Our Founders understood the science of governing and they understood economics. They gave us a Declaration of Independence and a Constitution that established good government. They also practiced economic principles that enabled the greatest opportunity for Americans to succeed. While many were wrong about the issue of human chattel slavery, the governmental process they gave us facilitated the end of slavery. In the Declaration of Independence Jefferson, the author, as he enumerated our basic inalienable rights, initially wanted to use the expression “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Property.” He was overruled by the Committee and the result was “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But to them the difference was trivial. To the Founding generation true happiness was intimately associated with the ownership of property and the use of that property to create wealth. That generation knew how destructive governmental policies could be to the creation of wealth. Their exercise in practical self-government during the colonial era recognized the necessity for taxes, but they only tolerated taxation needed to operate a very limited government. In fact, they went to war over taxation!
The economics the Founders practiced depended on little to no government interference in the economy. When they wrote the U.S. Constitution, they included what is known as the “general welfare” clause. Congress could appropriate funds to promote the “general welfare.” Ultimately, between legislation and court action, “general welfare” has been defined as acts of the federal government that benefit all Americans. For example, there is a general benefit to all Americans that we have an interstate highway system. Even if you do not drive to vacation spots in different parts of the country every year, you benefit from prompt, regular delivery of vegetables grown in California or fruit grown in Michigan.
Democrats generally believe all action by government is beneficial to all citizens. They know it costs money, from taxpayers, to pay for all the things government does, but they do not seem to understand that by taking money from people to do government, there is less money in the hands of the people to buy things they need and want. Conservatives, on the other hand, believe government is NOT the friend of the people, that government does not do things very effectively or efficiently, that it is wasteful and too intrusive in people’s lives. They know that taxation restricts or restrains whatever is taxed, and that while some taxation is necessary, less is better.
I am a conservative. I believe in the necessity of government, but I believe, as did our Founders, that government’s role should be limited to very few things. Among the things government should do is make sure all of the citizens have an equal opportunity to live their lives as they see fit and to enable them to improve their lives based on their own efforts.
In Virginia, under the leadership of a Democrat Governor and a Democrat-dominated General Assembly, the economic climate is deteriorating. Taxation is burdensome, regulation of businesses and industries is heavy and often prevents entrepreneurs from being able to start a business, entry into many non-medical professions is restricted by unnecessary, burdensome licensing requirements, heavy-handed demands by the “green” lobby create uncertainty regarding the availability of reliable, consistent energy supply in the future. All of these chains on the economy drive business and industry elsewhere, out of Virginia. This must stop!
I want to see Virginia and Virginians thrive. I advocate for the unshackling of our economy by decreasing or eliminating taxes, reducing regulation on businesses and industry, easing or eliminating licensing requirements where appropriate, and reconsidering the radical demands of the “green” lobby. I want to see the growth of small and medium-sized businesses across the Commonwealth. I want to see the encouragement by government of fair competition with the only limitations being the creativity and industry of the entrepreneurs themselves. When people are released to prosper free from government interference, jobs will be created, unemployment will decline, wages will increase, while prices will go down, clients and customers will be served, the quality of life will go up as will tax revenues. The formula is not magic, but it is proven. We can do this; we must do this.