If this political season has taught us anything, it is the danger of falling into routine. Events of the past years are discussed and reported in the same news anchor’s monotone throughout the country. Policies are described without context and only the shallowest of meanings are conveyed as important. Keep an eye on the news in the upcoming months, every story will be broken down to its basest elements and will be shown in light of only one event, the upcoming election. Just this past Friday, early in the morning, a psychopath shot innocent movie goers in Aurora, Colorado. Before noon of that day he was tied to the TEA Party, the Democrat Party, and the Mayor of New York was calling for stricter gun control laws. Immediately the story was made to fit the narrative, the candidates were called upon to address, not the tragedy, but the need for limiting access to guns regardless of the Constitution. In less than eight hours the victims lost their humanity, the families their dignity, and the focus and limelight of the media drenched a wretched and selfish fool with the attention he obviously craved. He had become part of a larger battle that has been a topic of discussion for decades and will be for several more. Forget the ruling of the Supreme Court on such matters; forget that violent crime has fallen nationwide; look at what this lone crazy person has done. What we lose in this media hype is far more important that the crusade against guns fought by every politician ready to turn today’s tragedy into tomorrow’s campaign commercial. We lose perspective. The healthcare decision was covered in a similar manner. We were told of its political importance and the discussion revolved around the decision’s impact on the campaign and even fundraising. Forget of course, that the government has the, heretofore unfound in the Constitution, power to tax inaction and to force Americans, under penalty of law, to enter into contracts with third parties, look at the poll numbers!

Cutting through the morass can be difficult but it yields important findings. In the lead up to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, where did the government hire new agents to facilitate the operation? It was not the Health and Human Services Department. Kathleen Sebilius, its Secretary, is given wide and sweeping new powers by this law but her department did not receive thousands of new hires.  It was the IRS. That story is from 2010, long before the Supreme Court even heard the case, and new agents were hired to oversee this law’s implementation. It was always a tax. It was always intended to be a tax. It was sold to us otherwise. How else can the change in tone be explained? We were told that it was needed to cover Americans without insurance or adequate access to healthcare. When the court outed the mandate as a tax those same compassionate “bleeding hearts” called those without insurance freeloaders, deserving of the penalty that the court “misread” as a tax. Politicians do not care about you, politicians care about your vote.

FairTax advocates many times run a dangerous game of believing that nonpartisan means supported by everyone.  While it is absolutely true that this plan can be supported by those in either party or those in neither party we must recognize that there exists an ideological opponent to our cause. One that can be found in every party and organization. The ideology that says centralized authority is better, that the individual cannot fend for himself. The ideology espoused in Osawatomie by both a Republican and a Democrat President  100 years apart. The ideology that wishes to supplement the gas tax with an additional mileage tax. The ideology that refuses to recognize the nobility of creating your own business and tries to tell you that it is the government bureaucrat that is truly to credit for your success. That same ideology that penalizes success under the assumption that it is not yours. The ideology that will lower taxes on a majority of voters but will kill their opportunity to succeed in the name of economic justice. The ideology that believes we should cap the profits of oil and gas companies. The ideology that believes in the redistribution of wealth instead of the creation of wealth. Make no mistake, that ideology is present and is finding successes in this country. That vilified 1% is losing money and their tax rate is rising. The call still remains for “fairness” from those that wish to strip even more out of the pockets of the wealthy; they show no sign of stopping.

Another trap many have fallen into is the ruse of wonderment. We recognize that our dream could come true but in a distant future far away. We continue in our quest because we are convinced that our plan is right and that it will help our country. But we do not fear. Panic induces anarchy and chaos, but fear of death is necessary. Without it our actions are deadened, our resolve is numbed, our speed lags. Since politics is a competitive sport we must fear defeat or we lose. Spectators forfeit because the game is being played as we speak. Training is nice but not crucial. We must have a will to act. People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and that is what we have to offer. The counterpoint to every governmental expansionist idea on the table. I have watched the news for the past several years waiting and hoping for people to change course. It is not that they will not, it is that they cannot if all they are offered is more of the same. The will to act is vital to our cause and the passion connected to it is more contagious than laughter. We must show our passion that strengthens our resolve to gain the momentum we need.

Current events are depressing but can be used to gain an accurate view of the world around us. We are told that we cannot succeed because of a natural disaster in Japan and an economic one in Europe, but the Canadians are now richer than we are. One might ask Canada where it has been when Japan was hit, or if it knew that the Euro was in trouble. But while we floundered on a Keynesian theory that has been disproved before, our neighbors to the North were cutting their tax rates to make doing business easier and to promote individual liberty. We, to help our economy, have reached an arrangement with Mexico to promote expansion of food stamp use in our country. Yet we cannot bring ourselves to inform them of a dangerous and lethal weapons tracking program that has killed many of their police and citizens and at least one of ours. Where do our priorities lie? With reelection, in a land where the ends justify any means. This is our defeat; to yield now is to accept this for the rest of our days at least. I am not part of the FairTax movement merely because our plan is the best tax alternative discussed. I strive to pass the FairTax because it is the best chance American citizens have to taking back control of a government that was designed for them. Two thousand or so pages have recently altered our entire relationship to the government and the effectively the tax code. The slow encroach of government will not arrest itself or cease its own expansion. The waning power of Americans to do as they see fit in their everyday life is directly connected to the waxing power of the state into every segment of society. But we are not without recourse. We cannot afford to sit and wait for a great leader to stand for our cause; it must be done by us. This achievement cannot be accomplished by one man alone, or an organization, but a movement. A movement comprised of people who believe, not in a bill but in themselves. The message we must take to Washington is one of reclamation. Our cause is greater than the method to collect revenue but how our government is to function. With our input or without it. Realize this dichotomy and use it as motivation. Nearly a century has removed us from our proper role in government and we cannot regain our place of power as a restless or harried mob. Our purpose is clear, our cause is just, our numbers are vast, our voice is loud, our hearts are strong, we need only to do one more thing………RISE!