Samuel Adams, the
Father of the American Revolution, specified four criteria (conditions) for
citizens to determine when armed rebellion is justified to respond to a
tyrannical and illegitimate
government.
Adams and others of a
special committee wrote to the governor of Massachusetts expressing their
disapproval of the Shays Riots. Adams specified four criteria for the
justification of armed rebellion, which were printed in a circular letter and
reproduced by the Massachusetts Gazette on September 12, 1786.
All four criteria are
easily met today, in 2015 America:
1. When laws are no
longer made by a legislature elected by the people.
Today, no Senator or
Congressman write the laws they claim to sponsor or vote for or against. Bills
are written by lobbyists and staff members of companies, and sometimes
legislators’s staff. However, the majority of laws enacted are through
regulations created by unelected bureaucrats of federal and state agencies.
2. When our form of
government exists without our consent.
For every law Congress
enacts, 56 rules and regulations are enacted by unelected federal and state
agency bureaucrats. In fact, in 2013, 65 bills were signed into law,
but federal agencies enacted 3,659 rules and regulations. Unelected regulatory bureaucrats and/or lobbyists write
America’s laws, without citizens’s consent and most often against the will of
the people.
3. Taxation without
representation.
Obamacare is one
obvious example. Congress, against the will of the people, imposed a tax by
mandating that individuals must purchase from a selection of
government-classified health insurance policies. Congress intentionally
substituted a mandate by imposing a penalty for anyone who fails to
comply. In response, the U.S. Supreme Court denied
due process to Americans.
The
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is
another obvious example. Its numerous scandals evidence egregious abuse of
power committed by unelected bureaucrats. Unelected bureaucrats have been
targeting and discriminating against citizens by selectively enforcing
regulations Congress did not create.
In response to the
IRS’s abuse of power, an outraged public submitted a record-setting number
of comments expressing their opposition to IRS rules. A Center for
Competitive Politics study found that 94 percent of public comments opposed some aspects of proposed IRS
rules; 87 percent opposed them outright; and of all participants opponents
outnumbered supporters by a 2:1 margin. Yet, their opposition has not prevented
unelected bureaucrats from enforcing laws Congress did not create.
4. When authority is
no longer derived from ourselves.
The 2014 $1.1 trillion
quid pro quo omnibus spending bill is an obvious example. (It was not a budget;
Congress has not submitted or passed a budget
since 2009). The Washington Post
calculated that each legislator who voted for the bill received approximately
$322,000 from the finance/insurance/real estate industries PACs and employees
of firms in those industries. It writes, “On average, members of Congress
who voted yes received $322,000 from those industries. Those who voted no?
$162,000. Here’s
the split by party.“ House Speaker John Boehner received the
most money for ensuring the bill passed.
One provision of the
bill, written by Citigroup, ZeroHedge
reported could cost
taxpayers nearly “$303 trillion in gross notional derivatives as a result of
“siloing” swaps, and their associated risks, in FDIC-insured operating
companies.” Taxpayers would again (as they were in 2008) be responsible for bailing
out financial institutions for
losses they incur from these contracts.
Its editors write:
“we now know with
certainty that to a clear majority in Congress – one consisting of republicans
and democrats – the future viability of Wall Street is far more important than
the well-being of their constituents.“
The laws that Congress
does pass are written by industry professionals to benefit those industries,
not the people they represent in theory only. American citizens, according to
Samuel Adams, are justified in rebelling against what the Founders considered an
illegitimate, unconstitutional, and tyrannical government ruled by evil men.
Abraham Lincoln warned
Americans that they were responsible for losing their freedom. He
stated, “America will never be destroyed from outside. If we falter
and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” The
question remains: will Americans heed his warning before it’s too late?
http://constitution.com/2015-america-meets-sam-adams-criteria-for-armed-rebellion/
Comments
In 1776,
Americans all carried Bibles and guns. They had no choice but to launch an
armed rebellion. Today, the ballot box
is the modern tool we have to reverse the destructive direction our
out-of-control government is headed.
Like
then, we have voters who are “loyalists”. They are comfortable with the status
quo.
In 2016,
the 240th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we will
find out how many voters are fed up.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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