Gun Case Resolved for Tea Party Patriots Leader Mark Meckler
Many of our Palm Beach County Tea Party members met Mark Meckler last September when he and Dawn Wildman visited all three of our chapters. Just before Christmas, you may have read that Mark was arrested in LaGuardia airport on a firearms charge. The liberal media portrayed this as a major arrest and that Mark was facing 15 years in prison due to a firearms charge. This situation has been resolved positively Mark can finally explain what happened. Since our major media outlets will not cover this positive outcome, I want to share Mark’s statement with you. It is lengthy but well worth the read!
From Mark Meckler:
On December 15, 2011 at approximately 5:15 a.m., I was at LaGuardia International airport preparing to check in for a flight out of the city. During a routine check-in, I requested a firearms declaration form from the ticket agent. It was my intent to declare and check my unloaded firearm.
I purchased this firearm legally, and I have a valid concealed carry permit for it issued in California. The unloaded gun was locked inside a TSA-approved travel case, and the case was locked inside my checked luggage. I carry the firearm for my personal safety, having received numerous threats due to my role in the Tea Party Patriots. I have checked this firearm at airports dozens of times before, all across the country.
As I traveled through LaGuardia that morning, I passed TSA signs telling me I had the right to check this unloaded firearm in my luggage, and that I am required by law to declare the firearm to the ticketing agent. This is exactly what I did.
The ticketing agent provided me with the declaration form, and I signed it and returned it to her. She advised me that she would need to call Port Authority police to inspect. This is not unusual when traveling with a firearm. Procedures vary from airport to airport, from airline to airline, and even from day to day, and as a law-abiding citizen, I have always been happy to cooperate.
Unfortunately, that day, I didn’t realize that I was about to cross paths with New York City’s anti-Second Amendment stance. Upon showing my case and the weapon to the officer who arrived on the scene, and after a few brief questions, she advised me that she was placing me under arrest for violating New York City’s firearms laws.
To say that I was stunned would be an understatement. I am from a law enforcement family. My mother is a retired correctional officer, and I have spent my life around folks from the law enforcement community. I have always considered myself a law-abiding citizen. I have never been arrested before. I have never been in police custody. I can never say those things again. On December 15th, 2011, I was arrested, handcuffed at the ticket counter, and taken to a waiting squad car for transport to the Port Authority Police station at LaGuardia.
I was subsequently transferred, in handcuffs, to the Queens Central booking facility in New York City. I was charged with felony possession of a firearm with intent to do harm. I spent the day in Queens…in jail.
It was a nightmare that I can scarcely describe to you. Until you have felt the handcuffs on your wrists, and until you have heard that cell door close behind you, it is impossible to understand what it means to actually lose your liberty. And since that day, my liberty has been at stake, and because of that threat, based upon the advice of counsel, I’ve been unable to publicly speak about this case. Today the silence ends.
I am pleased to announce that the criminal case against me has been dropped. Although I was originally charged with a violent felony, the case against me was resolved with a plea to “disorderly conduct. ” Disorderly Conduct is not a felony or a misdemeanor, or even a crime. The facts underlying my plea are that I declared a legally purchased, properly licensed and unloaded firearm at an airport counter. Apparently, much to my surprise, in New York City, it is considered “disorderly conduct” to exercise your constitutionally guaranteed, Second Amendment rights.
Strangely, now that the case against me is over, the authorities refuse to return my firearm. There is no law that allows them to confiscate a weapon in this manner. They simply say “no” when you ask for your weapon back. This is apparently their “policy.” This is apparently done regularly in New York. This is government robbery. Not only is New York City anti-Second Amendment rights, but they are depriving citizens of their legally owned property. My lawyer has advised me that I can attempt to pursue the return of my firearm, but that to do so would cost me more than the firearm is worth. I am not alone in facing this tyranny. It has happened to hundreds of people in the New York metro area. My lawyer, Brian Stapleton, has handled over 400 of these cases himself, so he is an expert on the subject.
While the end of this case is the end of a horrible nightmare for my family and I, it is not the end of this fight. It is just the beginning. Since the original incident, I have received more emails, phone calls, texts and tweets of support than you can possibly imagine. To those people, I want to say heart-felt thanks on behalf of my entire family. We have come to know that we are not alone in this particular fight. Apparently, this happens to hundreds of people per year in New York City. And New York City is not alone in its attack on our rights. This sort of Constitutional abuse, Second Amendment and otherwise, is taking place all over the nation. And we as citizens must stand against it. We must protect our rights, or we will lose them.
Many of you know me as someone who is willing to stand and fight for self-governance in this country. I’m no politician, and I’m not from a powerful or connected family. I’m an average American citizen. And I stand shoulder to shoulder with millions of other Americans who, despite enormous obstacles, and despite the politicians and ruling elite who oppose us, intend to return this country to the bounds of the United States Constitution.
The politicians and ruling elite will try, but we must not let them label us Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal. We cannot let them make us fight against each other. Too much is at stake. We the People are losing our sovereignty to the government. We the People, must stand and fight for our inalienable rights.
I’m not alone in this fight. There are so many laws, that no one can possibly know or understand them. We are all affected. From the inner city to the farm, from the heartland of America to the coasts, people are under pressure from a government that no longer serves them. From my home in California, to the farmland of Kansas… from the small towns of South Carolina to the metropolis of New York, every year the legislatures pass thousands of laws and regulations that do not serve the people.
The legislators don’t read the bills they pass, and even if they did, they couldn’t understand them. Our criminal justice system is terribly broken, and no longer serves the people and the communities it was intended to serve. Our regulatory system is broken; small businesses and the communities that rely on them crushed under the weight of unnecessary regulation.
We are, step by step, destroying the heart of America. And we are doing so because we are not governing ourselves according to the Constitution. It’s up to us…the People.
It’s time to stand for self-governance. It is time to stand for the plain meaning of the Constitution. Every word of the Constitution is important, and we must fight for them all. We must fight for every inch of this country, from the inner city to the smallest rural town. We are, all of us, first and foremost, American citizens. We’ve always governed ourselves…and we always intend to. And we’ve always been willing to stand when freedom is at stake. It is time to stand…time for all of us, every race, every religion, every gender, every American to stand up and fight for liberty and take responsibility for governing ourselves.
No one should ever have to go through what my family has been through, simply for exercising a fundamental right, specifically enumerated in the United States Constitution. I am committed to making sure no one does. And I’m willing to work with anyone…anyone, who agrees that it’s time for the people to govern themselves once again.
Will we as citizens fight for our inalienable right to govern ourselves, or will we quietly allow ourselves to be “governed” into submission by a ruling elite, disconnected from our citizens and our communities? Only history will tell, but I intend to fight.
Mark Meckler
A 2012 Conservative’s view of the Republican Party
This is the impression of a conservative once-upon-a-time Republican who was left behind when the Republican Party moved left to join the progressive Democrats.
The Republican Party hierarchy appears to be threatened by the rise of conservatives in their midst who won elections in 2010 and could challenge the party hierarchy for influence and power if these conservatives grow stronger and more numerous.
That Republican Party hierarchy has done its best to marginalize the conservative members of Congress.
That Republican Party hierarchy responded to the perceived conservative threat by turning a cold shoulder to the more conservative presidential candidates and has orchestrated carefully timed endorsements of their liberal candidate.
That Republican Party hierarchy has done nothing to change a New Hampshire voting procedure that allows progressive Democrats and Independents to vote for the Republican Party’s liberal Republican candidate. If the Republicans allow Democrats to help them pick their nominee, why not let illegal aliens help too? At the same time the Republican Party hierarchy threatens to punish Florida, which requires that only Republicans vote in the Republican primary election, for adjusting the date of their primary election. Date adjustment is apparently a much more serious transgression than non-Republicans voting for a Republican nominee.
That Republican Party hierarchy has arrogantly taken the position that conservatives, concerned about the direction the progressive Marxist incumbent White House occupant has taken the country, will have to vote for their Republican nominee no matter how liberal that nominee is. That Republican Party hierarchy behaves like it is the only game in town and the conservatives can take it or leave it. Do they not know that many conservatives are seriously considering the “leave it” option?
That Republican Party hierarchy seems oblivious to the need for an enthused electorate that will beat the bushes and provide funds to help their candidate get elected.
That Republican Party hierarchy does not seem to understand or care about the role enthusiastic Tea Party members and other conservatives played in the election of the conservative Republicans in 2010.
That Republican Party hierarchy does not seem to understand that one option for conservatives is to turn their enthusiasm and money to conservatives running for Congress and local offices and to ignore the Republican Party’s progressive presidential candidate.
That Republican Party hierarchy apparently cannot conceive of the possibility that their 2012 liberal presidential candidate who does not fire up the conservative base can suffer the same fate as their 2008 liberal presidential candidate who did not fire up the conservative base.
This conservative’s view: A conservative replacement for the progressive Republican Party cannot come too soon.
February Jupiter/PBG Chapter Meeting Features Author Ron DeSantis
| DATE: | Monday, February 6th, 2012 |
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| TIME: | Doors open 5:30pm. Buffet at 6pm. Meeting starts at 7pm, $15 per person (tax and gratuity included) |
| PLACE: | Abacoa Golf Club 105 Barbados Drive Jupiter, Florida Click HERE for Map |
| RSVP: | Click on the RSVP button below, or email to rsvp.jupiter@gmail.com, or call 561-316-7475. |
The video below is an introduction to the topic. We look forward to seeing you there!!!
February Boca Chapter Meeting Features Author Ron DeSantis
| DATE: | Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 |
|---|---|
| TIME: | Doors open 5:30pm. Buffet at 6pm. Meeting starts at 7pm, $15 per person (tax and gratuity included) |
| PLACE: | a href=”http://www.bocagreenscountryclub.com/”>Boca Greens Country Club 19642 Trophy Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33498 Click HERE for Map |
| RSVP: | Click on the RSVP button below, or email to rsvp.boca@gmail.com, or call 561-302-1479. |
The video below is an introduction to the topic. We look forward to seeing you there!!!
PPP Event provides new GOP Primary Candidate insights
The joint Presidential Preference Profile Event between Palm Beach County Tea Party and South Florida 912 was held at the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach. We’d like to give special thanks to the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach for allowing us to use these beautiful facilities, and for making the arrangements. Thanks especially to Jimmy Scroggins, Senior Pastor and Linda Thornton, Senior Pastor Assistant and all who were involved. And thanks to Joy Stone, member of the congregation, and a member of both South Florida 912 and Palm Beach County Tea Party for making the initial contacts for us.
The event was intended to inform the grassroots activist members of both groups about the candidates in the upcoming January 31st Florida GOP Presidential Preference Primary, and to provide them with additional information to motivate them to join the campaigns for the final 3 weeks prior to the primary.
Pam Wohlschlegel, Chairman and County Coordinator for Palm Beach County Tea Party and Florida Chair for Tea Party Patriots. introduced David DiCrescenzo, Publisher/Editor in Chief of The Patriots Press and long-time South Florida 912 member, who led us in a heart-felt, moving invocation. Then Jason Shields, another long-time South Florida 912 member and leader, led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Pam asked for a show of hands on how many undecideds were in the audience. Over 60% percent raised their hands. She spoke about the hard work ahead and how both PBCTP and South Florida 912 plan to work together to achieve success in 2012. Cooperation, Collaboration and Communication were to be the hallmarks of 2012!
Pam turned the podium over to Shannon Armstrong, Founder of South Florida 912. Shannon asked the attendees how many went to the first 9/12 March on DC in 2009. Several in the audience had. She asked us to consider how much intensity we felt then and in the 2010 election campaign and did we feel that now? If not – we have to look within ourselves and regain that intensity as we head towards this most important election in 2012. She then introduced the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Brian Mudd, Program Director 1290 WJNO & 1230 WBZT Financial Analyst & Co-host for The Morning Rush.
Brian also spoke motivationally – encouraging all of us to listen to the candidates’ positions and to pick our candidate, but to all get behind the eventual winner to ensure a win in 2012. He asked Fred Scheibl, long-time member of South Florida 912 and co-founder of Palm Beach County Tea Party, to explain what the evening was about. Fred gave the ground rules.
Each of the candidate representatives were to have 5 minutes to discuss their candidates values on:
- Leadership – what makes a good leader, who they admire
- Character – which attributes of character are most important, which guide their lives
- Worldview – what is America’s role in the next 20 years, what are our top three economic problems, top three foreign policy challenges?
- Quality of Solutions – What is the major advantages of your tax plan, your doctrine on foreign interventions, your approach to the size of government
- Governing style – How will you get things done? How will you “change Washington?” How will you differ from Barack Obama? From George Bush?
The next portion of the agenda was to discuss Policy Positions and each surrogate could pick from any of the following areas and speak for another 5 minutes: Tax Reform, Spending and Deficit, Size of Government, 10th Amendment, Health Care, Regulations, Trade/China, UN/NATO/EU, Arab Spring, Role of the Military.
Finally – the reps would get 3 minutes each to wrap up and solicit volunteers, after which Brian would moderate 10 minutes of questions.
Fred explained that the PPP Voters’ Guide was a combination of responses provided by each of the campaigns coupled with the research done by several Palm Beach County Tea Party and South Florida 912 members. The complete guide is 44 pages long, but the 4 page summary is also available online. Thanks to all of the members who participated – in particular Alex Berry, Richard Bock, Joe Burge, Barry Carson, Mary Farrell, Laura Henning, Gary Summers and Kim Winker.
Brian then introduced the candidate surrogates:
For Newt Gingrich: Tami Donnally, PBC Co-Chairman
For Ron Paul: Francisco Rodriguez, PBC Co-Coordinator
For Rick Perry: Craig Briscoe, Southwest FL Regional Director
For Mitt Romney: Fran Hancock, PBC Co-Chairman
For Rick Santorum: Starla Brown, Southeast FL Regional Coordinator
Each of the surrogates were volunteer activists with extensive experience. All should be congratulated on the amount of work they put into preparing for the Event and in their outstanding detailed and eloquent descriptions of their candidates Worldview and Policies. Thanks to all of you! Well done!
Ed Fulop – South Florida 912 Project organizer and long-time member served as our time-keeper. The representatives had clearly timed their presentations and most finished well-within their allotted timeframes!
Mid-way through the presentations, Brian pointed out the quality, depth and caliber of the positions of any and all of the GOP candidates when contrasted with the current administration. We should be proud to support any of these folks!
After the Q&As, Fred gave the current results of the member Surveys from both the South Florida 912 and Palm Beach County Tea Party websites. When tallied together, the tied overall winners were Congressman Paul and Senator Santorum. The survey remains on the websites and you are welcome to continue to take and/or modify your ratings of the candidates.
Finally, Jason Shields announced the 50:50 winner and the meeting concluded. Many stayed to talk with the various candidates representatives.
Thanks to all who participated. Please feel free to distribute the links to the complete Voters’ Guide and to hand-out/print-out the short version to all whom you think may benefit from it. We want informed voters at the upcoming Primary and hope these tools will assist you in your decisions.
Some pictures from Iris:
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American Jobs and Energy Sacrificed to Obama’s Political Ambitions
By Barbara Samuells, Founder of 912 Super Seniors
Note well, Republican Congressmen and energy conscious American citizens, there is no chance this president will approve the Keystone Pipeline even to please his constituents with a another decrease in payroll taxes and an increase in taxes on millionaires. He will get what he wants some other way, the Chicago way.
Know that this president will never allow the Keystone Pipeline anymore than he will allow the Utica, Ohio shale oil project to go forward. Political calculations trump all else for this administration . On Nov. 8, Ohio’s Issue 3 offered its citizens a voice on the mandates of Obamacare. Ohioans were the first and the only Americans who actually got to vote on Obamacare. By two to one, they voted “NO“. The 20 month effort of over 4400 volunteers who collected petition signatures to put Issue 3 on the ballot resulted in every Ohioan having the chance to reject the forced healthcare mandates of PPACA, known as Obamacare.
Quick as a wink Ohioans received their first punishment for voting against Obama’s signature accomplishment. The Utica, Ohio shale oil project was stopped in its tracks by a federal agency, the USDA.
Like the Keystone Pipeline, this shale oil resource in Ohio would provide needed energy sourced outside the Middle East. Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources estimates a possible yield of 5.5 billion barrels of oil and 15.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The Utica, Ohio project would create 200,000 direct jobs by 2015.
Also, like the pipeline, it has been halted by Obama’s political muscle. After Ohio’s stinging rejection of Obamacare the USDA imposed a six month delay for “additional research” thus enabling the environmentalists who know there must be damage to forests, water or something, but need more time to find it. What are the chances the delay will turn into more delays and an eventual ban of the entire project? Energy and jobs are denied to teach a Chicago style lesson to Ohioans and any Americans daring to challenge this president’s plans.
The message to Americans is clear and the Chicago playbook is wide open. The loss of many thousands of jobs and the energy we sorely need is nothing compared to the raw political power used to keep uncooperative American citizens in line.
MAJOR 2012 FLORIDA LEGISLATURE ISSUES
The 2012 legislative session will begin on January 10, 2012 and end on March 9, 2012
There are two major constitutionally required activities for the session, redistricting and appropriating. Some legislative leaders have said that not much more will get done in the allotted 60 days.
1. REDISTRICTING
In 2012 the legislature is required to redraw both the U.S. congressional district boundaries and the state legislative district boundaries. The effort must be consistent with provisions of the U.S. and Florida Constitutions and the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965
1.1 U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT BOUNDARIES
Florida is required to change its existing congressional district boundaries because it is adding two representatives for the 2012 election.
The U.S. Constitution states in ARTICLE I., Sect. 2. “Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to the respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct.”
The Census Bureau reports that in the 2010 census the total US population was 308,745,538
The Census Bureau also reports that in the 2010 the Florida population was 18,843,326
If the population were to be distributed equally to each member of the U.S. House of representatives, each of the 435 members would represent 709,760 people (308,745,538/435=709,760), and Florida would have 27 congressional districts (18,843,326/709,760=27). At the present time Florida has 25 congressional districts so the increasing state population requires the addition of two more representatives. These are to be elected in 2012.
The present congressional district boundaries are the result of the liberal application of Gerrymandering. For example, the 16th congressional district represented by Tom Rooney of Tequesta stretches from Palm Beach County on the Atlantic Ocean to Punta Gorda in Charlotte County on the Gulf of Mexico.
The recently enacted provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Florida Constitution (SECTION 16) enumerated in Section 1.2 below apply to the congressional district boundaries and make the work of the legislature more challenging.
The challenges are political, not a simple matter of mathematics. It is necessary to have districts that are compact and utilize existing political and geographical boundaries. Many state politicians see that it is their challenge is to redistrict while minimizing the impact on the electability of incumbent politicians.
The plan developed by the legislature will have to be approved by the U.S. Justice Department (a Voting Rights Act requirement) and be in place for the primary election in August.
1.2 FLORIDA STATE LEGISLATURE DISTRICT BOUNDARIES
The Florida State Constitution states in “SECTION 16. Legislative apportionment.—
(a) SENATORIAL AND REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS. The legislature at its regular session in the second year following each decennial census, by joint resolution, shall apportion the state in accordance with the constitution of the state and of the United States into not less than thirty nor more than forty consecutively numbered senatorial districts of either contiguous, overlapping or identical territory, and into not less than eighty nor more than one hundred twenty consecutively numbered representative districts of either contiguous, overlapping or identical territory. Should that session adjourn without adopting such joint resolution, the governor by proclamation shall reconvene the legislature within thirty days in special apportionment session which shall not exceed thirty consecutive days, during which no other business shall be transacted, and it shall be the mandatory duty of the legislature to adopt a joint resolution of apportionment.”
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The Florida State Constitution also states in “SECTION 21. Standards for establishing legislative district boundaries.—In establishing legislative district boundaries:
(a) No apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and districts shall consist of contiguous territory.
(b) Unless compliance with the standards in this subsection conflicts with the standards in subsection 1(a) or with federal law, districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; districts shall be compact; and districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries.
(c) The order in which the standards within subsections 1(a) and (b) of this section are set forth shall not be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that subsection.
History.—Proposed by Initiative Petition filed with the Secretary of State September 28, 2007; adopted 2010.
1Note.—The subsections of section 21, as it appeared in Amendment No. 5, proposed by Initiative Petition filed with the Secretary of State September 28, 2007, and adopted in 2010, were designated (1)-(3); the editors redesignated them as (a)-(c) to conform to the format of the State Constitution.”
The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires the creation of a district that performs for racial minorities where (1) a minority population is geographically compact and sufficiently numerous to be a majority in a single district; (2) the minority population is politically cohesive; (3) the majority votes sufficiently as a bloc to enable it usually to defeat the minority-preferred candidate; and (4) under all of the circumstances, the minority population has less opportunity than others to participate in the political process and elect representatives of its choice.
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2. BUDGETING AND APPROPRIATING
Funds for operating the state must be appropriated in bills passed by the legislature and approved by the Governor.
This is normally a lengthy process involving the drafting of proposed legislation by the various representatives, the holding of hearings by legislative committees of both the House and Senate to consider the bills and recommend changes, and the passage of the bills by both houses after they have been reconciled to be identical.
3. OTHER LEGISLATION
As of January 8, 2012 approximately 700 bills were submitted in the House for consideration and 900 bills in the Senate and more are being submitted daily.
The media outlets are replete with reports by various advocates and opponents of proposed legislation endeavoring to get their issues before the public in an effort to influence which, if any, bills will get passed.
Legislative leaders have said not much more than redistricting and appropriating will get done.
Change in Direction Needed by Mark Wohlschlegel
I am by nature an optimist—I have all my life looked at the glass and concluded that it was half full not half empty. I am an engineer and technologist by profession—so I question things and therefore classify myself as a realist as well. Through some research that I have recently done and through my good friend Tom Boyton, who is owner and President of WJTW radio Jupiter, Florida who I thank for many of the statistics that follow, I would like to make a case for the fact that our current direction in our country is wrong, and that we must make some significant re-direction of priorities and fix what is clearly broken. Solving problems requires first understanding the problem. What concerns me most is that our leaders and elected representative don’t seem to get it and we the people, simply are not elevating our voices to put sufficient pressure on these elected officials to change course. Therefore, I feel that we all have a personal obligation to educate and present facts to as many people as we can to engage them in this debate and generate interest and involvement. This is our country—and there are no guarantees for continued prosperity. We can through action and inaction, destroy what our forefathers have handed to us.
I also love history and know that great nations and nation states that once found themselves “on top of the world” and enjoyed great prosperity through conscious decision destroyed wealth and their positions in the world. I am a believer in the fact that basic beliefs lead to decisions, and decision then lead to consequences. If one’s basic beliefs are not sound, then bad decisions follow and in turn bad consequences and outcomes will result. I grew up under the guidance that solid values and hard work will result in prosperity. I was blessed to have been born in the USA—and to have lived under a government for the most part that adhered to basic principals set forth by our founders. Our leaders practiced what our founders had framed for us. Unfortunately, we have significantly drifted from these principals, and unless we can change our current course, we are destined to some pretty bad outcomes. I believe we have already strayed from what has made our country great, and the outcomes are pretty apparent by the stats I present below. So I ask the question, do you think we are headed in the right direction as a country? If the answer to this is no—then get involved—make your voices heard. It is only through the voices of the people that things will be set back on course.
1. Today, a staggering 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be “low income” or are living in poverty
2. Approximately 57 percent of all children in the US are living in homes that are either considered to be “low income” or impoverished.
3. If the number of Americans that “wanted jobs” was the same today as it was back in 2007, the “official” unemployment rate put out by the US government would be up to 11 percent or higher.
4. The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the US is now over 40 weeks.
5. A recent survey found that 77 percent of all US small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers and we all know that the engine that drives employment in the US is not large corporations it is small businesses.
6. There are fewer payroll jobs in the US today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.
7. Since December 2007, median household income in the US has declined by a total of 6.8% accounting for inflation.
8. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million
9. A recent Gallup poll found that approximately one out of every five Americans that do have a job consider themselves to be underemployed
10. According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all US adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.
11. Back in 1980, less than 30 percent of all jobs in the US were low income jobs. Today, more than 40 percent of all jobs in the US are low income jobs.
12. Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job. In July of this year, only 81.2% of men in that age group had a job.
13. One recent survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be able to make a mortgage or rent payment next month if they suddenly lost their current job.
14. The Federal Reserve recently announced that the total net worth of US households declined by 4.1 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2011 alone.
15. According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the US is now 154 percent.
16. As the economy has slowed down, so has the number of marriages. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all US adults were married.
17. The US Postal service has lost more than 5 billion dollars over the past year
18. In Stockton, CA home prices have declined 64 percent from where they were in 2005-2006
19. Nevada has had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for 59 months in a row
20. The median price of a home in Detroit is now $6,000
21. According to the US Census Bureau, 18 percent of all homes in the state of Florida are sitting vacant. That figure is 63 percent larger than it was 10 years ago.
22. New home construction in the US is on pace to set a brand new all-time record low in 2011
23. 19 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 34 are now living with their parents.
24. Electricity bills in the US have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.
25. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5 percent of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today, they account for approximately 16.3 percent.
26. A recent study found that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.
27. One out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards.
28. The US spends about 4 dollars on goods and services from China for every one dollar that China spends on goods and services from the US.
29. Projections for the US trade deficit for 2011 will be $558.2 billion.
30. The retirement crisis in the US just continues to get worse. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 46 percent of all Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 29 percent of all American workers have less than $1,000 saved for retirement.
31. Today, one out of every six elderly Americans lives below federal poverty line.
32. According to an analysis by the Census Bureau data done by the Pew Research Center, the median net worth for households led by someone 65 years of age or older is 47 times greater than the median net worth for households led by someone under the age of 55.
33. 37 percent of all US households that are led by someone under the age of 35 have a net worth of zero or less than zero.
34. A higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty (6.7 percent) than has ever been measured before.
35. Child homelessness in the US is now 33 percent higher than it was back in 2007
36. . Sadly, child poverty is absolutely exploding all over America. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4 percent of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty. 40.1 percent of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty. 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty. 53.6 percent of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.
37. Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps.
38. . In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7 percent of all income. Today, government transfer programs account for more than 18 percent of all income.
39. A staggering 48.5%of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of government benefits. Back in 1983, that number was below 30 percent.
40. Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP. Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.
41. For fiscal year 2011, the US federal government had a budget deficit of nearly 1.3 trillion dollars; that was the third year in a row that our budget deficit has topped a trillion dollars. Translated, we are spending over a trillion dollars more than we are taking in.
42. . If Bill Gates one of the wealthiest people in the world gave every single penny of his fortune to the US government, it would only cover the US budget deficit for about 15 days.
43. The US government has now accumulated a total debt of 15 trillion dollars. When Barack Obama first took office the national debt was 10.6 trillion dollars.
44. . If the federal government began right at this moment to repay the US national debt at a rate of one dollar per second, it would take over 440,000 years to pay off the national debt.
45. . The US national debt has been increasing by an average of more than 4 billion dollars per day since the beginning of the Obama administration.
46. During the Obama administration, the US government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.
A trend that must be broken—
An article that appeared in the Bangor Daily News stated that in the state of Maine, “445,074 Mainers paid state income tax while 453,194 received some sort of state aid. In Maine, Medicaid, welfare, food stamps and subsidies for education have a combined enrollment of 660,000.”
Nationally, only 53% of all Americans living in households pay income taxes. Translated—47% or nearly half of all Americans don’t pay any federal income taxes.
We are continuing to depend on fewer and fewer wealth producers to pay for those who are on the take. This is re-distribution—this is socialism—which has proven to fail over and over again. This trend must be reversed—socialism works always for a while—until you run out of other people’s money!
We now have 92 million people on public assistance in one form or another. This includes 33 million children or 45% of all the people under the age of 18. Medicaid is the largest of all government programs and covers 74 million people—translated—one in four Americans. Food stamps now cover 34 million Americans or one in nine people! Almost 20 million people live on cash welfare and 11 million people live in public housing. Our federal policies do in fact incentivize people to depend on federal government programs and discourage job creation. Allowed to continue, this truly is a formula for disaster.
Understand our direction, and understand it is unsustainable. Have the guts to get involved and make your voices heard. Engage people, friends, acquaintances, young people, we are entering one of the most significant political elections in the history of our country. If we do not change the direction that our country is headed, it will be destroyed.
Obamacare for the Internet!
One of the three tenets of the Palm Beach County Tea Party is “Constitutionally Driven Limited Government”. Unfortunately, we have a legislation brewing in our country that literally smacks this tenet down! We, the tea party, a group of concerned citizens must work to understand this legislation and let our congress know how we feel about it. Most of the information that I am sharing here comes from research done by the Tea Party Patriots, a national organization with which the Palm Beach County Tea Party is associated. Herein is the situation:
SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and its Senate cousin (PROTECT IP) are government solutions in search of a problem. Created under the false flag of piracy protection, SOPA allows unelected bureaucrat US Attorney General (Eric Holder) to close down without due process, any site listed in a complaint. SOPA grants the federal government the right to restrict search engine results, freeze merchant accounts and force your internet provider to block any site branded in violation of SOPA. An unelected bureaucrat will decide which sites qualify.
What does this mean for you? Under SOPA, if a single complaint is filed against YouTube alleging pirated materiel, the entire website can be shut down while the claim is investigated. If a single complaint is registered against Google claiming they link to pirated materiel in search results, the entire site can be shut down during the investigation. If a single complaint is logged against Amazon.com claiming pirated goods are being sold, the entire site can be shut down and their online payment service frozen!
Who thought this was a good idea? SOPA is sponsored by Representative Lamar Smith, A Republican from Texas who has been in Congress for over 25 years. It has 31 co-sponsors and is currently moving through the House Judiciary Committee (chaired by Lamar Smith).
Outside Washington D.C., bloggers and experts across the political spectrum have warned against this legislation. SOPA is sponsored by a Republican, PROTECT IP is sponsored by a Democrat. It’s becoming clear that this battle is not about partisan politics or liberal vs. conservatives. This is the Washington elite, using overblown piracy fears to control our internet.
What can you do? First, click here to contact your congressman and let them know SOPA (H.R. 3261) has no place in America. This is not a bill that can be amended into something acceptable, it must die completely.
Next, click here to contact members of the Judiciary Committee specifically and urge them to defeat SOPA by any means necessary.
If you or someone you know lives in Wisconsin, North Carolina, California, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, Iowa, Utah, Arkansas, Pennsylvania or South Carolina, please forward this alert to them. These states have congressional members on the Judiciary Committee, see below for the complete list of committee members with their contact information. Simply click on the red link and you will be on their contact webpage.
Thank you for your efforts and remember, we surround them!
GOP Members DC Phone DC Fax E-mail
Lamar Smith (R-TX) [Chairman] 202-225-4236 202-225-8628 http://lamarsmith.house.gov/Contact/
F. James (Jim) Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI) 202-225-5101 202-225-3190 http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/email_zip.htm
Howard Coble (R-NC) 202-225-3065 202-225-8611 http://coble.house.gov/Contact/ZipCheck.htm
Elton Gallegly (R-CA) 202-225-5811 202-225-1100 https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) 202-225-5431 202-225-9681 http://goodlatte.house.gov/contacts/new
Dan Lungren (R-CA) 202-225-5716 202-226-1298 http://lungren.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=84§i …
Steve Chabot (R-OH) 202-225-2216 202-225-3012 https://chabotforms.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=58& …
Darrell Issa (R-CA) 202-225-3906 202-225-3303 http://issa.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&vi …
Mike Pence (R-IN) 202-225-3021 202-225-3382 https://forms.house.gov/pence/IMA/webforms/contact_fo …
J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) 202-225-6365 202-226-1170 http://randyforbes.house.gov/Contact/ZipAuth.htm
Steve King (R-IA) 202-225-4426 202-225-3193 https://forms.house.gov/king/webforms/issue_subscribe …
Trent Franks (R-AZ) 202-225-4576 202-225-6328 http://franks.house.gov/contacts/new
Louie Gohmert (R-TX) 202-225-3035 202-226-1230 http://gohmert.house.gov/Contact/
Jim Jordan (R-OH) 202-225-2676 202-226-0577 http://jordan.house.gov/Contact/
Ted Poe (R-TX) 202-225-6565 202-225-5547 https://forms.house.gov/poe/webforms/zipauthen_contac …
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) 202-225-7751 202-225-5629 https://chaffetz.house.gov/contact/email-me.shtml
Tim Griffin (R-AR) 202-225-2506 202-225-5903 https://griffin.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Tom Marino (R-PA) 202-225-3731 202-225-9594 https://marino.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Trey Gowdy (R-SC) 202-225-6030 202-226-1177 http://gowdy.house.gov/Contact/
Dennis Ross (R-FL) 202-225-1252 202-226-0585 https://dennisross.house.gov/Contact/
Sandy Adams (R-FL) 202-225-2706 202-226-6299 http://adams.house.gov/Contact/
Ben Quayle (R-AZ) 202-225-3361 202-225-3462 http://quayle.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=58§io …
Mark Amodei (R-NV) 202-225-6155 202-225-5679 https://amodei.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Democrat Members DC Phone DC Fax E-mail
John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) [Ranking Member] 202-225-5126 202-225-0072 http://conyers.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact …
Howard L. Berman (D-CA) 202-225-4695 202-225-3196 http://www.house.gov/berman/contact/
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) 202-225-5635 202-225-6923 https://jerroldnadler.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/de …
Bobby Scott (D-VA) 202-225-8351 202-225-8354 chttp://www.house.gov/berman/contact/
Mel Watt (D-NC) 202-225-1510 202-225-1512 https://forms.house.gov/watt/webforms/zipauthen_conta …
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) 202-225-3072 202-225-3336 http://forms.house.gov/lofgren/webforms/landing.html
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) 202-225-3816 202-225-3317 http://www.jacksonlee.house.gov/Contact/
Maxine Waters (D-CA) 202-225-2201 202-225-7854 https://watersforms.house.gov/Contact/ContactForm.htm
Steve Cohen (D-TN) 202-225-3265 202-225-5663 https://cohenforms.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/
Hank Johnson (D-GA) 202-225-1605 202-226-0691 https://hankjohnsonforms.house.gov/contact-form.shtml
Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR) 202-225-2615 202-225-2154 http://pierluisi.house.gov/english/contact-us.html
Mike Quigley (D-IL) 202-225-4061 202-225-5603 https://forms.house.gov/quigley/contact-form.shtml
Judy Chu (D-CA) 202-225-5464 202-225-5467 https://forms.house.gov/chu/contact-form.shtml
Ted Deutch (D-FL) 202-225-3001 202-225-5974 https://deutchforms.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/defa …
Linda Sanchez (D-CA) 202-225-6676 202-226-1012 https://forms.house.gov/lindasanchez/webforms/issue_s …
Jared Polis (D-CO) 202-225-2161 202-226-7840 https://polisforms.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/defau …
Wellington Chapter Meeting in February
Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Bock will be our guest speaker. Hear how this constitutional officer serves her constituents. Questions that relate to our three tenets: fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets will be addressed.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., buffet dinner from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. for $15 all inclusive, meeting from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, February 13th at the Binks Forest Country Club. For directions Click: HERE
RSVP by clicking the button below:
