The United States today is not the free nation it was, even 10 years ago. Although the slow decline of the broad liberties Americans have long held has been going on for decades, it has accelerated enough in the last few years that ordinary people are feeling it close to home.

Security checkpoints now stop and make warrant-less searches of Americans on highways far from the borders. Privacy is virtually a thing of the past, with numerous whistle-blowers telling of the frightening ways in which the federal government monitors nearly everything we do. Overreaching federal regulations are trickling down into every workplace and job, stifling small businesses that cannot jump the hoops as easily as giant corporations.

It seems in my own workplace, most new policies trace back in some way to federal regulation. Recent federal laws have blatantly undermined religious liberty, attempted to undercut the Second Amendment and caused millions to lose the health care they chose, forcing many hardworking, productive Americans into a massive welfare system they never wanted. 

Some time ago, I encountered Sen. Mark Begich touring Alaska discussing the important of the grassroots, all the while surrounded by an entourage of powerful D.C. lobbyists. I wonder how anyone cannot see where the loyalty of  this man lies, having voted with Obama’s agenda 97 percent of the time.

On the other side, we have Republican Senate candidates with longstanding records of support for many misguided federal and UN policies. 

And then there is Joe Miller, with a consistent message of individual liberty and a return to the free market principles that made the U.S. the economic powerhouse of the planet. I choose to believe that liberty is not a dying ideal in America by voting for Joe Miller for our Republican candidate for Senate on Aug. 19.

Barnabas Firth