Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.
This just in from the Quad City Tea Party- Spread the Word
Good morning All, Please send this CALL TO REGISTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL TRAINING out to your list(s), if you feel so inclined.
Michael Badnarik -- former Libertarian Presidential Candidate, author, and President of the Continental Congress 2009 will be in Iowa for nearly a week at the end of June... He's doing his famous Constitution class (8 hours of entertaining & riveting training on the Constitution, $100, includes autographed book by Michael, "Good to Be King", with a Forward by Congressman Ron Paul) in Des Moines on June 26th, in Fairfield, IA on June 27th and in Davenport over two evenings Wed June 30th and Thur July 1st.
Details and links to register are below.
We have a phenomenal opportunity to really educate ourselves, family and friends. We have less than 10 signed up now. We really need to get 20 plus to make this work. If you are committed enough to the cause of Liberty and want to attend but cannot afford the $100 at this time, please contact todd.mcgreevy@gmail.com to receive a $50 discount (thanks to a generous donor) for up to 10 more students.
Here's a taste of what Michael Badnarik will be bringing to Davenport this Wed and Thurs:
It is Human Nature to perceive the Universe as revolving around a central point, ourselves.
I am determined
You are stubborn.
They are obstinate.
This issue comes to the front quite often in politics.
An attempt to define political purity oft assumes our own perceptions are the the touchstone with which all others are weighed.
Sometime ago I realized that a Political Party composed of Me, My Shadow and My Reflection in a Mirror would not lead to many victorious elections.
I was forced since so many of you seem to be determined to want to think for yourselves to find what common ground I might have with others.
There are some who seem to have a difficulty with this mode of thought.
They continuously focus on differences rather than similarities.
Thus we are often lectured on exactly what, is and what is not, True Conservatism or Real Republicans.
Not that long ago that was illustrated in a comment on this website.
Comment:
A brief review of past and present Iowa GOP and National Platforms would show that Iowa Republicans and the Party as a whole are solid supporters of LIFE and MARRIAGE. Why should we support those who differ from this position simply because they want to wear a "Republican" label? They are not in the "mainstream" of the party and if they were truly honest, might find themselves "happier" with those folks on the other side of the aisle.
On the surface that would appear to be true, leaving out the term "whole".
We also have Conservatives who are solid supporters of Fiscal Responsibility, the Constitution, Free Trade and are dead set against Socialism.
They may or may not agree on the issues of Life and Marriage to the extent this gentleman may require.
I also recall at the last County Convention an individual who was as vehement as the gentleman above on the subjects of Life and Marriage,
BUT he seemed to think that BIG GOVERNMENT was the solution to all our problems even to the extent of allowing the State to determine a Fair and Equitable distribution of Air Time on Issues.
So the question is which one is a REAL Republican?
Either? Neither?
Does one have to stand firm on EVERY issue?
Because if we are going to Cherry Pick out of our common ideologies it is obvious that either of the two could find grounds to exclude the other.
Which brings us to the subject of excluding others.
Iowa Christian Alliance President and Republican National Committee member Steve Scheffler is among 10 co-sponsors of a resolution being circulated that aims to impose a conservative litmus test on potential GOP candidates.
The resolution, dubbed a “purity test” by the media, became public Monday. It lists 10 positions Republican candidates should support to demonstrate that they “espouse conservative principles and public policies” that are in opposition to “Obama’s socialist agenda.”
Any Republican candidate who breaks with the guidelines of the resolution on three or more of these issues would be penalized by being denied party funds or the party endorsement.
See, that is where I diverge from Mr Scheffler. I may not agree with the results of an election, but I will fully support the right of voters to choose those who represent them.
NO Party official should have the right to withhold Party Funds from the winner of a Primary. The Voters determine who their nominee should be.
Recently the same dubious "Not A Real Republican" charge was levied against Halley Barbor of Mississippi. A man respected by many who obviously are also not considered REAL Republicans,
The Results?
In Des Moines County a motion to ask for his resignation. If failed with only two votes in favor.
But in Linn County, the motion passed
Be it resolved that for his intimidation of Republicans considering and/or seeking political office, we call on Iowa's Republican National Committeeman, Steve Sheffler, to resign his position.
passed at the Linn County Republican Central Committee by a vote of 20 to 11.
Resolution introduced by William Dahlsten, Pct. 41
For some reason when I insist that no one has the right to decide if another is a REAL Republican there as some who take affront, as if I were declaring that THEY are not REAL Republicans
They are not listening.
I don't think they have that right, I don't claim that right for myself and I reject the right of anyone else to make that decision for either of us.
I don't dispute the validity of Mr Schefflers ideals, I agree with most of them.
What I dispute is whether it is right and fitting for him to impose those on others and use his office in the RPI to punish those who do not agree with him
And it would appear by a ration of about 2:1 those who attended the Linn County Central Committee last night agree with me.
I myself did not vote.
I am an Associate Committee person, according to our By-Laws I may be heard from the floor and that I was, I did speak in favor of the motion.
But I have no vote, except in the absence of one of the two elected Committee Persons.
While one from my Precinct was absent there was another Associate Committee Person who has been attending Meetings far longer than I.
I looked them up and informed them that they should be voting.
They voted against the motion,
One gentleman who spoke against the Motion mentioned the dangers of a House divided,
That is so true, and we cannot afford to drive out of our Party Good Conservatives who do not agree with us on EVERY issue.
That is not my desire, I do not wish to drive anyone out, nor do I wish to stand by silent, while others do.
If you stare into the Abyss long enough the Abyss stares back at you.
To me the Abyss is the Collective Statist Mindset.
It is not only that the Progressive Left (and others) feel that they have the right to make our decisions for us,
Because they know what is best for those who have a more limited mental capacity than the elite.
But there seems to be an attitude that the Rules do not apply to them, because they know the Truth and their Hearts are Pure.
Jack Murtha was a classic example of both attitudes and no scene could more aptly illustrate this better than this video.
Now you may say, "Dan what else could you expect from the Progressive Left?"
I would agree with you but I think neither of us would expect that same Spirit to be alive and thriving in a State Convention of the Republican Party of Iowa.
But that is exactly what happened in the 2008 RPI State Convention.
I was THERE. I SAW it. I HEARD it.
I ask you who are reading this to NOT take MY word for this.
Whether you believe the tale I am about to unfold or not,
I URGE you, if you were not there to search out someone who WAS,
Someone in whom you have confidence and ask them to relay to you in their own words what they witnessed.
As for me this is what I saw and heard.
There was some displeasure about the delegates to the National
Convention and it was evident an attempt would be made to change the make up of the delegation,
David Chung appeared before the Convention and explained to the Delegates the appropriate Parliamentary Method by which this could be done.
This process had no sooner started than a frantic motion was made to bring it to a halt.
Now at this point I must stipulate one thing,
Reasonable people could in truth have heard the Yeahs and Nahs differently.
The Yeahs for the most part came from the portion of the floor directly in front of the Chair,
The Nahs came from both of the wings
But there CANNOT be any difference of opinion as to the Chairs responce to Calls for Division,
That under Roberts Rules of Order does NOT have to be recognized by the Chair, can NOT be debated and MUST be acted upon.
That is to say a Count MUST be tallied.
Which the Chair DID NOT DO.
Calls for Division were IGNORED.
Not because they were not heard,
They came from all over the Floor and they came from people who held microphones and thus were on the loud speakers,
Now folks THAT is the way someone like Jack Murtha used to Chair, NOT what I expect to see happen in a Convention of OUR PARTY.
At the time I swore I would do my best to see that this type of shameful behavior was not repeated during the Next State Convetion,'
I was distracted over the time until just recently because the same group that took control over the last State Convetion a few months later took control over my County Central Committee
And proceeded to operate under the same form of Violation of Rules in our State, County Constitutions ByLaws and Rules of Procedure.
So I spent the last year posting records of exactly which portions of the above were being broken,
I have been accused for my actions of being DIVISIVE.
If insisting that Constituions, ByLaws and Rules of Procedure are to be FOLLOWED and ENFORCED is Divisive
I STAND GUILTY AS CHARGED
I was recently called to task by our National Committeeman and the President of the Iowa Christian Alliaince, for my activities
Had this been done in a private communication, I could not ethically use it.
But it was done in a public forum, my Facebook Wall before and audience of some 1040 Facebook friends from all over the world.
I come from a kind of folk, who when called out RESPOND.
Steve Scheffler › Daniel W Kauffman Jr: My my you spend wasted time name calling and causing division in the party. If you and others who apparently spent one iota of your time working for good candidates as you do this off the wall junk--you would be awarded volunteer of the year. By the way did you see where the FEC said there was NO basis whatsoever to the accusations of people who were spreading malicious lies against ICA? So the lies about people going to jail sinks with all those lies being spread. You and others once again struck out because it is obvious to any intelligent person, you can't win the argument based on concrete facts and truth
I can win some arguments on facts I will present them in an upcoming article and the data will be what I myself witnessed not exactly violations of the Law or financial misconduct but flagrant violation of the Rules of procedure of the Republican Party of Iowa, during last years State Convention, which I intend to oppose a repetition of. I have had... See More some part in cleaning up some misconduct here in Linn county by placing it in the bright light of public attention, I plan to do the same thing for State Level misconduct, not Lies but ACTIONS taken in front of the entire State Convention last year that some of the new delegates might not be aware of . I accept that you prefer silence but Fiat justitia ruat caelum
I am not going to comment one way or the other on that matter,
My main points of contention with the gentleman are his organizations part in the events of the last State Convention and his work towards some form of Purity Tests by the Party Leadership
Iowa Christian Alliance President and Republican National Committee member Steve Scheffler is among 10 co-sponsors of a resolution being circulated that aims to impose a conservative litmus test on potential GOP candidates.
The resolution, dubbed a “purity test” by the media, became public Monday. It lists 10 positions Republican candidates should support to demonstrate that they “espouse conservative principles and public policies” that are in opposition to “Obama’s socialist agenda.”
Any Republican candidate who breaks with the guidelines of the resolution on three or more of these issues would be penalized by being denied party funds or the party endorsement.
There is a basic difference between my outlook and that of Jack Murtha, the Chair at the Last State Convention and Mr Scheffler.
I may disagree with your choices I may attempt to persuade you that you are mistaken, but I will NOT take it upon myself to make those choices FOR you, because I think I know better than you.
There is only ONE Litmus Test I uphold, the Will of the Voters as expressed in their Primary.
That for me is IT.
I do NOT accept the concept that the Party Leadership gets to make those decisions FOR us.
In my opinion the Party Leadership should be stricly neutral during the Primary and Partisan during the General Election,
They shoud be our Trusted Servants, they should NOT Govern us.
I urge you to consider these matters, in particular the events of the Last State Convention,
Then relay your OWN position whether it be in agreement or opposition to me to other Republcans, those who will be attending this coming State Convtion,
AND
Forward this to the new State Committee Members and ask THEM what THEIR positions are and what THEY intend to do to ensure our Rules of Order are followed in the Future
A county supervisor in California wants to ban Happy Meal toys and other similar treats that are given away with children's fast food meals.
This same county in Silcon Valley issued a law in 2008 that required chain restaurants to include a calorie count on their menus, which was later adopted by the state of California. And trends that start in California often spread to the rest of the nation.
Ken Yeager, the Santa Clara County Supervisor, is presenting a law at Tuesday's county board meeting to ban toys given away with unhealthy food. He believes the toys are used to encourage children to eat fatty, sugary, high-calorie meals that can lead to childhood obesity.
Yes when you start attacking Happy Meals and Ronald McDonald
You are going TOO FAR!!!!
And here I thought the Progressives were after the Young Vote.
Subject: impromptu Saturday health care protest in front of U.S. Representative David Loebsack's office
this may be a bit short notice, but i just got word that there is going to be a protest in front of Loebsack's Cedar rapids office at 11am Saturday.
office is at 150 1st Ave NE Ste 375. Could you bring a bullhorn or a sign or a bunch of friends !
you could also call his office number (202) 225-6576 and let him know how you feel. Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Representative David Loebsack (please call between 9am & 5pm)
as always, spelling and grammar mistakes are mine ! Jeremy www.CrTeaParty.org
It would appear that the House is really uneasy about actually voting on Obamacare again so they are just going to PRETEND that they voted to pass a bill.
This tactic is called the Slaughter Rule and I think that is what it does to the Constituion.
Nancy Pelosi explains to the American Public why it is so important to do this.
After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate's health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it.
Instead, Pelosi (D-Calif.) would rely on a procedural sleight of hand: The House would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers "deem" the health-care bill to be passed.
PJTV has a dynamic discussion on this issue with which I am in total accord
Sorry for the short notice, but I have four extra tickets for the Robbie Knievel (son of Evil Knievel) Event at the CountyFair ....if anybody wants them.
Robbie is going to try to jump over 1,000 Obamacare supporters with a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer.
First We Must Get Their Attention Topic: Out of Flyover Land
There is an old tale about a farmer who bought a new plow mule and was informed by it's former owner that, "He will do everything you want from a plow mule, just ask him nicely."
Much to the chagrin of the new owner, the mule laid his ears back, dug his hooves in the dirt and didn't budge.
So he called the former owner who came over looked at the mule, picked up a 2 X 4 leaning up against the barn and WHACK laid the mule out.
"I thought you said all I needed to do was ask nicely", the new owner said.
"Well" the former owner replied, "FIRST you gotta get his attention."
I would say events around the country, Tea Party Rallies, Town Hall Meetings and most recently the Election in Massachusetts, MAY indicate that the American Public is giving up on, "Asking Nicely"
The question is, whether anyone is paying attention.
Now it is quite true that the Election of Senator Brown WAS about the Proposed Health Care Plan.
That, however is not the entire picture.
Let's be honest, the public does think Health Care is important.
The American Public does want some changes and improvement.
The American Public also wants something done about dependence on Foreign Energy supplies.
What it doesn't want is the Progressive Plan on Health Care with an accompanying take over by the Federal Government of 1/6th of the US Economy.
NOR does it like the Raping of the US Economy that is a called Cap and Trade with the attending Redistribution of Wealth around the World which is in my opinion the real goal of the Global Warming Agenda.
But MORE IMPORTANT.
The American Public is LIVID at the Progressive's Obsession with the above to the Exclusion of attention on what it feels are the MOST Important Issues of Today.
Those being, the Economy, Jobs and National Security in the Face of International Islamic Jihad,
And while they were voting on Health Care, Cap and Trade they were also saying
YOU ARE NOT HEARING US
We want you to start focusing on what WE think is important
PAY ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which means to me that anyone who campaigns on other issues to the exclusion of the Core Values that the Public desires?
Is in for a BIG surprise.
As Republicans and Conservatives we stand att the cusp of a Generational Opportunity, possibly surpassing the one we found in 1994.
Should we let this slip through our fingers it may be more than one generation before we have another one and if we fail generations of Progressive Politicians will be indebted to us.
Our Tent has many rooms, Social Conservatives, Fiscal Conservatives, Constitutional Conservatives etc.
All of our Core Values have importance and if fact, we do well with the General Population.
Right to Life values are increasing among the public, Defense of Marriage Values are as well, 30 some States have taken stands on the latter and there has been a shift in the attitude of the Public on the topic of Abortion in our Favor.
In the last Generation, more and more States have affirmed support of the 2cnd Amendment with Shall Carry Legislation.
So many of our Core Values ARE held by most of the General Public,
BUT if we do not come to the Electorate on the Issues that they deem to be most important NOW?
We may be picking ourselves up off the plow field along with the Progressives.
What the Tea Party espouses ARE Conservative Core Values,
We need not do anything but be true to our Basic Principles and Campaign on them.
Union officials told The Associated Press that they view the meeting Monday as a chance to forcefully make their case that the tax is bad policy and bad politics. Unions contend that the tax would be passed along to workers.
House Democrats prefer to raise income taxes on individuals making more than $500,000 and couples over $1 million and are reluctant to abandon that approach, saying the insurance tax would violate the president's campaign pledge not to tax the middle class. But they realize they likely will have to bend on that and other issues so that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., can maintain his fragile 60-vote majority support for the bill.
The Senate wants to tax insurance companies on plans valued at over $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 for couples. Most analysts say the insurance tax would be passed on to consumers.
But Obama has defended the tax as a way to drive down health costs.
"I'm on record as saying that taxing Cadillac plans that don't make people healthier but just take more money out of their pockets because they're paying more for insurance than they need to, that's actually a good idea, and that helps bend the cost curve,"
Obama said in an interview with National Public Radio just before Christmas. "That helps to reduce the cost of health care over the long term. I think that's a smart thing to do."
Fox News' Major Garrett contributed to this report.
Let me see if I have this correctly. Obama thinks we spend more than we need to on insurance via our employee based Health Care Plans
SO His Solution is to TAX them make them cost MORE so we will not be able to afford what we have and will therefore settle for a cheaper Health Care Plan?
There is a basic difference between my outlook and that of Jack Murtha, the Chair at the Last State Convention and Mr Scheffler.
I may disagree with your choices I may attempt to persuade you that you are mistaken, but I will NOT take it upon myself to make those choices FOR you, because I think I know better than you.
There is only ONE Litmus Test I uphold, the Will of the Voters as expressed in their Primary.
That for me is IT.
I do NOT accept the concept that the Party Leadership gets to make those decisions FOR us.
In my opinion the Party Leadership should be stricly neutral during the Primary and Partisan during the General Election,
They shoud be our Trusted Servants, they should NOT Govern us.
I urge you to consider these matters, in particular the events of the Last State Convention,
Then relay your OWN position whether it be in agreement or opposition to me to other Republcans, those who will be attending this coming State Convtion,
AND
Forward this to the new State Committee Members and ask THEM what THEIR positions are and what THEY intend to do to ensure our Rules of Order are followed in the Future
Here are links to them.
State Central Committee
Home > Leadership > State Central Committee