This is the first in a series of articles in support of the US Constitution. The attached speech was given at the Le Parker Meridian Hotel in New York City on May 16, 2013 by, Congressman Barry M. Goldwater, Jr. (Ret), a member of the Board of Directors of the Combat Veterans For Congress PAC. Cong Goldwater discusses the freedoms our Founding Fathers guaranteed to all Americans in the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution, and how the actions of a bloated Federal Government bureaucracy have been slowly and consistently striping those freedoms away from the American people. He discusses the inalienable rights outlined in the US Constitution that have sustained the citizens of the Republic for 238 years, and how they have been under assault by the Obama administration for the past 4 years. We trust the American people will join Congressman Goldwater, the 20 endorsed Combat Veterans For Congress listed below, and all Patriotic American citizens in their efforts to protect and defend the US Constitution.

AIG Financial Distributors Partners Symposium
New York City
May 15, 2013

Today I could talk about State based Regulation of insurance, The Federal Insurance Office, McCarran-Ferguson Act, Catastrophic Insurance, TRIA (Terrorism Issues), Federal Insurance Agent Licensing, or International Regulation. All are important all of which I would hardly know where to begin.

When a politician says “I hardly know where to begin I always want to shout out “someplace near the end”

The war to keep state based regulation is on. Will it go the way of the newspaper, the telephone, the stockbroker, record companies, bookstores, travel agencies, It has survived 140 years of economic ups and downs. Its survival is up to you.

These United States was founded, as a federation of states with powerful central Government. It was Madison vs Jefferson as to the balance of power. This battle continues today. Larger central government vs States rights. Education, environment, speed limits, welfare, Freddie may and Freddie Mac who should control? Who should dominate?

It is a classic struggle that has dominated the culture of our country. John Maynard Keynes vs Milton Freedman, New York Times vs the Wall Street Journal, the Right vs the left, conservative vs liberal, MSNBC vs FOX, Republican vs Democrat. That is the war going on in Congress as we gather today. And this is my take on the topic…………

The United States was founded on the principles of individual freedom, free markets, private property, and limited government. As the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution reflect, individuals have the natural and God-given right to live their lives any way they choose, so long as their conduct is peaceful. It is the duty of government to protect, not destroy, these inherent and inalienable rights.

Today our government is waging war on our freedoms, our property, and our well-being. The Federal Reserve is trying to fine-tune our economy by monetizing our debt. Our gross debt is 81 trillion dollars 5 times out GDP. Business is being strangled by an alphabet soup of bureaucracies such as the IRS, SBA, DHS, HHS, CMS, FDA, FTC, SEC, FHLB and now the FIO. It takes the Bureau of Land Management an average of 307 days to process a permit to drill and only 35 days for a state permit.

“Fundamental overhaul of our tax system remains a national priority.” The most recently published tax code had 3.95 million words — 112,000 more than in 2010.
In addition, there are 20 volumes of regulations containing 10.4 million words. The returns that GE filed in recent years contained more than 24,000 pages.

The seductive, something for nothing, has entrapped us into believing we cannot live without government programs and regulation. It has weakened our moral fiber and our sense of self-reliance, self-esteem, voluntary charity and community; It has trampled on our Constitution. It has undermined our commitment to the moral foundation of freedom and free markets…..

Milton Freedman said that “if the Federal Government were in charge of the Sahara Desert, in one year there would be no sand.”

History walks with us today as you begin your work. History offers us not a single example of a nation that has ever spent, borrowed and taxed its way to prosperity, but it offers us many, many examples of nations that have spent, borrowed and taxed their way to economic ruin and bankruptcy. 

The recession has in fact been caused by government’s not allowing markets to function. Far from having failed, democratic capitalism is the world’s greatest success story. There is no central planner. It is based on trust. Each party must benefit seeking to meet their own needs by meeting the needs of others. No other economic system has improved the lives of so many. It is catching hold and pushing nations into 21st prosperity worldwide with wealth not ever seen in these nations before. With China, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, India

The time has come for us to reevaluate our relationship to our government…. to cut out waste, and duplication. To eliminate programs that are obsolete and unproductive. Design a safety net that helps people get back on their feet and eliminates dependency.