Candidate for
Member, Republican Party Central Committee; County of Alameda; Assembly District 20

I believe that the government which governs best is that government which governs least. I believe that the declaration of independence is the philosophical basis for our U.S. Constitution and as such, it clearly lays out the basic just function of government:

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

This last phrase is the pivotal point of interest. Men are free because God made them free. Government is made to recognize this as a fact. Government doesn't make people free, it just acknowledges a pre-ordained fact. Men were free before there was a concept of government and they will be free after it is gone. Government is not the source of life, liberty or private property rights and thus cannot act as a positive force to remove those rights.

I believe that the recognition of a divine creator is also key to understanding liberty. We must recognize a sovereign God who gives us these unalienable rights or the state will ultimately assume itself as sovereign over us. This is what happens under Communism. The state gives one the right to live and thus the state can revoke that right for any reason it sees fit.

We have been given our liberty at a high cost in human life and suffering. We must think of freedom as a gift and must understand that we have a responsibility of being zealous defenders of it.

Finally, we live in a constitutional republic, not a democracy, contrary to popular opinion. In a democracy, or majority rule, the only sovereign is the majority will. This opens the door to demagogues and would be tyranty to capitalize on preplanned or unexpected eventy and to manipulate public opinion into supporting legislation that will ultimately curtail liberty. In a republic, such as we have, the law is sovereign. It doesn't matter if you are one in 3 million and everyone wants you in prison, if the law says you are innocent, then the whole of the government police apparatus must come to your aid. This is a much safer form of government in a morally defecient society such as ours.