The Source for Freedom and Self-Reliant Information[1]

Thomas Jefferson defined rightful liberty as “unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others—I do not add ‘within the limits of the law,’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”

Vote for Freedom, NOT Enslavement

A Jeffersonian Group perspective on limited government and self-government

Every election asks a fundamental question: Will power remain with the people, or will more of it be transferred to government?

Freedom depends on more than inspiring words. It requires citizens who guard their rights, accept responsibility, and choose public servants who respect the limits of their office. When government continually expands its spending, taxation, and regulatory reach, citizens surrender more of the fruits of their labor and more control over their daily lives. That is why the Jeffersonian Group urges voters to choose freedom—not political dependency and subjugation.

Davy Crockett and the Constitutional Limits of Charity

A story commonly associated with Congressman Davy Crockett—popularized under the title “Not Yours to Give”—offers a lasting warning about good intentions and public money. In the account, Congress considers appropriating public funds for charitable relief. Crockett recalls that he had previously voted for similar relief and later encountered a farmer, often identified as Horatio Bunce, who challenged him.

The farmer’s argument was direct: private charity is virtuous because a person gives his own money, but a legislator has no moral or constitutional right to give away money taken from the public unless the Constitution authorizes that expenditure. According to the story, Crockett accepted the rebuke and later told Congress that he would personally contribute to the charitable cause, but he would not vote to spend taxpayers’ money on it.

The Road to Greater Freedom

Government has legitimate duties, including protecting rights, maintaining public order, and carrying out the powers entrusted to it by law. More specifically, as explained by Thomas Jefferson, “A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.” Jefferson warned us, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.” We have an opportunity to reverse course on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

Voting for candidates committed to less and smaller government, lower taxes, and fewer unnecessary regulations can put America back on a path toward greater freedom:

Smaller government leaves more decisions with individuals, families, communities, and states.
Lower taxes allow people to keep more of what they earn and decide for themselves how to save, invest, give, and provide for their families.
Less unnecessary regulation reduces barriers to work, entrepreneurship, homeownership, and voluntary exchange.

Since congressional members of each political party tend to vote along party lines—based upon their political platforms—I asked Copilot several questions regarding the stated platforms of both the Democrats and the Republicans.

Copilot Cannot Identify a Prominent Democrat

I specifically asked Copilot, can you identify one Democrat who proposes a policy that would reduce taxes, reduce regulation, reduce control over individual freedom & private property? Here’s Copilot’s response, “Based upon the evidence reviewed, I cannot identify a prominent Democrat whose overall platform consistently combines lower taxes, less spending, less regulation, stronger property rights, and less federal control.”

According to Copilot, “On the whole, the Republican Party’s stated platform aligns more closely with the definition of freedom: smaller government, lower taxes, fewer regulations, decentralized authority, and constitutional limits.”

A Republic, Not Unlimited Majority Rule

America was established as a constitutional republic: citizens elect representatives, but neither elected officials nor temporary majorities possess unlimited power. The Constitution divides authority among branches and levels of government, protects individual rights, and places law above political passion. Those checks and balances exist because elections alone cannot secure liberty.

Pure majority rule can become dangerous when a voting coalition discovers that it can use government to take property, distribute favors, silence dissent, or make citizens dependent upon public benefits. A majority may authorize an injustice, but a vote does not make that injustice compatible with natural rights or constitutional limits.

The lesson of history is not that every democracy follows an identical path or that national decline is inevitable. It is that republics become vulnerable when citizens trade constitutional restraint for promises of security, benefits, or power over their neighbors. As spending, debt, regulation, and centralized authority expand, self-government can gradually give way to administrative control.

Party Control Has Consequences

Because members of Congress frequently vote with their parties, control of the House and Senate has predictable consequences. Democratic control is generally more likely to produce broader federal programs, greater regulation, redistribution through taxes and benefits, and additional centralized authority.

Twelve years of Obama- and Biden-era policies cannot be reversed immediately. Longstanding programs, regulations, debt obligations, and interest costs continue after these administrations left office. Biden entered office with enormous pandemic-era deficits already in the baseline, but his administration also enacted costly new initiatives that added to the government’s longer-term commitments. Likewise, publicly held debt nearly doubled during the Obama years even as annual deficits declined from their recession-era peak.

Trump’s strategy rests on a different sequence: reduce barriers to domestic production, lower the cost of business investment, expand energy and manufacturing, and allow the private economy time to respond. The 2025 tax law reduced effective tax rates on business investment and restored immediate expensing provisions intended to encourage investment. Economic effects do not appear overnight; factories, supply chains, hiring, and capital projects take time to plan and build.

If allowed to continue, President Trump’s strategy will produce sustained growth, end costly conflicts, reduce dependency, and result in real program cuts, and thereby improve the nation’s fiscal position. Republican success therefore requires patience for private investment to mature.

Choose Self-Government

A free people cannot outsource every challenge to Washington and still expect to remain free. Each new promise from government should prompt serious questions: Is it constitutional? Is it necessary? What will it cost? What power will citizens surrender in return?

At the ballot box, look beyond personalities, slogans, and party labels. Examine whether a candidate will restrain spending, reduce unjustified taxes, remove needless regulations, defend constitutional limits, and return authority to the people whenever possible.

Vote for freedom, not subjugation. Vote for leaders who trust citizens more than bureaucracies, responsibility more than dependency, and constitutional government more than unlimited government. The path to greater freedom begins when citizens insist that public officials protect liberty rather than manage every aspect of life.

When you go to vote, remember what Copilot (AI) has stated, “I cannot identify a prominent Democrat whose platform [supports individual freedom], stronger private property rights, and less federal control,” [while] the Republican Party’s stated platform aligns more closely with the definition of freedom.”

Vote for freedom and your posterity, vote Republican on November 3, 2026!

Dum Spiro Spero—While I breathe, I hope.

Slàinte mhath,

Robert (Mike) G. Beard Jr., C.P.A., C.G.M.A., J.D., LL.M.

[1] Each Jeffersonian Group, LLC (www.jeffersoniangroup.com) publication is intended solely for information purposes and is not intended nor does it purport to provide legal, tax, individual investment advice, estate planning advice, medical advice, insurance, or business advice. In addition, information and analysis is compiled from sources believed to be reliable but such accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Readers should do their own research and consult with expert medical, legal, tax, insurance, business, and financial counsel before taking any action.