Words of encouragement by George Washington, compiled by Bill Norton

Since the victory of the American Revolution, there has never been a ground swell of everyday Americans rising up to restore their Liberties—until now. It is a remarkable time, but not dissimilar to the difficulties of 1776. We have an oppressive king—Washington elitists; a daunting army to fight—an overreaching federal government; and a ragtag, untrained, undisciplined army as our only defense—grassroots Tea Party movement. What words would General George Washington, the patriot sage, give today to advise and inspire us? His words of yesteryear, based on original principles, are as fitting today as they were in his—Listen!

“The cause we are engaged in is so just and righteous that we must try to rise superior to every obstacle in its support.” We need patriots—Tea Party Patriots. “It appears as clear to me … that America never stood in more eminent need of the wise, patriotic, and spirited exertions of her [citizens] than at this period.” “Clouds may hover over our political concerns, but a steady adherence to these principles will not only dispel them but render our prospects the brighter by such temporary obscurities.” Some may want to shrink from the task with feelings of inadequate talents, but recall, Washington had “a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity.” Read more…

Bill Norton
National Support Team, Constitutional Coordinator,
Tea Party Patriots.org

But now does anyone know? Combining them into a President’s Day holiday that always falls on a Monday makes our lives more regular and predictable, but now the history takes a backseat to the President’s Day sales.

How many ads will feature little George with a hatchet and Honest Abe saying they cannot tell a lie: This is a great sale.

Once both of these men were honored as great examples of moral character and leadership. If you have children, today would be a fine time to take them aside and teach them about two great and upstanding Presidents. Great men who until recent years were honored as terrific role models, not as convenient salesmen to get you to go out and shop.

Former Rep. Ernest Istook is a member of the Tea Party Patriots Board.

But unbelievably, and unfortunately, this one is true.

The Carolina Journal reported:

A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because the school told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.

The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the person who was inspecting all lunch boxes in the More at Four classroom that day.

And not only did the government tell the girl the lunch her mother packed wasn’t good for her, and instead offered her chicken nuggets, but they fined the girl’s mother.

The girl’s mother – who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation – said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a “healthy lunch” would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25.

And what is most concerning is that this sort of imperial act by government may only be the beginning.  As Human Events Points out:

The Department of Health and Human Services, which thanks to ObamaCare will soon be the most powerful and unaccountable government organization in the Western world, has really been feeling its oats lately.  Fresh from its triumph in forcing Catholics to pay for contraception, agents of the Division of Child Development and Early Education moved to seize an improperly packed lunch from a little girl at a North Carolina elementary school, and assess a modest fine against her mother.

When our Imperial President pushed government run healthcare into law, he not only burden us citizens with mandates and regulations, he gave unprecedented power to government bureaucrats.

If you want to see Government Run Healthcare law overturned or repealed – we need your help.  Join us for the first stop on the ‘Road to Repeal” by joining us in Washington DC on March 24 for a rally outside the Supreme Court.   You can find out more information at www.RoadtoRepeal.com

During the next six weeks Mr. Ehlert apologized for delays in their response implying the analyst was too busy to provide this constituent service.

Finally, the HR 21 response arrived by email: “…[Rep Lungren] has been a leading resounding voice calling for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act….”. Other than his big HR 4 victory, there was no mention of Rep. Lungren’s other repeal activities in his website’s print archive.

The response continues: “…The Congressman signed on to an amicus brief, filed in the current U.S. Supreme Court health care reform case….in the event [the Court] finds certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional, the brief asks the Supreme Court to consider whether the Court should sever the constitutional portions of the Affordable Care Act from the unconstitutional provisions or instead strike down the entirety of the law.”

A copy of the amicus brief was not provided nor could it be found on the Congressman’s official website. Fortunately, the American Bar Association website confirms that both Reps. Lungren and McClintock were listed. Text available at http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs/11-393_petitioneramcuaclj-117congressmbrs-andacljsupporters.authcheckdam.pdf.

The Congressman’s staff failed to explain his position on HR 21. It appears it may not be an easy task to constructively engage with Rep. Lungren’s staff when the topic strays away from their standard talking points.

In addition, the analyst’s response pointed to a completely passive “wait and see” approach, apparently in alignment with that of House Speaker Boehner’s inaction on Obamacare given the huge backlog of repeal bills.

Rep. Lungren will be running for office in the newly remapped 7th Congressional District which comprises the communities of Herald, Elk Grove, Wilton, Rancho Murieta, Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Orangevale, Gold River, and Folsom.

According to Jared Kopp, Executive Director for the Sacramento County Republican Party), “…I haven’t heard of any Republican candidates running against Rep. Lungren in June but Democrat Dr. Ami Bera has promised to run against him again….it was a close race last time”. Dr. Ami Bera’s website advocates for a healthcare delivery system which appears similar to Obamacare.

If Virginia Attorney General Cuccinelli is correct, time is running out to indirectly influence the U.S. Supreme Court by demonstrating a House momentum on repeal bills. Obamacare may become the permanent law of the land unless Tea Parties get assertive with their representatives in the coming weeks.

Submitted on 2/15/12 by:

Sue Hokana
Tea Party Patriot Citizen Journalist
sue.hokana@tppjournalism.org

Contact Rep. Lungren at: 916-859-9906, http://lungren.house.gov
Elk Grove Tea Party Patriots (located near Sacramento): 916-494-2626 or elkgrovetpp@aol.com

Source Material for Article:

Redistricting maps: http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/downloads/meeting_handouts_082011/map_20110815_ap_cd_7_certified.pdf
Sacramento County Republican Party: http://saccountygop.com/gop/
Dr. Ami Bera: http://www.beraforcongress.com/pages/healthcare/

Coordinator for the Elk Grove Tea Party Patriots, Barbara Sloan, stated “…our members are deeply concerned about Obamacare. It’s rationing. Who wants to stand in long lines like at the post office to get critical care?”

For concerned constituents like Mrs. Sloan, Rep. Lungren (R-CA3) offers a lengthy review of his healthcare perspectives on his official website. However, it appears outdated as indicated by the statement “…it is encouraging that the Obama Administration itself has abandoned the idea of a government health care monopoly”.

According to the Library of Congress Rep. Lungren voted against the final version of HR 3590 in 2010. However, he never cosponsored any of the numerous subsequent repeal bills in the 111th Congress.

In January with the new 112th Congress, Rep Lungren voted for HR 2, which would have repealed Obamacare in its entirety, even though he was not one of its 182 cosponsors. It passed the House by a wide margin but was stopped in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Rep. Lungren finally demonstrated impressive leadership with his sponsorship of HR 4 (273 cosponsors). It was the first, and only, repeal bill to gain the President’s signature in 2011. It eliminated the onerous Internal Revenue Service reporting requirements on Form 1099 for payments of $600 or more, a potential paperwork nightmare for small businesses.

Eight repeal bills were sponsored or cosponsored by Rep. Lungren in 2011. In contrast, Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-4), a member of the House Tea Party Caucus, cosponsored sixteen repeal bills.

According to the Library of Congress records, there is a huge backlog of over 125 House repeal bills sitting in committee. It is not surprising conservative bloggers have been theorizing for months on House Speaker John Boehner’s on-going passivity with regards to repealing individual components of Obamacare.

Rep. Lungren’s Gold River executive staff, Marilyn Erbes and Robert Ehlert, were recently informed of Mr. Cuccinelli’s plea to Tea Party members. They appeared to agree with his assessment. Then they were asked for the Congressman’s viewpoints on a repeal bill HR 21 “Reclaiming Individual Liberty Act” sponsored by Rep. Garrett Scott (R-NJ) and 77 cosponsors. (Text of the bill is available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d112:1:./temp/~bdYv9u::|/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=112|

District Director Ms. Erbes promised to promptly refer the matter to Rep. Lungren’s (unidentified) legislative analyst in Washington, DC. Subseqently, Mr. Ehlert was assigned to respond on behalf of the analyst.

What was the official response from Rep. Lungren’s office? See Part 2 for how their response revealed much more than expected…

Submitted on 2/15/12 by:
Sue Hokana
Tea Party Patriot Citizen Journalist
sue.hokana@tppjournalism.org

Contact Rep. Lungren at: 916-859-9906, http://lungren.house.gov
Elk Grove Tea Party Patriots (located near Sacramento): 916-494-2626, elkgrovetpp@aol.com

Source Material for Article:

Cuccinelli: http://www.cuccinelli.com/index.php
Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/PPAACA.aspx)
Lungren on healthcare: http://lungren.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=57&sectiontree=4,57
Library of Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=112
Boehner: http://www.johnboehner.house.gov/
Redstate Blog: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/06/30/eric-cantor-and-john-boehner-dont-really-want-to-repeal-obamacare/

 Washington, DC – The Tea Party Patriots, the nation’s largest tea party organization, today rejected the President’s proposed budget plan for violating the key tea party principles of fiscal responsibility and limited government and taking the country down a road to financial ruin.

“The President’s budget does nothing to slow entitlement spending or aim for anything close to spending within our means,” said Jenny Beth Martin, President and National Coordinator of Tea Party Patriots. “An $820 billion increase in spending since 2008 and $10.59 trillion in new debt is irresponsible and unacceptable at a time when our country is cracking under its own debt.”

“More taxes, more spending, more debt and more fiscal irresponsibility is all we get from this President and his allies in Congress,” said Mark Meckler, National Coordinator of Tea Party Patriots.  “It has been more than 1000 days since his friends in the Senate passed a budget, and this is what is produced?  The American people deserve better.”

In a brand-new book out today, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS: The Second American Revolution (Henry Holt and Company, February 14, 2012), Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin explain how the movement began, its fundamental principles and how it will restore the true character of American democracy. They detail the nuts and bolts of grassroots political action that will return political power to where it belongs: the people.

Tea Party Patriots is a national grassroots coalition with more than 3,400 locally organized chapters and more than 15 million supporters nationwide.  Tea Party Patriots is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets.  Visit Tea Party Patriots online at www.TeaPartyPatriots.org.

Senator John Cornyn, R-TX, opposed the legislation.  With other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he had requested Senator Reid delay the vote so that concerns could be addressed.  “Texans have soundly rejected the ‘pass now, learn later’ approach that we saw with Obamacare, and the potential impact of this legislation is too far-reaching to ram it through Congress in such an abrupt way,” Cornyn said.   The NetCoalition, representing Google, Yahoo and Amazon, supported the actions of Congress in “recognizing the serious collateral damage this bill could inflict on the Internet.”

Just days after SOPA was defeated, Kim Dotcom, internet entrepreneur and principal figure of Megaupload, was arrested and indicted on charges of criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit racketeering.   The FBI shut down Dotcom’s website, claiming it was used to pirate entertainment content valued at $500,000.  Dotcom has a prior conviction for insider trading and is known for his hacking skills.  Dotcom’s arrest raises the question of whether additional anti-piracy legislation was ever needed. U.S.authorities working with foreign law enforcement agencies legally shutdown his operation and apprehended Dotcom under existing laws.  The fact that PIPA has in its title “to prevent online threats … and for other purposes” begs the question of whether the proposed legislation represented an attempted power grab by the federal government.

The Obama administration, known for its claims of transparency in government, requested a classified meeting behind closed doors in October of 2011 with key senate committee leaders who have jurisdiction over cybersecurity.  In November, Senator Harry Reid, D-NV, promised to introduce “cybersecurity legislation” during the first Senate work period of 2012.  Details of the bill are unknown, but one reporter has suggested that Reid’s bill could be internet censorship, “SOPA in sheep’s clothing.”

Tea Party Patriot local coordinator has not yet responded to a request for comment.  One thing is for certain, proposed legislation governing the internet and the freedom currently exercised by the public must be watched carefully.

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Broward County, wants to oust incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, in November. To win the Republican primary, LeMieux must first shed his image as a “Charlie Crist Republican” beholden to green energy.

LeMieux served in the Senate from September 2009 to January 2011, after being appointed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist to fill the remaining term of Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Orlando. Current freshman Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, won the seat in November 2010 against both Crist, who ran as an Independent, and former Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami.

LeMieux, now chairman of law- and lobbying-firm Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, said, “I’ve spent most of my life just being a lawyer.” Before his Senate term, he was, in chronological order, a lawyer at Gunster, chairman of the Broward County Republican Party, deputy attorney general under then-Attorney General Crist, and chief of staff to former Gov. Crist.
___
EDITOR’S NOTE _ LeMieux’s quotations are taken from his presentation to the Republican Club of South Sarasota County.
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LeMieux long ago referred to himself as “a Charlie Crist Republican.” To those who wonder nowadays about his responsibility for Crist’s moderate politics, LeMieux quips, “After I left, he went left.”

LeMieux seems to have support from at least one Gunster lobbying client, Florida Power and Light, a utilities company that won large tax credits for investing in alternative energy and also backed Crist. FPL is a subsidiary of self-described “leading clean-energy” firm NextEra Energy, Inc., which grossed $15 billion in 2010. According to OpenSecrets.org, LeMieux has raised more funds than any other Republican contender still in the race, and Gunster is his top donor. NextEra Energy, General Electric, and Honeywell are recent energy-sector donors.

LeMieux often reminds voters to judge him by the record he earned in D.C., which he says makes him the conservative in the race. Among his highlights are voting against Dodd-Frank, ObamaCare, and card check. He also introduced a bill he calls the “2007 Solution,” which, he said, would have rolled back federal spending to 2007 levels, balanced the budget in two years, and reduced the debt by $4 trillion within 10 years.

He emphasized the Constitution’s grant of limited congressional powers but did not mention introducing two energy-related bills that further bloat federal agencies of dubious constitutionality: one bill he sponsored would have permitted the Department of Housing and Urban Development to guarantee loans for the purchase of renewable-energy systems leased for residential use.

Another bill he sponsored would have increased to $8,500 per dwelling Department of Energy funds available to weatherize homes for those with low incomes. These subsidies, via the Weatherization Assistance Program, benefit donors such as Honeywell, General Electric and NextEra Energy that provide weatherization and efficiency-maximizing products.

LeMieux said he wants to cut taxes and plugged his Taxpayer Hero Award. His score was 90 percent, equal to the average for Senate Republicans in 2010.

He also touted ‘A’ ratings from the American Conservative Union, the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has butted heads with conservatives on bailouts of big business. LeMieux voted to extend a stimulus provision that subsidized green installations.

LeMieux seemed to stress his loyalty to the Republican Party and its principles, noting that he endorsed Rubio for Senate the day after Crist left the party in 2010. Although he said that he was a Republican before he was old enough to vote, “Republicans don’t have a monopoly on good ideas; in fact, we’ve had a lot of bad ideas in our party over the last few years.” Overall, he was upbeat about America’s prospects with Republicans at the helm.

He spoke proudly of Republicans’ role in opposing ObamaCare: “We showed the American people what this bill was all about. Twenty-three consecutive days, the longest continuous session of the . . . Senate since the Senate decided to go to . . . WWI. And what happened after that? People in this country figured out that [ObamaCare] was a problem.”

LeMieux is a strong supporter of Israel and continuing foreign aid to allies with shared values: “We got to stop trying to be the alleged neutral arbiter of these disputes between people who don’t believe in what we believe in and our friends.”

Yet he admitted that some military installations could be safely eliminated. “The military is a bureaucracy too, and we as Republicans are not going to be credible about spending cuts unless we come truthfully to the fact that we got to cut spending in the military.” He anticipated that this would save hundreds of billions of dollars over the decade.

Bob Root, chairman of the Taylor Tea Party, opposes LeMieux’s attempts to pass laws subsidizing the energy sector. Furthermore, Root thinks HUD and DOE are unconstitutional agencies that “ought to go.”

LeMieux’s staff ignored multiple requests for comment on the constitutionality of these bills.

You may wish to contact
George LeMieux for Senate

Zayida Baker covers Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Steve Southerland for Tea Party Patriots’ Government Accountability Project. She can be reached at zayida.baker@tppjournalism.org.

Republican candidate and former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, asked a Perry audience January 23 to send him to the U.S. Senate. He decided days later to switch races.

At a meeting hosted by the Taylor County Republican Executive Committee, Hasner proclaimed that he wanted to win the Senate “not just with a Republican majority, but with a conservative majority.” He planned to be the only candidate to visit all 67 of Florida’s counties. He said that “being a pro-life, pro-gun, pro-freedom conservative is not always the easiest thing” in his home base of Palm Beach County, “the bluest part of the state.”

Hasner encouraged the audience to send incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson the same message they sent former Democrat Rep. Allen Boyd in 2010 when he was defeated. “The Blue Dog Democrat is an extinct species.” Hasner pointed to Nelson’s 98-percent party-line vote for measures such as the stimulus, ObamaCare and tax increases.

“The crisis that we are in as a country was not just created by Democrats; Republicans share in the blame.” He warned against “go-along-to-get-along Republicans” aligned with “the Mitch McConnell wing of the Senate.”

Hasner cast himself as a proven fighter who stands up to Republicans when necessary. He highlighted his ‘A+’ from the National Rifle Association and a high rating from the Christian Coalition.

“When we were fighting for a conservative agenda in the Florida House, we weren’t only fighting against the Democrats; we were also battling against our own Republican governor [Charlie Crist].”

“Charlie Crist Republicans” called for moderation after Republican losses in the 2006 election.

And after a 2010 national resurrection, Hasner noted, Republicans surrendered on raising the debt limit last August but pretended to vote against it months later, in January 2012.

Hasner contrasted himself with opponents U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, and former Sen. George LeMieux, R-Broward County: “I don’t have a famous last name. I wasn’t handed a United States Senate seat by our former governor, but I know this: I’m a fighter.”

One attendee asked how Hasner would “avoid caving” to the establishment once in office. Hasner answered that his wife, who worked for “governors in Ohio,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former President George W. Bush, and former President George H.W. Bush, would keep him honest.

“This isn’t about going to Washington to be part of the club.” Hasner committed to serve just two terms and added, “I’m going to act as if I’m only going to serve one. That’s how little time I believe America has to change the trajectory of our spending.”

He advocated term limits, changes to pay and pensions, and a ban on insider trading.

Florida is currently in the throes of redrawing its state and federal congressional districts. It gained two districts from a population influx per the 2010 census, meaning that 27 congressmen will represent Florida in the U.S. House beginning January 2013.

A new state constitutional amendment also forbids districts to be drawn for partisan advantage. Quite a few Republicans may be displaced if the proposed maps are approved, touching off what one article called a game of “musical chairs” as incumbents hop to friendlier districts while trying not to step on each other’s toes.

Hasner reportedly made a deal with Republicans to abandon the Senate race and run for Congress in one such favorable Florida district. Businessman and former Senate candidate Craig Miller has also set his sights on a different new district, possibly challenging Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park.

Campaign spokesman Brad Herold confirmed that Hasner is a “filed, announced candidate for U.S. House District 22,” where, Herold said, Hasner is well-known and has a better shot than most other Republicans.

Until Mack’s recent entrance in the Senate primary, there was no clear frontrunner. Now only LeMieux and Col. Mike McCalister, R-Plant City, remain to oppose him.

Hasner has not endorsed anyone in the Senate race.

Bob Root, chairman of the Taylor Tea Party, agrees with many that the state GOP is pruning the field for Mack’s benefit. Still, he understands that some shuffling is necessary in light of redistricting.

For the lesser-known candidates, Root thinks “It’s pretty difficult to run against the party machine”: the Republican establishment seems to meddle in state as well as national primaries.

You may wish to contact
Adam Hasner for United States House
Sen. Nelson: (202) 224-5274

Zayida Baker covers Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Steve Southerland for Tea Party Patriots’ Government Accountability Project. She can be reached at zayida.baker@tppjournalism.org.

The three public bills would modify statutes dealing with terrorist detainees, the national tax system, and the visa program for agricultural guest workers. A separate article describes the private bill which names a man and would grant him “lawful permanent resident” status.

Guest Workers: Chambliss introduced (sponsored) S.1384, the HARVEST Act of 2011, which would alter the H-2A visa program that provides for legal entry of temporary agricultural workers. The Congressional Research Service states the bill would require “H-2A employers to participate in the E-Verify program” to confirm employees’ immigration status. Among other changes, the bill would shift the federal administration of H-2A wages and working conditions from the Department of Labor to the Department of Agriculture.

Farmworker Justice posted a three-page critique of the bill which states, “The HARVEST Act would lead to massive job loss for US workers as the sharp cuts in wage rates and worker protection in this bill would serve to incentivize employers to hire guestworkers instead.” The article stated the $9.12/hour average hourly wage rate for H-2A field and livestock workers in Georgia “…would decrease by around $1.00 per hour under Chambliss’ Bill.” The bill would also extend the visa program to cover year-round, non-seasonal agricultural workers (meat processors, etc.) according to the critique. Introduced in July with no co-sponsors, the bill remained in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary at the year’s end.

Detainee Interrogation: The Effective Interrogation of Unprivileged Enemy Belligerents Act (S.548) would amend The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005*. The term “unprivileged enemy belligerents” used in this bill is similar to “unlawful enemy combatants”.

The bill calls for the secretary of defense, director of national intelligence, and the attorney general to prepare a joint report to Congress, describing procedures for interrogating unprivileged enemy belligerents. Interrogations would be conducted by representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, and other appropriate elements of the Defense Department and intelligence community.

Four senators co-sponsored the bill’s introduction in March 2011. It was assigned to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where it remains. Chambliss is the committee’s ranking minority member.

Fair Tax Act: In January, Chambliss sponsored the so-called Fair Tax proposal popular with fiscal conservatives. Reintroduced as S.13, the Fair Tax Act of 2011, the bill proposes to repeal income and other federal taxes, abolish the Internal Revenue Service, and would substitute a national sales tax to be administered by the states.

Eight senators co-sponsored the bill, which was assigned to the Senate committee on Finance where it remains. Chambliss first sponsored the FairTax Act in 2003 during the 108th Congress. He has introduced the bill in the senate for every congressional term since.

Other Bills: Chambliss also sponsored three amendments to revise bills previously introduced by other senators in 2011. In addition, he co-sponsored 171 Senate bills and co-sponsored 16 amendments to bills. Another article by this writer titled Public Interest, Private Bill addresses S.335, A Bill for the Relief of Salah Naji Sujaa.

* The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 is incorporated in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, as Sections 1401-1406.

Sen. Chambliss’ Washington, D.C., office may be telephoned at 202-224-3521. E-mail Chambliss here.

Roger Carter covers Sen. Chambliss for Tea Party Patriots’ Government Accountability Project. He can be reached at roger.carter@tppjournalism.org.