Nieves: I will not accept federal government domination

He just won't let it go.

Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, whose last column explained how principled he was in voting against $189 million in federal education funding, follows that up with another column explaining how high-minded and principled he is.

In our current government, we are dealing with very new and treacherous waters in which very few legislators are willing to swim. The treacherous waters I speak of are the actions of the federal government, which is giving out federal dollars that do not exist and pushing our country further in debt. I am certain that the continued acceptance of additional, non-budgeted federal stimulus funds has and will continue to add to our out-of-control national deficit.


Perhaps even more important is the underlying, almost subconscious, idea of states becoming more reliant on the federal government. When stimulus dollars are sent to a state, it is in my opinion, much like welfare, and is often unneeded. These welfare dollars convince the state that it is unable to stand up on its own and live without the federal government. Any individual that continuously accepts handouts from another will sooner or later become entirely dependent on the giver. It is a slow, insidious process, but sooner or later, the one providing the handouts could actually become dominant over the one receiving. No person or state can be dependant for a long time without becoming dependent!

I admit my stance is new, rare, and largely unpopular, but somebody has to be willing to stand up, because we know for sure that the road we are on will take us someplace I'm not willing to see us go. I believe we are living in a time when each state must make a real decision regarding whether or not it has the courage to stand up to an overpowering federal government and say “NO!” I will not accept federal government domination, and I believe Missouri should be one of the states to stand up and say “enough is enough.” The states with enough backbone to stand against an out-of-control federal government do not want to separate from or dissolve our partnership with the federal government – not at all! We simply have come to a point where we must stand and assert our proper position and bring the relationship between state and federal government back to its constitutional alignment. Part of that process, I believe, is to say “no” to the welfare funding the federal government tries to send us, including welfare dollars borrowed from China.

Thirty years from now, I promise that people will still be talking about the era of 2011-2013. What future generations will say about Missouri government is up to us — those in politics, the media, and most of all, the dedicated grassroots activists working for change. I, for one, will be able to look my grandkids deep in the eyes and say, “I did ALL I could do to keep America great!” Our grandkids and great-grandkids will ask us, “What was it like to be free,” or they'll ask us, “What was it like to have been there when America was pulled back from the edge of disaster?” My answer, in either case, will not be weak. I will look into their innocent eyes and tell wondrous stories of the battles we fought. Sound a bit melodramatic? Perhaps. I just don't want to be 75 (I'm 45 now) and sit with my face in my hands, elbows on my knees, wishing I did more for the people of Missouri.