“People are waking up,” said South Carolina state representative Josiah Magnuson. “They are seeing that the establishment in both parties are not working in the best interests of America. He spoke recently to a gathering of members of the Greenville County Constitutional Party.
Magnuson is a member of the Freedom Caucus, a small group of representatives within the Republican Part in the South Carolina House of Representatives. He has represented northern Spartanburg County in the Statehouse since 2016.
Although Magnuson is a Republican, his Constitution Party roots go back to his teen years. “This movement (Freedom Caucus) matters and you matter. You're part of it and the Constitution Party has been at the heart of this groundswell from years past.” He noted that the radical leftist organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center, has labeled the Constitution Party as a hate group.
Magnuson, the author of a new book, Biblical Civics – A Twelve-Week Study on God and Government, encouraged his audience to be a voice in the wilderness and not remain silent.
“We're building this movement that says we want men and women of courage and of principle,” said Magnuson. He acknowledged the presence in the audience of Stephen Frank, who won his primary to take a seat in the general assembly and who has already stated that he plans to join the Freedom Caucus.
Magnuson, Adam Morgan and others formed the caucus a few years ago in response to a loyalty pledge edict handed down by the House Republican leadership, which demanded that all Republicans refrain from any public criticism of fellow Republicans and their votes on legislation, even when those votes go against good conservative legislation.
For standing their ground and refusing to sign such a stifling pledge, the members of the caucus have become the red-headed stepchildren of the House Republicans because of their refusal to knuckle under such pressure.
Magnuson said that a cloud of complacency has settled over the public and especially over the Republican establishment, who he says are the people who are supposed to be leading the charge. He believes that they actually make money off of losing.
“There's a lot of corruption and cronyism that goes on,” said Magnuson. An example that he gave is that of the earmark system, in which tax money is set aside for legislators' pet projects without transparency. “We need to expose this and not be silent,” he said.
Magnuson addressed this situation in last year's legislative session. “We don't know where our money's going to end up - $700 million last year and $500 million this year.” He said that he had told the assembly, “We cannot tolerate spending the people's money down into this black hole.”
Maguson told his audience that there is a solution to the problems in government. “If we're going to get back to principle we have to get back to the foundation, and that is God's Word and His authority over all things,” he said.
During the time of its existence the caucus has fought against several liberal policies, such as DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Actually, it is discrimination, he said, adding that DEI is actually exclusive, not inclusive, and that it is reverse discrimination. He wants to root out this philosophy from institutions of higher learning, a philosophy he says is creating a victim mindset.
The Freedom Caucus is not just against things, but supports items such as parental rights, earmark transparency, judicial reform and medical freedom. Indeed, the caucus led the push to stop the ill-advised and potentially freedom-curbing health czar bill this past legislative session.
Magnuson said that most of the members of the House Republican Caucus were astonished and exasperated when he used a procedural move to defeat the bill. The red-haired Magnuson related how one of his fellow House Republicans mockingly displayed in the house a red-haired puppet wearing a tinfoil hat.
“We have to restrict these emergency powers and not let them get any more,” said Magnuson.
If the bill had been passed as seemed likely and which Governor Henry McMaster was prepared to sign into law, it would have placed far too much power over medical decisions in the hands of one unelected individual, who would have even had the power to demand that local law enforcement enforce such things as medical curfews.
“It was kind of fun to win on an issue for once,” he said.
Magnuson is also against mandates of individual products, such as vaccines, where there is no manufacturer's liability. “You certainly should not be forced to take something that you can't even recover from in the future if it injures you,” he said.
An encouraged Magnuson said that this type of pushback against big-government bullying can be seen not just at the state level, but rather nationally and even internationally. He noted that several nations opposed the recent proposed treaty that was pushed by the World Health Organization that would have been a global version of South Carolina's defeated health czar bill.
“The whole world is seeing that something is amiss and they're waking up,” said Magnuson, adding, “People are standing up to the liberal elite and the establishment.” He said that there is a lot of hope and that conservatives have to continue to do what they are doing.
The philosophy of the Freedom Caucus is the same philosophy he encouraged his hearers to follow. “Don't be silent, don't let anybody tell you to sit down and shut up. That's what we're facing in the legislature,” Magnuson said.
Magnuson said that the caucus wants to expose the records of the liberal Republicans. “We're going to tell the people of South Carolina that truth about what's going on in the Statehouse.” He said that the power is there if the people exercise the courage.
Magnuson also addressed the issue of federalism, that is, the interaction between the states and the federal government. He acknowledged the overreach of the federal government.
“Reducing government power all the way around is the way to go,” said Magnuson. He said that the people can successfully push back against federal and international overreach and that the people have the power to stop bad policies.
“The states have a lot more power than what we give them credit for,” said Magnuson. He referenced a portion of Federalist Paper #46 , written by James Madison, by summarizing, “In other words, the solution to the federal government going off the rails, doing what you don't want them to do is to simply resist and say, 'No.' The states have this ability to not participate in something that's evil.”
That is, the states can refuse to allow the use of tax money and state personnel to “push an agenda that we don't agree with.” That's what the 10th Amendment means, he said. He noted an opinion written in 1997 by Supreme Court Justice the late Antonin Scalia, who wrote that local authorities aren't required to enforce federal gun laws.
“The power, then, of the federal government is significantly weakened because they depend on local law enforcement, they depend on state agencies implementing these guidelines and regulations. So, all we have to do is just say, 'We're not going to help you do the evil' and then we take back so much power that we lawfully have and that Scalia says we have.”
