Grassroots in Nebraska

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You are here: Home / Archives for Founding Principles / History

Dream Small

Originally published May 2, 2018, By Linda. Updated May 2, 2018. Leave a Comment

Dream Small

In 2016, during a period of about a year when it seemed possible — even likely — that Shelli would win her battle with cancer, she and I plotted out an article for the GiN website that would explain to our readers what had been going on in our lives to cause our extended hiatus […]

Filed Under: Character, Charity vs Welfare, Civil Society, Constitution, Faith, Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, Taking Action, Welfare Tagged With: charity, charity relief assistance welfare entitlements, charity welfare relief public assistance entitlements, christian charity, government charity, government welfare, limited government, private charity, private charity vs public welfare, public charity vs private charity

Why the Electoral College? Because State and Regional Diversity Matters.

Originally published November 12, 2016, By Linda. Updated February 25, 2018. Leave a Comment

Why the Electoral College?  Because State and Regional Diversity Matters.

Where you live, your day-to-day experience gained through interacting with your physical environment, influences your political viewpoint. The Founders realized this. When the Electoral College was born through compromise in 1787, each former-colony-turned-state had a unique history and perspective giving rise to significant political differences between it and its neighbors. The Founders had to resolve […]

Filed Under: Constitution, Elections, Featured, History Tagged With: american history, balance and separation of powers, congressional district allocation, Constitution, democracy vs republic, Elections, electoral college, electoral votes, popular vote, representative government

What’s Wrong With the Electoral College?

Originally published November 6, 2016, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated February 25, 2018. 1 Comment

What’s Wrong With the Electoral College?

Interest in our system for electing the President of the United States is high. I actually understand why voters feel disenfranchised by the Electoral College as it is presently constituted within 48 states, but the media and political party “powerful” aren’t explaining how the system works, why it was designed as it was. Instead, many people are working to circumvent or abolish it altogether. Read full articleWhat’s Wrong With the Electoral College?

Filed Under: Constitution, Elections, Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, History, Republic vs Democracy Tagged With: allocation of electors, balance of powers, Constitution, democracy, electoral college, popular vote, presidential elections, representation, republic, states

Fourth of July, 1776: America’s Own Brexit

Originally published July 3, 2016, By Linda. Updated July 3, 2016. Leave a Comment

Fourth of July, 1776:  America’s Own Brexit

My son was gaming online with a number of what I call his “virtual friends” shortly after it was announced that Britons had voted to leave the European Union (EU).  Unbeknowst to my son, many of the players in his

Filed Under: Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, History, Uncategorized

We Can Be Thankful for George Washington’s Example

Originally published November 27, 2014, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated September 11, 2015. Leave a Comment

We Can Be Thankful for George Washington’s Example

Whether you’re staying close to home or traveling far this Thanksgiving, hopefully you’ll have some time for family fun and a bit of relaxation. At a convenient point during our family’s festivities, I’m going to pass around a copy of George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789. I would like my children, who are all now […]

Filed Under: Character, Featured, Founding Fathers, Founding Principles, History Tagged With: american history, cincinnatus, george washington, holidays, republic, thanksgiving

America’s Distrust: The Only Darkness is (Constitutional) Ignorance

Originally published September 18, 2014, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated July 21, 2015. 3 Comments

America’s Distrust: The Only Darkness is (Constitutional) Ignorance

The sun has set again on another September 17th. Seemingly just another day in September gone by, one would think. Two hundred twenty-seven years ago on that date, thirty-eight men1The Constitution bears thirty-nine signatures; George Read signed the name of fellow Delaware delegate, John Dickinson, at Dickinson’s request. , representing twelve of the thirteen states, […]

Filed Under: Constitution, Featured, Founding Fathers, History Tagged With: alexis de tocqueville, american history, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, constitutional convention, econtalk, founding fathers, independence hall, jonathan turley, public opinion polling, state sovereignty

People Don’t Walk Away From a Fool and His Money

Originally published January 28, 2013, By Linda. Updated February 25, 2018. Leave a Comment

People Don’t Walk Away From a Fool and His Money

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series, see the bottom for a complete list. * * * * * * * * * * You’re probably familiar with the old adage “a fool and his money are soon parted.” Paul McCartney put a twist on this proverb in his lyrics for the song […]

Filed Under: Budget, Character, Charity vs Welfare, Civil Society, Congress, Featured, Federal, Founding Principles, Government Spending, Health Care, History, Morality, Nebraska, Personal Responsibility, Senators, Sovereignty, State Legislation, State Sovereignty, Unicameral, Welfare Tagged With: 1988 state of the union address, a fool and his money, aid to medicaid funding, appropriations committee chair heath mello, badfinger, battle for the future, bill clinton, charity, clinton welfare reform, come and get it, congress, conservative moral arguments, Constitution, creating dependency, dependency, dependency on government, distributive justice, entitled, entitlement mentality, executive power, expanding medicaid, extending unemployment benefits, extension of unemployment benefits, Featured, gaming the welfare system, gin, government, government dependency, government spending, Grassroots in Nebraska, Health Care, health care law, health care reform, healthcare, healthcare reform, heath mello, jean-baptiste michau, john stossel, legislature, limited government, long term unemployed, long-term unemployment, makers and takers, means-tested government benefits, medicaid, medicaid eligibility, medicaid expansion, medicaid expansion nebraska, medicaid funding, medicaid in trouble, moral arguments for conservatism, moral ground, moral hazard, moral values, morality, nation of takers, national values, ne, nebr, nebraska, nebraska budget, nebraska legislature, nebraska unicameral, negrassroots, obamacare, paul mccartney, politicians, president ronald reagan, progressivism, public assistance, Reagan's state of the union address, Reagan's state of the union speech, redistribution of wealth, ronald reagan, senator heath mello, sense of entitlement, sixth sense, social justice, social security, social security disability, social security disability insurance program, social welfare programs, social welfare state, state senators, state sovereignty, stossel, tom evans jr., unemployment benefits, unemployment compensation, unemployment insurance, Unicameral, unicameral appropriations committee, waiver of work requirements, welfare, welfare as disincentive to work, welfare fraud, welfare punishes work, welfare queen, work ethic

Arbor Day’s J. Sterling Morton: We Don’t Know Him

Originally published April 27, 2012, By Linda. Updated July 4, 2016. 2 Comments

Arbor Day’s J. Sterling Morton: We Don’t Know Him

Some men, long dead, are famous for what they DIDN’T do. For example, George Washington almost certainly didn’t chop down a cherry tree and later confess because, as he is reputed to have told his father, he “could not tell a lie.”1 This myth was popularized in a fable written by Mason Locke Weems about […]

Filed Under: Charity vs Welfare, Civil Society, Democratic Party, Featured, Founding Principles, History, Nebraska, Private Enterprise, Progressivism, Property Rights Tagged With: agricultural subsidies, agriculture subsidies, arbor day, arbor day farm, arbor day founder, arbor day lodge, arbor lodge, ben franklin, Benjamin Franklin and the kite, broccoli mandate, bryanarchy, classical liberal, classical liberalism, conservation, Constitution, cross of gold, cut government spending, definition of classical liberal, department of agriculture, farm subsidies, forestation, forestry on the great plains, founder of arbor day, founding of arbor day, free silver, George Washington and the cherry tree, gold standard, government picking winners and losers, government spending, grover cleveland, Health Care, health care law, health care reform, healthcare, history of democratic party, j. sterling morton, j. sterling morton biography, James C. Olson, legislature, limited government, Milton Friedman on classical liberalism, ne, nebr, nebraska, Nebraska 1900 to 1924, nebraska as a territory, Nebraska City, Nebraska City history, nebraska favorite sons, nebraska history, nebraska legislature, nebraska territorial politics, nebraska unicameral, No Free Markets or Free Beer, obamacare, opposition to William Jennings Bryan, politicians, politics, private charity, progressive movement, progressive politics, progressivism, progressivism in nebraska, Prohibition, ray charles, secretary of agriculture, sound money, Texas seed bill, The Conservative, tree planting, veto of texas seed bill, welfare state, william jennings bryan, you don't know me

Tea Party Turned Three

Originally published April 15, 2012, By Shelli Dawdy. Updated July 21, 2015. 7 Comments

Tea Party Turned Three

I publish this as April 15th has only a couple of hours left. I know that in most people’s minds, this date marks the third anniversary of what has come to be known as the tea party movement. I know why people think that, of course. The majority of people first heard about modern day […]

Filed Under: Activism, Featured, GiN Members, History, Nebraska, Taxes, Tea Party Tagged With: beginning of the tea party movement, Grassroots in Nebraska, grassroots versus astroturf, hijacking discontent, history of tea party movement in nebraska, history of the tea party movement, history of the teaparty, joe the plumber, lincoln nebraska tea party, lincoln tax day tea party, lincoln tea party, lincoln teaparty, nebraska tea party, shelli dawdy, spread the wealth around, t-axed e-nough a-lready, tax day tea parties, tax day tea party, taxed enough already, taxed too much already, tea parties, Tea Party, tea party history, Tea Party Movement, teaparties, teaparty, teaparty history

Individual Mandate Penalty a Tax? If YES – Then What?

Originally published March 28, 2012, By Linda. Updated July 21, 2015. Leave a Comment

Individual Mandate Penalty a Tax? If YES – Then What?

Editor’s Note: For an overview of the health care case oral arguments at the Supreme Court, click HERE. “Nothing is certain but death and taxes,” they say. Unfortunately, there’s some UNcertainty about what is, and is not, a tax at the U.S. Supreme Court, and Monday we all got a chance to listen in on […]

Filed Under: Constitution, Featured, Federal, Federal Legislation, Founding Principles, Health Care, History, In the News, Legal Limit Tagged With: abc news obama interview taxes, american judicial system, anti-injunction act of 1867, attorneys at supreme court, audio supreme court, barack obama tax increase, complexity of laws, death and taxes, dept. of health and human services v florida, diana ross and the supremes, facts of life, federal department of health and human services, federalist no. 62, federalist papers, fight obamacare, George Stephanopoulos, george stephanopoulous obama interview about taxes in health care law, ginsberg questions, government run health care, government take over of health care, h.h.s v. florida, Health Care, health care and education reconciliation act of 2010, health care law, health care lawsuit, health care legislation, health care mandate, health care reform, health care reform tax increases, health care supreme court, health care tax penalty, health insurance reform, healthcare, how laywers argue, incoherent laws, individual mandate, internal revenue service, james madison, judicial review, jurisdiction, justice breyer, justice ginsberg, known laws, laws should be knowable, listen health care cases supreme court, listen to oral arguments supreme court, mandatory coverage, monday march 26 supreme court, nanny state government, norman rockwell, nothing is certain but death and taxes, obama, obama care, obama middle class, obama middle class health care tax increase, obama tax increases health care law, obamacare, opinions on supreme court oral arguments, oral arguments supreme court, patient proection and affordable care act of 2010, president obama, president obama health care law tax increases, questions about health care supreme court, robert long, ruth bader ginsberg, scotus, supreme court justices, the supremes, the tax collectors van reymerswale, the taxman beatles, transcript supreme court, tuesday march 27 supreme court, u.s. supreme court, understanding judicial system, understanding the law, voluminous laws, what is a tax

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