The ideological pendulum has been swinging in American politics for generations. “Government is the problem” leaders work to shrink the federal government. They have inevitably been followed by “government is the solution” leaders who grow the size and power of government. Unfortunately, there are systemic advantages that benefit the government growth advocates.
The pendulum is currently swinging towards constraint. DOGE is shining light into all the dark corners of our federal government and showing us the result of three (or more) generations of relentless growth. Now the question is: Have Americans become so outraged at what is being discovered, that they are ready to stop the pendulum? Will they spend the next couple of generations voting against government growth?
In 2050, will we look back fondly on 2025 as the year we realized that freedom cannot coexist with a government capable of imposing tyranny on its population? Or will we see it as the year when we could have done more to secure our liberty, but didn’t?
If 2025 is in fact the year that American voters experienced an epiphany and stopped the pendulum, our future will be one of
- Vibrant creation of wealth, and falling national debt;
- Political accountability, and vanishing corruption; and
- Personal freedom, and constrained government power.
But if the pendulum hasn’t stopped with our most recent election, 2050 will look very different. Academia and the MSM will have repackaged and resold the notion that the government is the solution to all our problems – if we just give it enough power and money.
Taxation for everyone – not just the wealthy – will skyrocket as interest on the debt becomes our single biggest national expenditure. Bureaucrats will decide what we can say, how we can worship, and how our children must be raised; because they will have the power to do so. Our elected “public servants” will make lifetime careers of profiting on the chaos.
What 2050 America will be; depends on the choices we make today.
Each time America has faced a defining moment, patriots have stepped forward and said, “I am willing to risk everything for this cause.”
In 1861 we had to choose between slavery and freedom. Patriots gave their lives to secure freedom for all men in America.
In 1941 we had to choose between self-governance and subjugation. Patriots gave their lives to secure our constitutional republic.
Now we face another fork in the road – collectivism or individualism. Will we choose the path in which the government exists to protect individuals, so that they may thrive? Or will we choose the road to socialism, in which individuals are slaves to the collective? Fortunately, no patriot need sacrifice their lives to resolve that existential conflict. The founders gave us a constitutional means to fix it – Article V of the Constitution, which allows the states to take collective action.
The Idaho House of Representatives recently debated a resolution (HCR 10) to join 19 other stats calling for an Article V convention to debate remedies for our runaway federal government.
26 Representatives raised their hands and voted to take personal responsibility for fixing our current federal mess. They are: Alfieri, Cannon, Crane(12), Crane(13), Dygert, Ehlers, Erickson, Fuhriman, Garner, Handy, Hill, Holtzclaw, Manwaring, McCann, Miller, Mitchell, Monks, Moyle, Palmer, Pickett, Redman, Shirts, Skaug, Tanner(14), Vander Woude, and Wheeler.
Unfortunately, 44 other Representatives decided against engaging in the debate, and voted for someone else to risk confronting our federal government. They are: Achilles, Andrus, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Berch, Boyle, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cayler, Cheatum, Church, Clow, Cornilles, Egbert, Ehardt, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Green(Schubin), Harris, Hawkins, Healey, Horman, Hostetler, Leavitt, Marmon, Mathias, Mendive, Mickelsen, Nelsen, Petzke, Pohanka, Price, Rasor, Raybould, Raymond, Rubel, Sauter, Scott, Shepherd, Tanner(13), Thompson, Weber, and Wisniewski.
All is not lost, as 19 states have volunteered to engage. But if the vote in Idaho is any indication, the ideological pendulum has not stopped swinging, and the future of our republic remains an open question.
