Monitor, Influence, Elect!
Saving Freedom by Making Congress Obey the Constitution

So, while the Society, living up to its self-imposed principle as an educational organization, never endorses any candidate — not even a Bircher — we do urge all of our members to be good citizens by giving real support to the candidates of their choice.

 — Robert Welch, JBS Bulletin, September 1974

 Over 35 years after Robert Welch wrote the above, The John Birch Society still has exactly the same policy. We never endorse any candidates, but we do urge our members to be very active politically and support the candidates of their choice. And this has been the policy of the Society since day one back in 1958.

Congress is still the key. We the people still control our own destiny. We can still save our freedom by making Congress obey the Constitution. What is needed is for our members and allies to Monitor, Influence, and Elect as discussed below.

Monitor Congress

We need to be making better use of our “Freedom Index” to help our fellow Americans to monitor the constitutionality of their representatives’ and senators’ votes on key legislation. Our last two Freedom Indexes (July and December 2009) are still available as reprints from ShopJBS.org and as PDF downloads at JBS.org (Click on “Downloads” under the “Action” menu heading.). Freedom Indexes for 2003 through 2008 are also available as PDF files in the “Downloads” section at JBS.org.

Here’s what Kip Webster, JBS Coordinator for the New York City/New Jersey/Connecticut area, says about the effectiveness of the Freedom Index when used by our members in exhibits:

People are outraged when they see these low ratings. They are more outraged when they see a Republican with numbers similar to a liberal Democrat or not much better. They never imagine how bad their congressman’s voting record really is. They are real eye openers. They also offer a great way to get people interested in what we are doing. All we have to do is ask people walking past our booth if they are interested in what is happening to our country. Once the conversation is started and they show an interest, we can move into other topics, such as the economy, repealing NAFTA, global warming or the threat to our national sovereignty posed by the NAU. When approached properly, the Freedom Index is the hook that reels them in. We also use them to show that we are a constitutionalist organization, not political. We would not have had the success we had this weekend or in this area since they came out last year, without them.

The Freedom Index serves two main purposes. First it helps you evaluate whether an incumbent representative or senator is deserving of reelection. Second, whether or not the incumbent is running for reelection, the Freedom Index shows you the key constitutional issues that can be used to evaluate candidates in the upcoming election.

Influence Congress

Of course, we can’t be content with just monitoring the votes of our congressmen, we must be proactive and influence our representatives and senators to vote constitutionally on new legislation. This involves personal visits to congressmen and their offices, phone calls, emails, faxes, etc. We provide a convenient way to email your representative and senators regarding key pending legislation at “Legislative Action” on JBS.org under the “Action” menu heading. Once you’ve sent an email to your state or federal representatives using our “Legislative Action” service, you’re automatically added to our legislative alert email list, which means you’ll receive email notification whenever we add new legislative alerts.

Elect Constitutionalists

Of course, the most effective way to make Congress obey the Constitution is to elect constitutionalist representatives and senators who are committed to obeying the Constitution. Since we never endorse candidates, we must depend on our members and allies to ensure that constitutionalists get nominated and elected to Congress.

At this point in January 2010, we appear to have a truly historic opportunity to make great strides toward saving our freedom by getting many more constitutionalists elected to Congress than usual in the fall elections. However, this would only be the beginning of the many years of monitoring, influencing and electing that will be required to secure our freedom under the Constitution. As Robert Welch said, “There is no easy way.”

ACTION SUMMARY

• Monitor the constitutionality of your representative’s and senators’ votes with the Freedom Index.
• Influence your representative and senators to vote constitutionally by using the “Legislative Action” email service on JBS.org along with personal visits, phone calls, faxes, etc.
• Elect constitutionalists of your choice to Congress.