The Argus from Fremont, California • Page 15

Calling all patriots! THE ARGUS Sunday, June 6,1976 Fremont Newark, Calif. Page 15 Needed: A second American revolution BY THOMAS E. AODISON JR. As we begin the 200th anniversary year of the American Revolution, it becomes increasingly apparent that the one condition most responsible for the Colonists' severing their ties with the mother country again is prevalent in our land. The yoke of insensitive, unrepresentative, and seemingly.capricious central government weighs heavy on the necks of the populace.

Think about our plight for a minute. Do we have a truly representative national government? Sure, we have a national legislature whose members are duly elected in accordance with the laws of the land, but now much of the legislative product of this body is either representative of the wishes or in the best interest of those citizens who elected it? How many people do you know who would agree that any of the following results of laws passed by the Congress of the United States are in the national interest or representative of their wishes? A bankrupt social security system with an actuarial deficit of $1.3 trillion and a benefit structure which will require an eventual increase in the payroll tax to 40 per cent from today's 11.7 per cent, if it is to be maintained. Year, after year, after year of irresponsible spending at levels so far in excess of revenues that the government has been brought to the verge of bankruptcy and inflation has been kindled and sustained at rates which will eventually destroy our economy and our free society. A national income tax system so complex and cumbersome that one could believe Mickey Mouse put it together, which possesses mammoth costs of administration, and which deters the information of capital and discourages individual saving, initiative and effort. A swollen, bloated and grossly overpaid bureaucracy whose regulatory activities threaten complete control and direction of every aspect of our private and business lives as well as the emasculation of our free market economy.

The squandering of millions of dollars of the citizens' hard-earned money on a number of projects of undeniable absurdity and asininity, among which we find the following which costs us citizens a tidy $668,439: A program to teach mothers how to play with their children. A study of bisexual Polish frogs. A study of the wild boar population of Pakistan. A study of Yugoslavian lizards. A study of American and Indian whistling ducks.

A study by a small college in Iowa of ways to enhance the logistive abilities and self-image of freshmen woman. Much of what has resulted from the legislative efforts of our senators and congressmen by no stretch of the imagination can be considered in the best interest of the country or representative of the wills of the voters. A complete list of worthless expenditures would fill every page of every issue of this magazine for months to come. If Congress is not responsive to the wills of its local constituencies, who then does it represent? If Congress is not responsive to the wills of its local constituencies, who then does it represent? Unfortunately, the best organized, best financed, most vocal, and benefiting most from media support are constituencies which are national in scope, and which work for the specific legislative goals of those who compose them. Prominent among the most powerful national constituencies are the environmentalists, the comsumerists, organized labor, veterans, welfare recipients, educators, social security beneficiaries, feminists, blacks and other ethnic minorities, just to name a few.

The pressures which these groups can and do bring to bear on Congress in pursuit of their individual legislative goals are tremendous and, often, result in votes by your congressman and your senators which are patently deterimental to the general welfare of the nation and in no way representative of your will. Representative government as it was meant to be by our founding fathers no longer exists in America, and it can never exist with the Congress as it is presently constituted; and unfortunately, as it will continue to be constituted under our electoral system. Redress of our ills through the ballot box is a naive and unrealistic hope; yet somehow some way, a responsible, responsive, and representative national legislature whose legislative product demonstrates a commitment to the general welfare must be obtained if the institutions of a free people which were bought and paid for by the blood of countless martyrs are to be preserved for future generations. Two hundred years have passed since our national birth, and the time is ripe for another revolution of the people to shake the yoke of irresponsibility imposed on us by those who would spend this nation into bankruptcy, and who would create by legislative fiat an egalitarian society in which all are given not equality of opportunity but, equality of reward regardless of contribution. The inevitable concomitant of this is.

a completely authoritarian government, which can permit no individual liberty or personal freedom. The opportunity to effect a "revolution" which will preserve our freedoms is provided by the constitutional process gives us by the wise founding fathers of our nation. It is within our power to revolutionize the thinking of every member of Congress, regardless of his party affiliation or philosophical bent, by amending the Constitution to mandate spending by the Congress at levels which will not exceed revenues except in times of declared war or in the time of a well defined national emergency. A constitutional amendment prohibiting deficit spending is such a simple, straightforward, readily understood proposal of undeniable and universal desirability that one finds it difficult to grasp its potential for truly revolutionary consequence. The Congress is an elected body and purely political considerations would preclude its laying on the voters the taxes necessary to pay for all the hair-brained programs and activities already underway in the name of "social Two hundred years have passed since our national birth, and the time is ripe for another revolution of the people to shake the yoke of irresponsibility imposed on us by those who would spend this nation into bankruptcy, and who would create by legislative fiat an egalitarian society in which all are given not equality of opportunity but equality of reward regardless of contribution.

progress," let alone those which are being placed in the legislative hopper with frightening frequency. The additional taxes required to pay for a $375 billion spending program are of course a political impossibility. A constitutional mandate for fiscal sanity would precipitate a revolution in the thinking of Congress because spending would have to be reduced to bring it within constitutional limits. Imagine the 180 degree switch that would take place in the thinking of the real go-go "social movers, and shakers," "free spenders," "do-gooders," and the "disciples of federal control of everything" were these worthies forced to take from the people in taxes the cost of every dollar of supposed benefits provided by congressional munificence. A constitutional amendment prohibiting deficit spending would give every member of Congress the out required to preserve his political life and the backbone to get on with the job of preserving the republic.

Instant rationality would prevail throughout the District of Columbia. With the example of the New York fiscal fiasco fresh on our minds, the majority of our senators and congressmen are at least aware of the dire necessity of curbing congressional spending, and the two-thirds majority required in both houses to do so by constitutional amendment is well within the realm of possibility. Bills to amend the Constitution of mandate fiscal sanity by the Congress have already been introduced in both the House and the Senate and every member of Congress is already thoroughly familiar with this legislation. It's up to us to secure its passage. Ratification by every state in the Union would quickly follow.

Two hundred years have passed since revolution gave birth to our United States, and today the call is loud and clear to those who love our country to assume the responsibilities of patriotism and become soldiers in a revolution, the successful conclusion of which is as vital to the future of America in 1976 as was the revolution of 1776. Had the colonial revolutionists not prevailed over the British, our country would not have been born. Unless the patriots of 1976 can revolutionize the thinking of every member of Congress, our country cannot survive. If you fove your country, you can find the time and scrape up the money required for a trip to Washington to talk with your congressman and your two senators Hud the colonial revolutionists not prevailed over the British, our country would not have been born. Unless the patriots of 1976 can revolutionize the thinking of every member of Congress, our country cannot survive.

about the future of the country and urge them to get behind legislation which offers us the only sure hope to' escape the common fate of New York, Great Britain, and Italy. Give it a try and you'll go back home with your blood pressure elevated to the danger point but pleasantly pleased to discover that your representatives are genuinely interested in your views. Thomas E. Addison Jr. is president of Addison-Rudesal, a building products firm based in Atlanta, Ga.

The above article is reprinted from the January, 1976 issue of SHELTER, a trade publication of the millwork and building products industry. Ihii idiiflii IIM thi South (muling Sttli (tlumbii, it. mm. if THf iMIKS NiKSMHIS Would you spend 13 to help your nation and yourself? NATIONAL DEBT TOPS 5 550 BILLION Puts 6500 debt on each taxpayer Overspending this year could add 75 billion more Taxes now take one-third of average worker's pay. HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT? The federal government spending more money than it takes in.

For 38 of the last 44 years, the federal government has operated in the red, building a larger and larger national debt which is bigger than the combined debts of all other governments of all other nations of the world. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? Your dollar is worth less and less because of the devastating inflation caused by deficit spending. For example, a dollar worth 100 cents in 1967 is worth only 64 cents today. Since 1967, people on fixed incomes have had more than one-third of their money stolen by inflation. WHAT IS THE ANSWER? We the people of the United States will have to demand that our federal government stop spending more money than it has and live within its means.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Let our members of Congress know how we feel. The Palmetto Business Forum, a nonpartisan group of businessmen, is seeking signatures of 10,000 South Carolinians on coupons and petitions calling for a balanced budget. They will be taken to our members of Congress to let them know that we who have to live within our incomes insist that our government do the same thing. REMEMBER NEW YORK CITY? Constant overspending and borrowing put them on the verge of collapse. Only help from outside the city saved them from bankruptcy.

the government of the entire U.S. faced bankruptcy because of repeated borrowing, who will be there to bail us out? Look At These Facts: 1776-1936 Total federal spending: SI00 billion for 150 years. 1941 --Annual Budget: $10 billion. 1 962 Annual Budget; $100 billion 1975 Annual spending: over $300 billion. Interest on national debt for this 1 year was more; than total spending for 1948, just 28 years ago.

8' of every tax dollar is needed just to pay the interest on the debt. 1976-77 of every dollar federal government will spend will be borrowed. Projected deficit for year will be more than total 1956 expenditures. At the end of the Vietnam war, defense spending dropped to what it had been in the mid-fifties, but federal spending continued to increase. Two-thirds of our states, including South Carolina, are required by their constitution to operate on balanced budgets.

The federal government should be required to do the same or we face economic collapse or chaos. Add your voice by signing our coupon below, and let's be heard in Washington. All it takes is a 13 stamp. What else can you buy nowadays for 13 Please clip coupon below, sign it, get your family and friends to sign it and mail to The Palmetto Business Forum P.O. Box 11305 Columbia, S.C.

29211 PHASE SIGN OHLY ONCE! CITY. TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION HOM SOUTH CAROLINA We, the undersigned, believe the Federal government should be required to live within its means and urge you to work for constitutional amendment which would require the Federal government to operate on a balanced budget except during war or other national emergency. NAME- NAME- NAME. NAME- NAME- CITY NAME CITY- The Palmetto Business Forum A non-partisan group of businiismen, all chief of South Carolina-bated companies, organized to formulate pontioni and voice on State and National issues bearing on the survival and health of free market system. Goyle 0.

Averyt, Colonial Life Accident Int. Rufus C. Berkley, Cameron Berkley William Bruner, Fmt National Bank of S. Hugh M. Chapman, National Bonk, Jamet A.

Chapman, Inman Millij H. William Close, Springs Milk, Charles W. Coker, Sonoco Product! Robert E. Riegel Textile J. M.

Hamrick, Hamrick Mills; Francit M. Mipp, The liberty D. Wellsmon Johnson, Abney Mills; W. W. Johnson, Bankers Trust of S.C.; John M.

lumpkin, S.C. National Bank; E.S. McKissick, Alice Mfg. Buck Mickel, Daniel International; Roger Milliken, Deering-Miltiken, Inc.j Walter Montgomery, Spartan Mills; Ben R. Morris, State-Record Richard H.

Pennetl, Metromont James C. Self, Greenwood Mills; J. Kelly Sisk, Multimedia, Robert P. Timmerman, Craniteville John G. Wellman, Wellman Arthur M.

Williams, S.C. Electric Gas George Dean Johnson, Secretary..