Take time to read party platforms
Recent community comment articles (Schick — Democrat) and Bryan (Republican) present reasons why the voters should think about who to vote for in the presidential elections.
Schick states: “After all the Constitution ensures us pursuit of happiness. It does not guarantee that we will achieve it.”
The United States Constitution (as interpreted by the Supreme Court in light of the Bill of Rights) limits what laws and attendant administrative rules can be enforced by the U.S. federal government. The various states are sovereign in that they have the same form of government the United States has i.e., Constitution and Bill of Rights. The states enact their own laws as provided by the state constitution. Those laws are enforced by the state, not the U.S. government except in the case of U.S. Constitutional challenge.
The phrase cited by Schick appears in The Declaration of American Independence, July 2, 1776. “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 rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent to be governed.”
Each party espouses adherence to the Constitution whose roots are founded in the Declaration of American Independence. Which states: “That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from consent of the governed.”
Urge an analysis
The writers urge an analysis of each party’s presidential candidate, their past voting record and adherence to the principals and promises as spelled out in the party platform. Doing so will assist in informing the voter what the candidate stands for and wants to accomplish if elected.
Today Democrats do not want a “God” reference in their party platform. Republicans have many references to “God” in their platform. Important difference, yes. In the United States the people are the source of government authority, and that authority comes from our Creator (God).
When political parties remove references to a Creator (God), they leave a situation of no superior authority for creating a government structure. The result is the party itself assumes that power. Results: The people lose control of the type and kind of laws that they will be governed by.
Since our rights come from a creator, it follows that if “God” is not in a party platform and not recognized as the source of “our rights,” this will result in the party in power determining what “rights” we have, if any. In other words, the elected party candidate decides what laws are to be enforced, what these laws say. This creates a political structure of the “party” being the total government authority. The concept of sovereign states goes out the window and any state law can be opposed by the party in power by the use of federal police forces and the court system.
So, please read their party platforms, understand what the platforms say and compare them to what our founding fathers’ documents say and what those documents mean. The choice is clear. Republicans retain acknowledgment of God in their platform. Democrats want to remove such reference from theirs.
Learn, analyze the issues, decide and vote.
Stephen Donnell is a La Grande resident.