The failures of this legislation are many and have been expounded upon at length by others. Set aside the ludicrous idea that an adult having reached 26 years of age can still be considered a child for this legal fiction. Set aside the un-Constitutional concept of the forced purchase of a service as a result of mere existence. Set aside the belief that an expansion of entitlements will result in a net reduction in the debt and deficit crises looming in our immediate future. The minutiae of this bill are irrelevant when the bill is considered in the context of history. A simple analysis of each of the progressive "accomplishments" of the last century quickly belies the fact that progress has not been made and that we have, in fact, digressed in many ways over this past 100 years.

Progressives pushed for the creation of a super-bank, which would regulate the monetary system and provide the desired stability to our national finances. Yet since the creation of the Fed in 1913, we have experienced multiple monetary crises, several of which have come to define the depths of economic sorrow. This current recession in which we now find ourselves is in large part the creation of this progressive institution.

Progressives pushed for the creation of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Each of these programs was created, ostensibly, to provide security and care to the elderly and indigent in our society. Yet today, what elderly person feels secure in their retirement? Only a fool could expect that the benefits of this system will continue to accrue to them, as bankruptcy looms in its' near future. And if Medicare and Medicaid were such rousing successes, how is it that a massive and oppressive overhaul of the health industry is required this evening.

The failure of these, among all progressive fantasies, is the belief in the perfect human and by extension, the perfect government program. The Founders understood that humanity was often weak and prone to disadvantage themselves when given the opportunity. It was for this reason that they founded a republic, not a democracy, and that within this republic they enacted a system of checks and balances that would prevent swift and reactionary strokes.

Although I despair at the thought that this bill will further debilitate our prosperity, I point to two major reversals of progressive policy in the last century as rays of hope. After fomenting public outcry against the basic evils of alcohol, progressive politicians enacted Prohibition only to see it create a nightmare of crime and vice across our country. The modern mafia culture was arguably brought to maturity by this ill-fated Amendment and its' repeal brought relief to a nation that came to understand the incapability of the law to proactively control human nature.

Consider also the feat of reforming welfare, one of the few signature accomplishments of the Contract with America. After more than two decades of failure and dependency that was created by the Great Society, reforms eliminated the worst of these programs and reintroduced the concepts of dignity and honor into a system which had come to see poverty as a permanent condition for many of our citizens.

I am eternally an optimist and hope for a time when a majority of my fellow citizens will come to recognize that the path to success begins with oneself and that it can never be legislated or commanded from above. What the future holds for our Nation is as much of a mystery to me today as at any time in my life. I worry that we face the real prospect of federal bankruptcy at the hands of worthless money and mounting debt. I worry that the failure of those in Washington to recognize the institutionally ruinous policies of the last century will only continue to breed disunion among our States. And I worry that our children will inherit a Nation which I will be unable to recognize as the one which gave me so many opportunities.

It is with this heavy heart that I recognize the choice that must be made. I can either choose to involve myself in the system and speak out for its' renewal or else stand aside and prepare for the turmoil of its' collapse. And so, with this simple choice ahead of me, I will continue to commit myself to the goal of election to the Florida State House. Although I would be only one among 120 members in one one of fifty states, I hope to give a voice to all of my neighbors and friends who feel just as strongly as I do about our beliefs. A belief that individual liberty and limited government are the only pathway to peaceful prosperity and that the pathway lain out by our current national government is the pathway to poverty and conflict. I hope that as the campaign season rolls on, that the pathway of my choosing is the one that you can support as well.

Matt Caldwell is a Republican candidate for the Florida State House, District 73.