I couldn't agree more with Dick Dickerson's “Giving Away Our Freedoms” editorial. We are like a frog. Put in hot water, he jumps out. Put in cold water with the heat slowly turned up, he'll boil to death.

We are indeed giving up our freedoms for security. But what is freedom? Freedom means the ability to choose. If you do not have a choice, you do not have freedom. If you need government permission to do something, then you are not free.

We still have freedom of mobility and speech, but not much else. You need government permission to drive a car (license, registration and insurance.) You can build or add on without a permit. Buildings must be inspected and approved. You have to use a licensed contractor. You have to send your kids to the school district they're in. You can't start a business without permission (business license and tax numbers.) A business can't freely negotiate wages with employees (minimum wage.) Then there are all the government alphabet groups (EPA, FDA, OSHA, etc.) who further erode your choices (freedoms.)

But all you have to do to live free is go ahead and comply with the rules and pay the government their bribes. (I mean fees.) Fine if you're middle class or above, but what of the poor family that has to choose between rent or car insurance? Without economic freedom, little else matters. Right now the government takes about 40 percent of our income in taxes. If you add the cost of burdensome regulations, the cost is about 60 percent. But aren't the taxes on the rich? Nonsense! All taxes ultimately fall on the individual. Do you really think GM or other manufacturers pay taxes? We pay their taxes in the price of the product. Consider also that wealthy people are the ones creating the tax laws that will only soak themselves. They've got to be laughing at anyone who believes that.

So here we are with 50 percent of the fruits of our labor being taken from us. And you thought slavery was abolished! Are we really free with this much money being confiscated? The ability to vote for your overseers does not make a slave free.

I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said, “When the government fears the people you have freedom. When the people fear the government you have tyranny.” Who doesn't fear the government in some way? An IRS audit comes to mind.

Government is a restriction to your freedom just as a governor is a restriction to an engine. The bigger the government, the less your freedoms. The more it takes, the less you have. I'm not here to say that all this is bad or unnecessary. Only you can decide how much is too much. As for me, I agree with Mr. Dickerson. Government is eroding our freedoms and should be scaled back.