“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. These are the famous words of one the greatest men in the history of our nation, Thomas Jefferson. He revealed them to us to express his feelings that sometimes blood must be shed in order to maintain the liberties that the Constitution requires and calls for.”
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The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. These are the famous words of one the greatest men in the history of our nation, Thomas Jefferson. He revealed them to us to express his feelings that sometimes blood must be shed in order to maintain the liberties that the Constitution requires and calls for.

When examining Jefferson’s words, there is a simple question that can be raised: when is revolution necessary? I would argue that the perfect opportunity lies in front of us.

Barack Obama and his friends in Congress have successfully passed the largest spending bill in history, $787 billion, and they have done so on credit.

The majority of legislation that comes from Congress is unconstitutional. The supreme court no longer uses the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, but rather their newfound purpose is to legislate from the bench and enact laws themselves.

The executive branch of the government has grown to encompass so much bureaucracy that new departments have sprung up to divide the load.

All of this adds up to the depletion of liberty.

Regression of liberty was the motivation for the colonies’ rebellion against the British in the beginning of our great existence.

King George III would not permit any legislation of the colonies to be ratified, or allow any form of representation of the colonists.

Standing armies were put in place in the colonies to overpower any form of civil governance and the costs that were incurred in the process were then transferred over to the colonists.

British Parliament was behind passing legislation to shut off trade with certain areas of the world, enforced taxation without the consent of the colonists and refuse trials by jury of colonists charged with a criminal act.

These are the facts Thomas Jefferson used as evidence of tyranny in the Declaration of Independence and these are the points the framers of the Constitution made sure to protect against.

In comparison with today, those acts seem like child’s play.

Currently in America we pay 12 different taxes. These are: income taxes, business taxes, payroll taxes, capitol gains taxes, inheritance taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, excise taxes, gift taxes, retirement taxes, tariffs, and tolls.

All of these taxes and fees can take up to 35 percent of one’s income. That means a person working full time will essentially work 91 days just to pay their taxes.

These tax dollars aren’t going anywhere where most of us are going to see them, either. Two-thirds of the federal budget today goes towards acts of benevolence. This definition of benevolence includes Social Security, welfare, and subsidization of private businesses, like failing banks and auto manufacturers. As of Tuesday, you can add another $787 billion dollars to the bill.

One of my favorite columnists, Walter E. Williams, explains that some in Congress have justified this spending by saying that these are good ideas.

Williams makes clear that just because something is a good idea doesn’t mean it should be mandated by the government.

He uses the analogy of riding a bike for exercise. Yes, we can all agree that this exercise is good for us, but that does not mean that it should be forced through legislation to ride our bikes 20 miles each day.

I challenge each and every one of you to sit down, read the Constitution, and seriously consider whether we can survive in the path we are on.

Read the words of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the others that understood the details of the words they specifically used in the document.

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