Editor, Gazette-Journal:
We usually think of Davy Crockett as a raccoon-tail capped pioneer who died at the Alamo. But he was also a respected member of the U.S. House of Representatives who came to believe that charity should be paid with your own money—not someone else’s.
Once, while Congress was in session, a nearby fire consumed a number of houses, leaving many people destitute. A bill was passed by Congress appropriating money for the victims. Davy voted Yea.
Later, when Davy was campaigning, he met a farmer who told him that he would not vote for him again. Why? He said he believed that for the Constitution to mean anything, it must be held sacred and strictly observed. As for the bill for the fire victims, where do you find in the Constitution the authority to give away public money for charity?
If you have the right to give to one, you have the right to give to all. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power of all—you...
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