Glossary of terms used on this website

Conservative:  Person who believes in a smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and
traditional Judeo-Christian values.

Constitution: Document written in 1787 that serves as the written contract between the people of the United
States and the Federal Government.  It specifies the limits of U.S. Government powers and the purposes for
which citizens may be taxed by that government. The Constitution also includes its twenty-seven Amendments
and all laws, treaties and court decisions consistent with the original Constitution and its amendments.  
Federal laws, treaties and court decisions inconsistent with the Constitution are unlawful and therefore invalid.  

Constitution Conservative:  A conservative who believes in a republican form of government administered
under the Constitution described above.

Democrat:  A person who supports the Democratic Party and votes for its candidates.  Usually supports bigger
government, socialist programs, and a liberal value system.

Democratic Government:  In theory, a government based on the majority will of its citizens.  In practice,
democratic governments are usually governed by an elitist ruling class.  Democratic governments only work
effectively with small populations and a limited geographical area so as to allow for direct participation by
citizens in decision making.

Democratic Party:  A political party whose primary purpose is protecting the incumbency of its elected
members of government and promoting the candidacy of members aspiring to offices not already held by
another member in good standing.  Its voting base is made up of socialists, liberals and a variety of activist and
ethnic groups.  Its dominant support group is socialist.

Democratic Socialist:  The leading political party in a number of European governments which serves as the
primary model for America’s Democratic Party.

Fiscal Conservative: A thoroughly confused conservative who is for less government spending and lower taxes
while often, at the same time, supporting many government social programs, and government regulation of
major parts of the economy.

Moderate:  A person without firm political principles.  Usually supports the popular political views in vogue at
the time.

Patriot:  A person who loves and defends his or her country and supports its duly elected government and
officials.  Opposition to government policies are expressed at the ballot box and in the vigorous exercise of the
First Amendment.

Republican:  A person who supports the Republican Party and votes for its candidates.  His or her political
principles may be at any point of the political spectrum, though usually leaning to the conservative side.    

Republican Government:  A form of government presided over by representatives elected by citizens of its
various geographic sub-divisions.  Historically the hallmarks of the republican form of government have been
opposition to corruption and adherence to the rule of law.

Republican Party:  A political party whose primary purpose is protecting the incumbency of its elected
members of government and promoting the candidacy of members aspiring to offices not already held by
another member in good standing.  Its voting base consists of conservatives, moderates and independents.  
Its dominate support group is conservative.

Socialist:  Someone who believes in and supports socialist principles.  Socialists are opposed to free market
capitalism and strongly support “social justice“.  They believe the primary purpose of government is to insure
social justice, defined as economic and social parity among all of society regardless of an individual’s place in
that society.  To accomplish this ideal, socialists advocate public (government) control of the means of
production and the redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation redistributed through social programs.  
In a true socialist society, an individual’s role is determined by the government and economic activity is carried
out under the control of a government run central planning group.    

Social Conservative:  A conservative who supports the traditional Judeo-Christian values and the traditional
American culture.

Socialist Movement:  A coalition of various political and social activist groups supportive of socialist principles
and goals.  Foremost among the supporters of these groups are the environmentalists, main stream media,
universities, philanthropic foundations and the Democratic Party.  

State Sovereignty: Under our Constitution, the powers of the state governments are unlimited, with the
exception of those powers delegated to the federal government or specifically forbidden to the states.  
Additional restrictions may also be imposed by individual state constitutions.  Current federal programs such
as, Education, Social Security, Mass Transit, Welfare, etc., etc., are constitutionally the responsibility of state
governments---if its citizens want them---and should be paid for by the citizens of each state.  Grants and
subsidies to states for these programs amounts to state welfare and are unconstitutional since they are not
among those enumerated powers delegated to the federal government by the Constitution.

NOTE: These definitions represent the author’s understanding of the terms used and are not intended to be
“official”.  They are offered as an aid to the reader’s understanding of the rants by the author.
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Mission Statement
Since the beginning of our Republic, those who covet political power have
sought to circumvent the limitations our Constitution imposes on their ambitions.  
Would-be tyrants have attempted to use it to support their own agendas by
distorting the meaning of its few ambiguous clauses and ignoring the clear intent
of others.  It is arguable that the present generation of political leaders have
misused and abused the Constitution for their own ends more than any other generation in
history.  This is only possible so long as the American people remain ignorant of the
Constitution's content and complacent concerning its abuse.

The Conservative Beacon's objective is to encourage Constitutional compliance by officials at
all levels of government by publicizing abuses and informing voters.  In doing so, we hope that
in some small way we can inspire others to become more involved in the political process and
hold their elected officials accountable at the ballot box.  

There are many other websites and blogs that are engaged to varying degrees in the same
task, many far more qualified than are we.  Our intent is to simply add our voice to the
countless thousands of others who share our objective of preserving America as a
Constitutional Republic grounded in the principles of a limited government, protecting the
liberty of its citizens as “a nation of laws, not of men”, ever cognizant of the fact that the
Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land from which all other laws must flow in order to be
valid.

These things we believe

The Constitution
The Constitution contains a little over four thousand words.  Never before or since has a
document of so few words had such a profound, positive effect on the lives of so many people
around the world.  It was written at a unique time and place in history and could never be
repeated.

The Constitution is the best and probably the only protector of our liberties against the ever-
threatening hand of tyranny.  For that reason, it behooves us to guard it jealously and protect
it at all costs against its enemies in or out of government.

The Constitution is a written contract between the citizens of America and the government,
defining specifically the responsibilities delegated to the government and the powers it is
allowed to exercise in carrying out those responsibilities.  Like any contract, its terms cannot be
changed without the approval of all parties concerned.

Government
The sole purpose of government, according to our American charter, the Declaration of
Independence, is to secure the blessings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to
ourselves and our posterity.  Since the very existence of government pre-supposes the
surrender of a certain amount of our liberties in exchange for the advantages provided by
government, that government should never be larger than what is necessary to carry out those
duties we have delegated to it.  Government should never be permitted to do for us what we
can and should do for ourselves.

Taxes
A certain level of taxation is necessary to pay the expenses of government.  However,
exorbitant taxation is the cruelest form of tyranny.  The only legitimate and legal taxation by the
federal government are those necessary for carrying out the functions specified in Article One,
Section Eight of the Constitution.  All taxes for other purposes, or in excess of what is required,
amounts to a form of tyranny since they deprive citizens of the enjoyment of the profits of their
labor in direct proportion to the extent to which those profits are confiscated for use by the
government.

States Rights
The term “state’s rights” is a misnomer.  States do not have rights.  Citizens have rights, states
have sovereignty.  The states’ sovereignty is recognized and protected from encroachment by
the federal government by the Tenth Amendment.  

State sovereignty was valued by our founders as being more sensitive to the needs of the
people and less subject to the temptations of tyranny.  State and local government are more
easily monitored and influenced by individual citizens. We, as citizens, should be ever vigilant
in resisting continuing efforts by Washington to supplant the sovereignty of the states.  At the
same time we should be forever on guard against abuses of power by state and local officials.
Illinois
Conservative Beacon
“Any act of the legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void.”
U.S. Supreme Court - 1803