Can We Fight City Hall? We Have to Fight!
“You can’t fight city hall!” is an old refrain, referring to the power of local government. Many have said that it isn’t true, but fighting and winning has never been easy. Cities have only gotten bigger, and their government machinery more powerful and insular. Those are just the cities, but the governments of states and ultimately the federal government are far larger, more entrenched, and remote from the people. When they act, or fail to act, as they should or as the people desire, they are even more difficult to fight. A case in point is the Kennedy-McCain Immigration bill, supported by President Bush and much of the Democratic leadership; this is clearly a “city hall” type endeavor that most of the ordinary citizens do not want!
The idea of “limited government” is the basis of the U. S. Constitution and America’s original form of government. Unfortunately, we have moved far from that mandate. The more powerful the government becomes, the less free the people are. How powerful is the government? On average, in 2007, Americans worked for the government until April 30; that’s how much of the average income goes to government in taxes. A government system that takes 1/3 of the people’s earnings has enormous control over the people.
Taxes are just the beginning. Fees and fines add another layer of financial control, and they are increasing, moment-by-moment. In Michigan, if a person gets stopped for a bad headlight, he has 10 days to fix it. If he doesn’t, then the local court will issue a ticket that will cost over $100. If he finds that he cannot replace the bulb himself, he waits till he can afford a mechanic to replace it (at a cost of $100). If he forgets to carry proof of insurance and planned to clear that up at the same time he showed his repaired headlight and, like a dope, let that pass the 10 day mark as well, he get two more tickets (even though he had insurance, and that was the only issue). Now the fines add up to over $300, and he has to wait that much longer to have the cash (Yeah, he’s living on limited income). Next thing he knows, the fines have climbed to $450, and the state adds an additional “Driver Responsibility” fee (The brochure says its purpose is to make better drivers, but they get $200 for the poor guy’s failure to carry his proof of insurance). Now he needs to find $650 out of an already tight budget, which was the reason he got into trouble in the first place, that and a bit of bad thinking (He could have cleared up the insurance thing, even thought the headlight repair ran over the 10 days).
Now, this unfortunate soul, never imagining where this all might end up, gets stopped again. He assumed it was his loud muffler, since he had been worrying about that for months but hadn’t had the nearly $500 he needed to fix it. It turned out to be a new law requiring stricter limits on speed and distance to emergency vehicles, along the side of the road. Imagine his surprise when the officer asked him to step out of the car because he was driving on a suspended license! Who knew a bad headlight and failure to carry proof of insurance could lead to a suspended license?
Now, he gets a ride to the station while a tow truck takes his car. The garage charges $125 for the tow and $20 per day for storage. He finds out that if he fails to redeem his car for 20 days, the city will auction it, but he will still owe $525. Furthermore, somehow he could end up owing fees, penalties, or whatever adding up to as much as $1500! Or so the office manager informs him. Needless to say, he arranged to redeem his car for only $145.
At the encouragement of a friend, he talks to a lawyer, and he has legal representation when he goes to court to work. After several hundred more dollars, he believes he is in the clear…a hard lesson, but he is unlikely to make a similar mistake, ever again.
So he is stunned when a letter arrives informing him that, since he drove on a suspended license, a state law adds another month to the suspension, along with an additional charge of $125 to get his license reinstated. Now, the 2 tickets involving insurance were dismissed, and they were the ultimate cause of the original suspension. He also experienced the marvel of “plea-bargaining,” by which he pled guilty to lesser charges—failure to yield and to carry his driver’s license on his person. Hopefully, since the matter is not yet resolved, the court incorrectly notified the state. The point here is that what was once under the jurisdiction of local courts has become a sort of double jeopardy, by which the state takes additional money for the same offenses.
By the kind of thinking of many politicians today, Congress already assumes that the whole country has an interest in safe driving; if states fail to do as they require, those states lose their share of tax dollars (first taken from the states). So why not add a federal fine on top of state and local fines? A government’s greed for money is limitless, once it sees itself as ultimate provider of all safety, security, and material needs. The federal government thus assumes responsibility for welfare, trade, commerce, product safety, the education of children, gun control, clean air and clean water, solving obesity, fairness of broadcasting, providing health care, food quality, how much farmers may grow, transportation, fuel efficiency of vehicles, and perhaps how much gasoline companies may charge for gas. Once the government has power over some things, people and politicians will happily expand that power to others, like the protection of wetlands, snail darters, and those who breather second-hand smoke, and nearly any group that isn’t white, Anglo-Saxon male!
Taxes, fines, fees, laws, regulations, and red tape lead to authority that borders on oppression. My story, yes I’m the sap who messed up and paid through the nose for his mistakes, shows how difficult a relatively minor problem can become. I freely admit I made a couple of really stupid mistakes, although I didn’t even recognize them until well after the fact. At a certain point, I felt helpless, trapped in an escalating snowball effect, and immobilized because of it. My income situation isn’t the greatest, right now, but many are far worse off. I never thought find a lawyer, but I was fortunate to have access to friendly assistance. What of those who have no one?
We often hear the claim that much is being done to help those less fortunate, but it is obvious that the less fortunate are the ones who get hurt the most! Poor children get a poorer education. Poor people cannot afford the lawyers that, increasingly, everyone needs to navigate our overly litigious, over-lawyered society. Poor people cannot find jobs because businesses, big and small, are taxed and regulated so heavily, that they employ fewer people than they actually need. Poor people live without healthcare or accept Medicaid’s limitations. Many politicians seek to control the entire healthcare system, not because they can provide better care (Socialized systems never do!), but because that’s one more piece of life that those in government will control. Do all the fines and added suspension make better drivers? Does spending millions more on education make the current generation better educated? Does a bigger and bigger government bureaucracy put more money and resources into the hands of people? Like most campaign promises, the answer is a resounding NO!
Skeptics mock believers in an all-wise, all-powerful God, while many support the notion of an all-wise, all-powerful central government, consisting of multitudes of fallible, corruptible men and women. The rhetoric of progressives (and their political campaigns) condemns the rich (at least those who are conservative!); progressive history books record the evils of kings, nobles, landowners, robber barons, monopolists, along with oppressive tyrants and dictators. Yet they rarely acknowledge the tyrannies of elite leaders in a swollen progressive government. What is tyranny, after all, but the abuse of the masses of ordinary folks to secure for the elite all the perks and pleasures of money and power.
Are we safe because we have a democracy? Actually, according to our Constitution, the United States is not a democracy; it is a Republic (Could that be the fundamental difference between the Democratic and Republican Parties?). Democracy should mean more than simply the citizens’ right to vote; it should rest on an educated citizenry who vote with knowledge of the system their votes support. However, even the wisest people cannot realistically govern directly; there are too many complex matters that need to be handled by experts with extensive, specialized information that the average citizen will not have. That is one reason for a representative republic where the people choose specialists who implement the wishes of the electorate, particularly as it relates to defense, foreign relations, justice, domestic security, and the preservation of freedom.
A case in point, and one where the people have successfully “fought city hall,” is immigration. God only knows what the President and many of our representatives think they are doing or why! In spite of their race toward disaster, ordinary citizens of all parties have spoken loudly and clearly, and the ill-advised bill has been blocked, so far. Despite the rhetoric, there are excellent alternatives; this one is from Rick Tyler, press secretary for Newt Gingrich and a talk radio host himself. Are new laws even needed? What good are new laws when the government fails to enforce those we already have!
Can we fight “city hall” and the steadily encroaching power of government run amok? Citizen response to an ill-advised immigration bill shows we can, and I believe we must. Otherwise, the United States will go the way of the great civilizations of the past. I believe our heritage of freedom is unique and capable of restoration, but it won’t happen unless we, the People, so something to make it happen. At my age, it would be easy to ignore the problem and assume that I will be gone before things go too far. Sadly, things have already gone too far, as my tale of ticket woes demonstrates. If being complacent is a bad idea for a person my age, then few of us can afford to be complacent. The elderly may lose their home when taxes exceed their limited income or some business convinces “city hall” to confiscate it through eminent domain.
Fatalism is even worse than complacency. How many of us see the problem and simply resign themselves to it? The immigration case shows that the power of the elites is not yet unstoppable. The system may be stressed to near breaking, but it has not yet yielded to complete autocracy. We can still fight “city hall.” I pray more and more of us will.
Finally, I reject those who say that our nation and culture are no longer worth the effort. Some are fellow travelers with radical Islamic terrorists, Communists and other America-haters. Sadly, some of them are fellow Christians. To them, I ask, “When as the gospel ever been shared but to cultures burdened by sin. This attitude reminds me of Jonah who, when ordered by God to go to Nineveh, ran the other way; and, when the Ninevites responded to his preaching and repented, he was disappointed that Nineveh escaped destruction. In other words, the best way to “fight city hall” is to work to redeem it! Politics has its limits, and political power tends to corrupt. I think we must use the power we have as citizens, but we must never forget its limits and dangers. It’s not an either-or choice, but a both-and strategy: “Rend to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and render to God the things that are God’s.” Fight “city hall” with all the tools of freedom, and fight the good fight on the spiritual plane, as well.
Can we fight city hall? Yes, we can. The only thing that will stop us is our own decision not to fight. Should we fight city hall? Yes, we should. The results of our failing to do so will become our responsibility. Should we fight and then fail, then the responsibility passes to those who oppose us, but we have the remarkable power that comes through freedom and faith. I believe that we can fight city hall, and if we do, we will win!
The idea of “limited government” is the basis of the U. S. Constitution and America’s original form of government. Unfortunately, we have moved far from that mandate. The more powerful the government becomes, the less free the people are. How powerful is the government? On average, in 2007, Americans worked for the government until April 30; that’s how much of the average income goes to government in taxes. A government system that takes 1/3 of the people’s earnings has enormous control over the people.
Taxes are just the beginning. Fees and fines add another layer of financial control, and they are increasing, moment-by-moment. In Michigan, if a person gets stopped for a bad headlight, he has 10 days to fix it. If he doesn’t, then the local court will issue a ticket that will cost over $100. If he finds that he cannot replace the bulb himself, he waits till he can afford a mechanic to replace it (at a cost of $100). If he forgets to carry proof of insurance and planned to clear that up at the same time he showed his repaired headlight and, like a dope, let that pass the 10 day mark as well, he get two more tickets (even though he had insurance, and that was the only issue). Now the fines add up to over $300, and he has to wait that much longer to have the cash (Yeah, he’s living on limited income). Next thing he knows, the fines have climbed to $450, and the state adds an additional “Driver Responsibility” fee (The brochure says its purpose is to make better drivers, but they get $200 for the poor guy’s failure to carry his proof of insurance). Now he needs to find $650 out of an already tight budget, which was the reason he got into trouble in the first place, that and a bit of bad thinking (He could have cleared up the insurance thing, even thought the headlight repair ran over the 10 days).
Now, this unfortunate soul, never imagining where this all might end up, gets stopped again. He assumed it was his loud muffler, since he had been worrying about that for months but hadn’t had the nearly $500 he needed to fix it. It turned out to be a new law requiring stricter limits on speed and distance to emergency vehicles, along the side of the road. Imagine his surprise when the officer asked him to step out of the car because he was driving on a suspended license! Who knew a bad headlight and failure to carry proof of insurance could lead to a suspended license?
Now, he gets a ride to the station while a tow truck takes his car. The garage charges $125 for the tow and $20 per day for storage. He finds out that if he fails to redeem his car for 20 days, the city will auction it, but he will still owe $525. Furthermore, somehow he could end up owing fees, penalties, or whatever adding up to as much as $1500! Or so the office manager informs him. Needless to say, he arranged to redeem his car for only $145.
At the encouragement of a friend, he talks to a lawyer, and he has legal representation when he goes to court to work. After several hundred more dollars, he believes he is in the clear…a hard lesson, but he is unlikely to make a similar mistake, ever again.
So he is stunned when a letter arrives informing him that, since he drove on a suspended license, a state law adds another month to the suspension, along with an additional charge of $125 to get his license reinstated. Now, the 2 tickets involving insurance were dismissed, and they were the ultimate cause of the original suspension. He also experienced the marvel of “plea-bargaining,” by which he pled guilty to lesser charges—failure to yield and to carry his driver’s license on his person. Hopefully, since the matter is not yet resolved, the court incorrectly notified the state. The point here is that what was once under the jurisdiction of local courts has become a sort of double jeopardy, by which the state takes additional money for the same offenses.
By the kind of thinking of many politicians today, Congress already assumes that the whole country has an interest in safe driving; if states fail to do as they require, those states lose their share of tax dollars (first taken from the states). So why not add a federal fine on top of state and local fines? A government’s greed for money is limitless, once it sees itself as ultimate provider of all safety, security, and material needs. The federal government thus assumes responsibility for welfare, trade, commerce, product safety, the education of children, gun control, clean air and clean water, solving obesity, fairness of broadcasting, providing health care, food quality, how much farmers may grow, transportation, fuel efficiency of vehicles, and perhaps how much gasoline companies may charge for gas. Once the government has power over some things, people and politicians will happily expand that power to others, like the protection of wetlands, snail darters, and those who breather second-hand smoke, and nearly any group that isn’t white, Anglo-Saxon male!
Taxes, fines, fees, laws, regulations, and red tape lead to authority that borders on oppression. My story, yes I’m the sap who messed up and paid through the nose for his mistakes, shows how difficult a relatively minor problem can become. I freely admit I made a couple of really stupid mistakes, although I didn’t even recognize them until well after the fact. At a certain point, I felt helpless, trapped in an escalating snowball effect, and immobilized because of it. My income situation isn’t the greatest, right now, but many are far worse off. I never thought find a lawyer, but I was fortunate to have access to friendly assistance. What of those who have no one?
We often hear the claim that much is being done to help those less fortunate, but it is obvious that the less fortunate are the ones who get hurt the most! Poor children get a poorer education. Poor people cannot afford the lawyers that, increasingly, everyone needs to navigate our overly litigious, over-lawyered society. Poor people cannot find jobs because businesses, big and small, are taxed and regulated so heavily, that they employ fewer people than they actually need. Poor people live without healthcare or accept Medicaid’s limitations. Many politicians seek to control the entire healthcare system, not because they can provide better care (Socialized systems never do!), but because that’s one more piece of life that those in government will control. Do all the fines and added suspension make better drivers? Does spending millions more on education make the current generation better educated? Does a bigger and bigger government bureaucracy put more money and resources into the hands of people? Like most campaign promises, the answer is a resounding NO!
Skeptics mock believers in an all-wise, all-powerful God, while many support the notion of an all-wise, all-powerful central government, consisting of multitudes of fallible, corruptible men and women. The rhetoric of progressives (and their political campaigns) condemns the rich (at least those who are conservative!); progressive history books record the evils of kings, nobles, landowners, robber barons, monopolists, along with oppressive tyrants and dictators. Yet they rarely acknowledge the tyrannies of elite leaders in a swollen progressive government. What is tyranny, after all, but the abuse of the masses of ordinary folks to secure for the elite all the perks and pleasures of money and power.
Are we safe because we have a democracy? Actually, according to our Constitution, the United States is not a democracy; it is a Republic (Could that be the fundamental difference between the Democratic and Republican Parties?). Democracy should mean more than simply the citizens’ right to vote; it should rest on an educated citizenry who vote with knowledge of the system their votes support. However, even the wisest people cannot realistically govern directly; there are too many complex matters that need to be handled by experts with extensive, specialized information that the average citizen will not have. That is one reason for a representative republic where the people choose specialists who implement the wishes of the electorate, particularly as it relates to defense, foreign relations, justice, domestic security, and the preservation of freedom.
A case in point, and one where the people have successfully “fought city hall,” is immigration. God only knows what the President and many of our representatives think they are doing or why! In spite of their race toward disaster, ordinary citizens of all parties have spoken loudly and clearly, and the ill-advised bill has been blocked, so far. Despite the rhetoric, there are excellent alternatives; this one is from Rick Tyler, press secretary for Newt Gingrich and a talk radio host himself. Are new laws even needed? What good are new laws when the government fails to enforce those we already have!
Can we fight “city hall” and the steadily encroaching power of government run amok? Citizen response to an ill-advised immigration bill shows we can, and I believe we must. Otherwise, the United States will go the way of the great civilizations of the past. I believe our heritage of freedom is unique and capable of restoration, but it won’t happen unless we, the People, so something to make it happen. At my age, it would be easy to ignore the problem and assume that I will be gone before things go too far. Sadly, things have already gone too far, as my tale of ticket woes demonstrates. If being complacent is a bad idea for a person my age, then few of us can afford to be complacent. The elderly may lose their home when taxes exceed their limited income or some business convinces “city hall” to confiscate it through eminent domain.
Fatalism is even worse than complacency. How many of us see the problem and simply resign themselves to it? The immigration case shows that the power of the elites is not yet unstoppable. The system may be stressed to near breaking, but it has not yet yielded to complete autocracy. We can still fight “city hall.” I pray more and more of us will.
Finally, I reject those who say that our nation and culture are no longer worth the effort. Some are fellow travelers with radical Islamic terrorists, Communists and other America-haters. Sadly, some of them are fellow Christians. To them, I ask, “When as the gospel ever been shared but to cultures burdened by sin. This attitude reminds me of Jonah who, when ordered by God to go to Nineveh, ran the other way; and, when the Ninevites responded to his preaching and repented, he was disappointed that Nineveh escaped destruction. In other words, the best way to “fight city hall” is to work to redeem it! Politics has its limits, and political power tends to corrupt. I think we must use the power we have as citizens, but we must never forget its limits and dangers. It’s not an either-or choice, but a both-and strategy: “Rend to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and render to God the things that are God’s.” Fight “city hall” with all the tools of freedom, and fight the good fight on the spiritual plane, as well.
Can we fight city hall? Yes, we can. The only thing that will stop us is our own decision not to fight. Should we fight city hall? Yes, we should. The results of our failing to do so will become our responsibility. Should we fight and then fail, then the responsibility passes to those who oppose us, but we have the remarkable power that comes through freedom and faith. I believe that we can fight city hall, and if we do, we will win!
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