It is difficult to turn on a radio or television and not hear someone telling you what is wrong with America, or locally, what is wrong with Ohio.  We are constantly bombarded with news of escalating energy prices, unemployment rates, rising health care costs, and jobs that are being exported out of Ohio or even beyond our borders.  While all of these issues are of concern to us all, it is also important to look at what we as Americans are doing right and how we will overcome these obstacles, just as we have overcome insurmountable obstacles in the past.  Today it seems that everyone in the media is asking us to look to government for solutions to our problems, that somehow we are unable to create our own solutions.  Rather than look to government, we must do what Americans are best at, we must look to ourselves, look to our own ingenuity and creativeness for solutions to the ills of our state and nation.

            At the birth of this nation our founders framed the constitution to allow for individual freedoms.  We have the freedom to try, the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail.  We have the right to be wealthy or poor, the right to work hard or not work at all, the right to pursue our dreams or to be content with where we are.  These rights and freedoms are not things that the government gives us, but rather recognizes as inalienable rights given to us by God.  One of the arguments over slavery was that the economy would collapse in the South without slaves to work the farms.  When land owners could no longer own slaves, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.  Technology and man’s creativity replaced slaves.  Government did not create it, nor did government mandate its creation.  It was individual greatness that overcame the problem and made cotton production more efficient, more profitable, and more affordable.  Did Mr. Whitney succeed on his first attempt?  No, he had many failures but from these failures came success.  Failure is not the end of an idea or a process; rather it is the beginning of success.  Without failure there can be no success. 

            The answers to our problems cannot be found in government, but rather in the individual greatness of the people.  Our society is the greatest society that exists.  It is a result of individuals that risk their money, dedicate their time and ingenuity to start a business and make it successful.  It is individuals that continue even though they face potential failure and expand their business, hire employees, and create our economy.  It has been individuals, not a government trying to see to our every need, treating us as a child or an invalid that has made our country great.  Our solutions will come from people who risk their capital, use their ingenuity, and work tirelessly.  They will endure failures, but they will also enjoy success as long as our government stays out of the way and does not intercede with excessive restrictions and regulations.  It will be the people that create solutions to our escalating energy costs through their visions and drive; perhaps building nuclear power plants or refineries to convert coal to fuel, or using algae to create fuel.  It will be the people that create new medicines and new medical procedures that improve our health and at a lower cost.  It will be individuals that take the risk and open new businesses or expand businesses here in Ohio that will create jobs and expand our economy.

            It is the individual greatness of people, the American Spirit that has made America the greatest country on the planet.  It will be that spirit that moves us on to greater success in the future rather than the surrogate government that so many politicians and those in the media try to suggest.

Those in favor of abortion consider an unborn child nothing more than a growth on a female body, to be treated and removed as a cancer. Others, as do I, feel that upon fertilization the cell is a human life. Our current laws are so confusing as to be hypocritical and contradictory. It is considered murder to harm a pregnant woman so as to cause the death of her unborn child, yet it is perfectly legal for a doctor to terminate the life of that same unborn child.

Our laws currently give an unborn child property rights, but not the right to life. A man can will his estate to his wife, children, and any unborn children of his marriage, yet current law does not protect the right of that unborn child to life. President Reagan once raised the question that if a woman chose to abort an unborn child after her husband’s death, would it not be considered murder for financial gain? No judge that I am aware of has offered to answer that question.

I recognize abortion as the taking of a life. In our Judeo-Christian religion we recognize the right to take life in defense of our own. Therefore abortion is justified when done in self defense, to protect a woman’s health and life. I also believe a woman has the right to defend herself against rape, she should not be forced to bear a child resulting from the violation of her person and therefore the abortion is an act of self defense.

I can think of no instance that justifies partial birth abortion or the termination of life of a child that has survived an attempted abortion. These cases simply cannot be justified by natural law and are an abomination of humanity.

            On Independence Day, I, like many Americans, reflect on what this day represents, on our declared freedom from a faraway government that had become increasingly tyrannical.  We all, as Americans, have a responsibility to preserve the freedoms the founders fought and died for.  We must ensure that the government continues to serve the people and not the other way around.  Government must do what is necessary, but only that which is necessary.

            For some time now we have fallen into a pattern of describing our choices as left and right, becoming a standard rhetoric in political philosophy.  But is that really an accurate description of the choices before us?  If we were to continue far enough in either direction, one will take us to communist totalitarianism; the other will take us to fascist totalitarianism.  Isn’t our choice really not of left or right, but as President Reagan believed, that of up or down?  Down through the welfare state to more and more government growth accompanied by more government authority, less individual liberty, and ultimately totalitarianism always proposed and advanced for our own good.  The alternative is the dream conceived by our founding fathers, up to the ultimate in individual freedom. 

            We don’t celebrate Dependence Day on the 4^th of July, we celebrate Independence Day.  We celebrate the right of each person to be recognized as an individual, possessing the sacred right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.  With our independence goes a spirit of generosity that is more evident here than in any other part of the world.  Acknowledging that we are all created equal, we are willing to help those who, through no fault of their own, are in need of our assistance.

            I began my adult life as a Republican, casting my first vote in 1980 for Ronald Reagan.  During his reign he slashed tax rates for all Americans, created a period of economic growth the likes of which the world had rarely seen, and re-established this country as the world’s super power.  Under his leadership we again recognized and rewarded individual greatness and defeated communism around the world.

            As the years went by and his visions were forgotten, did I leave the Republican Party, or did the leadership of that party leave not just me, but millions of Republicans that believed in the principles and philosophy of conservatism?  Freedom is not something that we can strive for once, achieve, and have forever.  In order to keep it, we have to keep working for it and sacrificing for it as long as we live.

            There are those who tell us that for reasons of security or to prevent economic disaster, we must surrender our individual freedoms; we must create more restrictions and regulations on corporate and individual behavior.  This is not about left or right.  Again, our choice is about up or down; up to the ultimate in individual freedoms or down to the ash heap of a fallen society.  Those that would trade our freedoms for perceived individual or economic security are taking us down the wrong path.

            As we celebrate our independence today, let us not mourn the fallen soldiers. Rather, let us honor them by remembering and protecting the freedoms we enjoy that they fought for and made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve.