The September meeting of Southern Tier TEA Party Patriots at Lakewood American Legion opened with a moving rendition of Red Skelton explaining the Pledge of Allegiance to our national flag, followed by opening prayer.

Prager video, “If You Hate Poverty, You Should Love Capitalism,” was viewed. Ninety-nine percent of capitalism is good, reducing poverty by 80 percent around the world. Today, only one in 20 live on one dollar per day; capitalism has pulled the vast majority out of poverty. Five innovations have been causal in reducing poverty: globalization, free trade, property rights, Rule of Law, and entrepreneurship. These were America’s gift to the world following World War II. The presenter asks: If capitalism is so successful, why is it struggling to gain converts? Why are only 42 percent of Americans 18 and over are in favor of capitalism? The answer: conservatives have done a poor job in explaining the huge successes of capitalism. Capitalism is the foundation of human prosperity: with increased capitalism there is increased growth. No other system comes close to achieving what capitalism does.

Members learned the difference between a Constitutional Republic and top down government such as communism and totalitarianism. Top down is an inverted triangle with the base on the top. It is big government and small citizens. Liberalism advocates top down, government accumulating power, bureaucratization of power, centralization of power, and where the establishment is difficult to dislodge. Examples are national governments such as Nazism, fascism, and democratic socialism. A Constitutional Republic, on the other hand, is a triangle where the base is at the bottom, where citizens are big, and government at the top is small, and where our Constitution spells out the rules. It is an anti-establishment system where power is banished and checked, and where there is decentralization. Fascism is similar to socialism, where the government controls companies. For example, Obamacare stipulated it was illegal to sell insurance across state lines or to offer catastrophic health insurance.

Shannon Myerhoff, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, spoke about her negative experiences there as a Christian student. Grade inflation, teaching through power points, lack of textbook reading, poor student quality, and students with poor writing skills were things she encountered. As a mother, she is concerned that her son is being taught to read through whole language, not phonics, even though whole language has no research support.