in california and is also a member of the american political science association. his master's degree bows from the university of dallas and politics and he earned his bachelor's and political science from ashlawn university in ohio. please join me in welcoming my colleague. joe? [applause] >> thank you. good afternoon. thank you for coming. it is fair to say that our country right now is at a crossroads. this is not the first time we have witnessed a massive expansion of government in pursuit of a progressive agenda. but it is the first time in over 40 years our government sought to expand and centralize its authority so aggressively. the good news is this offers an opportunity to return to first principles to assess where we are and where we are heading. today's debate bring us back to the perennial question our founders face. whether human beings are capable of governing themselves in an orderly way or whether government should take care by rolling over us. the last year has also brought a plethora of political hooks. but few of them so far have sought to articulate the basic principles which should guide through our present troubles. thus we are still confused about the palace the stand before us. the founder