Every day, I talk about the need to stop Minnesota’s massive fraud, cut our sky-high taxes, and reduce out-of-control regulations so we encourage people to invest, create jobs and ignite prosperity for all Minnesotans.
But this election is about much more than economic growth. Significant parts of our great country, most notably in California, New York, and Seattle, have already entered the dismal realm where government increasingly crowds out the private sector, and Minnesota is not far behind. I am running for Governor to stop Minnesota’s slide into socialism.
As we celebrate the 250th year of the birth of freedom on this continent, we need a renewed commitment to limited government and individual liberty. When our founders created the United States of America, they weren’t trying to emulate Europe. Instead, they were breaking free from the monarchy and its oppressive social and economic structures that stole the fruits of their labor, denied freedom to worship, and limited regular people’s ability to move up economically based on ingenuity and hard work.
Our founders began a radical new experiment in self-government that recognized God-given, inalienable, individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness within a framework of limited government. The long-held view that the state was sovereign was flipped on its head – the people were sovereign and, in pursuit of their individual dreams, they, not the government, worked together in free associations to address social needs for the common good.
America was the land of endless possibilities – if you worked hard, you could succeed. But in a grave injustice 250 years ago, that promise did not yet include those who were brought here as slaves. The seeds of liberty were planted, and eighty years later, we fought a civil war to ensure that freedom finally included EVERY citizen.
People around the world have looked to our nation as an inspiration as they sought their own freedom. I grew up during the hope and optimism of the Reagan era, and am forever grateful that President Reagan refused to accept that those oppressed under communism were consigned to that fate.
I have been fortunate to spend a significant amount of time in Poland and have friends from many countries who grew up under communism or totalitarianism. As they prayed and waited for the day they would be free, they weren’t inspired by the democratic socialism of France or the UK. They wanted the personal and economic liberty they saw in America - the freedom to choose what to study, where to live and work, to own their own homes, and worship freely.
Sadly, the dynamism driven by limited government and individual freedom is in decline – as we are seeing it first-hand in Minnesota. The innovation, self-reliance, and those famed civic associations that de Tocqueville saw as the foundation of American uniqueness and greatness are disappearing.
Since at least the launch of Johnson’s Great Society, we have traded reliance on ourselves and each other for reliance on government. As Reagan famously said: “As government expands, liberty contracts.” Unfortunately, that has been the story of the last 60 years.
As we have let government crowd out private institutions and individual initiative, we have ceded control over our own destinies to bureaucrats. Politicians are increasingly micromanaging every aspect of our lives and economy. And worse, they’re squandering the people’s money on fraud and corruption.
Stifling government overreach has not only hurt us economically, it is also impacting our American spirit and character. Recent studies about the effects of Johnson’s Great Society policies show that while government programs have moved people above the poverty line, more Americans are dependent on government assistance than at any time in history. Rather than developing skills and increasing their market income, welfare programs have trapped people in dependency and disillusionment.
While the core functions of government are needed – public safety, infrastructure, a safety net for the poor and disabled, and education – it is time to reassert self-governance and stop allowing the state to grow on autopilot, which leaves us less competent and confident and more dependent, instead of strong and free.
As we enter the ballot box in our 250 th year, we must ask ourselves: do we want to continue expanding government and limiting our freedom? Or, do we love liberty enough to bring government under control, and reclaim responsibility for our lives, our families, and our communities? To me, the choice is clear.
I do not want my generation to be the one that failed to “keep” the Republic, as Benjamin Franklin dryly noted after the Constitutional Convention. I want to be the generation that stopped the ever-expanding encroachment of government and gave our children and grandchildren another generation of the American Dream.
We should not trade freedom and self-governance for the trendy mirage of socialism, which always leads to fewer rights and opportunities, less ownership, and less prosperity for ordinary people, while the elite live well because of corruption. Socialism doesn’t bring more equality – it always brings greater inequality, dependence, and scarcity.
As we celebrate 250 years of the greatest country on earth, let’s recommit ourselves to our founding principles: limited government, self-rule, religious freedom, individual rights, and the rule of law. If we do this, we will indeed leave our children with a nation worth preserving for another 250 years. It’s up to us.