“When we have lost our way, the quickest way forward is usually to go home.”  – C.S. Lewis Much is being written about speaker Boehner’s giving up the speaker’s gavel of the U.S. House of Representatives. What should be looked at are his words when he took the gavel from Nancy Pelosi. The following was written by John Boehner article in the Wall Street Journal November 5, 2010 entitled “What the Next Speaker Must Do.”

From Boehner’s article in the WSJ — “Secrecy, arrogance and the abuse of power have shattered the bonds of trust between the people and their elected leaders. Repairing that trust requires sweeping change, beginning with an end to earmarks. People look at Washington and see an arrogance of power. They see a Congress that doesn’t listen, that is ruled by leaders who seem out of touch and dismissive, even disdainful of the anger that Americans feel toward their government and the challenges they face in an economy struggling to create jobs. Overreaching by elected officials-in the form of pork-laden “stimulus” spending, permanent bailouts, and policies that force responsible taxpayers to subsidize irresponsible behavior- has awakened something deep in our national character. Accordingly, there are several steps I believe the next speaker should be prepared to take immediately. Among them:

• No earmarks
• Let Americans read bills before they are brought to a vote
• No more comprehensive bills
• No more bills written behind closed doors in the speaker’s office.

The American people deserve a majority in Congress that listens to the people, focuses on their priorities and honors their demands for smaller, more accountable government. Accountability starts at the top, in the office of the speaker.” These words from John Boehner provide good council for the next in line. I started this post with the C.S. Lewis quote because our government seems hopelessly lost and out of touch with the American people and what their job is supposed to entail.  So the best thing to do is to go home, back to the start. Home in this case is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. From those three documents the greatest nation in the history of man was created.  Some will want you to believe that those documents are outdated and no longer relevant.   I think it is because we strayed from those documents, that magical blueprint, that we got lost in the first place.   Mark Gotz The American Coalition 4 Property Rights Port St. Lucie, Florida