Dear Senator McConnell and Representative Boehner,

On behalf of limited government conservatives everywhere we write to urge you and your colleagues in Washington to put forward a legislative agenda in the next Congress that reflects the principles of the Tea Party movement.

Poll after poll confirms that the Tea Party’s laser focus on issues of economic freedom and limited government resonated with the American people on Election Day.

The Tea Party movement galvanized around a desire to return to constitutional government and against excessive spending, taxation and government intrusion into the lives of the American people.

The Tea Party movement is a non-partisan movement, focused on issues of economic freedom and limited government, and a movement that will be as vigilant with a Republican-controlled Congress as we were with a Democratic-controlled Congress.

This election was not a mandate for the Republican Party, nor was it a mandate to act on any social issue, nor should it be interpreted as a political blank check.

Already, there are Washington insiders and special interest groups that hope to co-opt the Tea Party’s message and use it to push their own agenda – particularly as it relates to social issues. We are disappointed but not surprised by this development.

We recognize the importance of values but believe strongly that those values should be taught by families and our houses of worship and not legislated from Washington, D.C.

We urge you to stay focused on the issues that got you and your colleagues elected and to resist the urge to run down any social issue rabbit holes in order to appease the special interests. The Tea Party movement is not going away and we intend to continue to hold Washington accountable.

Sincerely,

Christopher R BarronChairman of the Board, GOProud Andrew Ian DodgeCoordinator, Maine Tea Party Patriots

Pam StevensonCoordinator, Arizona Tea Party Patriots Dianna GreenwoodExecutive Director, New American Patriots (Ashland, OH)

Jim Mason IIChairman and State Coordinator, Nebraska’s Tea Party Patriots

Ralph KingCo-coordinator Cleveland Tea Party PatriotsCo-coordinator State of Ohio Tea Party Patriots

Jack LienCoordinator, Tea Party Patriots of Great Malls (Montana)

Tammy BruceNational Radio Talk Show Host JP WeberCoordinator, Annapolis (Maryland) Tea Party Doug Welch, Blogger and member Southern Illinois Tea Party

Bruce CarrollConservative Activist and Blogger Pam StoutCoordinator, Sandpoint Idaho Tea Party Patriots

Dan BlattConservative Activist and Blogger Everett WilkinsonCoordinator, Florida Tea Party

Jimmy LaSalviaExecutive Director, GOProudPaul Crockett

President Santa Clara (California) Tea PartyDavid Thor AndreasenCumberland County (Maine) Tea Party

Did someone fail to deliver this letter?

The move to eject the media from the speech delivered by Fox News contributor Frank Luntz didn't please many Republicans - and embarrassed a state party that, for the second time in its three-day convention, had attempted to bar media from reporting on the ordinarily mundane gathering of 1,000 party faithful.

"I am really appalled. Here we stand as Republicans, we stand for the First Amendment, freedom of the press," said Celeste Greig, chairwoman of the conservative California Republican Assembly. "This happens in Iraq, Iran, or the old KGB when they were in control."

Eric Hogue, a conservative Sacramento talk show host, also was disgusted.
"I'm tired of secret meetings," he said, adding that he believes the party has been hijacked by a small group of activists. "Some people believe control is more important than success.

(′bəd·ər′flī i′fekt)
(physics) In a chaotic system, the ability of miniscule changes in initial conditions (such as the flap of a butterfly's wings) to have far-reaching, large-scale effects on the development of the system (such as the course of weather a continent away).

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/butterfly-effect-2#ixzz1GQxyLMUB

With nearly 80% of America against the denial of collective bargaining rights.
The celebration by WI GOP and Gov Walker may be very short lived

This Thread is a political

As I have been dismayed by much hate and vitriol in recent months, I am still constantly surprised by the fundemental decency that I see in all of you my fellow Americans

And I know in my heart that this set of values guides us all

It is within our Americanism that we, Left, and Right use our own unique way of making America better.

The Left or The right is not what's important. Being American transcends politics religion or ideology

We should be polarized politically because it is in the midst of that polarity that we evolve.

That means we will and should vote differently and follow our left or right paths, because it is the diverseness of our ides that keep the entire system from tipping too far in either direction.

We all have a moral compass and we all lean either left or right, but so long as we never allow partisanship to override our better judgement or the ingrained sense of what is right and what is wrong we can never lose our American spirit

But there are evil men among us of vast wealth and power who do not care about our politics or religion and they do not possess our values and code. But they will play to ours in an effort to manipulate us.

They will cater to what they think can fool you or use tricks politics or religion and evil agents to try to confuse us.

And while all good men can make bad decisions we cannot be bought, and as much as some of these people will deny it they can never take away from you that which is uniquely yours; your American spirit

That Spirit, that Americanism makes you better than they can ever be. And drives them mad, because those things, the boosum of your family, the fraternity of your friends the laughter of your young ones, the freedom of America and our traditions they cannot attain in spite of the wealth and power because they sold their souls long ago.

That does not mean all rich men are like this, many are good, but never doubt that there are those men among us capable of great evil who are constantly at work to satisfy their own agenda and to undermine that which they fear most.

Our American spirit

So, support with passion the ideals that most closely align with who you are, Left our right but remember the constitution is the yardstick we must measure all laws by.

And never let greed or envy cause you to ignore your ingrained sense of right and wrong

God bless you little bleeding hearts and fascists, you are what make us great I love you all.

Since President Obama took office, Republicans have shrouded their agenda of opposition by wrapping it in the flag and the Constitution. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) even went so far as to label her radical anti-government views “constitutional conservatism.” Yet, for all of their constitutional pablum, the GOP’s agenda is nothing less than a direct assault on America’s founding document. Time and time again, Republicans have called for basic constitutional freedoms and fundamental aspects of our constitutional government to be repealed either by amendment or by activist judges:

REPEALING CITIZENSHIP: Numerous GOP lawmakers, including theirSenate leader and the most-recent Republican candidate for president, are lining up behind a “review” of the 14th Amendment’s grant of citizenship to virtually all persons born within the United States. Such a proposal literally revives the vision of citizenship articulated by the Supreme Court’s infamous pro-slavery decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford. It has no place in the twenty-first century.

REPEALING CONGRESS’ POWER TO REGULATE THE ECONOMY: The Constitution’s “Commerce Clause” gives national leaders broad authority to regulate the national economy, but much of the GOP has embraced “tentherism,” the belief that this power is small enough to be drowned in a bathtub. The most famous example of tentherism is the ubiquitousfrivolous lawsuits claiming that health reform is unconstitutional, but these lawsuits are part of a much greater effort. In his brief challenging health reform, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli claims that Congress is allowed to regulate “commerce on one hand” but not “manufacturing or agriculture.” Cuccinelli’s discredited vision of the Constitution was actually implemented in the late 19th and early 20th century, and it would strike down everything from child labor laws to the federal ban on whites-only lunch counters.

REPEALING CONGRESS’ POWER TO SPEND MONEY: The Constitution also gives Congress power to “provide for the common defense and general welfare,” a broad grant of authority to create federal spending programs such as Social Security. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), however, recently called upon the Supreme Court to rewrite the Constitution’s clear language and repeal parts of the budget he doesn’t like. A Texas GOP official even went so far as to claim that the federal highway system is unconstitutional. Should this GOP vision of the Constitution ever be adopted, it could eliminate not just Social Security, but also Medicare, Medicaid, federal education spending and countless other cherished programs.

REPEALING CONGRESS’ POWER TO RAISE MONEY: The Constitution also gives Congress broad authority to decide how to distribute the tax burden. Thus, for example, Congress is allowed to create a tax incentive for people to buy houses by giving a tax break to people with mortgages, and it is allowed to create a similar incentive for people to buy health insurance by taxing people who have health insurance slightly less than people who do not. Nevertheless, the frivolous assaults on health reform would eliminate this Constitutional power. Many Tea Party Republicans go even further, calling for a full repeal of the 16th Amendment, the amendment which enables the income tax. Paying taxes is never popular, but it would be impossible to function as a nation if America lacked the power to raise the money it needs to pay our armed forces, among other things.

REPEALING EQUALITY: The Constitution entitles all persons to “equal protection of the laws,” a provision that formed the basis of Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision yesterday that California cannot treat gay couples as if they are somehow inferior. Immediately after this decision was announced, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) called upon Congress to “act immediately” to overturn it — something that it could only do through a constitutional amendment. Of course, Newt’s proposal does nothing more than revive President Bush’s call for a constitutional amendment repealing the parts of the Constitution that protect marriage equality.

REPEALING FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: As Judge Walker also held, marriage is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution’s Due Process Clause. The GOP’s anti-gay amendment would repeal this constitutional protection as well.

REPEALING ELECTION OF SENATORS: Finally, a number of GOP candidates have come out in favor of repealing the 17th Amendment, the provision of the Constitution which requires direct election of senators, although many of these candidates also backed off their “Seventeenther” stand after it proved embarrassing. It is simply baffling how anyone could take one look at the U.S. Senate, and decide that what it really needs iseven less democracy.

Americans from all walks of life were also united in their vision of what the "ideal" wealth distribution would be, which may come as an even bigger surprise than their shared misinformation on the actual wealth distribution. They said that the ideal wealth distribution would be one in which the top 20% owned between 30 and 40 percent of the privately held wealth, which is a far cry from the 85 percent that the top 20% actually own. They also said that the bottom 40% -- that's 120 million Americans -- should have between 25% and 30%, not the mere 8% to 10% they thought this group had, and far above the 0.3% they actually had. In fact, there's no country in the world that has a wealth distribution close to what Americans think is ideal when it comes to fairness. So maybe Americans are much more egalitarian than most of them realize about each other, at least in principle and before the rat race begins.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- Among the more controversial GOP budget cut proposals is an effort to kill $75 million that's slated to house homeless veterans.

It's the cut that Democrats like to point to when they accuse of Republicans of going too far. And Democrats have even started to make it a campaign issue.

Cont.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/01/news/economy/homeless_veterans_housing_cuts/index.htm

Fox News gets okay to misinform public, court ruling
03/09/10 11:48 Filed in: Media Reform
UPDATED:Many news agencies lie and distort facts, not many have the guts to admit it...in court...positioning the First Amendment as their defense!

The attorneys for Fox, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, successfully argued the First Amendment gives broadcasters the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on the public airwaves. We are pushing for a consumer protection solution that labels news content according to its adherence to ethical journalism standards that have been codified by the Society of Professional Journalists (Ethics: spj.org).
A News Quality Rating System and Content Labeling approach, follows a tradition of consumer protection product labeling, that is very familiar to Americans. The ratings are anti-censorship and can benefit consumers.

Appellate Court Rules Media Can Legally Lie.
By Mike Gaddy. Published Feb. 28, 2003
On February 14, a Florida Appeals court ruled there is absolutely nothing illegal about lying, concealing or distorting information by a major press organization. The court reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information. The ruling basically declares it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast.

On August 18, 2000, a six-person jury was unanimous in its conclusion that Akre was indeed fired for threatening to report the station's pressure to broadcast what jurors decided was "a false, distorted, or slanted" story about the widespread use of growth hormone in dairy cows.

The court did not dispute the heart of Akre's claim, that Fox pressured her to broadcast a false story to protect the broadcaster from having to defend the truth in court, as well as suffer the ire of irate advertisers. Fox argued from the first, and failed on three separate occasions, in front of three different judges, to have the case tossed out on the grounds there is no hard, fast, and written rule against deliberate distortion of the news.

The attorneys for Fox, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, argued the First Amendment gives broadcasters the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on the public airwaves.

In its six-page written decision, the Court of Appeals held that the Federal Communications Commission position against news distortion is only a "policy," not a promulgated law, rule, or regulation. Fox aired a report after the ruling saying it was "totally vindicated" by the verdict.

Common to every dictatorship, from the fascist and communist despots of the 20th century to their counterparts in today's authoritarian societies, is the impulse to forbid workers from organizing. The legacy of those who established those rights with their blood and toil, both here and abroad, is not ours to surrender to bullies such as Walker and Koch. Like all of our liberties, it is a trust to be guarded -- by every means available.

With literally terraflops of evidence to the contrary, Right wing hate mongers continue to go about business as usual and refuse, vehemently any notion that their Gun Glorification and non-stop campaign of hate is in anyway responsible for ANY violence commited.

My dad was a CHP officer in 50's and 60's mom worked as a Juv. Probation Officer and we did ok.
Pop's best friend was an elevator operator at FW Woolworth's and he owned a house and put three kids through college on that salary, Industry was everywhere and everyone had work and purpose.
Those jobs if they existed today might get you a room in a skid row hotel but not a house and certainly not putting the kids through college.
It's worse than just the money, which I would not begrudge but with it went the American dream and our once community - family centric way of life went with it.

I was sent this by an old friend and fellow Vet who, like me spends a lot of time praying for those who are far away at Christmas and trying to stand up for their rights here at home as they fight and die for ours overseas:

"A Soldiers Christmas"

By Michael Marks

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,

I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam ‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.

“I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you’ve done, For
being away from your wife and your son.”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, “
Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

Recently I read a Newsvine seed that disturbed me greatly:

http://h-kuehn.newsvine.com/_news/2010/12/08/5612173-idaho-says-its-okay-to-rape-unmarried-women

and made me keenly aware that we are all in peril of losing the very essence of what makes us Americans.

The thread focused on an Idaho woman who had been sexually assaulted. Duped into an act of copulation with another man whom she believed was her partner but turned out to be a stranger.

The case was dismissed due to an arcane law that first required the woman be married before she could have refused consent.

Now, there was much outrage at this ruling and rightly so IMO.

Our society has grown beyond the puritanical belief that women must remain chaste until they are married or that promiscuity equates consent.

Unfortunately the law had never been changed and the culprit escaped justice,

For now.

But the essence of what I am saying goes far beyond this issue or this case.

It goes to the core belief of what makes us Americans and whether we truly stand for the rights and dignities of all. or whether it's all just lip service.

I'm not talking so much about individual rights, like voting and freedom of worship, though the erosion of those basic civil liberties is symptomatic of our larger ailment, I am talking about an affliction of apathy in the American body politic.

A quietly growing yet insidiously festering belief that we can subjugate the freedoms and beliefs of others and yet somehow maintain our own.

We once held a belief in this country that in order to champion our own rights we could only do so by championing the rights and the freedoms of others.

This belief in universal liberty came at a very high price and forced us to look long and hard within ourselves and to reject many of our preconceived notions regarding race, and sex and religion.

When we were able to do this we finally became American.

We became aware that the rights of all were only upheld by championing the rights of the weakest among us.

We have somehow lost this noble vision and it is slowly destroying us as a society.

Now is the time for us to take a serious look around us at the poorest and weakest elements in our society, at arcane, outdated and unjust laws and legislation that no longer reflects the founding principles and beliefs and demand action be taken.

If you are a real American you are a Humanist and you cannot claim to be a patriot and wrap yourself in a flag bloodied and tattered by those who fell in defense of those liberties for us and then deny them to others.

I am an American male, I am a veteran and I am a feminist.

God Bless America!

(ALL of America)

While the GOP believe they live on "Planet America" the rest of us live here on Planet Earth.
In order to be able to fashion fortign policy, you must bring something to the party besides hate and fear.
Republicans are playing political football with ALL of our futures in an attempt to build more political capital for 2012.
The problem they face is that we are not Reagan or Clintons America thanks to the disastrous policies of Bush and to emerging super powers around the world,

Virtually alone in their denial, Republicans continue to call fantasy what virtually every other political group on Earth accepts as fact.

A massive campaign against keeping jobs in America has been bankrolling campaign attack ads against both Democrats’ and Republicans.

This type of undermining of American politics via foreign un named sources in China, Russia, India and other nations directly imperils American interests and cannot be allowed to continue.

This is a threat not only to our national security but to our American way of life and should concern ALL Americans.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38797920/ns/politics-decision_2010/

Please pass this on to all Veterans that served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The deadline is Oct 21st for Veterans to apply for retroactive Military pay if their tour of duty was extended under the Military's stop loss provisions. The 1st website is from the VA explaining the program. The 2nd link is from the Whitehouse and contains a video from President Obama explaining the program. This is a Military program and HR does not have any information so Veterans should contact the VA.

http://www.vetcenter.va.gov/Retroactive_Stop_Loss_Pay_RSLSP.asp

Fedblog: Obama to Troops on Retroactive Pay: Go For It

Wednesday, September 15, 2:01 p.m. ET:
Under a law passed last year, members of the uniformed military whose service in Iraq or Afghanistan was extended under 'stop loss' provisions are eligible for $500 per month in retroactive pay for each month their service was extended. Tens of thousands of veterans have not applied for the payments -- which the White House says average $3,700 -- and the deadline is Oct. 21.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/15/president-obamas-message-veterans-retroactive-pay-due-stop-loss

Thanks for serving,
-Grateful US Army Vet

Inhofe blocks increased oil spill liability proposal
JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau
Published: 5/18/2010 3:53 PM
Last Modified: 5/18/2010 5:58 PM

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe blocked Democrats' proposal Tuesday to boost the liability cap on oil spills from the current $75 million to $10 billion.

In objecting to letting the proposal move forward, the Oklahoma Republican warned its current form could actually end up helping big oil companies like BP by giving them exclusive rights to off-shore drilling.

Smaller, independent producers would be shut out, Inhofe said.

He expressed agreement with others that insist the liability cap should be increased, adding, however, he remains unsure at this point exactly what that figure should be.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=13&articleid=20100518_1_0_WASHIN171846&rss_lnk=1

Repeatedly ignored or overlooked in the midst of this current crises is the fact that the GOP and specifically Sen Inhofe-R-OK have repeatedly blocked attempts to lift the cap on what will become the most costly clean up in history dwarfing Obamacare and TARP combined.