DeMint will kick off book tour in Aiken Wednesday

S.C. Sen. Jim DeMint said he sees America shifting, and he is doing what he can to stop it.

DeMint's book "Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America's Slide into Socialism" chronicles what the senator believes is an unsettling gravitation toward more socialistic policies like more federal control over education, health care and business.

It is in bookstores now.

"Our government has never been further from the principles of freedom," DeMint said. "Out-of-control government spending and unprecedented power grabbing is draining the economic and political will of freedom-loving citizens and increasing the dependency of generations to come. But there is still hope for the cause of freedom. It starts with understanding the difference between policies that promote freedom and those that advance socialism."

He has written parts of the book off and on for years but said a sense of urgency drove him to complete it this time last year with the presidential election looming.

It was pretty obvious where the nation was headed, he said.

The book argues the nation is moving away from a free society, which is what makes this country great. It lays out an action plan to reverse the shift, including legislation that would reduce debt and fix Social Security.

The shift can be stopped, DeMint said. It is up to us.

"I write about the role people can play," he said. "They need to be more informed, more engaged. All the things that work in America still work but not as well."

"We need to push for limited government. Freedom is in our hands not those of politicians; it never has been," DeMint said.

DeMint will kick off his book tour schedule in Aiken on Wednesday at Books-A-Million, 2441 Whiskey Road, at 4 p.m.

DeMint was elected senator of South Carolina in 2004 and chairman of the Senate steering committee in 2006.