Jeffersonian principles of government …
American politics today is in crisis. Nothing is working. Partisanship rules when compromise is needed, in much heavier doses than in Washington at any given hour.
The former 45th president of the United States was and has been repeatedly accused of undermining the once-treasured institutions of democracy, not to mention having purposefully destabilized the U.S. political system and her foreign allies. More troubling to us is the notion that he wants another shot at fostering mayhem. Mr. Trump did, in our opinion, attempt a coup d’etat against the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives on January 6, 2021, which is unacceptable to us in any manner whatsoever.
Democrats have been accused of promising change but not delivering on it, especially as Republicans struggle to pass their agenda on Capitol Hill, despite having operational control of the White House and United States Senate. Republicans are accused of just saying “no” all of the time and having no natural alternatives that anyone can repeat or explain as they seek, it is alleged, to dismantle the American government.
Independents are accused of having no clear leader, no consistent political voice, socialist tendencies, and no hope of hurdling the ballot restrictions that make viable third-party options practically impossible to offer.
Over the past immediate years, politicians on both sides of the political aisle have failed to deliver on the many promises they have made to their constituents, and Independents have yet to even enter the political game competitively except to switch their votes back and forth between their more-favored Republicans and Democrats on any given ballot.
Consider if you will:
The Middle East is melting down through violence, protest, insurrection, and blockade. American foreign policy has been ineffective in answering the call for what will give citizens of that region a greater sense of hope and accomplishment. The war between Israel and Hamas threatens to escalate into a world war.
Fiscal sanity found in balanced federal budgets exploded and is now ignored by the party that used to make fiscal responsibility an electoral mantra. Future generations have been saddled with trillions in new spending deficits thanks to tax reform that passed Congress with razor-thin margins that greatly benefited corporations while providing modest relief for American families. More trillions were added to that bill thanks to the coronavirus bailout and much that has happened since.
The Dow was skyrocketing until the pandemic hit, but job growth was relatively uneven because fewer people were contending for jobs. And if those job seekers are older Americans (45+), they can bet they will get either contract work or part-time employment because seasoned workers are not valued as much in today's marketplace, at least pre-COVID-19.
The rule of law in America is under attack from the former Trump White House, as the FBI and American intelligence services were and are still denigrated by our once Commander-in-Chief. Judges and American courtrooms are criticized as biased, conflicted, or incompetent. Congress was ignored on its subpoena authority, including during two deeply divisive Trump impeachment trials and the threat of another impeachment trial against Joe Biden that so far has no evidence to show.
America First was Trump’s operating foreign policy of the nation, undermining how the rest of the world looks at the United States in a global market. The former President and members of Congress blasted once-dependable allies such as Mexico, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and even NATO. President Biden, the current Commander-in-Chief, struggles to define his operating foreign policy three years into office. That’s not good.
Media outlets were being attacked for propagating fake news when that news was not particularly friendly to the Trump Administration. It would appear that Trumpistas did not value the First Amendment as much as they valued the Second Amendment. President Biden has not been much friendlier to media outlets himself, which does not bode well for American democracy.
Trade war fires have been stoked in many corners of industry as tariffs have been levied on steel and aluminum imports and other tariffs over time. Retaliation threats from the European Union and China have presented us with a new two-front global war of choice today.
Climate change is a disputed reality. America withdrew from major environmental treaties designed to clean up our world for our grandchildren. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared war on environmental protection from the inside out, and not much has improved in recent years under the Biden Administration, either.
A rash of natural disasters that climate change proponents blame on weather devastated critical parts of America these past few years, and our leadership humiliated a dependable commonwealth, Puerto Rico, by being very slow to respond to the devastation from multiple hurricane impacts.
ICE arrests and deportations jumped considerably under Trump as sanctuary cities sprung up across the nation in open defiance of those immigration controls. The border wall with Mexico progressed for a while, as does the appearance that we want to build our own Berlin Wall in modern America. Immigration reform in Congress that might fix problems that some argue justify the wall is stalemated and has been stalemated over several presidential administrations, both Democrat and Republican alike.
Election fraud was claimed by the campaign that won the presidency in 2016 but lost it in 2020. Wiretapping allegations against the Obama Administration at Trump Tower turned out to be bogus, but then again, President Trump generated numerous falsehoods since taking office, with no oversight from either house of Congress in return.
A record number of significant staff shake-ups at the Trump White House left the Oval Office staff dysfunctional and generated embarrassing headlines of ineptitude worldwide. Four chiefs of staff. Four press secretaries. Several secretaries of state, housing and urban development, veterans administration, and more. Fired National Security Council officials. The swamp was not drained as promised by the Trump Administration.
President Trump ridiculed Russian interference in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections as being fake news while the investigation into possible campaign collusion and obstruction of justice continued to grow. Four senior Trump campaign and Administration officials were indicted by a special counsel looking into the matter, with many more indicted after Trump left office.
Our President, at the time, was facing numerous lawsuits alleging misdeeds related to alleged sexual harassment or marital infidelities that may or may not have been covered up for the 2016 election. The lawyer handling President Trump’s payments to these alleged infidelities served prison time. POTUS 45 was also being accused by third parties of using government funds to enrich his private business enterprises while in office. His university and foundation were shut down by state officials, some of whom sued the former president for business fraud.
America is on a growing war footing with North Korea and Iran, which might entail nuclear weapons, while at the same time facing more conventional threats in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen. ISIS has been better contained in recent years. However, the Taliban and Boko Haram appear to be gaining in strength and reach.
The financial and spin-off payoff America got in racing to space against the former Soviet Union hit a roadblock several years ago with the Obama Administration’s budget proposal to end the quest for a return to the moon. Never mind the jobs that policy terminated. When catching a ride into space, it was for too many years on a Russian spacecraft or a privately owned one, which appears to be the ride choice of the future thanks to billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson. President Trump pledged that we would go to the moon and beyond, but funding was more challenging to obtain from Congress than funding from the border wall. President Biden picked up that challenge and said we are going back to the moon as well, and it looks like we are making slow progress in that endeavor. Does anyone have the feeling that the Russians, in the end, won the space race after all?
China has become America’s single largest creditor but cannot be considered a friendly banker, considering its opposing political philosophy, our various trade tariffs, its leadership's new preeminence, and the possibility that the source of the coronavirus started in a lab in Wuhan.
Washington’s gridlock, which will no doubt be even more acute after the 2024 elections if interdiction does not come soon, is not serving the needs of Main Street USA and shows no promise of doing so in time.
Nobody in power, either majority or minority, seems to be asking what happens if the American voter decides to vote against any incumbent, Democrat or Republican, this year because they are frustrated with the way things are not going in Washington or their state capitals.
“As Thomas looks at the issues confronting the American electorate and its governing officials, we will look for some very predictable road markers and milestones in judging what impacts our families in good ways and in bad.”
There is mounting evidence to indicate that incumbents (and indeed the Republican majority in the U.S. House) may be endangered. Will Republicans be able to recapture the House in 2024? Or flip the Senate? Is it possible?
Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandant for Republicans to not talk ill of other Republicans has been replaced by the 10½th commandant that says questioning any Republican’s party loyalty and true conservatism is now fair game if you are a supporter of the former president of the United States. Just ask former Vice President Mike Pence how that feels.
Even some Democrats are left to wish for the Gipper back. At least you knew where Ronnie stood. He made sure of it.
As Thomas examines the issues confronting the American electorate and its governing officials, we will look for some very predictable road markers and milestones in judging what impacts our families in good ways and in bad ways.
Our perspectives will be founded on what can best be described as Jeffersonian principles of government. These principles can be found in the U.S.:
Declaration of Independence.
Constitution.
And the Bill of Rights
Jefferson’s priorities, which are likewise our priorities and preferences, were for the following broad categories:
Thomas Jefferson Principles
Freedom of Religion
Living Within Our Means
A Strong Military
Empowering Individuals
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Diplomacy & Statesmanship
Political Participation
Controlling Government
Strict Constitutional Interpretations
Thomas will highlight these priorities as we see them today in the context of how Thomas Jefferson and many of the United States’ founding fathers saw them back during the American Revolution.
Where we find it, we will mark that political profile.
This icon will not be here to tell you who to vote for or against, nor will you find it coinciding with partisan initiatives that any of America’s political parties promote. The icon will symbolize our determination that this initiative or the political figure advocating a cause is doing so, in our opinion, consistent with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and our Bill of Rights.
In other words, you will know that this official, this candidate, or this initiative is consistent with the America Thomas Jefferson envisioned more than two centuries ago.
If you also like what you find, we will give you ideas on how you might get involved and support this program officially or as a candidate yourself.
Hopefully, you will agree in the end that, like Mr. Jefferson, Thomas presented it in both a factual and entertaining way.
As Americans, you have the right to expect no less!