Congressman Allen West’s Weekly Wrap Up – April 23, 2012

Dear Patriot,

Greetings to our constituents, fellow Floridians, and all Americans, I hope you all survived another Tax Day. I need to make you all aware of what will become the largest tax hike in the history of America. You can read about it here in our recent Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel editorial, “The American Tax Code: A Weapon of Mass Destruction”.

This past Friday, “The Hill” newspaper reported the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its assessment of President Barack Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget. The CBO estimates the President’s budget would adversely affect economic growth and the higher deficits would reduce economic output between 0.5 percent and 2.2 percent after five years. In addition, this budget strategy will reduce the amount of capital available to businesses.

The President’s budget will add some $3.5 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years, according to the CBO. However, the baseline of smoke and mirrors promulgated by the Obama Administration tries to convince the American people that deficits will be reduced by $3.2 trillion. This is why America must have an ideological debate about the direction in which this country will head. It is a debate which the liberal progressive left would rather avoid.

As you may be aware, much has been made of my recent response to a question from a constituent and assertion regarding so-called “communists” in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. I am pleased it has inspired so much passionate debate, for that was precisely the point. When I was studying for my Masters degrees in political science at Kansas State University and at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff Officer College, the very best professors were those who would begin each lecture with a challenging assertion. It engaged discussion and analysis, and was the best way to uncover the essence of the particular subject of the day. As Americans, we must bring to the forefront a fundamental discussion of what we want our country to be like 10 years, 20 years, and 100 years from now. Do we veer from our Founders’ vision of a constitutional republic, which preserves and protects the individual sovereignty of its citizens, along with the free market and the rights of the several states? Or do we continue to slide down a path of expanding the secular welfare state, nationalizing production, and enforcing economic equality and achievement?

You may call this what you wish. The esteemed constitutional scholar and author, Mark Levin, calls it “statism.” In our lifetime, the unpalatable and pejorative brands “socialist” and “communist” have been replaced with the more user-friendly “progressive.” But this is not a discussion about labels. It is a discussion far more important and grave, for it affects our nation’s future, our security, and the lives of each and every one of us. The dialogue must be about the future and direction of these United States. It is about the choice between two futures: a constitutional republic or a bureaucratic nanny-state.

As a nation, we must directly confront those issues that are most critical. We must be able to openly and candidly discuss how we will move forward to preserve our nation’s greatness, reduce our debt and deficit, put Americans back to work, take full advantage of our domestic energy resources and ensure our security.

These are dangerous and critical times for our country. We must be unafraid to discuss and confront the challenges we face, and ensure we keep our focus on the fundamental issues, rather than become distracted by semantics. I gladly welcome this debate in the arena of political ideologies of governance.

Steadfast and Loyal