5/22 URGENT: Last minute addition from Sandy Toth:

Energy committee to vote on cap and trade AKA cap and tax. Please call these two who are on the fence:

JOHN BARROW D-GA 202-225-2823

JIM MATHESON D-UT 202-225-3011

Also, look for a late addition under the News on Cap&Trade below

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5/21/09

Hello!
Mark your calendar for two events this weekend: the planning meeting this Friday, 5/22 (all are welcome) and a Memorial Day commemoration next Monday, which is not a tea party event, but I hope you'll consider attending. See the details in Calendar of Local Events.

Each week I put some good quotations near the end, but this one stands out, so I put it at the top; every phrase applies to our country today:

"A people may prefer a free government, but if,
from indolence,
or carelessness,
or cowardice,
or want of public spirit,
they are unequal to the exertions necessary
for preserving it;
if they will not fight for it when it is directly attacked;
if they can be deluded by the artifices used
to cheat them out of it;
if by momentary discouragement,
or temporary panic,
or a fit of enthusiasm for an individual,
they can be induced to lay their liberties at the feet
even of a great man,
or trust him with powers
which enable him to subvert their institutions;
in all these cases they are more or less unfit for liberty:
and though it may be for their good to have had it
even for a short time,
they are unlikely long to enjoy it."
-- John Stuart Mill, British philosopher. Considerations on Representative Government, 1861

Have you read Mr. Smith Mimics Washington, a story by Congressman Lynn Westmoreland? “The 'Smith Family' has an expensive house, a new car and they’d never purchase their chic clothes off the discount rack. If they want it, they buy it. Problem is, by the middle of April the Smith Family had spent all of the money they were going to earn during the entire year. Huge bills are piling up. What will the Smith Family do?” What would you do in your family?

Cross-country walker: Check out Glen Cox: he started out on Saturday from Colorado walking to Washington to bring people to a better awareness of what's going on in the federal government. He writes about the purpose of his walk in Footsteps for Freedom and here's his route. He's not young, but his short online video after the first day says he walked 30 miles so he's moving along (he admitted he was exhausted). Pray for his health and safety. If you know anybody in the areas he's passing through, send this to them so that they might give him a meal or a place to sleep.

Calendar of Local Events
Planning meeting Friday, May 22 at 6:30pm. All are invited.
If you want to participate in planning events, offer your help, and find out what needs to be done, please join us for a planning session, lasting about 2 hours. We’ll meet at Graystone Falls clubhouse: go to GA Welcome Center on Williams Rd, (I-185 Exit 12), turn into welcome center and take first left, clubhouse is first on left. RSVP to Sandy Toth at columbusgateaparty@gmail.com.
Agenda:
-Finalize program for the May 30th Restore the Republic event
-Distribute flyers for volunteers to hand out.
-Get volunteers to start soliciting contributions for the Independence Day event.
-Review fight on Cap&Trade legislation
-Review the corporation form of organization of this group. We have an offer for incorporation pro bono. We only need to come up with $100 for the state filing fees. We now have a PO Box and EIN, and will have a checking account in a few days.

Monday, May 25, Columbus 4th Annual Memorial Day Commemoration
Update: The Commemoration Service held this morning by The Sons of the American Revolution at Parkhill Cemetary was a very moving, beautiful tribute to the American soldiers who have been killed in war since the American Revolution. If it were not for the "brave" there would be no "land of the free!"

May 30, Columbus -- Columbus Tea Party Patriots and Americans for Prosperity will sponsor a "Restore the Republic" Constitutional Seminar to Honor Our Veterans

VFW Post on 1824 Victory Drive, Columbus, from 10-11:30 am. The session will be repeated from 12:30-2 pm.
This is a seminar. We will be meeting indoors to learn about the Constitution, what the founders intended, and how the federal government has ignored it. Guest speakers are coming. Please invite friends and bring them with you. Pocket Constitutions will be available to attendees for reference and study. Decorate your cars with flags and signs to share our message while we listen to guest speakers inside (someone will be patrolling the parking lot).

June 14 Flag Day
Let's march down the streets of Columbus waving American Flags -- the Stars and Stripes, the Gadsden flag, ("don't tread on me")the Georgia flag, all sizes. We need a huge group that will stretch for blocks. Bring colorful patriotic signs too! More information will be coming in the next few weeks.

July 4 Independence Day

Suggestions and Volunteers Needed!We’d like to have a booth distributing information about the Tea Party goals at "Thunder on the Hooch"; a couple of volunteers are looking into this. We will need people to help create materials to hand out, to decorate, and to man the booth or table.

Also in the works is a tea party in uptown Columbus earlier in the day. Details are not decided, so send in your ideas. Volunteers are needed to help organize this event. Please contact Sandy Toth at columbusgateaparty@gmail.com if you would like to help out in some way. The more helpers, the less work there is for everyone.

Nation-wide the theme for tea parties on Independence Day is stopping socialized medicine. A new national committee headed by Dr. Allen Unruh of Sioux Falls, SD and a team of medical professionals will be leading this effort, including templates for speeches at rallies and promotions leading up to it. People are finally starting to wake up that we will have socialized medicine by the end of the year if we don't act. The basis for socialized medicine is already the law since February.

Calendar of National Events

September 12, Washington DC:
9.12.09 National Taxpayer Protest is sponsoring a national march on Washington on September 12, with a rally on the Mall. There’s some talk at the state level Tea Party Patriots of chartering a plane or busses to take large groups who want to go up and back in a day. We might have a local event for those who can’t travel to DC.

October 2, Washington DC:
Taxpayer Tea Party and “Defending the American Dream Summit” sponsored annually by Americans for Prosperity (AFP). No details available yet. There will probably be charter busses going up from Georgia.

News
March to Communism
This cartoon, produced 50 years ago, predicted the slick salesmen who are pushing socialism/communism today in our country. After all we went through with the Cold War, defeating communism in other countries, can we actually be falling for this diabolical lie?

Tea Party

Tea Parties Just the Beginning by Donald Lambro 5/18.

Columbus Tea Party Check out the new website and send ideas of what you'd like to see on it.

Free Speech
Pro-Obama Group Demands Socialist Media by Cliff Kincaid 5/16
Dems Seek Fairness Doctrine in "back door"? 5/19
No Fairness Doctrine? Prove It! 5/19 By Chelsea Schilling

Nationalized Health Care
Obama Health Care Rapid Response - Heritage has launched a site with a comprehensive list of health care issues.

Obama Begins Push for Rationed, Inferior Government Health Care "Which is better, public schools or private schools? Public housing or private housing? Public transportation or private transportation? Compare anything. Government always turns out an inferior product. It has an astonishingly abysmal track record." After you read the article, write to your representatives in Congress, and consider signing the petition.

Cap & Trade
Urgent information from Sandy Toth: This is an urgent request for everyone to call or fax the following members of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House. Chairman Waxman is trying to get the votes for committee passage by Memorial Day. Please pass this on to as many people as you know and ask them to call. The members of the committee who may still be on the fence include: Mary Bono Mack, R-CA, Diana DeGette, D-CO, John Barrow, D-GA, Betty Sutton, D-OH, Jom Matheson, D-UT, and Gene Green, D-TX.

Why is this so urgent? Cap and trade means that every time you turn on a light, turn on your stove, run heat or AC, turn on the TV you will be paying more and more tax. Every time you cut your grass, drive to the store, drive to work, buy groceries, drive to the movies, drive to school, you will be paying more and more tax. Groceries will cost more because stores will be paying more for their utilities and transportation. Hospitals will pay for power, so guess what? Schools will have more power expense, higher fuel costs to run buses, so guess what? Virtually every single area of our lives will cost more because of cap and trade, which should be named cost and tax.

It is estimated that an average family of four will spend $4,300 more per year because of cap and tax effects. This equals over $358 per month, or nearly $12 per day for the average family (this average per year is from the Heritage Foundation). Cap and trade could raise the price of gasoline $4 to $5 per gallon.

What is the purpose of cap and trade? Supposedly the purpose is to cut the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. I personally think we could cut all cut carbon dioxide by dying, because we emit this gas when we exhale. The green movement and liberals in government have raised this to a crisis level for certain benefits to certain groups. First investors in carbon credit companies, like Al Gore, will have financial benefits. Second, there are certain groups that would be beneficiaries of the tax proceeds, like the UN, which would hand these funds to third world countries. So let's get this straight. We will all be paying an average of $12 per day more in taxes so Mr. Gore gets wealthier and the UN will have more US funds to squander.

We must attempt to stop this in committee. It will be much easier to get the votes when it goes to the full House for a vote.

AFP is asking all citizens to email your congressmen to say NO to Cap&Trade: Click Here to Send Your Congressman an Email. National Taxpayers Union has a letter you can send to Congresss

Indiana Says "No Thanks" to Cap and Trade by Indiana Govenor Mitch Daniels 5/16.

---

Here's the Last Minute Addition, from Sandy Toth on Friday 5/22:

Republican Congressmen Deal and Gingrey voted against Cap and Trade but so did Democratic Congressman Barrow.We need to call Barrow's office and think him because he will face considerable blow back from the Democrats for voitng against this horrible bill.

John Barrow:

Savannah4

50 Mall Boulevard, Suite A

Savannah, GA 31406

p: (912) 354-7282

f: (912) 354-7782

Washington, DC

213 Cannon HOB

Washington, DC 20515

p: (202) 225-2823

f: (202) 225-3377

Waxman-Markey update: Energy and Commerce passes H. R. 2454 by 33-25

The House Energy and Commerce Committee last night passed H. R. 2454 by a vote of 33 to 25.

One Republican, Mary Bono Mack of California,voted yes, and four Democrats, Mike Ross of Arkansas, Charles Melanconof Louisiana, John Barrow of Georgia, and Jim Matheson of Utah, voted no.

Republican Nathan Deal of Georgia was not there to vote.

Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey said before making the motion to proceed to a vote, “The vote we are about cast will in my opinion be remembered decades from now.”

Not much of note happened on the last day of amendments. The final amendments offered en bloc by the Republicans included a provision that would require re-authorization by Congress after five years. It was defeated as part of the package 20 to 38.

One thing that did comeout with a Republican amendment is that utilities in some States getmore allowances than they need to cover their current level ofemissions and in some States they get less. That should be fun as Waxman and Markey make deals to win votes on the floor. How many coupons will Rep. Jay Inslee of Washington be willing to transfer fromu tilities in his State to some other State in order to gain a vote? Disillusion is already setting in. For example, Steven Pearlstein’s opinion column in the business section of today’s Washington Post, which I paste below. It’s ramshackle enough that if the leadership can’t get it to the floor quickly then I think we have a good chance to defeat it.

Climate-Change Bill Hits Some of the Right Notes but Botches the Refrain

By Steven Pearlstein Washington Post, Friday, May 22, 2009

---------------- end of last minute addition

2nd Amendment – The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009. See the information under Bills, below.

Montana Soverignty Bills Have National Scope 4/15 Gov. Brian Schweitzer signs bill into law that aims to exempt Montana-made guns from federal regulation.

Tenth Amendment - States Rights
Thirty-five states are acting or considering proposals to reclaim state rights not specifically given to the federal government. See: States to Feds: Stay in DC! Tenth Amendment Center has a map showing the status of the states rights legislations across the country.

Taxes
Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich by Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore WSJ 5/18 Americans know how to use the moving van to escape high taxes.

Our Tax Money Wasted Again John Murtha airport receives stimulus money, you will be appalled at this video. Empty Airport Gets $150 Million and Murtha's Earmarks Keep Airport Aloft (from "The 20 most corrupt members of Congress), also see Murtha Airport Gets Military Upgrades

Free cars for poor fuel road rage by Hillary Chabot 5/7 (Boston Herald) Massachusettes provides cars and pays expenses so poor people can drive to work.

This Graph Should Scare Your Pants Off (the article is scary too)
The Federal Reserve
Author G. Edward Griffin talks about his book The Creature from Jekyll Island, HR 1207, Alternative Currencies, the Federal Reserve, and much more on this video interview: http://realityreport.blip.tv/file/2123004/

Georgia News
Principle of States' Rights Neither New nor 'Radical' by Chip Pearson 4/27

Other States’ News
California’s Proposition 1A -- Rejected by Voters
California voters sent the message loud and clear: stop the budget gimmicks. See Voter Frustration ...Doomed Prop 1A and Defeat is a Sharp Rebuke

Links You Can Use
Get Out of Our House (GOOOH) A non-partisan plan to evict the politicians from the U.S. House of Representatives.

Grassroots Training - Calling and Visiting Congressmen

(last week's newsletter has tips on writing congressmen)

Virginia Galloway, from the Atlanta office of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), gave me permission to summarize the following tips she gave us regarding contact with government representatives. She says, “Believe it or not, your state legislators want to hear from you! … If you want your legislators to represent your views, you must first let them know where you stand. Keep [it] local, keep it personal, and keep it concise.”

Tips for calling legislators
While faxing letters is best, calling is next best. Generally, use the tips for writing (see last week's newsletter). Call about one issue at a time, keep it short and to the point. Introduce yourself, state the issue, ask for them to let you know how the congressman votes on it. Do your research ahead of time so you know both sides of the issue. If possible, follow up with a letter. And after the vote, call again to tell your congressman your pleasure or displeasure at his vote.

Be Respectful! Act like a lobbyist -- professional and poised.

Tips for visiting legislators
Of course, it's easier to visit state legislators than the ones in DC, but you can always visit their state offices. Virginia recommends going to Town Hall meetings, meet your state reps. Make a question a question -- not a 5-minute lecture.

Go to the state capital at least once a year. (Consider attending the AFP day at the Capitol. It was recently held in the spring, so watch the AFP - Georgia website for the next one. )

• Call for an appointment, at least one week in advance, indicating the subjects you want to discuss.
• Arrive on time and leave when your time is up!
• Be organized, rehearse your "pitch" which should cover 1) your position 2) the opposing arguments and 3) why your position is better both for your business and for the home district as a whole. You need to have a good working knowledge of the issue. Personal anecdotes are extremely effective.
• If you are with a group, select a spokesman, make sure everyone knows and agrees with what will be covered.
• Be a good listener to the legislator. He needs you to understand his concerns, but this does not mean you have to change your position.
• Do not be awed, legislators are people just like you, often from a near-by community.
• Discuss issues, do not lecture.
• Leave a one-page fact sheet that contains a summary of the problem and your proposed solution. Bullet points are good. Always relate the legislation to its effect on the legislator's district.
• Send a thank you note after the meeting. It can reinforce points of agreement and provide additional information.

Watch Virginia illustrate the size of a trillion using split peas on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-4ADdk66jU

About Americans for Prosperity (AFP). The mission of AFP is to “educate citizens about economic policy, mobilize citizens to achieve fiscal and regulatory restraint by state governments, and return the federal government to its Constitutional limits”. This mission matches up well with the goals of the Tea Party Movement. Read more about AFP and consider joining them at http://www.americanforprosperity.org/.

Bills in Congress
Jill W and LaTala C have provided this information about bills in Congress.

HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009
It's very important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into the House: the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009. Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm - any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless:
-It is registered
-You are fingerprinted.
-You supply a current Driver's License
-You supply your Social Security #
-You supply a passport-style photo
-You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing
-Each update - change or ownership through private or public sale must be reported and costs $25. For failure to do so, you automatically lose the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail.
-There is a child provision clause stating a child-access provision. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18.
-The Government would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is punishable for up to 5 yrs. in prison.\

To read the complete bill, visit this link: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-45

Status of the bill: The bill has been referred to the House committee on the Judiciary. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45 If the committee likes the bill, it goes to the House to be voted on, next the Senate, and then the President to sign to law.

Take Action: Please pass this on to all Americans and write your senate and house members (click here for a sample letter). Then write Barack H. Obama and tell him “NO” to HR 45.
(the previous information was supplied by LaTala C.

How a Bill is Passed
Jill W. sent this summary of how a bill is passed in Congress. For details, see How a Bill Becomes Law

1. Bill is Introduced
2. Bill is Referred to Committee
3. Bill is Reported on by Committee
4. Bill is Voted on in the House
5. Bill is Voted on in the Senate
6. Bill is Signed by the President

Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee.

Think About It
Is the US Not a Christian Nation? The president doesn't think so. On April 6, 2009, in Turkey, and earlier in other speeches, he has said we are not. But what do the Preambles of the 50 State Constitutions say? See this summary of the preambles of all 50 states. (Thanks to Tommy in Augusta for this heads-up and to Dave in NC for this link.)

Here's the Preamble of the Constitution of the State of Georgia:
To perpetuate the principles of free government, insure justice to all, preserve peace, promote the interest and happiness of the citizen, and transmit to posterity the enjoyment of liberty, we, the people of Georgia, relying upon the protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution. (Click here for the entire Georgia Constitution.)

In response, a bipartisan group of 25 members of the House of Representatives earlier this month submitted H.Res. 397, which calls on Congress to affirm "the rich spiritual and religious history our nation's founding and subsequent history" and to designate the first week of May as America's Spiritual Heritage Week for "the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith." Also see: "Whaddya mean, "America Is Not a Christian Nation?"

How the Democratic Party Went From Thomas Jefferson to Karl Marx 5/12
"Unlike Lenin’s revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, our transition to a Marxist system was meant to be gradual and seamless. Like a lobster in a pot of boiling water, the temperature was being turned up slowly and gradually. Even now when banks are being nationalized and major automakers turned over to union ownership, it is mainly people over 40 who are even noticing that anything is wrong."

Can America Continue as a Nation, Half-Slave Half-Free? 5/7 "A Socialist economy cannot co-exist for long with a free system... In 2010 and 2012, the battle will be joined and the ultimate question must be this one, “Are we to be a nation of slaves governed by masters, or a nation of free men and women? Are we a nation of slaves or free citizens? Do we need to be taken care of, told what to do all the time, deprived of the rightful benefits of our work and our freedoms-- or are we best suited to care for ourselves and our families, employ our money and our Constitutional rights as we see fit ?” Both columns by Daniel Greenfield from CanadaFreePress.

Cracks in the Facade by Victor Davis Hanson 5/15

Wisdom

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Ben Franklin

"Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!” -Thomas Jefferson

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." -- Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1953

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." -- Samuel Adams

"[Early] Americans adhered rather closely to the free market ideal that people should remain free to find their own solutions for economic problems, whether caused by industry or by nature. The force of government would be used, if deemed necessary, only at the local level, under local control, to meet local needs. And as a result, America became a new promised land.
"We later Americans have all but forfeited the great charter of liberty that made possible the miracle of America. It still exists for us to examine. If we still like it, we can reestablish it. Doing that will require as much persistence and dedication and plain hard work on our part as was required of the eighteenth-century gentlemen who created it. It will require as much labor to regain it as it did to create it, but thankfully not more." --Lawrence Patton McDonald, We Hold These Truths 1976

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Final thoughts:

I'm tempted to fill this newsletter with quotations from the founding fathers that apply to our desperate situation today. But there are already websites that are filled with their thoughts. If you have time, read more of their wisdom on some of the websites that list quotations.

(From the Wisdom of Our Fathers and PROConstitution are good places to start). Their words inspire me to stay in this and not quit. We can't wait for “the other guy” to write a letter to Congress, or “the other woman” to seek the permits for a rally, or “someone else” to research legislation. This is a fight of freedom vs. communism –we can’t just sit back and let the other person do it alone.

Finally, with Memorial Day almost here, I'd like to share this poem:

It's the Soldier
by Father D. E. O'Brien USMC

It's the Soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It's the Soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It's the Soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to demonstrate.

It's the Soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trail.

And it's the Soldier who salutes the flag, who serves the flag, whose coffin is draped in the flag, that allows the protester to burn the flag.

If you find something you'd like to share with Tea Party members, please send it to the website http://www.columbusgateaparty.com/. This is the last "issue" of the newsletter. Thanks for reading. Sandy Cols.