‘My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world.
I hope you’ll join with me as we try to change it.‘ — Barack Obama
The Tea Party protests, in their current form, began in early 2009 after Rick Santelli, the On Air Editor for CNBC, set out on a rant to expose the bankrupt liberal agenda of the White House Administration and Congress. Specifically, the flawed “Stimulus Bill” and irresponsible pork filled spending.
During Rick’s rant, he called for a “Chicago Tea Party” where advocates of the free-market system could join in a protest against out of control government spending. A few days later, grassroots activists and average Joe Americans began organizing what would soon become the Nationwide Chicago Tea Party effort.
On February 27th, an estimated 30,000 Americans took to the street in 40+ cities accross the country in the first nationwide “Tea Party” protest. Organizers of the February 27th events pledged to continue on with an even bigger and better protest to follow the first. With April 15th being “Tax Day”, it was decided to schedule the second round of Tea Party protests to ride alongside the tax deadline.
An element of the Tea Party Movement that beltway insiders get red faced even nasty about is its self driven, true grassroots foundation. The Movement cannot be controlled, driven, directed, or even calculated. It’s an animal unlike any other in politics, and the typical players of the free-market movement haven’t grasped the nature of the activism behind it. Most Politicians and Liberal Biased Media mouth pieces have claimed the movement has no relevancy and tries to poke fun of the US Citizens. The Strength of America “We The People” is just getting started. And in 2010… Will begin to take back the country from the progressive infiltration. Currently these So Called Marxist Experts believe that the Tea Party is Doomed because their is no clear “Leader of the Tea Party Movement” They have forgotten the most important part of the Grassroots movement “We The People” The Tea Party is not a “Party” at all, it is the American Citizens taking back the reckless out of control government run by the Progressive Democrat community organizers.
9 Principles, 12 Values
The 9-12 Principles
1. America Is Good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson
The Tea Party 12 Values “From Glen Beck’s 9-12 Project”
The Associated Press reports: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says he’s not running for re-election after decades in office. Daley said Tuesday he’s been thinking about not running for several months and has become comfortable with his decision over the last several weeks. Daley says “it just feels right.” Daley says the time to move on “is now.” The 68-year-old Democrat has been Chicago’s mayor since 1989. [Link] [Cache]
On September 12, 2009, grassroots activists from coast to coast flooded the streets of Washington D.C., making history in protest of a wasteful and oversized government. This year, FreedomWorks and our fiscally conservative allies will assemble once again on September 12th to renew our commitment to a constitutionally limited government, and to remind Washington in one, strong, united voice that we will “Remember in November.” We’re happy to announce that we will be welcoming Andrew Brietbart to the stage on the West Lawn of the Capitol as part of this year’s event. Andrew will be joining Erick Erickson, Deneen Borelli, ... [Link] [Cache]
Even Politico is sensing the coming wave. From the tireless Mike Allen: With just two months to go before the November elections, pollsters and political scientists are predicting a blow-out loss for Democrats that could rival the Republican Revolution of 1994. In a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, most-likely voters say — by a 9-point margin — that they want the midterms to produce a Congress controlled by Republicans, not Democrats. “If that kind of lead holds, Republicans would almost certainly take back control of the House,” the Journal’s Gerald F. Seib writes. A new ABC/Washington Post poll gives Republican ... [Link] [Cache]
From Rasmussen Reports: A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% of Likely Voters would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate, while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. The survey data was collected on the seven days ending Sunday, September 5, 2010. This matches the largest advantage ever measured for the Republicans. Three weeks ago, the GOP also held a 12-point lead. Still, while the margin has varied somewhat from week-to-week, Republicans have been consistently ahead in the Generic Ballot for over a year. During 2010, the GOP edge has never fallen below five ... [Link] [Cache]
Sen. Barbara Boxer D-Calif. , Chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, has paid some $30,000 since 2004 for the endorsement of embattled Rep. Maxine Waters D-Calif. in the context of a scheme that critics charge is unethical and amounts to Waters using her political station to benefit her family members. According to the Washington Times, Waters “has turned political endorsements into a family business, using federal election laws to charge California candidates and political causes to include their names as her personal picks on a sample ballot, or ‘slate mailer,’ she sends to as many as 200,000 South Central Los ... [Link] [Cache]
President Obama’s imminent proposal to allow businesses to expense capital equipment purchases through the end of next year is something my colleagues at CEI, particularly Marlo Lewis, have been advocating for some time. Not as “stimulus”, mind you though it should have some stimulative effect, which is not to condone the refusal to maintain current tax rates — that is, insistence on raising tax rates — as of January 1 . But as a greenhouse gas emission reduction scheme. The logic is simple and the Dutch actually showed again, accidentally how this works to reduce emissions: business do not replace ... [Link] [Cache]
On the surface you would think there is nothing in common between Las Vegas and Washington DC, other than sharing a Nation where The Jersey Shore is a top rated TV show. One city was built on the profits of lawlessness, the other from the profits of law. But the recently proposed $50 Billion dollar stimulus plan suggests they are more similar than Kardashian sisters. Las Vegas has always astounded me. While I understand the allure of the big shows, bright lights, and wandering Elvis impersonators; I don’t understand the people who actually believe they’ll return from a Vegas vacation ... [Link] [Cache]
When America gave up its position as the producer-in-chief and became the consumer-in-chief, “essential skilled workers” became dirty words in our lexicon. The cultural shift is fast producing an “industrial tsunami” that threatens our economy and way of life. Ironically enough, we’re facing a crisis shortage of skilled workers at a time of dramatically high unemployment. We must re-connect this disconnect or face the consequences. America works when Americans are working. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 25 percent of the working population will reach retirement age by 2012, resulting in a potential shortage of nearly ... [Link] [Cache]
With the setting of the sun this Wednesday night, Jews across the world will begin the observance of the Yomim Noraim Days of Awe , a ten day period book-ended by the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This year’s High Holiday period comes at an interesting time for America as the first night of Rosh Hashanah comes a mere fifty-four days before the United States goes to the polls to between two radically different directions, one which emphasizes personal responsibility, the other emphasizes a reliance on government. Only one of those directions is compatible with the ... [Link] [Cache]
When Congress created Labor Day in the late 1800s, it was to placate an increasingly hostile labor movement. At a time when American workers needed protection from heavy-handed industrial bosses, labor unions made sense. But with the growing effort by Big Labor to unionize public employees, it’s left its mission of worker protection from dangerous conditions and now has increasingly become a leech on the taxpayers. Public employees hardly need protection from their employer, the government. If there’s any segment of society that needs protection from the government it’s taxpayers, not their employees. Big Labor’s legacy today is that of ... [Link] [Cache]
If my experience with one U.S. Department of Justice agency is indicative of how the federal government operates in this new era of transparency, then I must conclude that transparency causes “blindness.” Several times during the past 18 months, I’ve contacted people at the National Institute of Justice — the research, development and evaluation arm of the DoJ in Washington, D.C. — with seemingly-innocuous questions about a grant the agency awarded to a state mental health agency in Oklahoma almost five years ago. NIJ’s answers would better equip me to explain to my readers how NIJ works. Unfortunately, it seems ... [Link] [Cache]
Today is Labor Day. We will commemorate it by working. This is the traditional start of the election season and there is much to do between now and November. [Link] [Cache]
Saturday, August 28, 2010, my husband, two daughters, and I attended the Restoring Honor rally in Washington D.C. It was a wonderful experience for us all. The crowd was huge 500,000 + people , very peaceful, and individuals were kind and patient. You might think that the important part of the weekend was the three and a half hours or more that we spent together during the rally. When I was sitting under the bright, hot sun with my friends from Texas, I thought so too. But I was wrong… During the first leg of our trip from D.C. to ... [Link] [Cache]
We are in the midst of a national debate over the size and scope of government and I am hopeful. Conservative Republican Joe Miller’s remarkable victory in the Alaska Republican Senate Primary should have Americans feeling optimistic about the prospects of real change coming to Washington in 2011. Miller’s victory over incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski is just the latest jolt to an establishment that has paved the way for an unsustainable $13.3 trillion national debt and record budget deficits. My PAC, Citizens United Political Victory Fund www.cupvf.org has a goal for the 2009-2010 election cycle to recapture the majorities in ... [Link] [Cache]
You are probably familiar by now with this infamous graph published by the White House in January 2009 highlighting their expectations for the impact of the Recovery Act on the rate of unemployment. Far from leveling off at 8% and then declining, the actual unemployment rate ran up to 10% by the end of 2009 and has declined only slightly since to 9.5%, largely due to a decline in labor force participation. This in spite of the rapid passage of the massive $787 billion stimulus bill in February 2009. Geoff at the Innocent Bystanders blog deserves everlasting credit for being ... [Link] [Cache]
From Business Insider: As everyone should know by now, my main concern with unions is specifically with public unions. While I do not care for unions at all, and never have, at least with private unions, someone other than corrupt politicians buying votes is bargaining at the other end of the table. In the case of public unions, if politicians strike a bad deal, taxpayers foot the bill. In the case of private corporations, if management strikes a bad deal, the company goes bankrupt, shareholders take a hit, or the jobs move elsewhere, as soon as the contract is up. ... [Link] [Cache]
Earlier this week, Big Government reported that the Alaska Libertarian Party, after initial opposition, was open to reversing itself and welcoming Lisa Murkowski has their candidate this November. Now, Alaska Dispatch reports: A new poll has U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski beating Joe Miller by six percent if she runs on the Libertarian ticket. The bigger news? The Alaska Libertarian Party isn’t as opposed to the idea as it sounded a few days ago. The party’s candidate for senator, David Haase, said he would support Murkowski if she agreed to certain Libertarian principals. “If Lisa Murkowski will take up the banner ... [Link] [Cache]
Click to Play Mark Steyn returns. Need we say more? Ok, we will: we cover GZM, Bridget Bardot, Obama’s speech, expectations for this fall, The Dambusters, Michele Rhee, the Beck rally, and we try to get to the bottom of where Mark’s been the past few months. You’ll just have to listen to hear the answer. For links mentioned in this episode, or to comment, complain, or praise, please visit us at Ricochet.com. [Link] [Cache]
From CBS 2 Chicago, not The Onion: At a news conference organized by self-identified gang members Thursday morning, several speakers complained that police and city officials do not respect them, and that the only way to curb violence is to provide jobs and improve their community. The men who spoke out Thursday morning blamed poverty, drugs and a lack of jobs for the problems in the streets. They also said that Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis’ meeting with so-called gang leaders was a waste of time. But when asked what could be done right now to stop the daily barrage ... [Link] [Cache]
Consider the outrage from the left at such a notion. “That’s the thinking that got us into this mess in the first place,” the President and his lock-step liberal legions will rush to remind us. Well, no, it isn’t. The Bush Administration’s general lack of interest in proper regulation, the somnambulistic SEC’s furlough from responsibility during the Bush years and the federal bank examiners refusal to really examine the banks for which they were accountable while a succession of administrations, both Republican and Democrat, committed to the fantasy that credit history didn’t really matter when assessing mortgage risk are not ... [Link] [Cache]
Paris Hilton may be able to shop without looking at price tags, but the State of Illinois doesn’t have that luxury—particularly when it already has $4.7 billion in unpaid bills. Even so, state legislators receive precious little information on how much the laws they’re approving will save or cost taxpayers. A summer 2010 survey by the Illinois Policy Institute found that out of 545 bills pending review by the governor, only 3 percent—or 16 bills—had fiscal notes attached. Fiscal notes are like “price tags” for legislation. They are intended to estimate the costs, savings, revenue gain, or revenue loss resulting ... [Link] [Cache]
