Saturday, May 21, 2011

Turning Local

There are hundreds of local tea party groups all over the country.  Most never get mentioned on the national networks and cable news channels.  Only the big, splashy, well-funded ones do.  The funny thing is that those groups have little to no relationship with the reality on the ground for us little local groups.  So let them make the headlines, let them go to DC and rub elbows, we've got important work to do here at home.

Connecticut is in trouble.  We've got a terrible union "concessions" "deal" that involves guaranteed jobs and pay raises (huh?) and a massive, retroactive, tax hike coming.  In addition to that, we've got a legislature than spends its time debating whether crossdressing men can use a public ladies room, whether marijuana should be legal, whether restaurant owners should be forced to give one hour of sick time for every week of work, and whether we should seal our borders with toll booths.  Tolls, taxes, taboo subjects, toking up, and token sick days. Good grief. Keeping an eye on our legislators is a full time job.

And that's not the only thing we Connecticut tea partiers need to worry about.  The Republican party is a hot mess.  Many of us tried to get a state central committee member spot only to be rebuffed by long time insiders at every turn.  Heck, all some of us wanted to do was to be delegates to the convention to vote for the committee member, and they were blocked from even doing that!  Some made it, some didn't.  Now it moves to the municipal elections.  It will interesting to see how many BOE and Town Council primary fights we have.  I'm guessing more than a few.

Its been a long 2 years, and the next two will be even longer.  I hope my fellow warriors will hold off on those plans to move out of state for just a little bit longer.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Dump DeLauro

Dear Patriots,
Election day is almost upon us.  We are at a critical point in the effort to stop the “fundamental transformation” of our country.  Rosa DeLauro is a progressive leader in Congress, and Nancy Pelosi’s iron hand maiden.  For the first time in 20 years we have a real chance to stop her radical agenda in its tracks.  Jerry Labriola is the Republican nominee challenging DeLauro.  He has been out campaigning, meeting the voters, and I can tell you from first hand experience, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.  
Now, we need help to continue to bring the message to the voters of the 3rd District.  Even if you do not live in the 3rd district, this race has national implications.  Defeating DeLauro will send a shockwave across the country, and will send a clear and unmistakable message to Washington:  Your elitist death grip on our nation is over, We The People are in charge now.  DeLauro is part and parcel of the Washington insider power enclave, and her progressive agenda is wrecking the very principles on which this country was built.
DeLauro snapshot, click the links to see the data:
  1. Voted YES on Obamacare, and prefers a single-payor system
  2. Voted YES on TARP (co-sponsor) and Stimulus
  3. Voted YES on bailouts
  4. Favors tax increases
  5. Sponsored Amnesty legislation in 2007 and 2010
  6. Wants control of the food supply chain
  7. Is one of the most liberal members of Congress
  8. Has close ties to communist leaders
Jerry Labriola’s message is simple. Repeal. Reduce. Reclaim.
  1. He has pledged to defund and repeal Obamacare
  2. He has pledged to fight for and support term limits for Congress
  3. He has called for a full Payroll Tax Holiday
  4. He favors eliminating entire federal agencies and cutting red tape
  5. He supports 2nd Amendment rights; he was endorsed by the Connecticut Citizens Defense League
  6. He supports securing our borders by any and all means, and opposes amnesty in all forms
  7. He opposes any and all federal spending on abortions, supports a ban on partial birth  and late term abortions, supports parental consent for minors, he opposes federal spending on embryonic stem cell destruction
Jerry is running TV ads now, and is the first candidate in 20 years to go up on TV against Delauro.  Click here to see the latest ad “Anything is Possible” an Old Spice parody.
Today we are asking you to help keep these ads up on TV.  Unlike DeLauro, who has the backing of progressive PAC’s and power-hungry unions, Jerry is a grassroots candidate.  His donations come from individuals just like you.  Please click here to donate $25, $50, $100, or even $250 to keep these ads up on TV.  Without YOUR help, the ads will go dark, and the message won’t be heard by the 400,000 registered voters in the 3rd Congressional District.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

August 10th Primaries!

Don't forget to get out and vote in the primaries on August 10th for your candidate of choice!

If you are registered as "unaffiliated" you cannot vote in the primaries.  You MUST register as a republican or democrat to vote in the primary.  The deadline for registering is August 9th at 12noon.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Suspend the Jones Act

All things being equal, it appears the Gulf oil spill actually IS Obama's Katrina, only worse.  Without a discernible smidgeon of ability to actual lead or govern, the Obama Administration has made misstep after misstep in handling BP, stopping the flow of oil (although I'm not ready to throw them under the bus on this one just yet) and clean up.

Its the clean up that concerns us now.  Solutions have been popping up on the news, YouTube, blogs, etc for quite some time now. Booms, hay, hair, sand, Kevin Cosner's thingamajig, oil sucking barges.  Yet somehow none of these things are being done.  Somehow its Dawn dish washing liquid to the rescue of the animals after they are soaked in oil, but take it out of the Gulf before it reaches our shores? Wait! Stop! Do you have flashlights and flotation devices on these boats?  The rank incompetence is stunning, and frankly embarrassing, and sadly dangerous.

Now to the Jones Act, which requires vessels going from one US port to another to be American flagged and have an American crew (with American wages propping up American unions, by the way).  So when 13 or so countries offered to help clean up the oil spill, our stupidity got in the way.  Some of those ships have even done this before with other oil spills!  But no, we can't have the style of the precious unions, who delivered the 2008 election to Obama be cramped in any way, even if it is to save the Gulf.  And lets be honest, if Obama was any kind of national leader, instead of just a hack for the unions, this would have been done in April.  If Obama really gave a damn about this country, its people, its land, its economy, he would be helping Jindal, not golfing.

There are several wonderful conservatives running for office in Connecticut, for both state and federal positions.  Among those is Jerry Labriola, running for Congress against Rosa DeLauro, who yesterday called on President Obama to suspend the Jones Act.  Read his blog post here.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Gadsden Flag Flap

On February 27th, 2010, the tea party movement in Connecticut had its one year anniversary tea party rally in Hartford, at the Capitol.  A strange sight greeted me and fellow member, the Flagman.  It was the flag of an obscure foreign nation, and it was front and center, AND higher than both the Connecticut State flag and the American flag.  So my intrepid buddy the Flagman did a little research, and it turns out, that place of honor is reserved for flags that are requested to be flown there by various groups.  There are guidelines to be sure, like it has to be a legitimate flag of a country, state, military group, etc., and it turns out, our adopted flag, the "Don't Tread On Me" Gadsden flag fits perfectly within the rules.  So we requested that it be flown from April 9th to April 15th, and the Capitol Police and Governor said yes.  A flag raising ceremony, afforded to all flags, was set for April 9th at 9am.  And then, liberal cry baby Mike Lawlor complained.  Lawlor, by the way, was more than happy on March 31st to attend the flag raising ceremony of the Russian flag, but this? A genuine American flag with a 200 plus year history?  Waaaaaaaaaay to controversial!!!  So the Capitol police, bowing to political pressure, reversed its decision and cancelled the flag raising.

Well, we didn't spend the last year protesting all over the state, driving Dodd out of office, and recruiting candidates because we are the shy retiring types!  Hell no.  So Flagman brought another Gadsden flag and our own flag pole, and we had our own flag raising ceremony, complete with press conference.  And we never would have had the press we did if it hadn't been for Rep. Lawlor.  So thanks Mike.  You managed to make yourself look like a whiney cry baby who hates liberty and give us press at the same time!  Well done.2x3 Ft Gadsden FLag  Flags of the Civil War (Special Editions (Military))

Friday, February 26, 2010

Declaration of Tea Party Independence

I. As the course of human events winds its way through History, it has found some paths lead to Tyranny and some to Liberty. In seeking a path to Liberty, a great and powerful movement is now rising from every corner of our land. Created by the Will of the American People, it rejects unconstitutional domination by the Government that is supposed to be its servant. This movement has arisen, in large part, because our elected officials have failed us.
For much of its history the United States has been a land of prosperity and liberty, sound policies such as fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and a belief in the free market have safeguarded this condition. In recent years however, Congress, the President, the Federal Reserve Board and the Courts have replaced those practices with profligate government spending and expansion of the government power beyond what is constitutionally permissible.
This course, if not reversed, can only lead to economic collapse and tyranny.
Therefore, Individuals acting through the Tea Party Movement, seek to restore the policies, which are proven to safeguard liberty and prosperity for all. We will organize, demonstrate and vote until this restoration has been achieved. We will stay focused on this goal and remain INDEPENDENT from any persons or political parties who seek to distract us from this end.
Many seek to define this Movement, to use it, to lead it, to co-opt it, to channel it, to control it, to defeat it.
WE WILL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN.
The Tea Party Movement is in agreement with our Founders that the government that governs least governs best. We believe that Capitalism – NOT GOVERNMENT - is essential to the creation of wealth and a vastly reduced government provides the foundation for a thriving Capitalist system.
The Tea Party Movement of America embraces and serves people of all races, creeds, religions, and political affiliations, and we declare ourselves to be independent of all those forces that seek to manipulate our actions or control our destiny.
II. We Declare ourselves INDEPENDENT of the Democrat Party and its power drunk junta in Washington DC, which is currently seeking to impose a Socialist agenda on our Republic.
We reject arrogant Left-wing politicians who furtively hide from public scrutiny, as they cut corrupt deals loaded with earmarks and pork in order to produce 2000 page pieces of
legislation so purposely incomprehensible, they do not even bother to read them before foisting them upon us.
We reject the endless creation of myriad federal government agencies that drown free enterprise and local control in the swarms of education, energy, ecology, and commerce bureaucrats who style themselves “czars” sent to harass us. We reject the creation of federal government regulations and agencies which demand the States pay for unfunded Federal mandates.
We reject a Democrat Party which refuses to give credence to our demands for just redress of grievances and which insults and seeks to demonize our legal right to peacefully protest the unjust laws it inflicts upon us.
We reject a profligate Government that is spending TRILLIONS of dollars on worthless socialist schemes designed to bankrupt us and put the American people in a position of dependence on the State, as peasants begging for their very sustenance from self-styled “educated classes” and so-called “experts”.
We reject a foreign policy which bows and scrapes and apologizes before the world for America.
We reject an Attorney General of the United States who offers succor and rights to vicious terrorist murderers and seeks to protect them with a mock civilian trial when such enemy combatants, captured on the field of battle, should be tried in secure military courts.
We reject the claims of an un-elected Federal Judiciary to violate the separation of powers by demanding its decisions be enforced by the other coequal branches of government, regardless of how unconstitutional the other branches of government may think those decisions are.
We reject all acts that ignore or diminish the 2nd and 10th Amendments to the US Constitution and we seek to have all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution to be reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
III. We Declare ourselves INDEPENDENT of the Republican Party, which has in the past manipulated its Conservative Base to win election after election and which then betrays everything that Base fought for and believed.
We reject the idea that the electoral goals of the Republican Party are identical to the goals of the Tea Party Movement or that this Movement is an adjunct to the Republican Party.
We reject the Republican Party professionals who now seek to use the Tea Party Movement for their corrupt and narrow political purposes.
We acknowledge that standing on our principles does not mean throwing out our common sense; we will NOT abandon our principles in the name of a nonexistent bipartisanship or a misguided devotion to an illusion of “pragmatism”, which disguises a desire to betray us in its name.
We reject the scare tactics of the Republican Party, which seeks to herd us into voting for candidates who supposedly represent the “lesser of two evils” in the name of fealty to the principle of small government and then having to suffer such candidates as they betray that principle. We are not well served by parasites whose livelihoods depend on the very State whose power to reward or sanction we elected them to limit and proscribe.
We insist that the Tea Party Movement does NOT consider the election of Republicans in and of itself to be necessarily beneficial to our goals.
We demand the Republican Party understand that we reject its attempts to co-opt us.
WE WILL WORK AGAINST THEM when they oppose our views by trying to force Republicans In Name Only (RINO) on us. When Republicans are in accord with their Conservative Base as well as the Independent voters who align with it, IT WINS; when they are NOT in accord with the Conservative Base and the Independent voters who align with it, IT LOSES.
We reject RINO money; we reject RINO “advice”; we reject RINO “professional experi- ence”; we reject RINO “progressivism”; we reject RINO support of Big Government; we reject RINO back room deal making; we reject RINO pork spending; we reject false RINO professions of Conservative views and we reject the RINO’s statist subversion of the principles of small government for which the Republican Party is supposed to stand.
Republican Party attempts to ignore the will of the Base, as it did in 1976, 1992, 1996, 2006 and 2008, resulted in disaster; when it embraces the will of the Base, as it did in 1980, 1984 and 1994, it wins historic victories.
We demand the Republican Party recognize that while the Tea Party Movement cannot guarantee their aid will help them win elections, it is very likely WE CAN MAKE THEM LOSE if they are disdainful of our goals.
IV. We Declare ourselves INDEPENDENT of the Media, which has proved itself to be anything BUT a fair and balanced enterprise and which focuses more on entertainment, fear mongering and shock value than investigation and unbiased fact.
We reject the fiction that an unbiased media still exists; there is friendly media and there is unfriendly ENE-media. The Tea Party Movement refuses to give false credence to the self-aggrandizing, self-deluding lie that ANY PART of the Fourth Estate is free of the self-serving agendas of those who own them.
V. We Declare ourselves INDEPENDENT of self-styled “leaders” who claim to speak for the Tea Party Movement. This movement is not a brand name to be used to sell product; nor is it a logo to be used to justify profiting off its name.
We reject those who seek to personally capitalize on our popularity and momentum by trying to associate with our cause.
We reject the idea that the Tea Party Movement is “led” by anyone other than the millions of average citizens who make it up. The Tea Party Movement understands that as a Free People, we need to SAVE OURSELVES, BY OURSELVES, FOR OURSELVES.
The Tea Party Movement is not “led.” The Tea Party Movement LEADS.
VI. We are united in our common belief in Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets. This threefold purpose is the source of our unity in the Tea Party Movement.
We reject the idea that the Tea Party Movement must all be unanimous in our specific policy views in order to win. We recognize that the current situation requires we come together in confederation to achieve the MANY MUTUAL GOALS we all seek to accomplish.
We recognize that the current situation requires that we concentrate on the many things we have in common rather than those few things about which we may disagree.
We are the Tea Party Movement of America and we believe in American Exceptionalism.
We believe that American Exceptionalism is found in its devotion to the cause of Liberty.
We believe that Liberty is based in rational self-interest, in freedom of thought, in free markets, free association, free speech, a free press and the ability granted us under the Constitution TO DIRECT OUR OWN AFFAIRS FREE OF THE DICTATES OF AN EVER EXPANDING FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHICH IS AS VORACIOUS IN ITS DESIRE FOR POWER AS IT IS INCOMPETENT AND DANGEROUS IN ITS EXERCISE.
We believe that either fate or history has chosen this Country to be a beacon of freedom and prosperity to the whole world because of America’s belief in and vigorous defense of political and economic Liberty. The United States has been the instrument of Liberty against the many tyrannies that have threatened the people of this world.
The Tea Party Movement rejects the idea that America has to apologize to a far guiltier world that has been largely unappreciative of the sacrifices made on their behalf by the brave and noble members of our Armed Forces, whose sacrifice and patriotic service in our defense makes all else possible.
The Tea Party Movement rejects the imposition of “transformational change” performed on our Nation by smug elites who call themselves the “educated class”.
The Tea Party Movement understands that our Nation is NOT the same thing as our government and that America is much more than simply a militarily and economically powerful State.
The Tea Party Movement sees America as something exceptional, as something unique, as something that came into existence to fulfill the hope of all previous generations that longed for freedom.
It came into existence because it is more than simply a country with land and population and riches and armaments. America came into existence because LIBERTY is an eternal concept in the mind of both God AND Man.
The United States of America came into existence because Mankind needs freedom the same way it needs food and air and property and security and love.
And what is freedom other than the RIGHT to be free of the tyranny of Government and the elitist, self-styled aristocrats who seek to run it at our expense and to our detriment?
The Tea Party Movement will fight this danger to our Liberty as long as its members have breath in their bodies.
When America didn’t exist men and women were compelled to invent it, BECAUSE MANKIND CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT FREEDOM AND STILL BE FULLY HUMAN.
To this goal we mutually pledge to each other, as our Founding Fathers did over two centuries ago, our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.