Hello all Columbus Region Tea Partiers!
Even a cursory look at all the groups and websites popping up shows that the whole country is waking up to the fact that our country is at the top of a precipice, and that we've got to take action now to prevent tumbling over the edge. Please consider how you can get involved.
The first book about this movement is already out (that was fast!): The Tea Party Movement: Why It Started, What It's About, and How You Can Get Involved by Bruce Bexley. The author discusses it here and it’s for sale on Amazon here.
Tea Party Patriots Radio You can listen live at www.660worl.com from 4-6 p.m. Eastern time on Saturdays.
Public Events:
May 7: This Thursday is National Day of Prayer. There will be a group gathering on May 7 in front of the government building on 9th Street to pray between 12:20 and 12:40 P.M. All are invited to join. This is not a tea party event.
May 30 – Columbus region:
Our next local event is "Restore the Republic" tentatively scheduled May 30. Location and time to be announced. We hope to meet inside so we can hear speakers on the Constitution and be able to learn and take notes. Small pocket-size Constitutions will be available, thanks to the generosity of several volunteers who have offered to purchase them. What can you do? Do you know of a building we could use that will seat 500-100? Do you have an interest in the Constitution and could give a short talk? Do you have or could you borrow some easels to display posters? Just have some ideas about this event? Please email the coordinator, Sandy Toth, at columbusgateaparty@gmail.com . Also, invite friends and bring them with you
Flag Day June 14
See Flag Day Rallies We currently do not have plans or a coordinator for a local event on June 14. Coordinators and Ideas needed.
July 4 Independence Day
Many groups are planning another Tea Party on July 4. Some have suggested that everyone go to the state capitols to make an impression with the size of the group. Locally we plan to have a tea party or a march in Columbus, no details yet. I’ve heard of some groups who plan a huge march on Washington, but a few people who have been there on the fourth think that will be a big mistake. They say the crowds are already so huge that a “tea party” march will be lost, and parking and getting around the Mall downtown is a nightmare.
September 12, Washington DC
FreedomWorks is sponsoring a national march on Washington on September 12. See 9.12.09 National Taxpayer Protest Braendan Steinhauser of FreedomWorks suggests How to Keep the Tea Party Momentum Going.
October 2,Washington DC
Taxpayer Tea Party Update by Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity (AFP). Tim was at the Atlanta Tea Party; he describes a few events and answers our question: “What’s Next?” On October 2nd, AFP will be hosting a tea party at the Capitol in in Washington, D.C. Why October 2nd? "That’s when we expect the final debates to be occurring over the massive Obama budget. " Their website doesn't yet have many details about this event.
Considering going to the marches in Washington? There’s plenty of time to arrange for carpools or even a bus.
Read the News and Take Action
URGENT! Tell Congress NO to Cap-and-Trade!
On Wednesday, April 29, Americans for Prosperity had a conference call with Republican Whip Eric Cantor about cap and trade. Mr. Cantor said that Henry Waxman is pushing to get the bill to the floor prior to Memorial Day. "Cap and Tax" will drastically increase power and fuel costs for average Americans. A family of 4 with average income of $50,000 to $75,000/ year will pay an additional tax cost of $4077 to $6400 per year.
Tim Philips of Americans for Prosperity says:
Right now Congress is debating the largest tax hike in history. It’s up to you and me to stop it. And we only have one shot. The big-government politicians and special interests might call it “Cap and Trade” and frame it as a market-based “global warming solution.” But you and I know better. Amazingly, so does liberal activist group MoveOn.org, and they admit so in an illuminating email to their members: “If Republicans convince voters that clean energy legislation amounts to a new tax, Obama’s plan is toast.”
Read more from Mr Philips at Help Stop the Energy Tax Today
Spread the word: write or call your reps, write a letter to the editor, call in to talk radio and raise this issue. We need to educate Americans about the negative effects.
More links on Cap-and-Trade :
Top 10 Reasons to Oppose Cap and Trade
House Begins Cap-and-Trade Hearings
Don't Use Climate Change to Hide Tax Hikes!
Green Hell: Obama’s Environmental Plans will Lead to Energy Chaos Author Says
Could We Be Looking at the Biggest Tax Hike in History?
URGENT: So-Called Fairness Doctrine is Probably Coming Back
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas offers legal insight on fairness doctrine: Fairness Doctrine Unconstitutional” Also see Censors for talk radio expected within 90 days
ENUMERATED POWERS ACT Contact Representatives to Support this act, to require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes.
Nationalized Health Plan – this article from Feb 9 describes the national health care provision hidden in the budget. Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: by Betsy McCaughey , former lieutenant governor of New York and an adjunct senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Sign the Official Historical Record Of The 2009 Tea Party if you attended a tea party.
Everyday Ideas
Ideas from a comment on the 912project.com:
- Use a window marker to advertise on your car windows; keep flyers handy to pass out!
- Buy Pocket Constitution pamphlets; hand out to people who need to be Educated
- Attend Rallies and Events Bring flags, rattlers, signs
- Fly a "Don't Tread On Me Flag" outside your house along side "Old Glory"
- Remember to thank the media and newspapers that report fair and balanced news and issues
Have you bought your Tea Party Tee Shirt? See Zazzle for a huge selection of tee-shirts, caps, buttons, bumper stickers, with lots of tea-party messages.
Don’t Tread on Me Flags: Debbie Miller at Smart Girl Politics writes: Want to make a statement and show your support of our Country? Many people are flying the Gadsden Flag, a flag that was flown by our Founding Fathers. Many people are flying this flag alone or along with the Stars & Stripes as a form of protest to our current government. I found a GREAT source for the flag.... It's Gadsden & Culpepper. They carry flags (as low as $7.95 for 3' x 5' w/ shipping next bus day.) They have car magnets, stickers, t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs... check it out!! Prices are VERY affordable!
More Gasden Flags: see http://www.united-states-flag.com/hg46hf.html for a small 3x6" flag ($1.60) you could mount on the car antenna. Notice that they are in such high demand that they might take 2-3 weeks. Last Minute Update: Get American-made flags (including the Gadsden flag) at http://shop.wnd.com/store/subdept.asp?SUBDEPARTMENT_ID=226
Petitions (see previous newsletter for other petitions)
First Amendment rights: two petitions:
See Americans to feds: Hands off our news! for information.
Petition: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=87882
See American Radio Free Speech for information.
Petition: http://capwiz.com/patriotsinaction/issues/alert/?alertid=13151241
Support Tax Reform at Scrap The Code , petition: http://www.scrapthecode.org/
Petition to Congress and the President: Re-Declaration of Independence: Petition to Protect U.S. Sovereignty Although the original is still valid, the people and Congress need to be reminded that we are a free, independent nation, not part of a global regime.
National and Local Tea Party News and Columns
(just a few I’ve seen)
Tea Party Patriots Radio Saturdays 4-6 As the Tea Party Patriot movement continues its nationwide growth, two great Patriots, Jason Hoyt and Phil Russo have taken their talents to the air to talk about the movement. Demonstrating that the Tea Party Patriots have become recognized as a national movement with staying power, Hoyt and Russo were approached by an Orlando radio station (660 WORL), to do a show featuring the Tea Party Patriot movement. (You can listen to them streaming live at www.660worl.com from 4-6 p.m. Eastern time on Saturdays.)
April 30 Conference Call with tea party organizers around the country to discuss how to respond to Obama’s “ridicule of our movement and his request to have "serious conversations" with us as he said in a speech yesterday.” As I get info about the conference call I'll put it in the next newsletter. last minute update: here's a press release about this from TeaPartyPatriots.org, worth reading even if you don't send it to a newspaper: http://teapartypatriots.org/ The press release begins with: Among the political class it has apparently become acceptable, and even fashionable, for American politicians from the President on down to mock the citizens they represent. In a development that can only further denigrate the discourse necessary to any effective democracy, politicians and the "serious" news media are now mocking citizens regularly and with impunity. Supported by mainstream journalists on MSNBC and CNN who themselves use sexual slurs on national television to mock and attack the same citizens, the politicians openly demonstrate their feelings of superiority in regard to those they were elected to represent. They now candidly express their disdain for a significant portion of the American population without threat of reprisal by the mainstream media. Click on the link to read the rest.
Tax Day Becomes Protest Day How the Tea Parties Could Change American Politics by Glenn Reynolds 4/15 in the Wall Street Journal. “Will these flash crowds be a flash in the pan? ... General disgust has drawn a lot of people off the sidelines and into the political arena, and they are already planning for political action after today.”
The Tea Party Movement: Who’s In Charge? by Chris Good 4/13 in The Atlantic, (hardly a conservative site). The author seems to think that 3 national organizations are leading the tea party movement; (I disagree).
The Tea Parties had a Serious Message – Were You Listening? by Phil Kerpen 4/28
"Those who dismiss the April 15 protests as electoral sour grapes are blind to the fact that millions of voters are outraged by bailouts and huge federal spending increases. "
Tea for 2… Million? by Patrice Lewis 4/18 The main stream media really tried to ignore the tea parties, but when they couldn’t ignore them, they dismissed them, belittled them, disparaged them. What will we do now? Forget about what brought us together?
Denver Post Columnist Just Doesn’t Get It by Rossputin 4/17
Not a column, but some great tea party posters http://www.tackleboxdesigns.com/
Think about it
Fly the Flag: Some at the 912Project are suggesting flying a little American Flag on the car again like after 9-11. Let's do that. (A few suggested flying a red ribbon, but others said the color red has been used by other groups, as well as red is a symbol of communism.)
Good Suggestion from a 912project member: don't let the media determine what is broadcasted: bring a video camera and interview people at a tea party, ask them why they are at it, and post it on You Tube. Maybe share it with trustworthy news outlets, stop letting msm smear and misrepresent our efforts.
Update: the artist of a painting of Obama with a crown of thorns was inundated with complaints: Artist Cancels Obama Messiah Display
Survival Optional Dr. Thomas Sowell has written a great article pointing out that “survival is taking a back seat to the shibboleths of political correctness”.
Quotes
"It is a misfortune incident to republican government, though in a less degree than to other governments, that those who administer it, may forget their obligations to their constituents, and prove unfaithful to their important trust." --James Madison
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." --James Madison
"History affords us many instances of the ruin of states, by the prosecution of measures ill suited to the temper and genius of their people. The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy… An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy." --Benjamin Franklin
"I don't like the income tax. Every time we talk about these taxes we get around to the idea of 'from each according to his capacity and to each according to his needs.' That's socialism. It's written into the Communist Manifesto. Maybe we ought to see that every person who gets a tax return receives a copy of the Communist Manifesto with it so he can see what's happening to him." --accountant and Commissioner of Internal Revenue T. Coleman Andrews (1899-1983)
Links You Might Like
I keep finding more tea party websites; several say they are the “official” tea party organization. This is probably a sign of a real grass-roots movement, groups springing up all over trying to get organized nation-wide. As you can see here, there are almost too many to keep track of. As far as I can tell, there is not yet one true official national tea party site.
Tea Party Patriots, one of the“official homes of tea party movement”, lots of info, I found two sites:http://teapartypatriots.org/ and http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/
Tea Party and Revolution. 21st Century Patriots…the movement continues.
FreedomWorks National website, and FreedomWorks Georgia site
Americans for Prosperity, national site and AFP Georgia site, report on the Atlanta tea party with a few photos.
Calendar of 912 Project Events nation-wide
http://www.912project.com/ Seeks to "brings us back where we all were on September 11, 2001. ...when we were united as Americans" Now over 640,000 members.
http://colgaconstitution.ning.com/ The local 912 Project website. There are currently no plans to sponsor tea parties. You might want to participate in both the local 912 Project and the Columbus Ga Tea Party group.
http://bi-city.ning.com/ I just discovered this site of another local tea partier, it has nice photos from the 4/15 tea party in Columbus. I hope we can coordinate our efforts.
http://www.taxdayteaparty.com/ a national grassroots effort started and supported by many online groups.
http://www.teapartyday.com/ Another group sponsoring tea parties nationwide under American Family Association. Their website shows over 553 cities planning tea parties on July 4. They have a tax survey you can take, the results are on the home page.
We Must Take America Back music video by Steve Vaus. We played this song at the tea party.
Links of interest but not just about tea parties:
Smart Girl Politics – A conservative women’s movement.
Oath-Keepers for military, veterans, and peace officers who will uphold their oath to support and defend the Constitution. The testimonies are moving.
Townhall Conservative political news, issues, blogs, and cartoons
World Net Daily is an independent news company dedicated to uncompromising journalism, seeking truth and justice and revitalizing the role of the free press as a guardian of liberty
Drudge Report The most complete list of news websites, columnists, and daily news I've ever seen.
Patriot Post An internet journal advocating individual liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and the promotion of free enterprise, national defense, and traditional American values. Sign up to receive it in your inbox.
National Review Conservative columns discussing current news.
Senator Saxby Chambliss website
Senator Johnny Isakson website
Representatives websites (all of them)
Books
Send your recommendations of books that educate us in history, government, economics, etc…anything pertaining to this movement. Let me know if I can use your name.
Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg. It's a more in-depth analysis of Socialism/Progressivism and its implications than Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny. At 400 pages, it's slow going, but worth it. (recommendation by a tea partier)
1776 by David McCullough This is an exciting book and I was sorry when it ended. I wish he’d write about the rest of the years. 1776 is “a gripping narrative” with fresh insight into the events at the beginning of the American Revolution. If you enjoy history at all, you will like this book. You might also like John Adams by Mr. McCullough.
The 5000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen Excellent study on the Constitution and the principles the founding fathers followed. This book is highly recommended by Glenn Beck.
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Final thoughts:
I occasionally go to the 912project.com website and click on the Tea Parties tab to read comments. Right now there are over 6,000 comments; here’s one comment from someone in Virginia:
At the Charlottesville, VA Tea Party we marched to Tom Perriello's office. We were joking with each other about how much we stink at "rabble raising". Not only were there no cars flipped over, nothing on fire but when marching we all actually stopped at the cross streets, hit the button and waited for the light to change at the cross walk. When it turned red those who had crossed waited for those stuck by the light. WE DIDN'T EVEN DISTURB TRAFFIC!!!!! That is the kind of thing that was called "not for family viewing" by CNN. Let's be honorable and do the same thing we did in C'ville in DC [on July7] but in a big way.
I’ve had a similar thought…most if not all of us participating in the tea parties are quiet, law-abiding citizens who have families, work and pay taxes, and responsibly manage our own affairs. Many of us go to church and donate to charities. Above all, we love the United States of America. We came to the tea party to show support for this movement, hoping to find out what we can do to reverse this disastrous move to socialism. We don’t know how to protest and revolt! But we’ve got to learn … Is freedom worth a day holding a sign, a march on the capitol in Atlanta, a trip to DC to march there? Is freedom worth some phone calls to the senators, letters to representatives, invitations to friends to join with you at a tea party? Many of us have ancestors who actually fought in the American Revolution, one of my great- great-….great-grandfathers fought in the NC Continental Army. We’ve all read about the awful conditions they suffered under during those war years at the birth of this country. Can it really be too much trouble for us to attend a peaceful protest?
Thanks for reading. If you have suggestions, please leave a comment or email me a colsteaparty@gmail.com. Sandy Cols.
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