My friends, I recently answered this question on the Toddcast: what are the actual core beliefs of conservatism? And I imagine some of you may have the same or similar question.

I want to answer that today, because a lot of the shouting matches we have in this country happen when people argue about the issue of the day without ever agreeing on the framework underneath it. So let's clearly communicate the framework, my friends.

First: individual liberty. Our rights do not come from a lawmakers, a blue-ribbon commission, or bureaucrats. In fact, they don’t come from any human being. They come from God. That's not a slogan, it's the actual premise our Founders built this nation upon. America was the first nation explicitly founded on the principle that rights come from God, not from government — that government exists by the consent of the governed rather than the other way around. Ours flipped it: the people tell the government what it's allowed to do. That's the consent of the governed, and it's still radical 250 years later — even among some Americans.

Second: limited government. Big enough to do what we've actually consented to — secure our rights, provide a common defense, promote the general welfare — and not one inch bigger. Government is force. And force should only be used to protect the lives liberty, and property of citizens.

Third: free markets and private property. This is where the ideological divide between conservatism and socialism is most apparent to the average person. Free markets have lifted more people out of poverty than any socialist or government program in human history — and that’s a fact. So when a candidate talks about government-run grocery stores or seizing privately owned buildings, understand what you're actually hearing: anti-American hogwash.

Fourth: constitutional government and the rule of law. We don't pledge allegiance to a person or a party. We pledge our fidelity to the Constitution, the document that spells out what government can and can't do, and to the idea that the law applies equally to everybody, whether you like the law or not.

Fifth: conservatism ultimately depends on a moral people living in accordance with Christian values. Strong families. Strong faith. Strong communities that solve problems without waiting on Washington. You ultimately cannot legislate morality — but a nation full of people living according to the commands of Almighty God won’t use their freedom for evil.

Despite what the Media and the Radical Left says, none of this requires hating anybody who sees it differently. It just requires knowing what you actually believe, and why. As it turns out, that’s pretty important, huh?

Conservative, not bitter.
Todd

My friends, there's no new Toddcast today. We had an 18-hour power outage that knocked us offline, and there was just no way to record today.

In 11 years of doing this, I can only recall having one other issue with electricity. I’ve considered getting battery back-up systems, but when we became more mobile with The Truth Tour, I opted against it. Maybe we should reconsider it. I don’t know.

We'll be back tomorrow with the Toddcast, same as always — conservative, not bitter. Thanks for hanging in there with us.

In the meantime, you can catch up on any content you may have missed on previous Toddcast episodes or in The Inner Circle archive.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration has moved from talking about city-owned grocery stores to actually opening them, backed by tens of millions in public money, on the theory that government can simply run retail better and cheaper than the businesses already doing it.

We’ve seen this story play out before — and it will not end well.

While the groceries may appear less expensive to the naive, the truth is that the real cost is simply hidden and subsidized by the taxpayer.

Mamdani is promising prices will be 30% less than for-profit grocery stores, but that’s not because the cost is 30% less. It’s because the taxpayer is footing the bill.

And the leftists cheer as it happens.

Grocery stores have incredibly small profit margins — typically ranging from 2-4%. So the idea that they are ripping off the consumer is ludicrous.

But since when do facts matter to socialists and communists?

The only way these stores can “win” in the market is if they cheat. And that’s exactly what is happening here.

Mark my words: this will fail miserably. It will not work because it ignores the basic laws of economics and human nature. In fact, it cannot work.

And when it fails, they’ll blame Trump or capitalism or racism or billionaires or [fill in the blank].

We post several clips from the show on Facebook — this is one of them. If it's worth your time, comment and share it so it reaches someone else who needs to hear it too — that's the whole mission around here. Fair warning: the comments can get wild. Sometimes that's half the fun.

Want the whole conversation? Listen to a recent Toddcast

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