EDITORIAL - Ron Paul entered the 2008 race for the White House with a clear message: Restore a constitutionally limited government, ensure individual liberties and oppose the U.S. government’s continued encroachment on the freedoms of the American people. It was called the “Ron Paul Revolution”. In many ways, the message resonated, but the campaign failed.

The revolution is not over. The revolution is bigger than any single campaign – and, quite frankly, any single politician. The concepts of a limited government and constitutional freedoms rest at the heart of what made the United States the hands-down super power of the world. Sadly, the abuse of this power and destruction of those very same freedoms may ultimately lead to this nation’s downfall.

It is everyone’s duty and responsibility to stand up and oppose the seemingly unstoppable greedy desire for money and power that envelopes our elected representatives. The establishment has a tremendous hold over American society, and far too many are content with letting Washington D.C. “make things right” for us.

The revolution is not over. On the contrary, it is just beginning. Dr. Paul managed to bring the revolution to the national stage through his campaign’s message. His new book “The Revolution: A Manifesto” will deliver that message on the world stage through the written word. It is now our turn to embrace the message and spread its foundations to as many areas of our great nation as we can. It is our turn to accept the responsibility for making our country a better place with less government, less control and more freedom.

The War in Iraq costs the American taxpayer nearly $300 million each and every day. The national debt continues to grow passed a whopping $9 trillion dollars. Just recently, the government approved a “stimulus package” that will supposedly spur on the economy – with borrowed Chinese money. Just a short time ago, President Bush submitted a $3.1 trillion dollar budget that boosts spending through overseas military endeavors and cuts spending on domestic initiatives, like Medicare. It seems our president is content with spending the taxpayer’s money, provided it is not here at home.

We are in dire need of change in this nation. Barack Obama had it right when he questioned the kind of change proposed by his opponents. Unfortunately, no candidate has proposed any sort of positive change for the nation. Some estimates put the bill of Obama’s proposed new spending measures at $800 billion dollars. John McCain has no problem keeping our military engaged in nation-building exercises overseas for the next 100 years or more. No candidate has a solution to our immigration mess. No candidate is prepared to address the falling value of the dollar. No candidate is willing to put the power and influence of the federal government aside for even a moment and let the free market dictate the state of the economy.

The revolution attempts to fix these issues in a clear and meaningful way. The solution rests with the American people’s willingness and ability to control their own lives, their own spending and their own wants and desires in life. It means the government is not here to bail people out of mortgages that never should have been approved, or poor choices that never should have been made. A free society is one that permits the mistakes of the people, while a controlled society is one that includes the overwhelming presence of government that punishes particular classes of people to pay for the mistakes of others.

In a short 7-minute video published on YouTube, Ron Paul said that now is the time to focus on the “next phase”, and said that revolutions are long-term projects, while campaigns are merely short term endeavors. “The reception by the younger generation has been astounding,” he said. “This continued effort will largely continue to be a grassroots effort,” rather than a top-down, controlled organization.

“Individual liberty, free markets, private property, sound money and a non-interventionist foreign policy is the best form of government that best provides for the humanitarian needs of all the people.” Ron Paul could not be more right.

Paul did his job, and now it is time for us to do ours. The revolution is just beginning.