With less than a week until the big Tea Parties, we hope you have all had the opportunity to organize yourselves, contact the media, and align speakers for what should be hundreds of fun filled and productive events on Saturday.

Everyday, our government hands us new pieces of legislation that increases our taxes, infringes on our constitutional rights, and sends our tax dollars to those that don’t deserve them.  Together, on July 4th, we stand up to say ENOUGH!

As the Democrats plan to put an out of control government in charge of our health care, and the Republicans stand up to…well…not really sure what they stand for anymore, let’s re-declare our independence together, and voice our respect, not for the possessors of power, but the principles of individual freedom and Liberty.

On a side note, many of you have received messages from a “Kelly”, looking for love.  Althought we encourage everyone to love one another, this is not a dating service site and spamming the members has resulted in us banning her from the site.  To all those interested in a relationship with her, we apologize, but you will have to communicate with her away from this site.

Good luck to everyone, and stay tuned as we are planning a redevelopment of the website to better organize, promote, and publicize all your hard work and activities.  The development will be launched in stages and we hope to unveil the begining in a few short months.  Thank you and continue the good, hard work.

Based on a fairly significant number of comments, the following objectives registered high on your list:

1.  Increase state sovereignty

2.  Throw out big government & big spending incumbents

3.  Reform the tax code

4.  Institute constitutional term limits for those in Congress

5.  Decrease federal spending

6.  Make Congress read the bills before voting

7.  End all federal bailouts

In summary, We the People seek greater states’ rights, a more limited and fiscally restrained Federal Government, meaningful tax reform, and a more accountable Congress.

It not unusual for politicians, like Arlen Specter, to switch affiliation when their party is out of power. However, in a rare occurrence, former Democrat Assemblyman Juan Arambula re-registered as an Independent (called “decline to state” in California), saying “The special interests have a lot to say about what goes on in both parties. But my real frustration is I can’t be effective for my constituents [in the Democratic Party].”

Is this a sign that the tide is turning? Are politicians waking up to the fact that voters are just plain fed up with political games? Have the special interest finally gone too far? This July 4th, let’s join Assemblyman Arambula, other Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, and everyone else that is sending a message to the political elite, and Re-Declare Our Independence.

Make sure to show up to July’s Tea Party protest in style and equipped to spread the message: here’s a contest to win free Tea Party Merchandise.

If you don’t want to bother about the contest, you can also just purchase Tea Party merch. There’s a wide variety of great designs to choose from.

In Liberty!

-W. E. Messamore

People often ask, “What’s the point of the tea parties?” “What are you trying to accomplish?”  “What are your goals?”  To provide answers to these critical questions, perhaps it would be beneficial to create a basic poll.  Here’s a list of potential objectives for Tea Party protestors.  List your top five:

• Balance the federal budget
• Lower taxes across the board
• Increase state sovereignty in political, economic, and social issues
• Institute constitutional term limits in Congress
• Decrease federal spending
• Borrow less money from foreign powers such as China, Russia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc.
• Make Congress cite chapter & verse in the Constitution when passing bills
• End all federal bailouts
• Increase ballot access for Independent & Third Party candidates
• Increase the value of our Dollar
• Throw out every single candidate, regardless of party affiliation, who voted for any of the federal bailouts
• Increase transparency & accountability at the Federal Reserve
• Reform the entire tax code
• Elect Washington outsiders in upcoming elections
• Start paying down the national debt
• Throw out big government & big spending incumbents, regardless of party affiliation
• Make Congress read the bills before they actually vote
• Build the foundation for a new, third party
• Start running for political office ourselves

This list is by no means exhaustive, and there is some degree of overlap between the various categories, but it serves as a good starting point.  What are your Tea Party’s top five objectives?

FactCheck presents a couple of insightful charts which falsify the Obama administration’s unemployment outlook and stimulus projections.  Here are the basic features:

• Without a stimulus package, Obama’s team predicted unemployment would hit 9% early next year.  However, it’s already at 9.4% and climbing.
• With a stimulus package, Obama’s team predicted unemployment would max out at 8% later this year.  Again, it’s already at 9.4%.

Clearly these economic predictions have already been significantly falsified.

Back in early January, Obama stated that unless bold, government actions were taken, unemployment could hit double digits.  Just yesterday, when asked by a reporter, “Will unemployment hit 10%?”, Obama said, “Yes.”  The reporter then asked, “Before the end of this year?”  Obama replied, “Yes.”  So much for the bold, government actions.

Now, before everyone jumps on these failed predictions and obvious contradictions, let’s not forget that Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, and the Bush administration committed many of the same errors.  Bernanke, throughout 2005-2008, repeatedly stated that America’s economy was strong, sound, and robust.  Even in 2008, Bernanke stated that, at most, we might experience a minor slow down.  As for the Bush administration, it wouldn’t even admit that the country was in a recession in 2008, until absolute proof came in September.  Supposedly, the fundamentals were as sound as ever.

There’s an obvious pattern here.  The Federal Government, including the Federal Reserve, has made a number of inaccurate predictions these last several years.  Their projections have been a poor reflection of reality.  The current administration is continuing a trend long in the making.

It would behoove We the People to view government numbers with a high degree of skepticism.  We need to dig a bit deeper, do some research, and think for ourselves.

Read here.

Thus far, the Obama administration is resisting the notion of a federal bailout for the bankrupt state.  Let’s hope it stays that way.  We’ll find out if Obama sticks to his guns by the end of July.

Bailing out a fiscally reckless state such as California would increase the already gargantuan federal budget deficit, add even more debt, place further pressure on the US Dollar, and potentially open the floodgates for the host of other states that have grossly mishandled their check books.

The time is long overdue for California to get its budget under control. Years and years of overspending have lead to disastrous consequences.  Better to take the tough medicine now, suffer some short-term pain, and lay the foundation for legitimate recovery in the years to come.

Now, if we could just get the Federal Government to take its own advice.  For the last 8 1/2 years, its motto has been “Do what I say, not what I do.”

What are your thoughts on California and its budget crisis?

Read here.

Yet another financial analyst is warning that the U.S. could lose its AAA credit rating in the near future.    The “consensus” tends to disagree, though this is the same consensus that failed to predict the stock, credit, and real estate collapse of ‘08.

Mammoth debt, huge deficits, and excessive money printing are raising eyebrows around the world.  Facing over $11 trillion of debt, $99 trillion of unfunded liabilities, nearly $2 trillion budget deficits, and a Dollar that has lost about 33% of its value since 2002, the United States is in deep trouble.

The previous, Republican administration and a largely Republican Congress, couldn’t even balance the budget.  They piled on more debt and stood idly by as the Federal Reserve devalued the Dollar.  Now, a Democratic administration and a Democratic Congress are creating even bigger deficits, piling on even more debt, and devaluing the Dollar further.

At some point, We the People need to step up to the plate if we’re to save our nation from an economic apocalypse.  Ultimately, we’re the ones voting in these politicians.

We need to start doing our homework as voters.  We need to look at voting records, instead of listening to empty rhetoric.  We need to start seriously considering Washington outsiders, instead of giving a free pass to the same old D.C. insiders.  We need to start throwing out our own party favorites, instead of justifying their chronically unbalanced budgets.  We need to start thinking for ourselves, instead of allowing our favorite networks and talk show hosts to do our thinking for us.

Those are some of my solutions.  What are some of yours?

Read here.

Since the end of April, the nationwide price for a gallon of gas has jumped about 22%.  Of course, in the pretend land of government, fuel prices are not included in inflation statistics.  But, the US taxpayer is beginning to feel the consequences of  a weak US Dollar and a precipitous rise in crude oil prices.

Gas prices continue to exceed most economists’ predictions, and many wonder if the recent surge will further extend the current recession.  Early last year,  severe weakness in the Dollar exploded gas prices to over $4 a gallon.  With even more money printing, more spending, and more borrowing, are we headed there again?  We’ll have to wait and see.

A weak US Dollar punishes the American people.  Inflation is an insidious tax that robs hardworking taxpayers of their savings, wages, and purchasing power.  Our last President, with the help of the Federal Reserve, significantly devalued our Dollar, and the current President, with the help of the Federal Reserve, seems bent on pursuing the same path.

Read here.

In order to successfully take back or government, we first have to turn our own views of politics upside down. Most of us get involved in the Tea Party movement, and politics in general, because we are animated by the issues of the day. To make this Tea Party movement work, and to broaden its appeal so it includes all Americans who demand change regardless of ideology, we must set aside the hot topics and concentrate on the fundamental issues which don’t grab the headlines.

In a previous article (1), I have put forth the view that distinctions between left and right have become meaningless. The true division in our society is between the Robbers and the Robbed. The Robbers love to use the hot topics to keep us divided. We must resist that urge to help them divide us and conquer us by agreeing to disagree, if necessary, on the issues which mean the most to us.

One such hot topic is immigration. Many conservatives are deeply concerned about border security and the loss of jobs to people who are here illegally, while the libertarians and progressives among us generally prefer a more open border policy and desire to make it easier for new immigrants to settle here and become citizens.

Another of these issues is health care. Those of us on the left agitate for “single-payer” plans and more government attention to the issue, while most of us on the right say increasing government’s role in health care will only lead to disaster.

In Grand Rapids (2), recently we witnessed competing demonstrations between groups supporting or opposed to a single-payer health care plan. The Robbers love this kind of news. While good people on both sides are putting their energies into arguing with each other over one issue, the Robbers can continue to oppress us on all issues without us putting up a fight.

If we spend our time arguing with each other over immigration, health care, or similar issues which dominate the news, we will never get anywhere. Even when it is a top issue for us, we need to be willing to set it aside in favor of those fundamental issues which will allow us to return to these debates in a sensible manner.

The first understanding which brings us together is simply the recognition that our system of government is broken. Regardless of our position on the political spectrum, we all can see just how far we have strayed from the Constitutional principles which made our Republic strong. In order to address any single issue, we first have to fix our system of government and, as Jefferson stated so well, bind it again to the chains of the Constitution.

This is why Free and Equal is recruiting speakers from the widest possible variety of viewpoints. We all have of grievances that need to be redressed, but considering where we all reside on the political spectrum, we express them differently, use different examples or points of emphasis, and often propose different solutions. Our goal is to get past any disagreement on labels or specific issues and start the conversation that will unite us, so we can fix this broken system together.

Much work has gone into expressing the ReTeaParty statement of principles (3). We have vetted them several times with many people all across the political spectrum in order to present them with the broadest possible appeal.

We can all agree that bailouts, rising national debt, and corporate welfare are destroying our economy. Everyone wants our government to be transparent and accessible to the people. We all want our freedom, and we understand that defending it starts with establishing our right to privacy from the prying eyes and ears of Big Brother.

Ultimately, all across the political spectrum you will find the growing understanding that the Constitution expresses the kind of government that will work for us much better than the corporatism we endure today.

We’re serious in our call to Re-Declare our Independence (4) that we welcome “any and all groups and individuals dissatisfied with the current governance of the United States, regardless of ideology, partisan identity, or political affiliation.”

Taking partisan stands on issues such as immigration or health care, or anything else that sets us up to remain warring factions, only serves the Robbers. What will work for us is to take non-partisan stands on fundamental principles which unite all Americans.

If we continue to play their partisan game, while we squabble with each other we face the very real possibility that the entire system will collapse. All the partisan issues become quite meaningless when people are struggling simply to feed their families and survive.

Before we can have any hope of reasonably working to our differences on single issues, we have to fight just to have a stable government that allows us to peacefully resolve these differences. We have to restore a sustainable and moral economy that supports our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

That is why the Tea Party movement is most successful when we stick to the fundamental issues of reform. Once we again become secure in a system which supports our lives, our liberties, and our pursuit of happiness however we define it, only then will it become possible for us to revisit the hot topics with the ability to actually resolve them in a way which is positive for all Americans.

*

links:

(1) http://www.reteaparty.com/2009/04/17/what-tea-parties-are-and-are-not/

(2) http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/05/both_sides_demonstrate_in_gran.html

(3) http://www.reteaparty.com/principles/

(4) http://www.reteaparty.com/2009/04/28/the-tea-party-movement/