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January 3, 2015
Dear Taxpayer,
We Americans are and always have been suspicious—rightfully so—of government
infringement on our rights which we hold are inalienable and not derived from the government.
Rather, we believe governments are instituted to secure these rights.
Yet, there is and always will be a perpetual struggle between security and liberty in a free
society. Liberty requires security, but too much security can result in a loss of liberty. And the
erosion of freedoms is rarely restored. We should never have to give up our rights to preserve
them, and our Constitution which specifies the rights of the people and the limitations of the
government does not even allow for such an exchange.
This balancing act has become increasingly complicated.
The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks claimed the lives of
thousands, changed the lives of millions, and forever altered how we viewed the world. Every
American, no matter what part of the country or the world we live in, could be a possible target
of terrorism. But our enemies are not always obvious. They do not wear the uniform of a foreign
army. Their weapons are not tanks and bullets. Their tactics are unconventional. Their victims
are civilians. And they are among us.
Americans feel uneasy, about both the threats and the responses.
We are willing to endure the inconvenience of arriving at the airport earlier and having
our luggage screened, but we are wary of increased government policing and surveillance. We
are concerned that despite spending billions of dollars on border security, tens of thousands
continue to enter our country illegally and, in 2014, 700 miles of our Southern border were
unsecure. The same is true of cyber security. We have spent billions to protect against cyber
attacks, yet even White House computers have been susceptible to hacking.
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