So what exactly is a Republican? You hear terms thrown around like “conservative”, “moderate”, “neo-con”, “RINO”, etc., but those don’t really tell you anything. To complicate matters, there are differences between Republicans at the national level and the ones at the grassroots level.

To really understand what a Republican is, don’t look to Washington, DC for the answer. Don’t even look to your Statehouse. At those levels, most elected officials from both major parties are more concerned with their own re-election than they are about running the government. There are, of course, exceptions to that, but by-and-large, you are not their first consideration. Why do you think they all have political consultants in prominent positions in their offices?

Go find your city or town’s local Republican Party organization and talk to it’s officers and members. While there may some differences of opinion, particularly on social issues, you will find almost universal agreement that government is too intrusive and too big. You will find that they want to return this country to the one our Founding Fathers left us, the one where the power is in the hands of the people, not a centralized, tyrannical government.

Lower taxes, limited government, local citizen control. This is what a Republican SHOULD be about. So let’s discuss what those 3 things mean.

Let’s start with #2, Limited Government - Without a government in place, there would be anarchy, mob rule, gangs, and a likely takeover by a foreign power. Not good. The Constitution defines the role of government, and that role consists of three basic things: Security; Regulate Commerce; Foreign Affairs. Everything else not specifically spelled out in the Constitution is supposed to fall back to the states.

Lower Taxes - A functioning government needs money to operate, that is where taxes come in. They should be the minimum necessary to run the government, plus a surplus for emergencies. The Revolutionary War was fought in large part because of the excessive taxation inflicted on the Colonies by King George III. Have you looked at your paycheck lately or paid a fee for doing just about anything? Yeah, the government is taxing us too much and spending on things they are not supposed to be.

Local Citizen Control - The Founding Fathers recognized by their extensive study of history that governments with a strong central authority always failed. That is why the Constitution is so firm on the idea that the decision making to run the government should be in the hands of representatives of the people. The government we have now is not what the founders envisioned. The 17th Amendment, which changed the way United States Senators are elected was a huge blow the people’s power to govern and seriously damaged the 10th Amendment, which limits the power of the federal government.

If you find a person that believes in those things, convince them to run for office. If that person is you, join your local Republican Party and make a difference in your community.