How to Fight Back Against Public Unions: A Primer - By Ed Lasky
By Ed Lasky
We have reached a potential turning point in the relationship of public employee unions and the electorate they ostensibly serve. Over the past year, there has been a steady drumbeat of criticism focused on public unions and the havoc they have wrought on our public finances. Governments -- city, country, state, and federal -- are drowning in red ink Our taxes are flowing to ever-voracious government workers (whose own ranks are growing steadily while the private payrolls shrink); they are better compensated than private workers in comparable positions.
What is to be done?
We -- taxpayers, tea partiers and sympathizers, independents, Republicans, and Democrats -- need to come together and forge a blueprint to take back our nation. The inclusion of Democrats was deliberate, despite the fact that many Democrat politicians are in the pockets of public unions. AFSCME, the government employee union, has a political action committee that is the second-largest in the nation, and virtually all of its donations are to Democrats; ditto the teachers' unions, or as they like to call themselves, "federations" and "associations" -- teachers know how to use thesauruses for political purposes. But when liberal newspapers such as the New York Times now report on subway conductors earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and the Boston Globe takes editorial swipes at public employee unions and their greedy and self-centered leadership, the timing may be ripe for Democrats to come out of the closet and transform themselves from...
Comrade Obama - by Jerry Henderson
[The following was written by Jerry Henderson and published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press]
President Obama's "Enemies of the State" list continues to grow under his direction and that of his fellow conspirators. His enemies list is comprised of any group that opposes his leftist agenda or anyone or group that he can demonize thus diverting attention from his own failed policies.
In the past few months Obama and his comrades have repeatedly maligned and slandered those citizens of the United States that have stood against them and demanded that they honor the provisions of the United States Constitution and refrain from the wasteful spending that is bankrupting our nation.
His latest attack is directed against the United States Citizens of Arizona for daring to demand that the United States Government defend our boarders as required by Article I section 8 of the U S Constitution. Even though no one in his regime has apparently read the Arizona law they have dismissed it and the Arizona citizens, labeling them as "Racists", a term that they regularly employ against anyone that gets in their way.
"Those who think themselves injured by their rulers are sometimes, by mild and prudent answer, convinced of their error. But where complaining is a crime, hope becomes despair". - Benjamin Franklin
You've joined the CTP. Now what?
by Karen Chastain
So you have joined the millions of Americans that were previously busy growing their careers and families during the 80’s and 90’s, quietly taking our Constitution and the American Way of Life for granted.
You are now shocked, appalled and saddened by the results of socialist and Marxist politicians and their appointed officials; and the special interest groups and organizations that are destroying this great country on a daily basis.
You’re awake. You’re engaged. But you’re not sure what all you need to be doing…
Are you a registered voter? You know the drill!
Investigate, determine and support candidates on a local, state and national level…And I mean everyone including the lower-level positions. Now, DONATE to their campaigns. Even $5 handed out to 5 of your chosen candidates will help defray their enormous costs. It’s no coincidence that names like Rockefeller and Kennedy are associated with politics! Don’t prevent a good candidate from success because they run out of money. By the way, it’s easy to give on line, but if you send a check, you avoid the 4% transaction fee that is charged to the candidate.
Volunteer for a campaign. Even something as simple as putting out yard signs, doing data entry at their office, writing a letter to the editor or making phone calls and knocking on your neighbor’s door. And talk with your own friends and family members about who you support and why.
And of course, participate in the Tea Party. Volunteer if you can, donate what ever you can...
On Our Elected Officials Supporting Irresponsible Fiscal Policies by Abusing Their Power
by Brendan Jennings
Second in a series of editorials focusing on our mission statement.
Our founding fathers designed the federal government to take into account human weaknesses and foibles that have hounded man since the beginning of time. These foundational leaders wrote extensively about the importance of selecting the right people to represent them in government. They knew the people were the ultimate guarantors of liberty by the careful selection of those who would lead us.
What would they think about many of the people in Congress today, particularly those in positions of leadership? It would seem as if a perfect storm of human deficiencies swept across the Capitol and took control of their beloved country. Not that our founders didn’t have their share of weaknesses, like everyone. But recent legislative classes seem set on establishing increasingly lower standards of behavior, complete with FBI investigations, indictments and convictions.
At the same time, Washington politicians have become increasingly separated from the people they’re supposed to represent, partly thanks to the virtual parallel universe created by the Washington statist-media industrial complex. By recent fiscal and statutory actions, Congress seems to have beamed over to another universe, their actions increasingly divorced from the ever grimmer reality here at home.
For example, the Speaker of the House demands limited Air Force resources to be available every weekend at her short-notice beck and call. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is being investigated for tax evasion, having not paid taxes for a variety of real estate properties...
How Taxes Pervert our Energy Choices
By Joseph Somsel
“The power to tax is the power to destroy.”- Chief Justice John Marshall
Articles like this (see link below) can be drudgery to sift through but they do enlighten.
Most policy in Washington is not motivated by what is practical and productive but driven by un-American ideologies often designed to undermine our constitutional rights, traditions and values. An example of this might be: Socialism, it’s legislation and funding, is unconstitutional as it assumes powers that are not enumerated or supported constitutionally. Principles matter.
Those that write the tax code know that full well that even the most conscientious citizens get bleary eyed, weary and lose our attention on these issues. This in a real way forces us to make our own investigations a part-time job or avocation if we care about what happens. This is impractical for busy people. However, if we don’t, our neglect will overtake us all. It is a terrible thing to have to be watching our backs with such well-earned distrust of our own elected officials.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/how_taxes_pervert_our_energy_c.html
A Letter to the Editor
This letter was sent to the editor of the Chattanoogan by The Chattanooga Tea Party Secretary
by Jim West
Many liberal, media sources have recently complained about the volume of grass roots’ attendance at Town Hall meetings being held around the country by congressional leaders. The major criticism is that these crowds of protesters, who are showing up, are being organized by right-wing, extremist groups for the purpose of embarrassing our elected representatives. These critics cannot seem to fathom that Americans might wish to hold their leaders responsible. They would be happier if everyone who showed up would just praise Mr. Obama’s efforts to take over one-sixth of our economy and institute a government-run, public-option system of health care. But let’s look at what is really happening. There IS irrefutable proof that the administration’s supporters are indeed enlisting paid supporters for its programs. At (http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/npo/1299047025.html), there is a solicitation of workers to advocate the programs of the administration. This is nothing but the “pot calling the kettle black.” People are being paid to show up at Town Hall meetings, but it is not the administration’s antagonists who are doing so. What hypocrisy! No wonder the public has lost confidence in government. It is being run by a bunch of scheming, manipulating, political hacks, not in the least sincere in benefiting the country, but instead obsessed with increasing their control over the lives of ordinary Americans. It’s time to support such efforts as the 9/12 March on Washington on September 12, 2009. ...
It's All About Power and Control
Oftentimes people would like to come up with creative ideas and new and improved solutions to solve age-old problems. The age-old problem we are facing today though is not Nationalized Health Care. Rather, it is POWER and CONTROL. As long as man has existed, man has attempted to rule the lives of others. Man has desired to control others. Man has desired to dictate to his fellow citizens. We seem to understand this concept when we look across the ocean and around the world and study other nations. But we have failed to realize that the STORM of “Power and Control” has been brewing for some time in the United States of America.
It did not just start with the recent Administration. It started many decades ago. It started as a “drip, drip, drip.” You know the old leaky faucet syndrome. I’ve got one at home right now. What’s a little drip of water? At home we will often tolerate it for a while.
But in our nation, the drip is a little regulation here and little loss of control there. A little increase in taxes here and a little deficit spending there. And it all seems to be ok. It’s no big deal. And soon we become numb to the drips. Then one day we wake up and the drip is no longer a drip – rather in this instance, in Washington, it’s a tsunami.
In our nation’s capitol there’s the misguided talk of a new “mandate” in town. And there are...
Make The Most of Recess!
Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard a lot about the congressional “recess” in August, and as a ponderous soul, I started thinking about the term.
Remember “recess” from elementary school? It was a time to get some exercise… to get out all of that pent-up energy that had built up throughout the day from sitting still in class behind a desk listening to teachers tell you what to do, following their directions obediently.
You may ask yourself, “how does that have anything to do with the congressional recess?” I’m glad you asked.
Over the past several months, we’ve had to sit by idly, seemingly powerless, while our “representatives” have obsessively introduced and passed legislation that we disagree with. They started long before our new President stepped into office, Republicans and Democrats alike, approving legislation such as the infamous “Bank Bailout Bill,” acquiring private companies (i.e. GM), and introducing big-government plans such as socializing our healthcare system.
It’s now recess time. Many of our representatives will be holding “town hall” meetings to “touch base” with their constituents (after all, they’re SUPPOSED to be representing us). As the Chattanooga Tea Party, we feel that it is imperative that we make an appearance at these meetings and show up as vocal, concerned citizens who are tired of the way our government has been running over the past year(s). The government has grown far too large (according to the Constitution, not just me) in size, reach, and expense.
Please remember to make the most of this “recess.” It...
Why We Don’t Need Government-Sponsored Healthcare
It is just another big power grab by Democrat politicians to move this country toward a socialist State.
I lived in England for 8 years and experienced the low grade, rationed, inferior health care of a government-run system called the National Health Service.
Let’s change our system by really fixing the problems: making it more efficient by broadening competition across state lines, reforming tort law, letting people keep the insurance they are satisfied with, finding a way to insure only those who are uninsured because they can’t afford even minimal coverage, shutting out illegal immigrants who don’t merit coverage, and refusing to pay for coverage by raising taxes.
A government-run program will ration care, never be able to be funded adequately, become the ‘tail that wags the dog,’ make citizens more subservient to government, and increase the power of politicians — all measures that undermine the freedoms guaranteed under our Constitution.
On Government Deriving Its Just Powers from the Consent of the Governed
As concerned citizens who have joined together in an effort to speak rationally to our increasingly unaccountable and irresponsible leaders, it’s important for you to become familiar with the goals outlined in our mission statement. Over the next few weeks, I will address our expressed beliefs, point by point, to help explain to others what animates us and to generate a healthy discussion among ourselves. The following are my thoughts alone and are not meant to be interpreted as an official statement from the Chattanooga Tea Party organization.
The best place to start is at the beginning, the first bullet of our mission statement: “We believe that it is ‘We the People’ who have been given the power of our nation by our Forefathers.” As The Declaration of Independence more eloquently puts it,
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. (author’s italics)
This gets right at the foundation of the legitimacy of our government – the consent of the governed. It means government exists for the good of the people, not for its own purposes and perpetuation. It means the majority gets the strongest voice at...
Why I’m Against the So-Called “Public Option”
The health “reform” plan taking shape in the Democrat-controlled Congress is another case of people who played by the rules most of their lives getting screwed. It’s also why I’m protesting in front of the Federal Building in Downtown Chattanooga this Saturday at noon.
During the past year’s panic-driven race to get unread bills passed and signed to prop up the housing market, my wife and I wondered if we were among a dying breed of Americans who did not believe in overbuying and overextending ourselves into debt. Now, as we watch the healthcare cramdown, we get the same feeling – we’ve taken care of ourselves yet it looks like we’ll have to pay more, yet have fewer personal freedoms in the long run. And that’s even before rationing sets in.
The so-called “public option” is a part of health reform plans under consideration in the House and Senate that will grant the government power to compete directly against more than 1,300 insurance providers nationwide.1 The option’s stated purpose is to ensure a level playing field of “choice, competition, and stability of affordable, high quality coverage.” More than 1,300 providers and we need another one to keep the market competitive?
Which brings me to the first reason I oppose this plan: it undermines private health insurance providers. The plan bases reimbursement rates on current Medicare reimbursement levels plus 5%. Unfortunately for physicians, Medicare currently reimburses them at a rate of only 81 percent2 of average market rates, and payment levels for hospitals are...
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September 16, 2010, 7:30PM
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