Speech at The State of the World Conference in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., May 2 & 3, 2008
Reclaiming Our Inheritance
Greetings. Thank you for coming out this afternoon, and thank you to Mario for sponsoring this event.
My name is Joe Oliva and I am an independent candidate for President of the United States in 2008. When I tell that to most people, they usually ask me if I know how much money that will take? They think it's ridiculous. Well maybe it is, but what I think is ridiculous is:
1. That only a Democrat or Republican can be President.
2. That only businessmen and politicians with huge bank accounts and powerful political machines can be President.
3. That the two major parties have rigged the election process to assure themselves a virtual lock on power.
4. That after getting elected, these individuals become rich on lobbyist money, campaign treasuries, and insider information, forgetting the promises they made to us.
5. That they spend our tax dollars as if the money was their own, with little regard for how hard we work for it.
We go from election to election, each time hoping that this time the results will be different, but it is always the same old story. More Do Nothing, Let's Get Re-elected, Power Hungry Partisans fighting for fame and fortune, after promising us a new tomorrow.
I started my campaign because the atmosphere in our nation's capital has become that of pure partisanship, and leadership has been ignored by both the Democrat and Republican parties. The reason for this is because they have convinced the American people that they are the only ones capable of governing and that there are no other choices. Since they have no fear of being held accountable, they have pursued power for power's sake, creating the partisanship that is failing to meet the nation's needs.
Very often, when we look at the politics of Washington, we see that not much tends to get done easily or quickly. That is because ineffectiveness springs from the seeds of partisanship, and partisanship is not leadership. The elites of both parties are not really concerned with developing legislation that is innovative and creative, and actually solves problems. What they are concerned with is staying in office, keeping power, advancing their own visions and agendas, and convincing us we must continue to vote them back into power at every election.
The American people have been duped into believing this myth. Always hoping for the best, which is an indomitable part of our national character, we have voted over and over again for these same people, voting not for conscience sake but as a choice of the lesser of two evils. Although we hope for a different result, we quickly find that once again the politicians do as they please. We have been tricked into selling our birthright to these elites for entitlements and pork barrel spending while they openly and with great disdain, ignore the Constitution, rule of law, and will of the people!
As we head into the 2008 election, it is important to look back at the politics of Washington and forward in deciding who we should elect as President. The sad truth is that our politicians have been engaged in some of the fiercest partisan battles ever. The Democrats lost control of congress in 1994 after 40 years in power, and have been anxious to gain it back. The Republicans, thrilled at having control, used their new found authority to feather their own nest. Lost in the struggle were the real needs of the nation and the will and desire of the American people.
Why is it that our politicians cannot set aside the partisan ideology for the sake of the nation? The answer, not surprisingly, is vanity, power, money, and an apparent lack of conviction to any real principles. Both parties have been plagued by corruption charges, sex scandals, and an unyielding addiction to pork barrel spending to enhance their image as servants of the people.
The effects of all this neglect are a dependence on foreign oil that continues to grow, a burgeoning entitlement crisis in Social Security and Medicare, an immigration flood tearing at the cultural fabric of the nation, the demise of our educational pre-eminence, a growing challenge to our military power by China, a decline in our economic superiority, and an increasing threat from Islamic terrorists. If this isn't enough, we also find ourselves at war in the volatile Middle East where victory appears elusive.
You would think that with these challenges facing our country, the politicians would forget about who's in charge and set about getting something done. Unfortunately, such a task requires great leadership skills that are not evident anywhere in our government. The desire for leadership can be found in just about every poll taken by the leading polling organizations and is amply demonstrated when voters are asked about who they prefer for President.
We are all well aware of the fact that our form of government divides power among three branches, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. This brilliantly devised system of checks and balances was intended to prevent the federal government from hoarding power in any one place. It is important to note here that the phrase "checks and balances" applies to the three way division of responsibility enshrined in the Constitution. It is not the idea of Republicans and Democrats that defines checks and balances. It is vital that we understand this! The two parties want you to believe that they represent a check on each other.
Over the last 150 years or so, this idea of a two party system has greatly weakened the protections the founding fathers intended. The Democrat and Republican parties have learned that if they could elect majorities in both houses of congress and also hold the Presidency, they could virtually monopolize power. With the President having the authority to nominate Supreme Court judges, either party, if in such an enviable position, could then do whatever it wanted to, and the opposition party could only, in most circumstances, offer token resistance. Do not kid yourself that this opposition party has your interests in mind however. Far from it, their only concern is that they do not control the reins of power and so they cannot do whatever it is they want to do. In the end, little gets done that truly benefits the nation. At best, we see pork barrel legislation designed to look like something is getting done, but it is really a sop to buy your vote.
Therefore, the two party system is the heart of the problem we must fix. Unless and until we break that mold, we the people will continue to be pushed in whatever direction the ruling elite have in mind. They raise our taxes, waste the money, intrude into all aspects of our lives, send our children off to war, and in the end, with faulty legislation and partisan judges, whisk away our rights and make us servants to their ambitions and interpretations of the "New World Order"! The way to break to this mold is to elect a President who is not a member of either party. When that happens, the power structure of the federal government will be disrupted and removed from the hands of these two elite parties, and that in turn will present us with a slew of new opportunities.
So who are these elites? Well, if you add up 535 members of congress, President & V.P., nine Supreme Court Justices, cabinet heads, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 50 state Governors, plus top union officials, university presidents, business and banking leaders, other world leaders including the UN, you arrive at about 1200* people who make the crucial decisions about the direction of the world.
There is great danger in this concentration of power worldwide, but our concern is the United States. The two major parties have now accrued to themselves so much power, that they believe themselves invulnerable to the Constitution, rule of law, and will of the people, and most importantly, they are all infected with the New World Order/One World Government mindset. This NOW/OWG agenda is a direct threat to our freedoms given to us by the founding fathers.
In their pursuit of this agenda, the elites have squandered our resources, weakened our military, subverted our sovereignty, and mortgaged the future.
Squandered Resources
Our jobs have been sent overseas, and workers are imported via H1B visas and through illegal immigration to take other jobs at both the high end and low end of the scale. Our hospitals and schools are spending huge amounts of money to take care of the illegals. Our police, court system, and prisons have been overwhelmed. Our foreign aid goes to take care of people around the world despite the needs here at home.
The Military
Our military has been severely weakened after the demise of the Soviet Union. Intelligence services were cut, the size of our armed forces decreased, and equipment and other assets have been allowed to deteriorate. In spite of this, our troops are used as the world's police force instead of defenders of America. They are stationed around the world to defend others.
US Sovereignty
The elites in both parties have encouraged mass illegal immigration, specifically through lack of enforcement. These people have no understanding of our freedom and Constitution, and no loyalty towards them, thereby weakening unity among the people.
Our congress and President have signed on to various treaties like L.O.S.T. and the Security and Prosperity Partnership that are direct infringements upon our sovereignty. Elites like former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor have declared that our Constitution should be interpreted in the light of the laws of other nations. She even continues to promote this treason, and I mean exactly that word, as she lectures at various law schools around the country.
Mortgaged Future
Little needs to be said here. Our elites refuse to balance the budget. They refuse to solve the entitlement crisis, and they continue to borrow excessively to pay for this wantonness, passing off the day of reckoning to our children.
The time has come for "we the people" to reclaim our inheritance, an inheritance that has been stolen from us. No longer can we allow the elites who have held power in our beloved country for far too long to remain in power.
The only way to accomplish this task is to elect an independent President who is not a member of either party, not tied to political machines or PACs, not influenced and controlled by corporations, unions, and corrupt money handling lobbyists.
An independent President will force the issue of party power off center stage and allow leadership to reassert itself over partisanship. An independent President who is loyal to our Constitution and the American people first is our best chance to reclaim our inheritance.
* How I count the elites. There could be adjustments either way, but this is close to the mark.
President & Vice-President 2
Members of congress 535
Supreme Court Justices 9
Joint Chiefs of Staff 5
Cabinet members & other dept. heads 50
State Governors 50
Various party officials Dem & GOP 100
NGO groups (ACLU, Environmentalists, unions, etc.) 75
Business leaders 100
Banking leaders 75
University presidents 50
International organizations 50
Other world leaders 100
Total 1201
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