to the Common Law." Which means that we can trace American freedom to both feudalism a European phenomenon, and Common Law which is uniquely English. In this article, we will explore that idea.  +
American Independence and English Common Law +	'''American Independence and English Common Law''' " 'Government is a conditional compact between king and people. A violation of the covenant by either party discharges the other from its obligation.' 'An Act [of Parliament] against the Constitution is void.' In these thirty words Patrick Henry and James Otis denied the divine origin of the British kingship and the legislative supremacy of the British Parliament, and substituted therefor the Common Law and the eternal rights of man."  +
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BC1:Tudor and Stuart England - overview +	During the Tudor era, oceanic sea power developed and sea lanes were opened across the Atlantic beating a path for emigrants to follow. Also in Tudor times, reformation of the Church swept across England and continental Europe. In England, the Church ceased to be a ruling Estate answering to the Pope and became subservient to the state represented by the English monarch - a fundamental change with causes and consequences far beyond a king's desire to change his woman. The first English colony in America began with the Virginia charter of 1606 - three years into the reign of the first Stuart, King James I. Eighty six years later (and 100 years before the ratification of the Constitution of the United States), at the end of the Stuart era, thriving American colonies had been established from Carolina to Rhode Island. The Stuarts were done in 1689 when the Glorious Revolution (the Revolution of 1688) produced fundamental change to the English constitution, curbing the political and religious tyranny of the monarch. The Established Church was no longer coextensive with the state. Parliament was victorious over the crown as were the Common Lawyers over the royal Prerogative Courts. Feudalism was officially gone - remaining remnants the dying product of inertia. Rights of the commoners were now protected by Parliament and Common Law. These events have done more to forward personal freedom than any before or since.  +
Big Government +	Today, many people use the term 'big government' to describe what they believe to be government overreach and intrusion in our daily lives at every level. Wikipedia defines it “as a derogatory term generally used by political conservatives, laissez-faire advocates, or libertarians to describe a government that they consider to be excessively large, corrupt and inefficient, or inappropriately involved in certain areas of public policy or the private sector”. But, a recent Gallup poll found that 72% of us – including 56% of Democrats and 78% of independents – believe it to be a big threat. The basic problem is, Government has this innate dilemma of balancing between serving and interfering.  +
Bill of Rights 101 +	Many of the founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, argued for the addition of a specific Bill “providing clearly and without the aid of sophisms for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction against monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable by the laws of the land.” Most of that – which Jefferson called for in a letter he wrote to Madison after the Constitutional Convention – indeed ended up in the Bill of Rights.  +
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The Declaration of Independence +	This page contains the text of the Declaration of Independence: When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. . . . .  +
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Economic Freedom and Political Freedom +	Is it possible that economic freedom and political freedom can exist in isolation from one another in the sense that any political arrangement can be coupled with any economic system? It is believed so by some. Many believe that the two are independent. However, economic freedom, while capable of existing without the other is essential to political freedom.  +
Equality of Condition +	'''Equality of Condition''' In his book "Democracy in America", Alexis de Tocqueville's first words are: "Among the new objects that attracted my attention . . in the United States, none struck my eye more vividly than the equality of conditions. I discovered without difficulty the enormous influence that this primary fact exerts on the course of society; it gives a certain direction to public spirit, a certain turn to the laws, new maxims to those who govern, and particular habits to the governed. . . . it creates opinions, gives birth to sentiments, suggests usages, and modifies everything it does not produce. . . . . "Then I brought my thinking back to our hemisphere, and . . . distinguished something in it analogous to the spectacle the New World offered me. I saw the equality of conditions that, without having reached its extreme limits as it had in the United States, was approaching them more each day; and the same democracy reigning in American societies appeared to me to be advancing rapidly toward power in Europe. . . . "A great democratic revolution is taking place among us: all see it, but all do not judge it in the same manner. Some . . . still hope to be able to stop it; whereas others judge it irresistible because to them it seems the most continuous, the oldest, and the most permanent fact known in history." What insight!  +
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GDN:Ben Carson Insights +	Ben Carson has said he is not a member of any political party. “If I were part of one, it would be called the Logic party, and it would be dedicated to commonsense approaches we all should be able to see.”  +
GDN:Early Insights Into Obama Care +	The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of Likely U.S. Voters rate the new law at least somewhat favorably, while 52% share an unfavorable opinion of it.  +
GDN:Liberty 101 +	The spectrum of protections that we want, and actions required to provide them is huge. So, securing our liberty is a huge task that requires huge resources and has a huge amount of power.  +
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Inalienable Rights +	Belief in the existence of a set of rights vested in every person is fundamental to the concept of liberty. It is the central premise of the founding of the United States of America. Such rights have been referred to as 'natural', 'God-given', and 'inalienable'. <br />America's Declaration of Independence contains brief, but compelling, words about "unalienable rights". It is a radical document - but then the founders of the United States were not conservatives - they were radicals in the cause of liberty.  +
Infringement of Your Freedom +	If it bothers you that the government stores information that will allow them to know where you go and who you have talked to on your cell phone and that you may not be able choose your own physician. You might want to learn more – and do something.  +
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National Debt 101 +	Our Government has not done well at financial management and we are in deep financial trouble. As of May 19, 2013, when our debt limit was reached, we owed an unprecedented $16.7 trillion – larger than the entire U.S. economy, as measured in gross domestic product (GDP). It is clear that we must increase our income, cut our spending and start paying off our debt. Our Government is supposed to operate on an annual budget. But, for a couple of years we operated without a budget, then, in 2014, a budget was adopted that actually showed a reduction in the national debt - but it is projected to increase again soon. Everybody would agree that we should start by cutting waste but, one man's waste is another man's pet project. So, it's an ongoing debate within the government. To make matters worse, politicians take advantage of their power in order to be reelected – in many ways. Our President and many in Congress are willing to simply increase the debt limit and continue out-of-control government spending. But, solving this debt issue is essential for our future.  +
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Politicizing Metrics 101 +	Metrics are a set of measurements that quantify results. Good management requires good decisions and good decisions must be based on good metrics.  +
Putting National Debt Into Perspective +	Even the national debt can be a good thing. Only once in our history—in the early 1800s—was there no national debt—and for the most part, that debt worked out well. But its increase since the mid-70s and particularly in the last three years is alarming to the utmost. It was a major reason for our recession and our weak recovery and we are now well down the road to government default similar to that of Greece—the world’s first democracy.  +
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The Basic Choice: Classic Liberal vs. Progressive +	Early Americans were very like-minded in their political theory. They were mostly what CW now calls classic liberals who wanted only as much government as was needed to protect liberty, the right to property, and a very few other fundamental rights. Such rights belonged to every person by birth-right irrespective of government. The early 20th century saw the advent of the progressive view of government as an active force for good, correcting social problems through increased government authority. They saw rights as being defined and granted by government.  +
The Founders and their Purpose +	America’s longevity owes much to a group of very smart people who, about 235 years ago, were genuinely interested in solving the problem of bringing a collection of independent and sovereign states together under a stable and just federal government.  +
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Virginia and Maryland - the early years +	In 1660 the eastern seaboard had a number of thriving English colonies stretching from Newport News to the Penobscot River – though still sparsely populated. The English Colonies had a population approaching 80,000 plus another 6 or 7 thousand in the Dutch colonies. In 1660 representative government had been introduced in the English colonies, though the early charters promised it not. There was a little more religious tolerance than at home in England, though officially and in government that was not the case. Religious nonconformance was prohibited in most charters. A single established church (the Church of England) was still the norm. By 1660, survival in the colonies had become more certain than in the early days in which the odds were fearsome. After the first few attempts to establish colonies in Virginia, when the chances of survival were around 1 in 5, the English had kept coming.  +