Yesterday we had our state Primary Elections here in Texas.  As I server as an election judge for my precinct, I am very involved in the political process in my county.  I will also be serving as a county and possible state delegate to our conventions this year and my wife is serving as the alternates.  This primary elections was a mile stone for me,  because it was this very primary of four years ago that encouraged me to create this very site. 

During that primary, I learned what involvement in the political process meant and exactly what was at stake from a very personal point of view.  There was quite a bit of contention in the ‘O6 primary for our local government, so much so that it caused a schism between two major Republican women’s groups here in the county.  The race got pretty ugly at times and was very close indeed, yet it did turn out a lot of voters.  This year’s race was not so contentious, but none less critical for the issues that Texas faces.  I was very pleased yesterday to learn that we voted more than double the numbers that we did in this primary four years earlier.  Last night, sitting at one of the results parties and sipping on a Michelob Ultra, I was trying to figure out what was so different in this election versus the previous one.  Were the issues that different?  Not really.  Was there more contention between certain candidates this time?  No, actually I think there was less, or if it was the same it was more civil at least.  So, what had changed to bring over fifteen thousand people to the polls yesterday, when not even seven thousand had come before?

As I sat and talked to those around me, I began to realize that there has truly been an awakening in the past few years.  It has not just been in the movements like the TEA Party and 9/12 groups, but in everyday ordinary people, who are sick and tired of being told how to live their lives and how to spend their hard earned wealth.  I looked back to a comment made by one of the Democrat poll workers, while setting up the polling site yesterday.  She commented that she was a Democrat because she did not have enough money to be a Republican.  How odd, I thought, as I sat there through out the day watching person after person step through the door and wait in the long line for the Republican Party Primary, while the Democrat election clerk was able to cross stitch for a lack of traffic.  These people were not wealthy.  They came in to vote with the grease on their hands of a mechanic, the dirt under their nails of a farmer, the old worn boots of a ranch hand, the medical smock of a night shift nurse and the uniforms of police officers and firefighters.  The did not arrive in limousines or step out of a Lexus.  They came in all manner of vehicles from multiple different manufactures.  Many drove work trucks or small compact cars, some had SUV’s and mini-vans.  These were not wealthy bankers or captains of industry. They were everyday average people.  They were you and me.  They were the parents I meet at the soccer fields or pass by while shopping for groceries.  They were the kids that deliver my pizza and the crossing guard at my children’s school.  They were the heart of America and they were fed up.

By then end of the day, the Republican Primary at our polling site had out voted the Democrat one by 292 votes to a mere 38.  The results were more staggering county wide.  Over 14,000 Republican votes showed up at the polls yesterday, to a mere 1,200 Democrats.  The results state wide where not as drastic, but 2,082,965 Republicans voted compared to 974,454.  This is a still a significant deficit.  This is a message.  This is an awakening.

While I honor movement like the TEA Party and 9/12 Project, I have recently become very concerned with their actions and potentially their motives.  More and more it seems that they are becoming less of a protest movement aimed at stifling the extremes of government waste and championing states rights.  Some of their actions in recent days look more like a PAC than a genuine movement based on pure ideology.  During these elections in this state, these groups have come out in direct support of certain candidates while demeaning others.  Maybe it is just me, but when I first became involved with the TEA Party movement right at a year ago, I envisioned it as one not bound or beholden to any candidates.  I envisioned this movement as one that championed a conservative philosophy only, espousing the values and principles of our founding fathers and not turning into a political campaign arm for any candidate.  While I acknowledge the importance of such involvement in the election process, I always though that a movement such as the TEA Party would be a challenge to EVERY candidate, sort of a litmus test or measuring standard that they would have to meet.  I am just not sure that the spirit of the movement is still what it was at it’s inception.  I hope I am wrong and that this was just a little hiccup during a critical election, but I am concerned that if we do not focus our efforts as one united front against the oppression that we face from a heavy handed government, then wave of outrage that was felt when these movement were born, will break upon the steps of Congress like waves upon a rocky shore, leaving no lasting perceptible impact.

Conservatives from all walks of life showed up at the polls yesterday in this county and others like it across this state.  Now, we must unite them together in and face the challenges that we have ahead.  If we turn against one another now, over petty differences of opinion or slight variations in philosophy, and lose sight of the bigger picture.  We will have no chance of reversing this dangerous, destructive course that has been set for us by a distant, overbearing government.  We must set aside our smaller differences, for a time in the future when we have the luxury to argue amongst ourselves and focus on the main goal, taking our government back, one election at a time.

When do we realize that our system of government has failed to live up to the promises of our forefathers?  At what point do we fully comprehend just how far from that vision we have come?

Is it when our government completely fails to understand that it’s own power is derived from the consent of the governed and not by some ordained right for it to exist?  We can see plenty of examples of this today, be it the idea that the government has the right to demand, control and ultimately decide healthcare choices for each and every citizen or the false presumption that the will of the American people and the massive resistance to this idea is somehow irrelevant.  How do they respond to the demand by an even increasing segment of the population that the Federal government stay out of our healthcare and eliminate the public option from this reckless push to reform?  They pretend that we are idiots and simply change the name to something that sounds less ominous and more capitalist.  Now it is the consumer option!  That is better right?  Yeah, consumerism promotes capitalism, right?  Surely the unwashed masses will like that better, right?  Nah, none of them will actually read the changes and figure out that this new consumer option is basically the same damn thing as the previous public option.  They aren’t that smart. 

The problem is that we do read and understand far more than given credit for.  We do realize that, to quote our great leader, “putting lipstick on a pig, still makes it a pig”.  Our government honestly believes that the millions of people showing up at these TEA Party protests and 9/12 rallies are just common simpletons, spurned on by Fox News and a couple of conservative talking heads.  They are incapable of seeing that this is an underlying movement across this nations composed of average, everyday citizens who are finally finding their voices and who have had their fill of a bloated, inefficient, expansive and detached government who is no more in touch with the people that they govern than King George was with the Colonies.  Here in Texas, we do have some hope.  Our governor has already stated that Texas will not participate in any Federally back or controlled healthcare system to the point that the State of Texas will withhold her Federal tax contributions should she be forced to.  Our House of Representatives has already passed HCR 50 declaring Texas’ sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, hopefully our Senate will have the wisdom to follow course and our governor the strength of will and conviction to sign it into law.  We are not alone.  Many states have already passed such legislation and are demanding that the Federal government cease its interference with the governing of the States.  Should Texas decide to resist this healthcare option, others will surely follow.  Many have expressed similar objections and warnings directed towards Congress in the passing months.  What will happen if this comes to pass?

It is at this point that I grow concerned.  Texas is a fairly conservative state except for select pockets of liberal ideology.  We as a people in general value our traditions, our rights and our way of life free from the interference of others.  Yet recently we have seen them come under almost direct assault from the Federal government.  The opposition to the bailouts, the Federal manipulation of the free market, the refusal to allow domestic drilling, the re-investment act, the gun and ammunition control measures and the healthcare initiative has been powerfully strong here in Texas.  We will not take many more direct assaults on our freedoms.  Any one of these issues could be the straw, but issues like the Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, various iterations of the Ammunition Accountability Act and nationalized healthcare are ones that I fear might push Texas to say enough if enough.  Should Texas finally stand its ground what will happen then?

If Governor Perry’s promise of refusing to participate in a Federally mandated healthcare system come to fruition and Texas attempts to withhold its Federal Income Tax contributions, what will be the consequences?  There is no possible way that the Federal government could allow this to occur.  Some states might get away with such threats, but not Texas.  Texas is a donor state.  This means that we pay in more Federal Income Taxes than we receive back from the government, and we are a large donor state at that.  If you compared the Texas economy against other nations in the world we would rank the 12th largest even in these poor economic times.  The Federal government could never allow the withholding of such a significant chunk of its income.  What if other states followed suit?  What then would Washington do if say just ten states refused to participate and threatened to withhold Federal tax dollars should they be forced to?  Would the Federal government finally come to grips with the fact that the States hold the power to be governed or would it come down to another civil war?  Would the Federal government try to take by force the funds withheld by states resisting such overarching legislation that is directly in contravention to Tenth Amendment? 

Had you asked me that question ten or twenty years ago, I would have automatically assumed that the Federal government would never even consider the possibility of force to strong arm a state to participate in a nationalized healthcare system.  Today, however, I am not so sure.  A friend of mine asked me an interesting question while we were discussing the foolish cancelation of the F-22 program earlier today.  The question was simply this, “What do you think we will see first, another civil war or another world war?”  Again, had this question been asked years ago, the answer would have automatically been that we are far more likely to see another world war, than we were to see another civil one.   When I was asked today, I honestly had to stop and consider the question before giving my answer.  My answer ended up being, “I am not sure.”  Unfortunately, I find that both are as easily possible in the world that we face today.  There are still serious threats outside our borders and as America continues to weaken it status and power across the globe, the likelihood that a major conflict between large nations could erupt and spread into a global one will continue to increase.  However, there is just as likely a chance that if our Federal government continues to grow and expand as it has been doing for far too long, makes reckless, wasteful decisions with our tax dollars, continues to interfere with the free market and continues to attempt to usurp rights from its citizens and its States, that some States will finally decide that they have had enough and refuse to comply.  What then?

I honestly do not know which is more likely for us to see in the future; a major world war or one bound within our own borders.  Human history has taught us that we will suffer long before finally deciding that we have had enough.  I see signs of it today.  Never before have so many States passed legislation declaring their own sovereignty and demanding their rights to govern themselves be restored, but never before have those rights been under assaults as they have been for the past fifty years.  Never before have the States been forced to watch their own power, individuality and sovereignty wither away under a slow, but persistent assault by a detached, distant central government.

So, enough…  When is it really enough and what will become of us then?

How this nation is not in full fledged revolt at this stage in the game is a mystery to me. Maybe it stems from the apathy permeating our culture or perhaps it is the feelings of complete detachment and helplessness that many people feel about our political process. We are currently faced with one of the most serious threats to life and liberty that we have ever seen in this nation and we are still allowing these people to stand behind their podiums and lie through their teeth.

President Obama was finally publicly called out for lying to the American people about one aspect of this healthcare reform yesterday, when the AARP denied any endorsement or support of any healthcare proposal. During a completely phony town hall meeting stuffed with Obama supporters and strategic plants, he commented that the AARP had endorsed this reform. He further stated that the AARP would not be on board if they thought that this legislation would reduce MediCare benefits to the elderly. Almost immediately, the 40 million member strong AARP organization denied the endorsement or support of any healthcare reform. Although they did admit to agreeing with President Obama that they did not see any threat to benefits from the reduction in MediCare, they strongly denied any endorsement such as President Obama had claimed. Of course the excuse from the Whitehouse was that the President simply misspoke. Really? Has he been simply misspeaking all this time? This is not a new claim. This has been repeated for months now.

Maybe AARP is feeling the wrath of its members. How this organization could even consider supporting this legislation is far beyond my comprehension and that of many of its members that I know. Most of the seniors that I know are deathly afraid of what this legislation means for their future care and do not support it at all. The AARP is playing politics with the lives of its members and they are starting to react.

For those of you who think senior citizens have nothing to fear from this lead into single payer socialized medicine, allow me to introduce you to Barbara Wagner of Springfield, OR. Wagner has the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) as single payer system put in place several years ago in Oregon. She also has lung cancer. When she found this out, her doctor suggested a new form of aggressive chemotherapy that has shown very promising results in treating the disease, even in someone of her age. Unfortunately for this senior citizen, the bureaucrats at the OHP did not agree with her doctor since the treatment cost $4,000/mo. They denied the treatment and offered to pay for hospice care or medically assisted suicide. How nice of the government to tell this woman that she was not worth saving, but she was worth being allowed to die slowly in her home or they were more than willing to pay to have her kill herself right now. Can you imagine a government behaving this way? Well you better start. By the way, there is good news on this front. The greedy pharmaceutical company that produces this incredibly expensive drug has contacted Barbara Wagner and will be giving her the medication for free so that the State of Oregon does not decide to kill her off. How nice of them.

Move on to more of these town hall meetings. Let us examine the other lies and falsifications pouring out of these dishonest charlatans from Washington. For starters, we will look at the town hall conference hosted by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee in Houston, TX yesterday. This Democrat embarrassment to the State of Texas had the unfettered gall to get on a cell phone while a woman stood and asked her a question about the healthcare legislation. Her pathetic excuse that she was actually trying to get information to answer the woman’s concerns and that they are taught to multi-task in Congress was a pitiful example of her ignorance and detachment. She did not give the woman the common courtesy of her undivided attention at least long enough for her to ask her question and she proves that she has no clue about this legislation and was horribly unprepared to answer her constituents.

To top off this disgraceful behavior, how about the doctor who stood up in support of this legislation? She originally identified herself as a pediatric primary care physician, but with a little research it was discovered that she was actually Roxana Mayer, an Obama delegate for the State of Texas and a campaign volunteer. Let’s make this clear. She was a plant. A dishonest plant who misrepresented herself as a physician (read as she lied through her teeth) to give her comments a false sense of weight in an effort to spread disinformation to the public on behalf of the Obama healthcare initiative.

Lies! Lies from the President, lies from our Congressional members, lies from the mainstream media and even lies from civilian plants placed inside these town hall meetings. You my friends are being lied to on a scale far more massive than you have ever seen before. It is time to wake up and fight back. As I have stated so many times in the past, this is not a debate or a discussion. This is a fight for your life. This is a battle to control your life and death.

Enough. When you can read through the Declaration of Independence and directly pick out offenses in that document that could easily be applied to the Federal government today, it is time that we act and take back this government of the people, for the people and most importantly by the people.

Now that the veil has begun to lift and the public is opening its eyes to the massive assault on our healthcare industry that is occurring in Washington, it seems that a new movement has been spurned in the style of the TEA Parties. This past weekend at town hall meetings across this nation, common citizens shouted their dissent at politicians over the issue of nationalized healthcare. America is finally rising up and her citizens are demanding to be heard. The odor in the air that you smell if fear and it is coming from Washington, D.C.

Even the Democrats in Congress have started to feel the sting of public opinion, but they still fail to grasp the reality of this message. As if they were alcoholics in denial, they have begun to deny the validity of these protests, claiming they were staged by insurance companies who fear the passage of healthcare reform. They have gone so far as to accuse the people protesting of being paid plants, who were bused in and given instructions on how to appear that they were not together. They cannot come to grips with the reality that the American people do not want, need or trust the Federal government to control our healthcare.

In Austin, Texas this weekend, one of the embarrassments of our state, Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex) held a poor excuse for a town hall meeting in the parking lot of a supermarket. It quickly became clear that the citizens at the meeting were far better informed about the healthcare issue than Doggett himself was. When he was pressed with someone asking him if he would support this bill even if he found the majority of his constituents strongly opposed it, he admitted that yes he would. Suddenly a voice arose from one of the many protestors carrying signs opposing socialized medicine and this Obamacare initiative, yelling, “Just say no!” The cry quickly rose across the group turning the meeting into an ad hoc political protest.

This was not an isolated event. In Philadelphia this weekend both Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were met with vociferous protests shouting “Read the bill!” Of course, the Democrats were not having it. Sebelius coyly chastised the crowd saying, “Excuse me… Excuse me! We can either stand here and shout at one another and then we can leave the stage, or we can have a conversation. It’s really up to you.” However, when the crowd engaged them in conversation, asking specific pointed questions about the bill, they were not impressed with their answers. When she talked about making sure Americans receive the best healthcare, they shouted “We already do!” When Specter spoke of the supporting Obama’s healthcare program he was quickly shouted and booed down. At one point a man shouted to Specter a simple question, “Will you sign up for it?” All Specter did was avert his gaze and continue prattling on about government run healthcare. At the mention of a single payer system, it almost seemed the crowd was about to set upon him. Shouts calling him a liar and demanding to know where the constitutional authority for this was could be heard among the continuous booing

Again, this was not an isolated incident. These happened everywhere, all around this nation. Yet, it seems that it is not enough to penetrate the stupidity and arrogance that permeates Washington, D.C. Today the Democrats are ignorantly claiming that all these events were staged. They seem to actually believe that the American people could not possibly be this passionate or have this much will to fight over the matter of healthcare.

I find this argument so odd coming from the Democrats, until you remember that this is not at all about healthcare, but about power over the individual. Most Democrats support a woman’s right to choose by claiming that it is her body and it should be her decision alone as to what to do with it and what medical procedures can be performed on it. Following that logic, it should be safe to assume that the right to decide what medical procedures can be done would extend to every American citizen, not just a woman attempting to use abortion as a form a birth control. However, with this plan that is not the case at all. Apparently, your right to choose is only important when you want to kill an unborn child, not when you want to determine which doctor you go to or what treatment you or your children receive to treat an illness. It seems that this warped form of logic makes perfect sense to Democrats, but it is completely lost on me.

As I have stated before this is a struggle for life and death and our ability to control both aspects personally. This is potentially one of the most threatening pieces of legislation that the American public and our individual liberties have ever faced. This must be defeated at all costs, or we lose the very ability to make decisions of a very personal nature.

I have not had much time to write over the past few days. Some changes are taking place in my personal life that have had me quite busy and I have been working on getting a project off the ground that has taken some of my time as well.

However, I have been keeping a close eye on this healthcare debate and it is scaring the hell out of me. I cannot believe that this is even under consideration, until I look at those pushing this agenda. There is so much subterfuge and deception surrounding this issue that it is almost impossible for the average American to get their minds around and understand what is really occurring. This administration and many in Congress are trying to shove this legislation down the throat of the American people, yet do so with coercion and deception.

Lie Number One – 47 Million Uninsured

For starters, the number of uninsured Americans in this country is greatly inflated. The 47 million that the President claims he is trying to cover is not as clear as you might think. Within that 47 million exist around 10 million illegal aliens, around 17 million that make well over the median income of $46,300 annually who could afford health insurance but choose not to have it and a small percentage of people who lacked health insurance for short periods of time only. Even if you just take number of illegal aliens and those who could afford insurance, but choose not to, you more than cut the 47 million figure in half, leaving only 20 million Americans uninsured, just 7% of the population. Some estimated put the number of critically uninsured as low as 8.2 million or 3% of the total.

Lie Number Two – The Government is the Solution

While I acknowledge that some healthcare reform is needed in this nation, I flatly reject the notion that it is the right, duty or business of the Federal government to mandate or control it. Constitutionally, not only does the Federal government lack any and all power over this issue, but it is explicitly barred from action on matters such as these via the 10th Amendment. Not to mention that what they are currently proposing will be drastically harmful to the healthcare industry in this nation. Just look at the example that the government provides in Social Security, Medicare and the Veterans Administration. All dismal examples of government waste, corruption and bureaucracy at one time or another. Now we are told that the government can reduce healthcare cost, improve quality and not reduce services. Even when the Congressional Budget Office releases report after report disagreeing with this claim and greatly expanding the projected cost of this program, it is just ignored. Even when the very sections of the bill that point out planned cuts to Medicaid and Medicare are pointed out, excuses are made and those calling foul are branded as cold hearted obstructionists. The plan currently in the House would create twelve additional government agencies just to deal with this massive undertaking, creating more inefficiency, waste and bureaucracy.

Lie Number Three – You Will Still Have a Choice

This is one of the most grievous fallacies of this entire fiasco. You will lose your ability to choose, period. For starters, the President has already made it clear that you will be forced to have health insurance whether you want it or not. No choice there. Now we hear that doctors will be rated and paid based on how well they treat an illness, not per patient or per procedure. Really? I want to know who in the hell decides by what benchmarks to gauge my doctor? What if I think my doctor has performed admirably, but some distant, detached bureaucratic moron in Washington, who has no clue about me or my doctor, decided that he is not as ‘efficient’ as they would like and decides not to pay him? How to I have a choice in that? When my personal physician that I have had for well on twenty years has to quit his practice because he cannot afford to function on his government allowance, where is my choice?

Now we discover the horrible truth about other aspects of this bill such as end of life care. After a certain age you will be compelled to meet with a ‘counselor’ every five years to discuss your future healthcare needs. Really? Discuss what about them? Why would I need a counselor at the age of 65 and beyond to discuss my healthcare requirements, unless you are planning on restricting the services available to me due to my age and failing health? You see once you pass the age of 65, you are not as good of an investment as when you are young and healthy. You have less time to live and you consume more resources via the healthcare system, therefore it only makes sense to a cold, calculating government bureaucracy that they not spend money on you. Sure they will offer to make you comfortable, but will not approve the procedure that might extend your life because the return on investment will not be enough.

Lie Number Four – Not a Single Payer System

While this statement may be true at this point, it will not be so for long. As Barney Frank openly admitted a few days earlier, this is a gateway to a single payer system.

“If we get a good public option it could lead to single payer,” Frank said. “The best way to get single payer — the only way — is to have a public option and demonstrate the strength of its power.”

You notice the words he chose there? Power. This is after all what this is really all about. Power. Power to control. Power to have millions depending on the government for their very health and survival.

The other part of this lie is that the private insurance companies can survive this ‘public option’ when it is more likely that it will cause the failure of most major insurance companies, costing this economy precious jobs and destroying the healthcare industry as we know it. The government option could be as much as 20% lower in cost for private business, since it will use taxpayer money to support the implementation of this program. How many businesses do you think would love to get a 20% reduction in the cost of benefits they provide to their employees? Suddenly, millions of people will be shoved onto this government program, taking critical market share away from the private insurance companies. Without the monthly premiums, these companies will not be able to provide for their remaining insured parties and will quickly fold, leaving even more people with nowhere else to turn but the government. Of course, that it the real objective of this, not healthcare at all.

Those are just four obvious ones. There are multitudes of more that I could expound upon, but these should be enough to wave us off of this destructive past. With the example of failures in the States where these single payer models have been tried such as Wisconsin and Massachusetts, we should be scare to death of even discussing any government run options at all. I sincerely hope that the governor of my great State meant what he said early last week. Governor Perry stated that if the Congress was foolish enough to pass this destructive legislation, Texas would assert her right under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and flatly refuse to conform or participate in any way. God bless that man and give him the strength to stand his ground should this disaster find its way into law. Should Texas refuse Federal interference and further usurpation of her citizens right by the Federal government, I believe that others would follow her lead.

This is a battle of life and death. Either you control your life or the government will control both it and your death.

Welcome to the USSA.

This weekend we celebrated our Independence Day once again. For miles around you could hear the detonation of fireworks that dotted the night sky with brilliant displays of color. Driving around our relatively small community, you could smell the grills cooking up the traditional 4th of July cuisine and see many boats being hauled out to local lakes for a cool foray on the water.

As we did on April 15th, our community hosted a TEA Party. Being the dutiful advocate of this concept, I decided to attend. After the tremendous response we got at the first one having only weeks to prepare and get the word out, I was expecting a massive turnout for this event since it had been planned months in advance.

If you recall, the first TEA Party in our small community drew a crowd of over a thousand people which for such a small community was able to rival many of the larger cities in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. We hosted that even at the intersection of two main roads in our town and marched to the courthouse square with hundreds of people holding signs bearing slogans that declared our disgust with government waste and demanding our rights be restored. It was a highly visible event that could be seen by many people not involved with the protest itself. I was extremely impressed with the turnout of the April 15th, TEA Party. Not so much with Saturday’s event.

While it was nice to have a live band to perform and wonderful to have Phil King, our Texas State Representative, and Michael Williams there to speak, the event was held at our local community college, far off of any main roadways and not visible to any who did not know to attend the event. It was even held in a small turnabout on the campus, surrounded by buildings that effectively shielded any passersby from seeing the event. The turnout was disappointing as well. At the high point of the event, the campus police were estimating a crowd of only 300 people, far below the 1,100 that was estimated at the last TEA Party. This could have been due to the time that was chosen for the event. I understand wanting to host this event on July 4th, but to host in from 5:30PM to 7:00PM might have been ill thought out. Many people were attending family events or heading out to see fireworks displays and having the event set so late in the day probably cut down on the attendance quite a bit. If you are going to go see any of the larger shows in our area, you have about a thirty minute drive and would probably already want to be there by this time if you intend to get any good parking spots. I know we would always get to Granbury by no later than 6:00PM to watch the display over Lake Granbury, else we would never find a decent place to park.

Furthermore, this just did not seem like what the event was meant to be. If this was to be a community 4th of July celebration, then it was a fine one, but this was to be a protest of government waste and excessive taxation. There were a scarce amount of signs bearing the style of slogans that we saw before. There was no march to display the message to the rest of the community. There was good music and great speakers, but something was definitely missing.

I do have to comment on one highlight of the event. When Phil King was talking about this nation’s economy, he highlighted how well Texas had survived the recession and how over 70% of the new jobs created last year were created right here in this state. At one point, he began to comment that if Texas were its own country it would have the 12th largest economy in the world above that or Russia or even India. He only got as far as “If Texas were its own country…” before being drowned out by cheering and applause. The response of the crowd even prompted him to add that he was not sure that it should not be. That was the only moment that I felt the real sentiment that was felt throughout the original TEA Party, the sentiment that we are fed up with what our federal government is doing and are not willing to stand idly by while our nation is destroyed from within.

Other than that one moment, I was disappointed in the event. I ended up leaving a tad early since my youngest son was not feeling well, but I am fairly confident that the last twenty minutes of the event would not have changed my opinion too much. Maybe I am partial to the first event, since I was involved with organizing it from its inception in our community, but I was just not impressed with the turnout, the location, the scheduling or the feel of the event in general. I left disappointed.

However, I do have some pictures that I will post up tomorrow…

Edit: It was noted that I did not include one important key note speaker. That omission was unintentional and has been corrected.

I was deeply disappointed to discover your vote to accept the Federal stimulus funds and feel that you have completely disregarded your constituency with this vote. Just last week we saw thousands of Texans rise up with one voice and declare that we have had enough of our Federal government’s excessive taxation and irresponsible spending. Even in Weatherford, such a small community, we managed to bring out over a thousand people to protest the actions of our Federal government and demand that this madness cease.

One thing that was hot on the lips of all the protestors was their support for Governor Perry’s decision to get behind HCR 50 and Texas’ claim to her sovereign right to govern herself, a subject over which I have written you before and was assured that you were fully behind. Yet it seems that you have betrayed that sentiment with this vote by agreeing to legislation that allows the Federal government to dictate the policy Texas when it comes to our unemployment benefits.

Do you not listen to your constituents? Do you not hear the cries and see the rallies by common Texans across this great state telling our government that enough is enough? Did you not meet with Republican Women on Wednesday and assure them you would vote against such legislation? Did you not understand their message to you or did you simply tell them what they wanted to hear while they stood in your office, never intending to uphold your word?

I am asking you these questions because I was impressed with the letter I received from you detailing other legislation along the lines of HCR 50 that you supported and had hoped I had found in you a strong, state’s rights Senator who supported the founding principles that this nation was born from and recognized the deeply independent spirit of the state in which you serve. Your vote today shows me that I was sadly mistaken in my hopes for you.

Texas currently has one of the strongest remaining economies in the Union. We should be serving as a shining example of how to govern ourselves correctly instead of having our hands out to the Federal government. Especially when it comes with permanent Federal intervention in the Texas economy by forcing the taxpayers of this state to continue payment of federally mandated unemployment programs once the Federal money is gone. This decision was fiscally irresponsible, the very thing that thousands of Texans stood up against last Wednesday. It pains me that our message fell on deaf ears. It troubles me that you who are supposed to serve us and act on our behalf, failed so miserably to heed our call.

Texas does not need more federal interference in our government. We need less, we want less and as citizens of State of Texas, just four short days ago, we came together in more than 300 communities in this state alone to DEMAND less. Why did you choose to ignore us? When you run for office, you come to the people and ask for our vote. How then is it that when we come to you and ask for you to represent our will, that you assure us one moment that you will vote as we have asked, then turn your back on us and do the complete opposite?

I await your response.

Respectfully…

Well I could not have been more pleased with the turnout yesterday for the Weatherford TEA Party. The police estimated about 850 people at the peak of the event. Official estimates provided to QXFM 89.5 by the Weatherford Police Department put the final number between 1,200 and 1,500 people in attendance. People started arriving about an hour before the event and stood around talking about issues, handing out flyers and grabbing signs to carry. By the 4:00PM start time, a decent sized crowd had gathered neat the speaking platform. American and Texas flags covered the crowd in a sea of red, white and blue. Signs were held aloft proclaiming a wide variety of slogans all aimed at the same message, we are fed up.

The most encouraging thing to see was the diversity of ages in attendance. There were children waving flags and holding signs in the midst of teenagers and young adults cheering on the speakers. The range of adults in attendance stretched from college students just starting on their taxpaying journey to people way into their retirement ages. I even witnessed a blind woman brave the danger of walking in a public street, cane outstretched feeling the way in front of her, just so that her voice would be heard as well. We have a wonderful showing of veterans and even a couple of full uniform military personnel showed up, even though they are not supposed to appear in uniform at events such as these while. I for one was honored to have them there.

Just after 4:00PM we began our march. We started off on a small street near the assembly area and marched towards the courthouse square. Many people stood waiting for us to walk by. They waited on their front porches, at street corners and in front of businesses along the route. Almost off all of them were cheering the rally us on, some waving signs and banners of their own. After a few minutes we had reached South Main St and turned our march north towards the courthouse. They had shut down the outside lane of traffic for the march and as vehicles passed they shouted out measures of support and honked their horns as they passed us by. The march line stretched out over several city blocks and finally wove its way back to the original assembly grounds where after the pledge of allegiance, the national anthem and a short prayer we listened to people speak about the issues.

I cannot claim that I was enthralled by all of the speakers, but the young and vibrant JJ Williams and the colonial clad Judge Mark Riley, were the highlights for me. I was glad to have Ms. Williams speaking at the event to show all the young people in attendance that this was their issue too. She seemed to really connect with some of the teenagers in the crowd when she was speaking. Judge Riley in particular delivered a powerful speech that excited and energized the crowd, spurning shouts of agreement and the occasional, “Hell no!”

Members of the Parker County Young Republicans canvassed the event speaking directly to those who came to protest and signing people up for our mailing list. It is our sincere hope that we can build upon the energy displayed at the TEA Party and turn it into a political force, not just simply for change, but for reformation of this nation. I am sure there will be more events and other times in the future where the American people must stand together and demand that the government heed our call.

I was pleased to see the massive turnout of protestors all across this nation, most of whom were average everyday people from all walks of life and all political affiliations. I was also thrilled with the Governor of the great State of Texas, Rick Perry, as he attended several TEA Parties himself yesterday and sent a clear, concise message to the Federal government. Texans are a proud people who remember the cost of freedom and we will take no more of this. What did surprise me some was his discussion of secession with reporters after the events. I had heard that people were yelling the slogan at many of the rallies, but I just assumed that it was the normal call to secede we here so often down here when we disagree with what Washington does. However, to hear a sitting governor of Texas actually discuss the possibility of secession with a reporter is a chilling event. As you can see from this Dallas Morning News article, Governor Perry is not calling for secession, but he is also not discounting it as a possibility in the future if this long train of government abuses is not reconciled.

These are definitely interesting times we live in.
 
 
Here are the rest of the images:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

 

Finally! After almost two weeks worth of database issues, I finally have the site back up. I apologize for the down time and the inconsistency in the displayed content during the last few days. I have managed to preserve all the content and the styling of the site, but some things I could not save. Articles and comments posted after March 31st, 2009 are gone as are all of my links and references. I will get those rebuilt over the next few days. So if I linked to your site before and forget to put it back, please let me know.

Now on to more interesting things. I was honored to be the guest of Parker County Judge Mark Riley on a local radio show this morning where we discussed the TEA Party rallies that will occur tomorrow. There are well over 300 communities in Texas and over 1,800 nationwide that will be hosting a Taxed Enough Already rally tomorrow, April 15th, 2009, to protest the reckless fiscal irresponsibility of our government. It has amazed me the involvement and interest that the community has shown over this issue. We are still getting emails and phone calls requesting information and the enthusiasm expressed by these people is definitely refreshing.

During the program we discuss many aspects of taxation and the extreme amounts of abhorrent Federal spending we have witnessed in the last few months. Allow me to expand upon this for a moment. In the last few months we have been subjected to massive expansions in the Federal government, enormous spending increases and rampant disregard for the public will. When you consider the $750 billion dollars for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the $787 billion dollars for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the $410 billion dollars for the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, this government has already spent and additional $1.947 trillion dollars above and beyond what was budgeted. If you divide that among every taxpayer in this nation it equates to $25,735 per person. These numbers get so staggeringly large that it is almost impossible to fathom the actual amount being spent, so let’s break this down into terms that most people are familiar with. We will start with $1,000 dollars, an amount not too high as to be unimaginable for most working Americans. If you started spending at $1,000 per second and continued to do so until you reached $1.947 trillion dollars, how long do you think it would take? Now realize that at that rate you are going through money at a staggering pace. It equates to $3.6 Million dollars an hour or $86.4 Million a day. By the end of your first month you breached the billion dollar mark at around $2.6 billion per month. At this rate it would take you about 62 ½ years to spend the amount of money that our Federal government has committed within the last six months. This staggering amount is just the money that we have already spent. There is more yet to come.

Congress just passed the new Federal budget, which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates will cost this nation $1.2 trillion dollars each year for at least the next ten years and increase our national debt to more that 5% of our GDP, a rate that the CBO itself has deemed absolutely unsustainable. Using the above formulas, that equates to $8,823 dollars annually from every taxpayer and would take you over 38 years , at $1,000 per second, to spend what our government will each year for the next ten years.

We have even heard talk of a second stimulus package being needed to bring this country out of its recession, yet just last week President Obama attend a European conference where he promised to contribute billions of your tax dollars to a trillion dollar fund to help other nations. What about our own? Where does he plan to get all this money that we obviously do not have?
Well, the sad truth is that it will not come from you or me, my friends. It will come from our children, their children and untold generations to come that will be saddled with this insurmountable debt and the crushing interest that it will bear. For those of you who have children, go home this evening, give them a hug and ask them to forgive us for not doing enough to protect them as we as parents should have done. Tell them we are sorry and we hope that they will not suffer to greatly for our apathy and indifference.

Or you can attend a TEA Party tomorrow and get involved with this growing movement to take our government back from politicians who feel entitled to govern you as they see fit, not as you will it. You can stand against those that have forgotten that they serve us, not the other way around. Remind those in Washington that by our will and consent alone does this government exist and we will no longer be ignored. We must make them and millions of others in this nation acknowledge that they have no power over us save that which we grant them ourselves. Their jobs are to govern as representatives of the People, not to rule in the name of the government.

It is not necessarily time for a new revolution, but for a reformation of ideals and principles that empower the individuals and the States and a return to the founding principles of this nation. It is time that we stand with one unified loud voice and demand that our government heed our call. It is time that the ever so silent majority lift their voices to shake the halls of Congress and be silent no more.

I am proud to announce that my community will be hosting its own TEA party on April 15th in opposition to the increased taxes, wasteful government spending and complete fiscal irresponsibility that we face under this new administration. Chains you can believe in, indeed!

Weatherford TEA Party – April 15th, 2009
 
Have you been Taxed Enough Already (TEA)?
 
If you are like many Americans across this great nation, the answer to the above question is a resounding, “YES!” In recent months have shown us what irresponsible fiscal policies can do to this nation’s economy. From the government interference in the free market that is responsible for this financial situation to the irresponsible bailouts costing the taxpayers staggering amount of money, the Federal government has shown us how irresponsible they are with our tax dollars. In recent days we have heard promises of more government interference in the markets, massive expansions of government and increased control of private sector enterprises. All this takes money: your money.
 
(Read more on Parker County Young Republicans…)

I encourage you to go read the entire article and for those of you in the Parker County area to come out an join us in protest. It is time the will of the people in this nation shook the halls of Congress.