Len Munsil » Pages

FREEDOM REQUIRES LIMITED GOVERNMENT

Len Munsil — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:44:35 +0000

During the Republican presidential debates, much has been made of who can best re-energize the Reagan coalition. Some have suggested it is time to move beyond Reagan, and in one sense they are right.
But the continued popularity of President Reagan is not based on mere fondness and nostalgia for the 40th president, likeable though he was. In fact, if he were here he’d probably admit, with a wink and a joke, that his policies didn’t always live up to his own ideas.
Rather, Reagan’s enduring popularity is based on the reality that – as we approach his 97th birthday Feb. 6 — the big ideas he espoused for America still make sense.
These big ideas are timeless American principles of strength, prosperity and optimism.
Where we must break from Reagan and the past is in our recognition that application of these principles to today’s circumstances will require new ideas, new political skills, and new leaders.
One of those timeless big ideas is Reagan’s notion that the size, scope and power of government should be limited.
Of course this idea is as old as the founding of our nation, when Thomas Jefferson wrote “the government that governs best, governs least,” and the framers of our Constitution allowed the federal government only limited, enumerated powers while all other power was left to the people.
President Reagan said that “Man is not free unless government is limited.” He knew that the more power government takes – and the more of our money it controls – the less free we become. And when the government does step in and try to “help” it often complicates things. Or, as Reagan put it, “[the government] tends not to solve problems, but only rearrange them.”
Hurricane Katrina is a great example. President Bush was chastised for responding too slowly to the disaster, but when the Feds did step in the results were grievous. In 2006 CNN reported that a federal audit found nearly $1 billion in fraud related to the relief effort. Government-issued gift cards were used to purchase everything from $200 bottles of champagne to vacations in the Dominican Republican. But is anyone really surprised?
The old joke that the scariest sentence in the English language is “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” is only funny because most Americans recognize the bureaucratic inefficiency and incompetence of many government programs.
Of all the key tenets of the Republican Party, the ideal of limited government should be one of the least controversial. Yet under a Republican-controlled Congress spending was out of control. According to the American Conservative Union, federal spending increased $303 billion between 2001 and 2005 – without including crucial spending increases in military and homeland security following 9/11!
The 2006 elections sent many spend-happy Republicans home permanently as Americans placed their trust in the Democrats’ message of reform and accountability. But have matters improved with the Democrats in control?
Brian Riedl, the lead budget analyst of the Heritage Foundation, pointed out in a recent article that December’s omnibus spending bill contained an astounding $20 billion in congressional earmarks – classic “pork-barrel spending.”
“Earmarking is a corrupting process,” Riedl said. “It effectively gives individual lawmakers their own pot of tax dollars to distribute to organizations of their choosing. So rather than file an application, many federal grant seekers today have to make a political donation. Lobbyists promote their matchmaker role, effectively auctioning government grants to the highest bidder.”
That is a perfect breeding ground for corruption, as any number of indicted or jailed Congressmen can attest.
The only way to limit corruption in politics is to reduce the size and the power of government over our lives. When elected officials have less money and influence to spread around, the smaller gains available through bribery and corruption are not worth the risk of prosecution.
The danger of increased corruption is just one more reason to oppose the massive expansion of government in Arizona, where we have roughly doubled the state budget in the past five years while bankrupting the state and producing a deficit twice as big as the one Gov. Napolitano claims she fixed in 2003.
Let liberals argue over the best government-based solution to the problems facing our nation. If history is any guide, we can expect more government involvement in areas like health care to provide us with less quality at greater cost.
As usual, Ronald Reagan said it best: “We who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment, are created from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefiting from their success — only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive, and free.”
Len Munsil was the Republican nominee for Governor of Arizona in 2006. He is founder and chairman of Principled Reaganesque Outcomes PAC (www.pro-pac.org) and blogs at www.lenmunsil.com.

EVENTS

Len Munsil — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:59:23 +0000

UPCOMING EVENTS
OCTOBER
4 – MESA – Mesa Republican Women luncheon, 11:30 a.m.. Mesa Country Club. 660 W. Fairway.
11 – GILBERT — District 22 Republican meeting, 7 p.m., 1141 E. Guadalupe.
15 — PHOENIX — Republican Legislative District 10 meeting. 7 p.m. Thank Q Rentals Banquet Hall, 15440 N. 35th Ave.
PREVIOUS EVENTS
MARCH
13 — PHOENIX — Southwestern College President’s Banquet Keynote Address
17 — PHOENIX — KPXQ radio interview
20 – TEMPE — District 17 Republicans
24 – BULLHEAD CITY – Pregnancy Care Center Celebration of Life Day.
29 — GILBERT — Surrey Garden Christian School high school assembly
APRIL
15 — LAKE HAVASU — Pregnancy Care 25th Anniversary Banquet Keynote Address. 12:30 p.m., Shuegrue’s Bridge View Room. For tickets, email pregnancycareinc@yahoo.com.
19 — PHOENIX — Southwestern College assembly speaker. 2625 E. Cactus Road.
27 — CHANDLER — Good Works Annual Spring Fundraising Banquet, keynote speaker. Sheraton San Marcos, Chandler. Click here for ticket information.
MAY
3 – PRESCOTT VALLEY. National Day of Prayer event keynote speaker, Prescott Valley Civic Center, 7 p.m.

17 – PHOENIX. Federal Law Enforcement Memorial Service. (Private event).
JUNE
2 – SUN CITY – Sun City West Republican Club, 8 a.m., 14655 R.H. Johnson Blvd.
8 — TUCSON — Pima County Republican Women’s Club (PCRWC) 2nd Annual Fundraiser: “A Tribute to our 40th President, Ronald Reagan.” Wild Horse Ranch, 6801 N. Camino Verde, Tucson, AZ 85743. Western buffet, $35 per person by mail, $40 at the door. RSVP by June 1 to Heather Hagge, 520-232-2065.
9 — TEMPE — James Madison Preparatory School Commencement speaker.
14 – CHANDLER — Legislative District 21, Chandler Senior Center, 202 E. Boston St., 7 p.m.
19 – CAVE CREEK — Legislative District 7, 7 p.m.
25 – PHOENIX — Legislative District 6, Deer Valley Airport, 7 p.m.
29 — PRESCOTT — Keynote speaker on “Independence” at Yavapai County Republican Trunk N Tusk dinner to kick off Prescott Frontier Rodeo Days and July 4th celebration. Social hour 5 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. Beef or chicken piccata. $35 per person. St. Michael Hotel, downtown Prescott. Call 928-776-4500 for reservations.
SEPTEMBER
25 — SUN LAKES — Sun Lakes Republican Club, 7 p.m. Sun Lakes Country Club 1 at 25601 N. Sun Lakes Blvd.

Get Involved

Len Munsil — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:08:56 +0000

This page is coming soon.

WHAT I’M READING

Len Munsil — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:02:41 +0000

CURRENTLY
“The Reagan Diaries” by Ronald Reagan, edited by Douglas Brinkley.
“Londonistan” by Melanie Philllips.
“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
“Theodore Rex” by Edmund Morris.
The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words by Ronald C. White Jr.
Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich by Mark Kriegel.
Real Christianity by William Wilberforce, revised and updated by Bob Beltz.
Mayflower by Nathanial Philbrick.
A History of the English Speaking Peoples by Andrew Roberts.
RECENTLY COMPLETED
America Alone by Mark Steyn. I didn’t think it was possible for a book subtitled “The End of the World as We Know It” to be hilarous, but this book is. Read it. In addition to being funny, the survival of western civilization may hang in the balance.
The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War by Dan Gilgoff. Senior editor at U.S. News and World Report offers a candid and fairly objective analysis of the growing influence of evangelicals in American politics.
The River of Doubt by Candice Millard. As a fan and student of Teddy Roosevelt (he actually came to my 40th birthday party), I was not that familiar with his post-presidency journey to the jungles of Brazil and found this to be a fascinating account. It was a miracle they came out alive. Not for the squeamish – lots of bugs and man-eating fish in the Amazon.
Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both by Laura Sessions Stepp. A Pulitzer Prize winning liberal journalist for the Washington Post is shocked to learn what is happening in today’s “hook-up” culture, and chronicles the devastating emotional and physical effect of emotionally disconnected promiscuity on young women.

PRO-PAC

Len Munsil — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:01:14 +0000

This page is coming very soon!

THE DIFFERENCE IS CLEAR…

Len Munsil — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 16:18:15 +0000

THE DIFFERENCE IS CLEAR…

Compare and Decide For Yourself

Issue

Len Munsil

Janet Napolitano

Plan to Secure the Border

Yes

Plan to Improve Education

Yes

Plan to Fix CPS

Yes

Taxpayer Subsidized In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens

Yes

Driver’s License for Illegal Aliens

Yes

Big Spender

Yes

Parental Consent for Teenage Abortions

Yes

Protect Marriage from Activist Judges

Yes

Parental Choice in Education

Yes

Campaign Commercial

Len Munsil — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:49:35 +0000

Download the latest version of Windows Media Player for PC here and for Mac here.

Right-click to Download and Save Video / Audio Clips for Best Quality.

“Move On” (:45)

Windows Media

Campaign Rallies

Len Munsil — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 01:48:46 +0000

Flagstaff Rally – October 28

Mesa Rally – October 28

Prescott Rally – October 21

Phoenix Rally – October 21

Phoenix Rally – October 14

Tucson Debate – October 10

Len Munsil — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 01:28:47 +0000

Press Release For Immediate

Len Munsil — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:06:45 +0000

Press Release

For Immediate Release
October 20, 2006

Contact: Vernon Parker
(602) 418-2350

Contact: Alberto Gutier
(602) 908-8900

Munsil Accepts Invitation To Debate

“Pastors and Residents of South and West Phoenix Extend Debate Invitation”

This morning, Len Munsil, Republican nominee for Governor accepted an invitation to debate on Thursday, November 2nd. The invitation was issued by Dr. C.T. Wright, Bishop Alexis A. Thomas, Bishop Henry L. Barnwell, Dr. Bernard Black, and Mrs. Donna Neil.

“I graciously accept the opportunity to debate Ms. Napolitano and Mr. Hess. Ms. Napolitano and I have very different visions for the state of Arizona. During the past four years, Janet Napolitano has sat by and watched over 5 million illegal aliens cross the border and enter Arizona. Her response has been to let them have in-state tuition rates for college that are subsidized by the Arizona taxpayer and say that she would be ‘happy’ to let them have an Arizona drivers’ license. That is not what the voters of Arizona expect from their Governor. I look forward to the debate.” said Len Munsil.

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