Sauk Valley Tea Party

Yes, Glenn Beck is Wrong

2011-04-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

I watch Glenn Beck and thank God for his voice in the wilderness. However, he has fallen short on connecting some dots. Ok, he is not wrong, just not complete. But, I wanted to get your attention on the importance of connecting these dots.

He started the 9/12 project and then hammered home the idea of Faith, Hope and Charity. Although I love these ideas, he fell short (in my opinion) of explaining the connection between our Christian faith and the reason for our unprecedented success. It is great to talk about our Judeo-Christian ideas and then creating a list to represent them, but he is no different from progressives, if first, he does not fully re-connect the dots to our Christian Faith.

I get the concern of alienating some. But, it was the weaving of Christian faith within government and culture that created this amazingly successful society. Nowhere else in this world was there a consistent recipe of liberty, work ethic, education, competition, and strict adherence to a Christian Faith through its Natural Law and Virtues. Look at the differences between the US and Europe. While the US still has a thriving religious community (over 40% attend service every Sunday), most of north-western Europe does not (less than 20%). Those that do in the south of Europe never developed the idea of limited decentralized government.

Christianity gave us Hope, Faith and Charity, called the Theological Virtues. I do not recall Glenn Beck referring to them as Theological Virtues, quoting St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians and connecting those dots. While he seems ready to quote Gandhi, King, Bonhoeffer, our founders, and soooo many other people, it is a shame he does not spend a little time quoting other great writers, especially those whom God Himself used as vessels for his message. Perhaps again, it is a concern for "turning off" people. Many people that watch Glenn Beck might not know where these 3 ideas came from so they either think Glenn summarized a Judeo-Christian philosophy or took them from our founders. While the founders did exalt them, it was because of their Christian Faith and knowing these as Theological Virtues as handed down by God through St. Paul.

Likewise, the founders knew of the 4 Cardinal Virtues and in his autobiography the "non-religious" Ben Franklin added to the 4 Cardinal Virtues. Those Virtues are, with definitions:

Prudence - able to discern between appropriate actions and timing of those actions
Justice - proper moderation between self-interest and the rights of others
Temperance - practicing self-control, abstention, and moderation
Fortitude - forbearance, endurance, and ability to confront fear and uncertainty

Connecting these dots with the Book of Wisdom, Plato, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas would do great service, as understanding how they were developed and intertwined into the Christian religion and became the foundation of Western civilization.

Providing this education to his viewers and connecting the dots would have been more in the "conservative" or traditionalist sense. People love history and how dots are connected, thus the reason Glenn has such huge ratings when he does one of his historically based shows.

Perhaps rather than the 12 values in the 9/12 project, it would have been more enlightening to look at the 7 Christian Virtues, then at Ben Franklin's 13 moral Virtues and explain those in historical context. One must never forget their past as Glenn so eloquently reminds us. I understand Glenn's mindset, so I understand where and how these things all came about. It has been a journey for him as it is for all of us. Some of his reluctance is perhaps concern for "turning off" people, perhaps ignorance, perhaps selective education. Let's hope it is ignorance that has caused his neglect of not quoting historical figures in the Christian church. If that is the case, I look forward to him discovering his Catholic roots and discovering very profound ideas such as the 4 Laws, Just Price and distributism.

If we forget why Easter is Easter we are doomed

2011-04-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

“Have not we — the people of God — become to a large extent a people of unbelief and distance from God?” This is the question.

There are 3 reasons for the United States success.

1) Critical Thinking - the development our minds to overcome our environment; we advance in science, medicine, technology - making us innovation leaders.

2) Competition - critical thinking can not happen without a FREE market of ideas. We hone our skills and push ourselves further than our comfort level through competition.

3) A Faithful Judeo-Christian Belief System - Neither critical thinking or competition can exist without belief in Natural Law - inalienable rights to Life, Liberty and Property. Inalienable rights come from GOD and cannot be taken from man. Competition and Critical Thinking without Faith in God is like drinking salt water to quench your thirst. Our Faith gives us our work-ethic, an understanding that some things are worth suffering for, and 7 virtues - prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, faith, hope, and charity (yes,Glenn Beck fell short).

Our Faith allowed us to embrace a new style of government that flipped the idea of government in society. The idea that man can rule himself. There is a direct correlation between our country becoming more secular and our fall from the top. Secularism destroys the moral fabric of society and leads to corruption in competition and critical thinking. What else explains the dumbing down of our country? Why have our schools fallen behind? Why are we seeing more and more manufactured products coming in from China? Why are more inventions coming from other parts of the world?

If you are celebrating Earth Day today along side, or instead of Good Friday, you are part of the problem, not part of the solution. This blessed weekend, ask yourself the question, have we turned our back on God?

God Bless You Alan West

2011-04-16T19:35:00.001-07:00

Every time I hear Alan West speak, I find hope for my country. Not the fake hope the president pushed to be elected, but the kind of Hope that is one of the Theological Virtues that comes Devine Providence. The idea that a nation can understand that Government is not the answer, but only a basic tool to serve the people. The real work comes from each and every one of us to help our neighbor, practice the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, termperance and fortitude. He gives me the Hope, because he eloquently uses common sense, and the american philosophy to frame the situation we are in, and what we need to do to restore our Republic. Few men have given me comfort like this, and no one has sense Ronald Reagan. God Bless you Alan West.

Inciting Violence

2011-04-08T09:16:00.001-07:00

When a person knowingly does something to incite violence it is sinful. You might be thinking I am talking about the preacher in Florida that burned the Koran. However, I am not. I am talking about out president who knowingly provocates violence through a combination of actions. First, he continues to support the murder of innocent life. Second, he uses class warfare to work his agenda. Third, he has managed over the biggest economic downturn since the great depression and has knowingly increased the misery through his neo-Keynesian economic stimulus plan and inability to restore confidence in the US government. Fourth, he hypocritically increased our roles in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya. The preacher in Florida was demonstrating one of the bed rocks of our civilization, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I do not know the man nor can I judge him based on this one action. It does appear, however, that he may had been provoking with some pride, which is sinful, but again, I do not know. I do know that the media was more at fault than the preacher. All one has to do is see the other examples of Koran burning on the internet and the near 0 coverage to know the press was a conspiring to increase the chance for violence all in the name of ideology and money. The President, on the other hand was elected to continue a 200+ year tradition of leading a God-blessed country that was founded and still struggles to be the last hope for the oppressed, the downtrodden, and the shining beacon of liberty. Instead he has tried to fundamentally transform our country into a progressive, European style oligarchy and if successful will diminish us to the ash heap of history. Being President is the greatest privilege a civil servant can experience. To understand the mistakes of history is something I am fully aware our president is completely ignorant of, and his ideological bent has done more to divide America and provoke violence than anything his predecessor could ever had accomplished or the preacher for that matter. Burning the Koran is only burning paper, but pitting American against American, redistributing wealth through his policies, sending more of our arms services into harms way without a plan or demonstrating a vital interest, fighting the tide of the majority of Americans who are pro-life, spending my grandchildrens' future today (I will not have grandchildren for an estimated 18-20 years), and not demonstrating leadership in the face of economic crisis, proves the sinfulness of his rhetoric, his actions and his non-actions. May God have mercy on our country that we may make it thought this obamanation.

You Can Not Multiply Weath by Dividing It

2011-03-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

This is a quote from Baptist Minister Adrian Rogers. Despite the ever so simplistic common sense way he best summed up what is wrong with redistribution, some people just don't get it. There is another more harsh saying that goes, "You can't fix stupid!" This one is not quite right. You can fix stupid, but I have my doubts that you can not fix PRIDE. Pride is the root of all sin and despite a millennium of history that shows taking (stealing) from one and giving to the other, never creates wealth, man continually pushes to do just that. Pride can not be fixed by another, but one has to recognize in them self the sin of Pride before 'fixing' can occur. One must reach into themselves to understand you can not change human nature and you can not change Natural Law. Until the left comes to the realization that their Pride has clouded their judgement, there can never be the very Utopia they wish for. For the closest thing to Utopia is pure liberty for everyone and the only threat to liberty comes when one steps on the God given rights of another and forces an egalitarian society.

My how times have changed

2011-03-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have recently been doing some reading and viewing on the history of unions in the US. I really can not believe how much times really have changed and how much we have changed thru indoctrination by social collectivists, populists, secularists and progressives.

The one that was so enlightening and disturbing at the same time was reading up on the modern labor movement and listening to George Meany the former president say in 1955, "It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government." And, to hear FDR at his 1937 press conference make it clear that Unions have no right to collectively bargain OR strike. Look where we are today. Shameful.

Let me Repeat Myself

2011-03-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I posted a blog on the 5 things our Government should do re-boot our Constitutional Republic with Free Market Principles. I have read, researched and listened to smarter people than eye and I would like to restate my ideas with a bit more detail. Most of the ideas have not fundamentally changed and despite having fellow libertarians and conservatives disagree with some of the ideas, I remain steadfast in the following solutions to our crisis. It really does not take much, just some decisive steps to change the rules. All systems are set up by rules and there are Rule Makers, Rule Breakers and Rule Takers. When you change the rules, you change the game for most, and when most comply with the game it moves in a new direction.

Here are the now 6 ideas.

1) Tie Gov't spending to 15% of GDP outside of our interest payments. This will teach us fiscal discipline and eliminate the federal governments drug addiction to power. The States and local governments are responsible for most of the day to day needs of its people and the federal government needs to stick to it original mandate - Protect the borders, Maintain a sound physical infrastructural and Insure free trade between States. They are also mandated to protect individual citizens Natural Rights of life, liberty and property but must remain defensive in these measures and not active. All people with integrity budget themselves and only in times of crisis would they ever go into dept. If Congress declares war (which they have not done since WWII) then the law would not be enforced.

2) Eliminate the progressive tax system and replace it with an increase in duties equal to the highest duties imposed by China (FYI import duty on a Hair Trimmer into China is 35%, the duty into the US from China is
4.2%) and a flat tax where everyone here has skin in the game. Free Trade is a sham when the rules are different for the players. Our Trade agreements with China and other countries for that matter are not different than playing baseball where one team gets 9 players and gets to throw pitches from 30 ft and the other teams get only 5 and has to pitch from 90 ft. Until the local regulations, tax system, subsidies and rules are the same, we need to tax imports, not Americans that create jobs here. On top of that, unless you have an equitable tax system where everyone has skin in the game you are unduly influencing certain classes of people by playing favorites. A flat tax is so simple it eliminate the IRS and makes it so easy to account. NO NATIONAL SALES TAX! Some so called conservatives think this is a good idea, but it is a very bad idea on 3 points - 1) It is far more complicated as small businesses will have the burden of accounting for this along with the State and local taxes it already has to account for; 2) It will not eliminate the need for an IRS because it is far easier to develop a cash business and hide taxes as compared to a simple flat tax; and 3) It is a progressive tax and to me no different than the current system - exceptions will have to be written in and then lobbyists will work to have their particular industry tax free, etc.

3) Audit the Federal Reserve. Whatever happened to that one. We either need to have congress manage this entity or repeal the 17th Amendment. Giving such power over the economy has proven dangerous.

4) Eliminate capital gains and income tax on dividends and replace it with a tax on stock transactions . This will be the key drive to saving our free market. You see private companies and public traded companies act different because they have different motivations. Motivations are created by how the rules are set up. The rules for public companies is to maximize share holder value not cash. Private companies emphasize cash flow as the owners want to make money. In a public company, companies are concerned more with the stock price than they are the long term growth of the company. If our system emphasized cash flow and not stock valuation then those companies that provide a high dividend yield will be rewarded and those that play shell games would disappear. I will explain this in greater detail in another blog because it really is a way to re-boot our economy and build a solid foundation that needs far less regulation than the current. You see Enron and others could not have made it as far they did without CASH. It is impossible to fake cash payments several years in a row. It is very easy to manipulate the books and use propaganda to maintain a growing stock for years.

5) Eliminate lobbyists as we know it. I will also talk about this in more depth later on the specifics but in essence, this is an immoral system. If you have money and power you have influence. Where is equal protection under the law? Why should a company, union, pact or organization have more say than I as an individual?

6) Term limit legislation - Easy one and still valid. Rotate the crops and the ground stays fertile.

Who are the Useful Idiots?

2011-02-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

The left think it is the Tea Party. I am not sure anyone is a useful idiot. I don't think the right thinks that way. The term "useful idiot" came about from Soviet sympathizers in the west. Most would agree most people are not well educated in history, philosophy, political science and economics. But the attitude one takes towards these people vary depending on your ontology. I as a libertarian believe a fair education is essential to a better society. However, it is a pipe dream to think everyone can be at the same level to debate the nuances of Austrian Economics compared to Monetarism or Distributivism. But we must be guarded by the lefts attempts to indoctrinate people into indefensible positions that can only be defended through emotional defiance. I just got into a debate with a "useful idiot" of the left. He did not know his history, he mis quoted the Constitutions 3/5ths clause, stated Republican supported abortion in 1972 and then went on to defend abortion. He also railed against Glenn Beck for being a hate monger but then could not come up with a single smoking gun to back up his desire to have Beck removed from the airways. He then went on and called me a kool-aid drinker and demonized Republicans and Beck - the same type of demonizing he accused beck of doing. There are useful idiots on the left.

What is Wrong with Busting Unions?

2011-02-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

Perhaps there is something I am missing? What value do Unions provide? Collective bargaining? Let's see...workers as a large group go to a business owner and demand a raise, better health care, a pension, or else! Collective bargaining ends up equalizing workers so those that do a better job don't get rewarded and those that are sub-par can't be fired. A business owner is not bargaining in an actual sense, they are being extorted! I wonder what would happen if businesses got together and collectively bargained with consumers on what prices consumers need to pay them for their services? Oops, that would be collusion and that is illegal. Doesn't it seem when you take something and thrust it into a different, but comparable scenario, and it doesn't pass the sniff test, perhaps it is something we should not be doing? The Unions do just this all while taking a chunk of members paycheck to support politicians that give the unions even more power over the lives of non-union workers. This is exactly why Wisconsin is in turmoil. Unions have the mentality, if you are with us you prosper, if you're not, you suffer. The other promise Unions claim is job security. I have worked for 3 union shops and 1 non-union shop in the past 15 years. Guess which one is still manufacturing in the USA and providing a livable wage for its employees? Now you know why I ask the question. If people can not freely associate then it is oppression. Try working for a school district and NOT join the union.

"Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists." GK Chesterton

An easy debate

2011-02-15T21:22:00.001-08:00

The question is not why not, it is why? Progressives and other leftist thinking people are looking to adjust the knobs and create a "new world order". Similar to global warming, I mean climate change, I mean brrrr global extremes, it is not for us to prove why not change our lives for a better society or planet, but for them to use facts and logic to convince use otherwise.

Sauk Valley Voter Fair

2010-09-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

The Sauk Valley Voter Fair will happen Sunday September 26 at the Sauk Valley Community College. The last time the Sauk Valley Voter Organization held one of these, there was a great turn out and the ability to meet the candidates one on one was invaluable. I invite everyone to come and meet these people that would like to lead our local, state and federal government. Rather than having the media filter their message or listening to advertisements, it would be wise to listen to them for yourself and make a decision based on looking them in the eye and asking them the questions YOU want to have answered. For more information, go to www.saukvalleyvoter.com

The Case Against Progressivism

2010-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Probably already a book title somewhere, this attempt is to define the term progressivism so that a "progressive" person would agree with the definition, then from a philosophical, economic, and religious view, demonstrate the dangers of such an ideology and offer a more sound solution to long term improvements in the human condition. Because ideology goes deeper than religion, which I will explain later, there is little hope to change those deeply ingrained into the social engineering ideology. This paper will hopefully help the fence sitters or uncommitted minds understand that while they may not end up a libertarian, convervative, objectivist, or constitutionalist, but rather recognize the danger, dare I say evil, of a progressive ideology.

A progressive in their own mind, is someone who believes through the power of the collective (working together), man can create a better world. They are conditioned to believe that status quo is not altruistic and that there is always a better answer around the corner and all that holds us back is people that are stuck in their ways.

One could argue that the definition above, save for the collective part, applies to an entrepreneur. However, that would not be accurate. The entrepreneur is not looking for change or for a better answer, but rather a person willing to take an individual risk to invest their money, energy and time into an idea they have in hopes it will pay off for them. The risk and the reward is theirs and possibly their families. The progressive believes in a collective risk and reward scenario.

The obvious flaw in Progressives are their desire to take collective risk even though non-progressives agree to take the risk. In their lies the tyranny. Anytime someone wants to do something for the greater good or society they are imposing their will onto others.

This is why progressivism was born out of religion. The idea of helping ones fellow man is very tempting, but those well versed in Natural Law recognize the evil of imposing tyranny over our fellow man in order to make others suffer less. This is also the reason progressives exist in most every religion and how the left and Islamic extremists can be seen working together against Israel or to create revolution.

Because the motivations to create a "fair" and better world are deeply ingrained into progressivism, their is little doubt we will be able to show people the errors of their way. It is difficult for many to grasp the idea of suffering from personal risk or the "mean" thought of motivation thru the risk of poverty.

Although one need not look far to see that the greatest improvements in liberty, life and property have come when these things are individually protected and not collectively shared, it is difficult for progressives to get past the emotional issues of suffering, unfairness and mans nature to sin.

The most frustrating part for the libertarian is we don't stand a chance in a Bureaucracy against a progressive. As the individualist pursues his or her dream and takes on risk the progressive is organizing into social activism and promising the "masses" protection from failure to create a social order that works against the individual before the individual even thinks about what has happened. That is why it has take us 70 years to finally create the Tea Party movement to help conservatives and libertarians organize enough to keep the pendulum from swinging too much against them.

What Madison Missed

2010-04-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

Our Founders could not have possibly imagined how distorted the progressive movement could have taken this country over the past 100 years. They definitely had the understanding of tyranny, the temptation and ultimate failing of democracy, and the evils of forced compliance. But, I am not sure, in their wildest imaginations, they would have thought our country could have faded so far away from the Constitution without the constitution being fundamentally changed. If they could have imagined such tyranny by our own government, they would have enacted more safe guards to help cripple the federal government in the case it did start to exhort too much authority.

So what did Madison and the others miss?

They attempted to control the 'power' of the federal government, but they never attempted to control the 'size'. By allowing the size to grow, progressives found their loop hole to circumvent the Constitution. Despite the Constitution stating that all powers not granted in the Constitution were reserved to the people and states, the left has used their ability to bloat government and gray that statement.

The second miss was understanding the corruption of power on the individual basis. By not setting term limits, or tying officials compensation to the electorate, they allowed for a political 'elite'. A bourgeois class of elected officials not protecting the Constitution or serving with honor, but rather serving those that keep them in power or an ideological bent not represented in our Constitution.

The third miss, is the the undo influence of money on government. Yes, they knew wealthy people could influence politicians, but they did understand how the very purchase of elected officials would or could become an industry. I am talking of course of lobbyists. The idea of organized influence continues to make me shutter. Government should not be in the business of business, but simply protecting free trade among states, promote transparency and protect the individual from fraud. No more.

So do I have some sort of insight that Founders did not? Do I have the fortune of history they did not know? Perhaps...perhaps not. Benjamin Franklin was right when he told the crowd outside the constitutional convention, "A republic, if you can keep it." The American constitutional republic was the real utopia, and we have been fortunate enough to have a glimpse of it for so long.

Why the left is so dangerous and what the right can learn from them

2010-04-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching Annie Leonard and Book TV. She wrote the book about stuff and created a video that essentially is a blueprint to indoctrinate children into political activism. Her position is simple, 80% is identical to those on the right - sense of community, desire for a better world, limit human suffering, and become self actualized. However, she then moves in a very opposite direction than the right. She has her idea of 'truth'. Her 'truth' is for people like her to decide what is best for us and use political action and 'power' to force the structure to change. In fact, her very words talked about it is not the individuals fault, but the systems fault, except for those individuals that run oil companies of course. The scary part is she is really preaching fascism under the smiley face symbol. She appeals on an emotional level for sure, but it does not take much to see the insidious under tow. She wants to use the power of the government to make wholesale change to create her world view. 'Those of us that are helpless sheep, would not make the choices we do if they control those choices'. She lectured us on how Europe has done so much better than the US, when it comes to cosmetics, cell phones, regulations, etc. I listen to her and get the sense that she thinks that everyone would agree with her if they simply had all the facts and understood the 'truth'. I believe it is very similar to how all genocide in this world began. If you only understand the 'truth', you would think like me. "Oh, you still don't? - Bang"

Their answer is political power, increased regulation, dictation and controlling markets. There fervant desire to do this may be our downfall. Do we have the will to attempt to control the system as they do? It is not in our DNA. As we seek what feels like the impossible - reduced government intrusions, reduced government and more localized power, they are seeking to take the reigns of our ever increasing bloated government and complete the transformation that has been happening for the last 100 years. Is it easier to reverse the flow of a river or just put a levy in to make it turn to the left? Despite it being against our philosophy, we must press harder than them and flex our political muscle. If we do this, I do not believe we are being hypocrtical if we accomplish 2 goals that will slow the left and almost completely take away their ability to fundamentally change our country.

1) Constitutional amendment to limit the federal government size to 15% of GDP. It seems so benign, yet this will stop most entitlement programs. If you can't grow the government beyond 15% of GDP you can not have a giant bureaucracy and they can not control us. Some will call this juvenile, because they will say you simply create mandates pushed down to the states and to that - I would respond as part of the amendment, that 15% includes mandates that cause spending at State or local levels.

2) Constitutional amendment to term limits - 3 for congress, 2 for senate. This will stop congress from getting in bed with special interests because there will be more former congressmen and senators than lobbyists after a decade or so, so those fat golden parachutes will stop and the back room dealings will lessen. It is easy to buy off a few people, but thousands? Every farmer knows, rotating the crops increases long term productivity and the ground more fertile.

We need to use our political might, as the left is so good at doing. After all, they are collectivists and we are individualists. Harder for us, but not impossible. Because we may be individualists, but we have greater bonds that connect us - our faith, culture and partiotism, 3 things that left do not have nor respect.

Why Democrats and Non-Progressive Left Leaners should study Distributism

2010-04-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

I urge anyone that does not understand the right, or the tea party, or what is so great about capitalism, google distributism, read the wikipedia summary and then read about economic personalism. http://www.acton.org/publications/mandm/publicat_m_and_m_1998_mar_gronbach.php

I understand that it is difficult to have a wholesale transformation like Saul getting knocked off his ass, but perhaps you may see the dignity of the individual in this economic philosophy.

I can empathize with those on the left that fear the unknown - the greedy, cold, corporation that does not care about people and crush the 'little guy'. However, I lose connection when they do not correlate the same possibility to government. Anytime institutions grow, they grow impersonal, and grow in their ability to hide thieves and megalomaniacs in their bureaucracy. Is it not bureaucracy that is the chill that robs organizations of their humanity?

This is an appeal to you, the non-republican, non-conservative, non-capitalists, non-tea partiers, and non-involved and repulsed by political activism, to read up on Distributism, as I believe you will find an emotional connection to an economic philosophy that perhaps can bring us closer together.

In a nut shell, distributism is intended to decentralize authority, eliminate the ability of corporation to grow too big to fail, and support the growth of cooperatives, guilds and independent businesses. It in many ways sounds very close to decentralized Marxism with 2 HUGE exceptions. First, it puts a tremendous emphasis on personal PROPERTY rights, which if you understand Marx, there is no individual right to property. Second, it is NOT about re distribution of wealth but about maximizing independence.

If you can get over those two hurdles, I believe distributism could transform your way of looking at the world.

Policy Changes Behavior

2010-04-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

This Thursday in Sterling we are going to have our 1 year anniversary tea party. We look forward to seeing everyone there celebrating our union, protesting against this out of control government and educating our fellow man on the virtues of our beloved natural law based constitutional republic. Lets work together to bring our country back to the fundamentals. One of the best ways to do that is through education and policy change. Remember the following phrase, "policy effects behavior." This is going to be my mantra for the next few months. For every action, there is a behavioral change in our culture. Examples are Social Security has changed our attitudes on being owed something for retiring. SSI Social Security Insurance, it was not called a retirement fund. Sure, you think you deserve the money, but then you deserve ALL your taxes back and all the fees associated with government. People thought it a good idea to have a safety net, if you fell on hard times, but then people's behavior changes and became dependent upon it. Likewise for medicare and medicaid. Policy effected behavior. Look at those 50% who pay nothing into the system net net, yet they expect a refund or the same government services as those who pay into the system. Can you imagine walking up to a movie theater or going into a restaurant and demanding to see the move or have a meal and not pay for it? It is the same think with taxes. Policy changes behavior. Not all policy results in destructive or malicious behavior, but politicians and policy makers never seem to take the time to think through the effects the policies will have in the long term. That has always been my arguments against progressives - they can never see the forest through the trees and they never truly have grasped the concept that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The SVTP is going to start a series of classes this year, focusing on our constitution, "real" free market capitalism, and 9/12 meet ups. We are looking to educate our selves before we can educate others. Once we build up our educated numbers, we will work to pass this knowledge along to our fellow citizens through the media, the schools, and our local politicians. Keep posted to this website for more information.

SVTP Update

2010-02-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

We are up to 110 emails on our mailing list. Think of the potential we have of being a force in the Sauk Valley. If we all brought someone with us to our next Tea Party and we convinced just 2 other people to come, we could approach 500 people. This may not seem like much, but when local elections are in the 100's and state office representative positions are in the low thousands, it seems we have the ability to get our voices heard. Not to sound too much like a community organizer, but the one thing I have learned about this system we have inherited through the years is that the squeeky wheel gets the oil. It is our duty to counter balance the progressive movements and be the voice of reason and our constitution. Please get involved, not only with your opinion, but talk to your neighbors, let them know that apathy will no longer cut it. The tipping point is far closer than most care to admit. There are over 100 taxes that did not exist 100 years ago, there are thousands of regulations that constrict our individual liberties that did not exist 50 years ago, there is a mentality in Washington that government is the answer, not the problem. It is time to re-invigerate this movement with a cross section of the sauk valley and build our coalition to make the positive constitutional changes needed in the next election cycle. God Bless.

Who am I voting for?

2010-01-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

This does not represent the views of the SVTP, just me

Governor - Dan Proft - met him, looked him in the eye and he brought up Natural Law in our conversation. He is a real conservative that understand our national constitution. I did not meet Andejewski or Brady, both of which sound like great candidates, but neither made the effort to contact our local tea party and Dan did. Dan has a deep intellect of the issues and for this reason he is getting my vote. If you are voting for a candidate that is not one of the 3 above, you are in herd mentality - there is a difference between a conservative or libertarian and being a Republican.

Lt Governor - Jason Plummer - this was a hard choice because I really liked Brad Cole. But Jason has a command of the issues and the go get'em attitude that gives me confidence in him. He is ahead in the polls and Brad is in last, so that helps solidify my decision. Don Tracy is second in the polls and a nice guy, but Jason is far more in command of where he is an wants to do in the position.

US Senate - Patrick Hughes - I know, most tea partiers are saying Judge Lowery, but I met Pat and believe him to be a stand up guy. I like Kathleen Thomas's views as well, but I think a more vibrant candidate has the best chance of winning and I think Pat is more electable and shares the same values. Not trying to come across as an ageist, but I am thinking more about November and the Democrat candidate and I think Pat simply has a better chance with the general public. For the life of me, I can not figure out why Mark Kirk is leading in the polls. I understand his name recognition, but his voting record simply does not cut the mustard with me.

Comptroller - Jim Dodge - he is from the classic Chicago School side on economics and has read Hayek. Lets put a smart financial guy in this post and not a political hack - please.

Most of the other areas have single candidates, but one comment on a district that I do not belong in. If I lived in the 14th District I would throw my support behind Randy Hultgren. I met both Ethan and Randy and like them both very much. However, I think Randy is more of an outsider. I have a feeling in my gut, Ethan is a bit more rounded than his Dad when it comes to libertarianism so if he wins, don't abandon him just because you we not happy with his Dad at the end of his career.

Who to Vote For

2010-01-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

If you want to be told who to vote for, you came to the wrong place. If you want to be told how to arrive at a decision, please read on. Step 1, come to the Sauk Valley Voter Education Fair. Step 2, follow the following Simple Rules.

Rule 1. Do not vote for anyone that is not willing to immediately put forth bills that will stem corruption in Springfield or DC. Idea's such as Spending Caps tied to GDP, Term Limits, Tying government workers compensation to the average Americans income, Capping retirement benefits for elected official, eliminating institutionalized lobbying, etc.

Rule 2. Vote for candidates that understand the constitution and what Natural Law means.

Rule 3. Vote for candidates that take an oath to limit their own terms, and benefits.

Rule 4. Do not vote for any candidate that wants to utilize the power of the Government to create jobs, redistribute wealth or protect us from ourselves. The roll of legislatures, presidents are constitutionally limited to the following - insure the free flow of trade between states which means a strong and efficient transportation system; protect the borders of the US which is obviously defense spending; protect ALL INDIVIDUAL citizens Life, Liberty and Property from the force of others and from the Government itself; There are so many current laws today that already impede upon its citizens, it would take years to reverse the serious of programs and laws that have impeded life, liberty and property of every individual. Coin money - which means end the Fed Reserve and restore back the the people sovereignty over our own money.

Rule 5. Vote for the candidate that believes in equal treatment under the law. Which means, no progressive tax system, no unequal distribution of taxpayer funds, and equal playing field between the government and private industry for charitable purposes, no government health care.

Rule 6. Never vote for the incombant that has served more than one term. Rotating the crops keeps the ground fertile, even if the next crop is still a vegetable.

Rule 7. Vote for candidates that believe CO2 is NOT a Green House Gas responsible for global warming. The science is settled, we are in a cooling period and there is NO proof that man has contribued to Global warming.

Rule 8. Vote for the candidate that believes parents make better decisions about their childrens education than governments. If public schools continue to be a necessary evil, vote for the candidate that will tie money to the children, not to a building and teachers.

Rule 9. Vote for the candidate that believes conceal carry increase safety in our streets

Rule 10. Vote for the candidate that understands Life Begins at Conception and Science supports that fact far better than any science supports the idea of man made Global Warming.

If you follow these 10 rules, this country will become stronger, healthier, more prosperous and better equiped to deal with the challenges ahead.

God Bless America.

The Compassionate Way to a Better Society

2009-09-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

I have pondered very long on this question. There are many different ideas to "forge a better society". Rather than getting into the fallacy of the statement itself, I want to answer the question to start a dialogue with people who do believe one can social engineer for "Social and Economic Justice."

So what does it mean, "social and economic justice". My interpretation would be the following. "To insure every person has equal opportunity to reach what ever goals they set for themselves, and for every person to be protected from fraud, discrimination, and complete destitution when their choices land them in an unhealthy and/or insecure place in society." I wonder if most can agree with this definition.

I know some people will challenge the above definition by adding specific ideological principals, but rather than put that in the definition, lets add those to the solution to separate ideologies into their proper place.

My idea of insuring Social and Economic Justice.

1) A fundamental shift from a top down approach to a bottom up approach. Rather than making a centralized all powerful government. Who knows how to protect the vulnerable, insure equality, or help the destitute, but the ones closest to those people. Charity starts at home, it does not start in Washington. I live in Sterling, IL. We have dozens of churches, we have dozens of charitable organizations, we have some great companies and we have many people of different philosophies. Let's use those resources to help city government prioritize what needs to happen here to make a great community. The last 100 years has systematically changed our culture to where people are becoming apathetic. Having a far off bureaucrat make decisions on who gets taxed and who gets the money is not only nonsensical, but immoral. The argument those on the other side might make is, that what if the local government or community discriminates or is corrupts. The ignorance of this argument is why would someone think a stranger from some far off centralized government be any different? The key is local involvement. There once was an environmental sticker that said, "think globally, act locally". There is some truth to that. Act locally, keeping in minds the universal truths of life, liberty and property.

2) Education shift. The critical step to "create" a better tomorrow is to prepare people for the challenges in the world. The problem today is schools focus on Reading, Math, Science, Cultural sensitivity, Sex, Environmental Studies, and Globalism. What we need to focus on is Math, Science, Reading, American Exceptionalism, Capitalism, Personal Responsibility and Natural Law. Yes some of these are the responsibility of the parents, but we need to make sure that our children understand choices have consequences, that social engineering = oppression of someone, and that failure is a learning tool, not an excuse. We will prepare our children for the world with the tools to succeed, not with ready made excuses, or chips on their shoulders. Without an honest intellectual understanding of Capitalism vs Marxism, are children are doomed to Marxism, as it has been made as an emotional appeal rather than logical one.

3) Equal justice under the law. When did they take the blind fold off lady justice? We see too often, well connected people get off. A treasure secretary, a congressman, a senator that are tax cheats that are not persecuted, while regular citizens and even some wealthy actors go to jail. How about a Director who rapes a girl? Where we see people get rich off of back door deals with government officials. With millionaire Senators lecture private citizens about greed, yet take 6 figure salarys and unbelievable benefit packages while lining their pockets with favors by the vary people they attack as making too much money. It is time our justice system returns to core values - enforcing all laws that have their root in Natural Law. One of the easiest ways to insure a better society is to enforce laws and create equal penalty under the law.

These 3 fundamental ideas will create the closest thing to what those that believe in Utopia could be here on earth. It has never been tried in the history of the world. The closest thing we have ever come to this was the first 80 years of our union.

Congratulations Sauk Valley

2009-09-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a great day for liberty! Thanks so much for everyone that contributed in making yesterday an amazing day. 100's of people came out to show their support, and 1 came out to protest. Not sure what he was exactly protesting by disrupting us by pretending to vomit and pass out in front of us. Something about minimum wage, can't afford health care and what would Jesus do. I would have loved to have an intellectual and theological conversation with him, but I doubt we could change his mind. Years of Marxist indoctrination is not easily to overcome.

Unlike a Leftist rally, like those in Minneapolis during the Republican convention, where the protesters threw things at elderly conventioneers and spat on them. We believe in the first amendment and allow even ridiculous people have their 1 minute of unintelligible public display.

It was awesome to see the wide range of people at our rally. People who came forward to speak ranged in age from 12 to 80, from as far away as the North suburbs of Chicago, legal immigrants to those who's ancestors signed the Declaration of Independents.

Thank you and God Bless those fellow citizens that helped put together this fantastic event.

Being only the 3rd Tea Party and first one that attempted to have a structure, I think we managed to pull it off. I am sure we could have done many things better, so we would love suggestions. I already know 2 things that we need to focus on immediately. First, make sure the mp3 player we use for the national anthem can be seen in the bright sun. Sorry about that. Second, I think we need to stress that all speakers to keep it under 5 minutes. Even though we all enjoyed the information, it pulled the first part from 1 hour to nearly 2. I am thinking of getting a huge clock so the speakers can pace themselves. I am guilty as anyone to lose track of time.

I think for the next Rally, we want to focus on our platform. What are the 3-4 things we really want to do as an organization. My thoughts are 1) Corruption Reform, 2) States Rights Push, 3) Local Education initiative. I left off Health Care because I believe by the time we meet again, it will be over - the majority in power will have forced something upon us. Sad but historically supported. I also believe we need to focus on building our grass roots effort to have a real re-boot revolution (non violent of course).

Suggestions are welcome.

Down to the Wire

2009-09-07T14:11:00.001-07:00

We are in our last few days before the big Sauk Valley Tea Party. We are excited by the support and out reach we have received from so many people. I believe this movement has gained traction and is about to explode in size. We look forward to meeting all of you on Saturday and celebrating our American exceptionalism. God Bless.

Of Course Socialized Medicine is Coming

2009-08-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

All you have to do is look at the table below and it is not too big a stretch to lose hope that our Rally's are an exercise in futility if the only reason we are together is to stop Health Care Reform. Depression Government power grab and the Great Society occurred because there was no balance in our federal system. The last time the more progressive party has had total power they created what has become trillions in unfunded mandates that is now on the path to collapse. Is there little doubt with complete control of the federal government, Health Care Reform (Socialized Medicine) is coming?

Now, don't get a head of me and think I am saying Republicans should be in power more than 4 years in the last 75. It is the balance that is important. We simply were out of balance 38 years out of the last 75 which allowed spending programs and social engineering to flourish.

Year	Congress	President	Senate (100)	House (435)
2009	111th	D	D - 55***	D - 256
2007	110th	R	D - 51**	D - 233
2005	109th	R	R - 55	R - 232
2003	108th	R	R - 51	R - 229
2001	107th	R	D*	R - 221
1999	106th	D	R - 55	R - 223
1997	105th	D	R - 55	R - 228
1995	104th	D	R - 52	R - 230
1993	103rd	D	D - 57	D - 258
1991	102nd	R	D - 56	D - 267
1989	101st	R	D - 55	D - 260
1987	100th	R	D - 55	D - 258
1985	99th	R	R - 53	D - 253
1983	98th	R	R - 54	D - 269
1981	97th	R	R - 53	D - 242
1979	96th	D	D - 58	D - 277
1977	95th	D	D - 61	D - 292
1975	94th	R	D - 60	D -291
1973	93rd	R	D - 56	D - 242
1971	92nd	R	D - 54	D - 255
1969	91st	R	D - 57	D - 243
1967	90th	D	D - 64	D - 247
1965	89th	D	D - 68	D - 295
1963	88th	D	D - 66	D - 259
1961	87th	D	D - 64	D - 263
1959	86th	R	D - 65	D -283
1957	85th	R	D - 49	D - 232
1955	84th	R	D - 48	D - 232
1953	83rd	R	R - 48	D - 221
1951	82nd	D	D - 49	D - 235
1949	81st	D	D - 54	D - 263
1947	80th	D	R - 51	R - 246
1945	79th	D	D	D - 242
1943	78th	D	D	D
1941	77th	D	D	D
1939	76th	D	D	D
1937	75th	D	D	D
1935	74th	D	D	D
1933	73rd	D	D	D

We need to make this Tea Party a Revolution in order to break the monopoly of the megalomaniacs and progressives in our government. Our plan needs to focus on 4 goals

1) We need to influence our local schools and universities and make sure a balanced approach on History, Economics, and the Social Sciences is taught.

2) We need to inspire each other to develop the new media and break the strangle hold of the mainstream media that slants the news.

3) We need to find libertarians and conservatives to get involved in government, to choke the stranglehold progressives have (regardless of party).

4) Finally, we need to pass NEW CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS on our federal government. Spending cap, term limits and banning institutional lobbying will bring about a new era of personal responsiblity and accountability in America.

Regardless what happens on health care or any other bill in the next two years, we need to be laser focused on the change that long term eliminates even the debate on these programs and institutions the government has built.

Solutions Always Start at Home

2009-08-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

What personal life decisions do you NOT want to make?
What responsibilities do you NOT want to have?
What services do you NOT place any value on?
Which neighbors do you NOT want to help?
Which neighbors do you WANT to discriminate against?
Which neighbors do you WANT to give preferential treatment over you?
Which neighbors KNOW BETTER than you on how you should lead your life?

These questions must be asked and they must be PERSONAL. How else can we understand to the extent we need government. The problem is, many people do not answer the questions for themselves, but they answer them for other people. For example, "I would never discriminate against my neighbors, but "those people" discriminate." Or, "none of my neighbors should have a controlled advantage over me, but "WE" must help "those people" to get ahead." Or, "I know what is best for me, but "WE" need to help "those people" because they do can not help themselves."

The problem today is those that believe in social collectivism have taken the "I" out of the debate. They have attempted to make "I" a dirty word. "I" is selfish, greedy, unpatriotic. However, "I" is the only way we can help people understand the evil of social collectivism. Once the argument is changed from I to "them" or "we", it defers responsibility away from the individual so it is easier to discriminate, to give away power, to give up liberty.

When the questions become personal and about people you know, it becomes clearer about our personal responsibilities, our desire for liberty, and our need to be involved. Who wants to give up any of their own decision making? Who wants to avoid responsibility? Who truly places no value on services? Who thinks their neighbor is better equipped to run their own life than them self?

Please someone come forward and prove me wrong and say, "I do not want to decide what I eat, where I send my children to school, what car I buy." Or, "I want to discriminate against my neighbor, I know better how to run their life."

Yet, this is exactly what we are saying, by relinquishing power to government to allow others to control our lives and tell us who gets preferential treatment, who gets unfair burdens, what service are more important than others to us, and what we can and can not do with our lives.

The next time someone argues about the need for collective compassion, responsibility, or "improving" a system, turn the argument to a very personal one, by asking the questions above.

On the Health Care Reform bill ask, "should your neighbor decide your cancer treatment, or should you?" Should your younger neighbor have more availability to health care then you because of their social value?" The social collectivist might think they are smart by responding, "what if you neighbor is richer, should they have more health care available to them?" The answer is simple, "so then YOU DO WANT SAY OVER YOUR NEIGHBORS PERSONAL DECISIONS!" Therefore, you then DO WANT to give up YOUR right to personal health care decision because you want to for others.

The Key is once you admit wanting a say in other peoples lives, you are giving up a say in your own. The solution always starts at HOME.

A Response to a Response on Common Good

2009-08-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Someone, please enlighten me as to what exactly is the "common good"? Certainly, we should be able to agree on that. After all, they are "common", right? Health Care? Oops it seems over 1/2 the country disagrees with what the Dems and the 'President' want to do. How about Iraq, nope, better not go there. How about one that is actually in the constitution, the right to own guns, oops, seems some want to re-write that one. How about abortion, social security, cash for clunkers, stimulus package, welfare reform, the patriot act, government funding of Acorn? You see, there is no such thing as "common good". All of our founding fathers with the exception of Hamilton believed that the Federal Government did NOT have the power to promote any "common good" outside those specifically enumerated in the constitution. Our founding fathers knew, as do I, when you have a "common good" that others don't see as COMMON or GOOD, and you use the government to force that "COMMON GOOD" upon others, that is called OPPRESSION. And that is against our right to Liberty AND Property.

When your computer is infiltrated by a virus, you "reboot" to go back to a restore point before the virus. We have had over 100 years of progressive ideology transform our Constitutional Republic and Government. I used the issue of health care as an example about the fundamental philosophical differences between those that want to protect our Natural Laws, and those that impose tyranny on those that don't agree with the mandated "common good". Similar to our founding fathers, we are starting with corner protests, but our ideology of liberty will grow and prevail, because it is human nature to be free. Our movement is to re-connect people with the concept of individual liberty and personal responsibility. We all should strive to make a difference, but you don't petition your government to do so, you get off your computer and volunteer, form a charity, coach, mentor, start a business, mow your neighbors lawn, read to a child, make a difference in others' lives. It is not the Governments responsibility to take care of us (nor is it allowed by the constitution). It is our individual responsibility to take care of ourselves and others. So again, I say, we must REBOOT our Government and return our country to a Constitutional Republic that valued and protected EVERYONES individual liberties.

Recess Rally Aug 22, 2009 at 12pm

2009-08-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hope to see everyone in front of Bill Fosters office on Saturday. Even if you are not in his district but want to help organize 9.12 to be a huge success, please stop on by.

Response to the Comments Made to My Letter to the Editor

2009-08-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

I am choosing not to defend my letter on the Sauk Valley site, because I get tired of getting into a ideological battle with kool aid drinkers. However, because of the pseudo intellectual disinformation, I felt compelled to retort here for those with an open mind and ability to think for themselves.

Socialists attempt to redefine their own views as not being socialist, because they know that term connected to their ideology will be their defeat by the individualism of America. Mussolini did the same thing by calling his brand of socialism, fascism. It is dishonesty or ignorance to define "means of production" as being only goods and not services. Economics 101 here. Means of Production is the means that are used to produce goods and services, including the social relations between workers, technology, and other resources. Miss guided definitions come from two possible reasons. 1) Ignorance or 2) Fraud. My guess it is fraud to justify socialism for only social service. Their attempt at fraud however, does not hold up to logic. If the Federal Government should be in charge of insurance and health care because they are services, then they have every right to control the airlines, investment banking, travel agencies, window washers, marriage councilors, UNIONS and little league baseball.

The federal government was given the power by the people to help organize the infrastructure of the country to insure the free trade of goods between the states and to protect our borders from foreign powers. So even a child would understand the need for a post office and military in colonial America. How that extends to social services is absolutely mind numbing.

Wikipedia pseudo intellectuals are dangerous with their erratic dot connecting. Article 1 section 8, clause 18 is quoted as support for greater government powers along with references to Madison and Hamilton. Key line in Article 1 section 8, clause 18, "vested by this constitution". The race baiters always leave that line out. The Federalists, believed that the government would not grow out of control with this article, because it was limited by the constitution. Alexander Hamilton did argue for more flexibility in federal powers. But he was alone and by historical accounts a fervent nationalist. Unlike what was stated in the response to my letter, his fellow federalist James Madison, the guy who authored the line in the Constitution, disagreed with Hamilton and believed those powers were regulated to those only enumerated in the constitution. Madison was fanatical about checks and balances on the federal government and protection of individual rights from the tyranny of the majority.

The anti-federalists realized the General Welfare clause left enough vagueness and wiggle room to have the potential for corrupt men to create a powerful central government. The comment that the anti-federalists lost the debate again shows the ignorance of history. If it was not for the anti-federalists, we would not have had a Bill of Rights in our Constitution. Despite this victory, the anti-federalists nightmare and what was beyond the imagination of federalists like Jame Madison has happened. The progressives made the leaps from Post Office and Armed Forces, to social security, to the great society, and now socialized medicine. Thomas Jefferson warned against this when he said, "Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."

It was silly to loosely connect today's tea partiers with the Anti-Federalists of Colonial America. As much respect and admiration I have for the Anti-Federalists, I nor anyone I know wants to reduce the Federal Government to equal or less power than the States as with the Confederation of States. We simply want the federal government to return to the power and size enumerated by the Constitution.

It is also laughable to think socialists try to equate themselves with the Federalists. Madison, if here today, would be viewed as a libertarian. As far as Hamilton, he did not believe in Democracy, yet these Democracy lovers seem to quote him every chance they get.

The fundamental flaw with the Wackos are their lack of understanding of the natural laws and the respect for individual life, liberty and property. To state the government has the right to pass universal health care or any program for that matter that imposes on the natural laws and rights of ANY of its Citizens is not only wrong, its unconstitutional and immoral.

The ultimate form of bigotry is to be prejudice against the individual. Since these progressives appear to not have any value for individual liberty, they are worst form of bigot.

God forgive the ignorant and bless those that fight for their Liberty.

Eureka! A Better Health Care System

2009-08-13T04:49:00.001-07:00

The federal government has no power based on our Constitution to redistribute wealth and provide health care for some while taking property from others. Nor do they have the power to take from all and allocate health care out as they deem fit. Both of which are part of the current proposal.

I propose an alternative that is much more in line with what our founding Fathers could support AND smarter relative to the current Health Care plan.

What the federal government can do. 1) insure free interstate commerce and 2) protect against Fraud

What follows is 4 simple steps to improve the system we have today.

1) Health care insurance must be borderless within the US. No restrictions on offering insurance across State Lines. That does not exist today. In fact, government regulations not only forbids it, but create extra costs through a bureaucratic nightmare of paper work for the insurance companies. Any insurance company can offer a plan, in any state to any person.

2) Protect against fraud by making health insurance a 1 page, no foot noted document. Language simplification and definition are key to protecting against fraud. This is similar to what is already done in auto insurance. Universal definition such as the meaning of WHOLE, PREVENTATIVE, CATASTROPHIC, etc are exactly the same in coverage no matter who is covered or where. Along this an alla cart system would be developed with standard definition of coverage whereas people could pick and choose coverage depending upon their specific need without confusion. Finally, payment simplification must be created. Standardization is the key and it protects from Fraud. Most of the complication has not come from insurance companies but rather differing state and federal laws.

3) Eliminate Medicare and Medicaid as we know them today. The overwhelming cost of these programs are crippling our government. Making everyone take some level of individual responsibility for their health puts the power back with the individual and increase its importance relative to sneekers or car payments. This idea will bring out the fear and racist mongers who would say that the poor can not afford insurance. That is bull dung. Flooding the market with another 30 million Americans shopping for health insurance would lower everyones premiums and the most poor could afford an appropriate level of coverage, especially if the number of insurance companies competing for that business explodes. The second fear tactic would be about those with pre-existing conditions. This would be addressed with one semi intrusive government program. Incentivize insurance companies to accept pre-existing conditions with tax breaks for having a certain percentage of those policies accepted each year. Also, you incentivize Hospitals with similar tax breaks with their expenditures on under insured patients. Finally, the last scare tactic is concerning the elderly, where most of the expenses in the system takes place. This would be addressed as above, but would add one extra safety net similar to what we do with unemployment. If a person over the age of 70 has a difficult time finding appropriate coverage for health care/drug insurance AND they can show a need based on fixed income, there could be an option where a supplemental social security payment goes directly to an insurance provider. I could make a hundred arguments how the free market would address all the fear mongering, but we are so far away from a free market, I think compromise is necessary to ease all the fear mongering. Eliminating the medicaid/medicare bureaucracy would hugely reduce the cost of health care.

4) Protecting American citizens from Bureaucracy and Pre-existing conditions with multi-year term medical policies with second opinion appeals on denied care. Opening up insurance policies to be multi-year similar to Term Life Policies protects consumers from changing health conditions. Addomg a second opinion appeal puts medical care in the hands of the patient and doctors. If a patient finds 2 non-related physicians to independently recommend the same course of treatment, insurance denials are reversed. It is the insurance companies responsibility to understand medicine, not the doctors job to understand insurance bureaucracy. The fundamental problem with our current health system is government intrusion and insurance company favoring legislation. Creating more of a free market system, puts the pressure back on the business to adjust to the market, not the other way around as it is today.

These 4 simple steps would improve health care for all. Sound too simple? Why not try this first, before moving towards socialized medicine?

Congratulations the Tea Party is Growing

2009-08-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can not believe the numbers. We have had 64 visits yesterday to our little web site and over 230 visits in 1 week. With hits from 16 states, we are stirring interest in the movement and hopefully that turns into big numbers at our rallies. The one oddity is we have only had 1 hit from Rock Falls. Does anyone know someone in Rock Falls that can start spreading the word?

On a serious note, we need someone to help organize the Recess Rally at Fosters office. I have asked a few people and have yet to get a response. I live in Don Manzullos district and am not as connected with those people in Fosters District. Can someone contact me to take on that task. I will help with postings.

We should use the Foster Rally as a meet up spot for everyone in our Party so we can get to know each other afterwards at a restaurant around the corner. I am not sure what is open on a Saturday afternoon, but hopefully one of them with enough seating will and we can share a cup of Jo and some strategy for our Big 9/12 Rally.

Thanks again to everyone that is helping spread the word and contributing to the Forum. God Bless - Steven Yde

Tea Party Reading List

2009-08-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Education is the best way to fight tyranny and help our future generations have a shot at fighting the rhetoric of populist oppression.

I have compiled a must read list that I believe should be part of the required reading in our high schools to give our children a head start on the brain washing that goes on in our Marxist universities and media.

Although there are hundreds of great books, I have boiled it down to just a few as a rudimentary to a solid philosophical foundation.

Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson - this book is a very easy read and lays the foundation of why capitalism is the best form of economics and any intervention by the government creates disparity and actually hurts the economy in the long run.

Ludwig Von Mises Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis - for a bit more depth, Mises takes a deep view on Socialism and its real impact.

Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism - the only contemporary book is a must read. The left HATE this book and disparage it as loosely coincidental, grasping for straws, and the like. Rather, this book is well researched, heavily footnoted, and through direct quotes and historical actions of the progressive, socialist and fascist, shows their similarities.

W. Cleon Skousen's The 5000 Year Leap - this book documents the Founders basic principals that led to our constitution and republican form of government. It teeters on being boring with the lengthy quotations from dozens our our Founding Fathers. However, because of its extensive quotations, it is the most convincing book every written documenting directly our founders thoughts on an expansive and intrusive government.

Thomas Paine's Common Sense - Go back the beginning. Paines book is what helped turn the public's opinion on theWar for Independence. The first paragraph says it all. Government at best is a necessary evil.

Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America - Having a foreigner come to America when we were still a republic is a wonderful expose on the uniqueness of the American system. Despite the name, the purpose of the book is to show how America at least at that time, had not fallen into a mob rule democracy like so many European countries had, which in turn led to the rise of Socialism and Fascism in the 20th century.

There are many other great books, but this mix of publications is a great start to get the basics of economics and the intent of our Founding Fathers to make a uniquely successful republic.

Letter to the Editor Advertising our Tea Party

2009-08-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

This was submitted last night to the local paper in hopes it is published to help build awareness of our tea party.

Do you know what the Natural Laws are? It is what the Founding Fathers articulated in our Declaration of Independence and used as the measuring stick for each Amendment in our Constitution. Our Founding Fathers called them God given and unalienable. These Natural Laws are our individuals right to Life, Liberty and Property. So when our government is spending beyond our means and forcing things upon us that violate our liberty or takes our property, it is acting immorally. We are a patient and trusting people, so when that voice inside us tells us something is seriously wrong with our Government, we need to act. That is why busy working people who have never protested before find themselves joining together to let their voices be heard. We developed the Sauk Valley Tea Party, a grass roots movement to help re-boot our local, state and federal governments to align them with our Founders Principals. If you are tired of the rhetoric of politics, if you oppose Government options to Health Care, if you believe Government is the problem and not the solution, if you agree with Thomas Paine that Government at best, is a necessary evil that must be contained, you are not alone and should join us on Sept 12, 2009 to let your voice be heard. Please visit our website at www.saukvalleyteaparty.com to find out our non-party based platform, join us, or just vent.

Amendment 10 of our constitution states The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. We the People need to exercise our rights and Re-boot this Government to not work for us, but rather stick to those things enumerated in the constitution. This is not about the issues, but the megalomania and avarice in politics and the fundamental philosophical change by a minority that could destroy our America.

Sauk Valley Tea Party Values

2009-08-02T00:46:00.001-07:00

On 9-12 we again will meet to show our unity in opposing oppression and an out of control federal government. At this venue, besides demonstrating our displeasure with the current regime in Washington and Springfield, we will start to structure our organization to better address our grievances. Part of this will be to adopt with consensus our core state values and platform. This blog offers a preliminary draft of our core values to be documented and put on our website.

Sauk Valley Tea Party Values
1) RETURN OF OUR RIGHTS. We believe that all Government Actions must adhere to our Constitutions Bill of Rights. Not through some court process, but through the common sense of the people. The Government is to not tell the people their rights, but rather, we the people shall inform the Government of its limitations. We have a right to religious expression, both public and private, to speech, to assemble, of the press including the Internet, to own a gun, to due process, and from the government forcing anything upon us that is not based in the constitution as spelled out in the 10th amendment. The Bill of Rights is not a living breathing document, but an eternal truth that represents the detailing of the 3 God given Natural Laws - the Rights to Life, Liberty and Property. The Governments sole purpose is to protect the rights of the individual even to the detriment of the common good, but not to the detriment of another's individual rights.
* Life - all human life is precious and must be protected from the harm of others
* Liberty - no citizen shall be denied freedom that does not impose upon the life, liberty or property of others.
* Property - the government has no authority over any justly acquired property of its citizens unless that property unduly infringes upon the rights of others.

2) LIMIT THE SIZE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. The Federal Government has overstepped its constitutional rights by performing duties not outlined in our constitution. We the people will act within our rights to return our Federal Government to its rightful role and size. The federal government only needs to be large enough to protect the borders of our country and insure the ease of interstate commerce. Looking at the $3.5 Trillion 2010 budget, just under $1Trillion is dedicated to our framers original intent. Unfortunately, these unfunded mandates are impossible to reverse in the short term. Therefore, to stave off further encroachments and help reverse the tide we support an amendment to our constitution that limits the size of our federal government to 15% of GDP. Our federal government has averaged around 20% for the past several decades, so 15% is a reasonable and attainable goal (equal to about a $2 Trillion Budget for 2010). This type of spending restriction is better than a balanced budget amendment, because it limits the size of the federal government and its power rather than motivating the government to spend more by taxing more.

3) ELIMINATE PERSONAL INCOME TAX. Taxation - the tax code is fundamentally against our own constitution. We must repeal the 16th amendment and return our federal governments size to enable it to run as our founding fathers intended through minimal tariffs on imported goods. The tariffs should not be done in a punitive manner, but rather recognizing the framers intentions of raising money by penalizing those things that limit domestic production rather penalizing domestic production. With only $2.5 trillion in imports and income tax revenue of $1 trillion it appears difficult to fill the gap. However, if we are mandating a Federal budget to 15% of GDP that reduces the federal budget by $1.5 and the current federal receipts, less income tax is $1.3 trillion, therefore only $200 billion must make up the difference. Our recommendation is to eliminate the income tax and have a 10% tariff on all imports.

4) AUDIT THE FEDERAL RESERVE. The Federal Reserve likewise is fundamentally against the constitution. Our goal is to eliminate the secrecy of our monetary system and re-create a free market system to our monetary system so all may see who coins the money and how it is disseminated into our economy. We support HR1207 which Audits the Federal Reserve.

5) TERM LIMITS. The fastest way to eliminate corruption is to remove life time political offices. We support a constitutional amendment to limit all elected federal officials to just 2 consecutive terms.

6) ELIMINATE INSTITUTIONALIZED LOBBYING. Our constitution allows for individuals to address grievances with the government, not institutions. We recommend an amendment to our constitution that limits all lobbying of elected officials to just 1 local representative and the 2 senators. It would also stipulate that no lobbying may be done outside the elected officials local office. No organization or its affiliates no matter how loosely connected can lobby across state lines. Finally, the amendment would eliminate any and all campaign contributions from anything, but individual citizens. This amendment would also contain a provision that no elected official can be employed as a lobbyist for 4 years after they leave office.

7) ILLEGALIZE EARMARKS AND BACK DOOR RESOLUTIONS. No amendments to any bills passed by congress can have added to them unrelated funding, laws or procedures. Bills must be clean and deal with only the primary topic. They must be read allowed in congress and on C-Span to police this policy and insure simple, uncomplicated bills that have tyranny buried in them.

8) WE SUPPORT CAPITALISM. There is no 3rd way and no middle ground in economics. Intervention leads to oppression and long term economic consequences. The role of governments are to only protect our fundamental liberties against fraud and force. Our federal government has intervened heavily into our economy and giving favoritism to those more politically connected. Capitalism did not cause our economic melt down, but rather government intervention and manipulation of our monetary system by the federal reserve.

To Summarize We the Sauk Valley Tea Party believe in
Limiting the Federal Spending to 15% of GDP
Illegalize Earmarks
Ban Institutional Lobbying
Enact HR1207 to Audit the Federal Reserve
Repeal the 16th Amendment
Term Limits of 2 Consecutive
Yes to Capitalism

In other words we demand LIBERTY.

The 2 K(C)arls

2009-07-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Most people have heard of Karl Marx. Most do not realize Marx had 2 visions for his economic philosophies, one early on in his life, and another towards the end of his life. Most know beyond the nuances, however, that he believed in a centrally planned economic system that forced equality of economic condition across a people, played out as Marxism, Communism, Socialism, and Fascism. Regardless of the form of ism that Karl can be noted for, all have turned out to create oppression of some kind and led to the greatest slaughter of man in the history of the world.

The other Carl, I bet, would not be known, if you asked a thousand random people. A few may recognizing the name, but confuse him with his son who was an important mathematician. I am referring to Carl Menger. His ideas led to the idea of marginal utility, developed a system of value and price based on reality, and created what is known today as the Austrian School of Economics. This school is the most fervent advocate of capitalism in economic thought.

Even though their lives overlapped not more than a few hundred miles from each other, their outlooks on economic theory, human philosophy and the way to a better world could not have been further apart. While Marx espoused the idea of centralized forced equity, Menger believed a free market was the most fundamentally fair and virtuous system of economics.

An unusual difference between Marxism and the Austrian School of Economics is in epistemology. Epistemology is the idea that there are basic truths in economics and it is more important to 'know that' than 'know how'. At first one would assume, Marxism is the epistemology, however that would be inaccurate. Although there is a dogma to Marxism, it focuses on the incessant need to change the natural order to create their utopia. However, this is precisely what gets the philosophy in trouble. Breaking down natural social order and overlaying an unnatural institution to force equity ends in tyranny. No one argues that there is a need to know how, but that should be reserved for the non-social sciences where experimentation does not lead to mass murder. The Austrian School believes there are some universal truths to a society and to "know that", man can focus on the tools that bring about the greatest social value.

The fundamental difference between the left and right today is this epistemology. The left want to "dial the knobs" and are hell bent on finding a solution to mans suffering and continually create crisis to force social equity and move towards their elusive utopia. The right believes once you start forcing anything outside the 3 Natural Laws, societal benefits break down and oppression follows. In other words, "knowing how" to create a better society has given us Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot and the French Revolution. The "knowing what" gave us Jefferson, Washington, Paine and the American Revolution.

Despite the media elites, universities, and some in our governments love affair with interventionist economics, and the knowing how, Carl Menger gave us the knowing what. We need to go back and learn as much as we can about the realities of economics and human nature to do a better job to promote those economic thoughts that brings about a better world - that of capitalism. And we should thank people like Carl Menger, Ayn Rand, Ludvig Von Mises, Murray Rothbard, among many others as great defenders of liberty and laissez-faire government as the greatest opportunity for man to thrive.

Institutions vs Individuals

2009-07-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

The best example of how large institutions cannot produce a "common good" without oppression is the inability for the worlds largest Church to achieve consensus among its parishioners on the most fundamental issue of abortion, let alone stop the murder of innocent life. Our Vice President, Speaker of the House, and Illinois Senator claim to be Catholic yet support the killing of innocent life which is clearly against their claimed Faith. The Church is in a conundrum, they want to be the driving force for positive change, but can not be oppressive towards those affiliated or opposed to them, or they are becoming the very thing they are trying to stop. Individual responsibility, compassion, love and faith is what has been the engine for positive progress in this world. The apostles went out 2 by 2, not all together. Jesus turned to Peter and said to him upon this rock, not to all of them collectively. As a Catholic, the self sacrifice of the saints and martyrs are those things honored in our traditions. Man institutionalizes in the beginning for all the right reasons. They begin with consensus for the purpose of progress and recognize the power of institutionalizing to bring about positive change quickly. However with the power of institutionalizing comes corruption and oppression. Once consensus breaks down within an institution, factions of consensus grab power to put forth their agenda to the detriment of the rest. In other words, institutions can not be successful long term without consensus because they lose the power of the institution. Therefore, institutions that want to continue to have influence result to oppression of others to move the factions agenda forward.

Society is different from an institution and a wonderful gift from God. It is a natural collection of individuals interacting, competing, working together, influencing, educating, loving and sharing. Institutions are not natural. Once a formalized structure is created it designates an unnatural pecking order, natural societal relationships break down and all the negatives associated with centralized power begin. The path to a more compassionate, charitable, loving world is decentralization, not centralized institutions. In a decentralized world, if a person feels oppression within their local affiliations, they have the ability to look not too far to find an affiliation with whom, they have consensus. In a centralized world, those oppressed have no place to go.

With individual liberty comes the responsibility to think and act. Relying on large institutions creates intellectual laziness, a herd mentality and always leads to powerless bureaucracies or oppression. Institutions are not the driving force of long term positive change in this world, rather the oppression of man. Therefore, it is important to recognize that we must focus on those things where consensus can be reached and fight against those things that create oppression. Our founding fathers knew this oh so well. George Washington could have been President for life, but he stepped aside knowing even the best intentions lead to problems down the road. The Tea Party Movement is not one looking to grab power, but rather decentralize power for the purpose of limiting oppression and instilling the liberties our country once knew.

The Philosophy of Liberty

2009-07-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful representation of how we need to start with the basics and throw out the layers of "good intentions" in this world. The only fight worth fighting is to fight for 3 fundamental human rights - protection of all life, liberty (freedom from oppression), and property.

No Such Thing as Left and Right

2009-07-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

The terms left and right have their origins in the French Revolution. The left were the social collectivist revolutionaries that ended the Revolution with a Reign of Terror and ultimately the formation of a Dictatorship. The right were the ones that favored a constitutional monarchy and individual rights. Many of those on the right eventually lost their heads in the guillotine to the left. These terms have morphed over the years to mean liberal (social collectivists or progressives) on the left and conservative (traditionalists or individualists) on the right. Regardless of the nuances of definition, the idea of a continuum from left to right does not paint a complete picture of competing philosophies. A more accurate portrayal of how philosophy intersects with government style work better on a two dimension XY axis chart. The X axis is the difference between respect for the individual vs the desire for social conformity. Regardless if the social conformity is racist, classist, religious or nationalist it always has the same effect, benefit to some, oppression for others. Not to say there is not danger on the opposite extreme where respect for the individual taken to the extreme can lead to an anything goes situation unless there is consensus among individuals as to what "rules" apply to all. Therefore, you can not have a good understanding of left and right unless you input the idea of centralized vs decentralized authority on the y axis. The reason is, whatever a persons ideology is of utopia, there either needs to be consensus or forced consensus to move towards the ideology. The authority moves from decentralized to centralized. An example of the continuum is the individual, family, extended family, neighborhood, church, community group, the town, the township, the county, the state, confederation of states, country, confederation of countries, world. I have noted some examples of various groups, presidents and philosophies to give and understanding of the axis. Note that Fascism is not the same as Communism. There are different nuances to the 2 philosophies, but the outcomes are similar - centralized authority which creates oppression to a group or groups of people. Not everyone will agree on each President's place along the axis, but it is good thought provoking exercise. I challenge people to read history on the reign of Woodrow Wilson and his personal philosophy and contrast that to someone like Mussolini. The similarities are eerie.

Looking beyond left and right it is very important, because of the consequences to those philosophies. Centralized most often move with left philosophies and right philosophies to remain pure must stay within decentralized governments.

The United States was originally founded as a confederation of states, but was too decentralized to insure protecting the liberties of those within and between the states. The US Constitution was the answer to balancing between individual liberties, states rights and a uniquely American Country culture. Unfortunately, our country has moved right to left and from top to bottom throughout the years to a point there are some very real similarities between our current political system and a classic fascist government.

Say No to Common Good

2009-07-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

"Common Good" is at best a Noble Lie at worst a prevarication. What is good for one, is rarely good for all. "Common Good" is a man made tool to control behavior, make people sacrifice something or take something away from them. Unlike "Common Good", Universal Good is a Divine Truth with 3 principals - the protection of life, liberty and property of each individual human. Also known as the Natural Laws of Man and the basis for our Declaration of Independence.

The "Common Good" tool is used to sacrifice all or part of a Universal Good. Entitlements, progressive taxation, "sin taxes", the draft, Obama's volunteer bill, price fixing, stimulus packages, universal health care, are just a few examples of legislation under the guises of "Common Good".

The Hippocratic oath says "do no harm". This oath taken by physicians, obviously does not apply to politicians. "Common Good" legislation always ends up hurting someone, sometimes the very people it was intended to help. Once governments trys to protect anything outside the Universal Good, they become oppressive. "Common Good" is politicians way to excuse themselves from responsibility for their actions as they manipulate people into sacrifice, service or obligation. "Common Good" is code for "I am about to infringe upon your life, liberty or property, for my personal idea of Utopia".

Rather than sacrificing for the "Common Good", I am asking you to fight for the Universal Good of the protection of Life, Liberty and Property. As Edmond Burke said, all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Sterling News - Topix

2009-07-09T15:50:00.001-07:00

Sterling News - Topix

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Greed vs Avarice

2009-07-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

The term greed is used ad nauseam by populist politicians and others wanting to denigrate the idea of mans natural desire to better themselves. Where it becomes a negative is only when it comes at the detriment of others. That word is not greed but avarice.

Avarice means covetousness. In other words accumulating wealth through control, manipulation, fraud and force of others. It is not the desire for more that is the problem, it is the desire for more to the detriment of others that is the sin.

Capitalism is based on the desire for more, but has nothing to do with avarice. Capitalists know avarice is damaging in the long run to the capitalist system and is seldom practiced. For this reason, institutional avarice seldom occurs in the private sector for very long. However, avarice rears its ugly head in the Public sector constantly.

Let me be clear. There are crooks and flawed people that allow money to control them to the point of harming others rights or property. But in the private sector, this is the exception, not the rule in a free society. The only place where avarice is allowed to flourish unfettered is in the Government. To better understand that point, look at all the legislation that penalizes success, redistribution of wealth with the progressive tax code, all the entitlements for only certain people of a ethnic, racial, economic, and even sometimes political standing. Note the report that came out today that counties that voted for the Democrat candidate for President in the last election are averaging double the stimulus money per person as those states that voted for the Republican candidate. Conspiracy - no, ideological favoritism and avarice - yes.

Avarice appears to be a corner stone of certain economic philosophies. Socialism uses class warfare, Fascism uses ethnic or labor divisiveness, Keynesian's use the "we know better" for the "better good" position. All display avarice. When the individual is dehumanized into the collective, avarice runs a muck. Avarice is that utopia where man gets to play a god and determine who gets what.

The next time someone says you are greedy, ask them, if they know the difference between greed and avarice.

The Issues

2009-07-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

The list of people joining is growing. I have received emails from several people addressing several issues. I encourage people to talk about them in the Forum. Expressing your views is what makes this country great. We may not always agree with each other on some topics, but I think there are some issues where we have unanimity. This blog will address those issues.

Government spending - I don't think anyone would dispute that our federal government has acted irresponsible with our money. As Government spending surpasses 40% of our nations entire GDP, total debt moves towards $100 trillion, and bills are being approved without ever being read, we have reached a tipping point. Redistribution of wealth and the cradle to grave entitlements are crushing what our founding Fathers remarked as the "great experiment in liberty". We need to reverse course. Let's stop arguing over specific bills and instead shift the debate to State vs Federal Government powers. Our response needs to be, let the States decide. By taking power from the hands of the Federal Government and putting it on the States, the power moves closer to the will of the people and the natural result will be the failing of those states making poor choices - alla California and the success of those States making good decisions. Rather than Red State vs Blue State, it will be to success goes the spoils. That may sound heartless to some, but how is that any worse than, we all go down together. You don't have to force everyone to touch a hot burner to get them to understand it is hot. In the same vein, we don't need to have the entire country adopt policies when we can learn from the individual states that implement them first. If we can reduce the power of the Federal Government and turn the system back into a States Rights debate I believe many of our other goals will fall into place. The following platform will return our country to the Constitutional Republic it once was.

The Sauk Valley Tea Party Platform

1) Petition for an amendment to the Constitution that limits Government Spending to %15 of GDP. An amendment on spending would do far more than a balanced budget amendment in that it puts a clear cap on spending and thus the power of the federal government. 15% is plenty of funding for those things called upon in our constitution as the responsibility of the federal government.

2) Repeal the 16th Amendment. Income taxes are not only unfair, but unwise. Penalizing success never works. You don't punish your child for improving his/her grades. Prior to the 16th Amendment, our country acquired its revenue through tariffs. What better way to raise revenue than to penalize those things that stifle domestic production. "Free traders" will tell me that this would create a trade war and harm our exports, but don't believe their propaganda. Does anyone really believe free trade exists? We import billions from China, yet their manufacturers do not have the same restrictions or circumstances as US manufacturers - how is that free? Imposing higher duties on imports may hurt our exports in the short run, but the increase in domestic production would far outweigh any negative impact in the long run. The tariffs are not punitive, they only need to be high enough to fund a much leaner Federal Government.

3) Term limits across the board. Our Founding Fathers believed men should serve their government at their leisure. We have made serving in government a career rather than a sacrifice. We are creating a ruling class or bourgeoisie, the very thing we fought against in our Revolution. Look at all the second, third and now fourth generation of politicians in Washington. 2 consecutive term limits across every position would insure our government is not locked into a culture of corruption. No person is irreplaceable.

4) Illegalize Earmarks - No representative can put in any local spending amendments that are not relevant to the bill. Local expenditures must remain local. Voting on whether a city airport needs expansion should have nothing to do with a national defense program. If an airport is crucial to a military installation it should be made clear in the bill with detailed justification.

5) Ban Institutionalized Lobbying - we live in a free society where every individual is important. The game has been set up in Washington in a way that you have to Pay to Play. That is immoral. If a trade organization is interested in having influence on passing legislation they should have the same recourse as the average citizen - call, write or meet your LOCAL representative at his local office. In other words, an industry lobbyists would only be allowed to meet with the congressman and state senators from their HQ's district - period. It does not matter they have factories in multiple states - 1 congressman, 2 senators per group - period.

6) Enact HR1207 to Audit the Federal Reserve. The Fed Reserve can not be allowed to act in its best interest when it is not in the interest of the American People. Transparency can only happen if the books are opened.

We ask you to get involved and help us build a coalition of rugged individuals.

My First Tea Party

2009-07-04T16:49:00.001-07:00

I want to thank everyone who braved the rain today to come out and let your voices be heard and signs seen. Despite the inclement weather, it was comforting to see people sharing the same passions as my family. We are not the "demonstrating" type. We are working people who would frankly rather be celebrating the 4th as we have in years past with friends and family. However, my eyes have been widening since 9-11 and today I feel no longer able to "trust" the system. As an independent thinker with a thirst for history, it has become clear, that our country has veered so far off course, that I can no longer be part of the silent majority.

The time for action is now. The platform is simple - reduce the size and power of the federal government by over half, bring true transparency to our monetary & taxation system, end the megalomania of the career politicians with term limits, reverse the special interest patronage, and develop a grass roots network of independent, constitutionally inspired, God-loving citizens.

My purpose is clear. I want to help educate anyone who will listen about our Constitution, economics, and our history in hopes they will join me in standing up for the American Way.

I invite anyone to write for this blog to share our wealth of opinions and knowledge. Simply email me and indicate you would like to contribute and I will add you to the editors list.

God bless you and our great country.