Third District GOP Congressional candidate Richard Cash addressed a crowd of over 50 conservative activists at last Monday’s meeting of the Americans for Constitutional Government study group. The ACG meets every fourth Monday at the Symmes Branch (Pelham Road) of the Greenville County Public Library.
The socially conservative Cash mentioned three reasons why he is running for office. He said that the country needs to return to God, government needs to be returned to the people, and socialism must be stopped.
Cash gave another reason for running for the Congressional seat currently held by GOP gubernatorial candidate Gresham Barrett. He said that he is concerned about the nation’s future and what it holds for his eight children and the many grandchildren he anticipates being born in the future.
“We have to win this battle for the future of America,” said Cash, adding, “Quitting is not an option.”
Cash spent the first few minutes offering up his conservative bonafides, telling how he had been arrested on several occasions several years ago while protesting outside of abortion clinics and protesting against a city ordinance that restricted free speech rights. The ordinance was eventually stricken from the books. He noted that even the Apostle Paul protested to the authorities when he was illegally beaten.
“Good Christian people are going to have to stand up,” said Cash, adding, “If you do nothing, evil wins by default because evil is active. And so, if we are passive, we lose. We can’t afford to be passive.”
He further exhorted the constitutional conservatives in his audience, saying, “We have Constitutional rights, but if you’re not willing to fight for them you might not keep them.”
Cash stated that many of the people who bear rule over the country today are wicked, and that “the only way people like me are going to get to Washington D.C. is by people like you.”
Cash’s appearance occurred the very next day after the historic Sunday night Congressional vote to pass the Senate’s health care reform bill. He said that the vote bothered him “a whole lot.”
“It is neither health care nor reform,” Cash said. Employing a nautical analogy, he said that the ship of state is off course and that “we need to get control of the ship and turn it around.”
Cash acknowledges that government is not the answer to all of America’s problems, which include the lack of education, the lack of a work ethic and the lack of character.
“That is what is fundamentally wrong in America right now, and that can’t be fixed by another government policy or another government program. It goes deeper than that,” he said.
Cash said that, while he does not want to force his religion on others, he does want to bring it back into the public square.
In addition to turning back to God, which Cash said is the most important thing needed in America, the government needs to be reined in as well.
“We’re going to have to have term limits in this country if we ever want to return government to the people,” said Cash. He believes that the only way to do that is to pass a Constitutional amendment. And, in order to achieve that goal, the only way to get enough officeholders to push for such an amendment is to press candidates to take a term limits pledge.
The people must also demand that politicians stop taking money from PAC’s and lobbyists, said Cash. He also said, “We have to change the way the game is played if we want to get different results.”
Cash also wants to stop the socialistic direction in which he sees the country as heading.
“It’s not the government’s job to be running industry,” said Cash, adding, “There’s a problem with the government’s owning a car company.” He also expressed his belief that it is not up to the government to bailout businesses and stimulate the economy.
The purview of the government, said Cash, is limited. “The government is supposed to be the referee. They’re not actually supposed to be in the game.”
“I haven’t given up,” said Cash in conclusion. “I don’t think God’s given up on America. We need to have faith.”