FreedomWorks Spring Fly-In

Between May 19th and May 23rd hundreds of grassroots activists from across the country flew to Washington DC to participate in FreedomWorks two-part Spring Fly-In. I was among four of the PBC Tea Party members who had the honor of attending. What I learned was invaluable and I can’t wait to share it with all of you!

I attended the second group with a kick off Welcome Reception on Tuesday evening at the new FreedomWorks headquarters. I saw old friends for the Fly-In I attended in 2018 and made new friends as I meandered around the room. I ran into Roman Buhler, Director of the Madison Coalition and recent speaker at our May Tea Party meeting who was encouraging other activists to get involved in the grass roots movement of the Freedom Regulation Amendment.

Following breakfast at 7:30 am the following morning it was straight to work. Bottom line we were educated on the International Pricing Index (IPI) an anything but free market pricing solution proposed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar, in preparation for our big trip to the Hill to lobby our Representatives and Senators. In a nutshell, the IPI would tie drug prices in the U.S. to drug prices in foreign countries. Under such a policy, U.S. policy makers would unilaterally adjust American drug prices to match a composite of drug prices in countries such as Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan Netherlands and the United Kingdom. In a word, we would be operating under the same socialist, single-payer systems those countries outlined above and be subject to the same consequences of health care rationing. The Department of HHS is proposing implementing IPI on a trial basis for 50% of Medicare Part B recipients. As FreedomWorks points out there is no way to ensure this “trial” will not impact the private market not to mention that such a rule making is outside HHS’s statutory authority.

So after becoming armed with the facts and a lesson on how to lobby we headed up to the Hill in solidarity in our FreedomWorks shirt. Upon arrival we broke up into nine groups and with our group leader walked from office to office to meet with the healthcare policy staffers of our state representatives and senators. My group consisted of Florida and Georgia. While we only secured an appointment with Senator Rick Scott’s staffer, we were able to meet with staffers from Senator Marco Rubio’s office, Representative Vern Buchanan’s (R-GA) office and believe it or not, Mike Lee’s office (that was my idea). Representative Mast’s staffer was not available however we left a left a one-page handout for follow up by FreedomWorks.

We were encouraged to learn that all the staffers we met shared our concerns about the proposed IPI and non-free market legislation being put forth by the House and the Senate. Rich Scott’s staff was somewhat of an exception given Senator Rick Scott has co-sponsored S977 which would apply the IPI to the entire healthcare market for a period of five years. I suppose it’s somewhat better than Senator Sanders and Representative Elijah Cummings legislation to introduce the same proposal indefinitely; consequences be dammed!

By 5:30 pm my feet were killing me and I was ready to head out. We piled back on the buses for a barbecue dinner at the Hill Country Barbecue. This was followed by a keynote speech from Steven Moore, FreedomWorks Senior Economic Contributor, former economic advisor to the President and nominee to hold a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Moore has also been a guest at the PBC Tea Party and a personal friend of the Tea Party. As always Moore gave an invigorating speech that ended with a standing round of applause.

The next day we were back at it at 7:30 am starting with our good friend Reverend CL Bryant. This was followed by a discussion on criminal justice reform from FreedomWorks VP of Legislative Affairs, Jason Pye and FreedomWorks Federal Affairs Manager, Sarah Anderson. Next, we had a Q&A on immigration with Representative John Hostettler (R-IN), Robert Henneke, General Counsel and Director for the Center for The America Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Joshua Trevino.

Finally, Daniel Ashworth, counsel from the office of Representative Doug Collins (R-GA) taught us everything we need to know about rebate reform and the pharmaceutical companies Pharmacy Rebate Manager (PRM) program. For those of you like me who are unfamiliar with this program allow me to explain. A PRM is a third-party administrator of prescription drug programs for commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans, Medicare Part D plans, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and state government employee plans. In short, PBM companies negotiate with drug manufacturers on behalf of government health plans and private and employer-based insurance plans on prices. Ultimately, the deals they strike determine the availability and prices of prescription drugs for more than 266 million Americans. PRMs are exempt from anti-trust legislation in the form of a rebates at every step in bringing drugs to the market and ultimately to the consumer. The intent of the program is to lower prices for the consumer. Notably, PRM operations are hidden from public view and the legislators. No surprise PRMS have been accused of pocketing most of the money from the rebates (or should I say kickbacks) rather than passing the savings on to the consumer. It’s no surprise that the PRM program coupled with the reduced drug prices for foreign countries U.S. consumers pay high prices for their drugs.

If you like you can replicate our lobbying efforts, I encourage you to phone or email our congressmen’s healthcare policy staffers and politely tell them that you oppose Secretary of HHS Alex Azar’s International Price Index proposal as well as any legislation introduced to reduce drug prices that is not based on the principles of a free market.

Health Care Policy Staffer	DC Phone	Email Address
Sarah Miller for Rep Brian Mast	202.225.3026	Sarah.miller@mail.house.gov
Ansley Rhyne for Sen Marco Rubio	202.224.3041	ansley_rhyne@rubio.senate.gov
Jon Foltz for Sen Rick Scott	202.224.5274	jon_foltz@rickscott.senate.gov

Get Ready for the Fight

Right off the bat there are two issues we need to be familiar with and take very seriously. The Democrats are moving full steam ahead with their tyrannical game plan. We must be ready to take these issues head on as they have no plans on slowing down any time soon.

Issue number one; On Friday March 8^th, the House Democrats passed HR 1, 234-193. It’s named the “For the People Act” and it is anything but “for the people.” Adam Brandon, President of Freedom Works, writes in his blog titled, “Oppose the So-Called “For the People Act” HR 1”, “H.R. 1 is an ambitious effort by the House Democrats to dictate the manner and outcome of elections in the United States.” I encourage you to read Brandon’s blog post, but here are the highlights of a bill that “would steamroll federalism and dictate to the states how their elections should be run.” H.R. 1 would prevent states from determining the qualifications of their voters and lift the ban on voting for convicted felons. The 14^th amendment allows states to bar certain citizens from voting for “participation in rebellion, or other crime.”

• H.R. 1 authorizes a three judge panel at the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to redraw congressional districts. This is in direct violation of the 10^th Amendment and the sovereignty of the individual states. Nowhere in Article III of the Constitution does it grant this kind of power to the courts.

• H.R. 1 authorizes federal employees at executive agencies to work as poll workers and ensure they get paid for doing so.

• H.R. 1 would force political organizations to reveal their donors. This is in direct violation of the landmark civil rights case in, NAACP v Alabama (1958) whereby the Supreme Court opined that the NAACP did not have to disclose its membership list, as forcing them to do so would violate the due process clause of the 14^th Amendment. This also violates the Supreme Court’s opinion in Citizens United v FEC (2010) which upheld that political donations are protected free speech under the First Amendment. H.R. 1 goes as far as stipulating that Citizens United v FEC decision is “detrimental to democracy” and that the Constitution should be amended to defy it.

• H.R. 1 broadens the definition of a “lobbyist.” It specifies that anyone who “provides who provides “strategic and political counseling services” to someone who contracts or lobbies is now a lobbyist. Brandon writes, “the left is trying to create a six degrees of Kevin Bacon test to define all Americans as lobbyists and thus regulate their political speech.”

• H.R. 1 will force sponsors of online political ad to file duplicative and extensive reports with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). H.R.1 will hold tech companies liable for any ads that go up that may have been sponsored by an unauthorized person. This will in turn increase the risk for these companies and thus raise the cost of sponsoring political content on line. This will have the intended consequence of sponsoring on line political ads to the wealthy who have a legal team to cut through the FEC bureaucratic red-tape.

• H.R. 1 proposes turning the FEC into a 5-member body with the ruling party having a three seat majority, and the ability to hand down decisions unilaterally.

• H.R. 1 would dedicate taxpayer dollars to election campaigns. It would create a subsidy for campaigns and would match six times a political donation with tax payer money.

• H.R. 1 would allow Congress, in a violation of the separation of powers, to create a commission to determine a “code of conduct” for judges of the Supreme Court. Not only is this a blatant attempt to go after the constitutionalist on the Supreme court it is an unconstitutional attempt by Congress to set standards for a co-equal branch of the government. (https//www.freedomworks.org/content/oppose-so-called-“-people-act-hr-1)

While we inherently know H.R. 1 is nothing but a hot steamy unconstitutional pile of crap, it is a testament to the depths of depravity at which the Democratic Party will go destroy our republic and gain power and control over the American people. It is in and of itself so evil and so wicked to even suggest it boards on insanity, stupidity and recklessness.

Issue number two; a bi-partisan attempt to infringe on our second amendment right to keep and bear arms in Florida. Two Florida grass root based organizations, The Americans for Gun Safety Now (AFGSN) (www.americansforgunsafetynow.com) and Ban Assault Weapons Now (BAWN) (www.bawnfl.org) created a bi-partisan alliance that they claim will bring “real gun reform” to Florida and ban assault weapons. The end game for these organizations is to get enough signatures on their petition to get a proposal on the 2020 ballot to amend the Florida constitution to designate any semi-automatic long gun in Florida with a capacity of more than ten rounds an “assault weapon” and ban them for future sale or possession.

• This proposal would require Floridians register their firearms with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

• Failure to do so after a grace period would be a third degree felony. That would automatically strip Floridians of their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

• This proposal would invalidate Florida Criminal Statute 790.335 (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/) a prohibition on registration and keeping of lists/records.

It cannot be said in strong enough terms; that we are up against a doctrine of pure evil. The Democratic Party has become the party of infanticide, anti-Semitism, bigotry and Socialism. The above makes it crystal clear, they are coming for our guns and they are coming for our individual liberties.

I am psyched to take on this evil force. Are you with me?

My Rant AOC-Enomics and my New Deal

Am I the only one that is totally fed up with the day-in and day-out praising of the arrogant and brainless tyrant known as AOC? I am the only one that feels like their IQ drops by at 10 points every time AOC opens her mouth and lectures us about morality and how we will all die if we don’t save the planet with the Green New Deal? Half the time I have no idea what she is talking about. “It’s like you know I just feel like we need to have a conversation about climate change because like if we don’t do something right away we’re all going to die in like ten years.” What the hell is she talking about? Are you kidding me? According to Al Core, New York was supposed to be underwater 10 years ago.

Not only is AOC a flaming Marxist, she’s an economic illiterate and her Green New Deal proves it. Somehow I’m supposed to believe that the federal government can spend more than the country’s gross domestic product and everyone is going to thrive economically and emotionally. AOC-Enomics is pure stupidity and absurdity. It’s absolutely preposterous to think that it is somehow immoral to care about how American’s are going to pay for the Green New Deal. What’s immoral AOC is your proposed tyrannical destruction of the American economy through your Green New Deal that is estimated to cost Americans somewhere in ball park of ninety-three million dollars. There is not enough money on the planet earth to pay for this absurdity!

AOC, you are a 29-year-old tyrannical pisher (that’s Yiddish for an inexperienced person with little to no importance) with an ego the size of the price tag of your Green New Deal. You have no credibility and wouldn’t know what was moral if it hit you over the head. You need to stop lying to the American people because this socialist nightmare masquerading as some humanitarian social justice program will catapult millions of Americans into poverty and despair as you bloviate and lecture hard working Americans about equality and social justice from your luxury apartment building in Washington D.C.

Here’s my new deal AOC. It’s called the “Individual Liberty New Deal”. My new deal, unlike yours embraces individual freedom and liberty. My new deal unlike yours embraces private property rights and not collectivism. My new deal embraces free market capitalism and the rule of law. Your new deal embraces tyranny. That’s my new deal. How bout that!!

Sebastian Gorka at Trump Club 45

On Monday night I had I attended the Trump 45 Club meeting at the Kennel Club to hear Dr. Sebastian Gorka speak. By the time I arrived the place was jammed packed (ed: estimated at more than 1300). I inconspicuously made my way down to the floor, snuggled up against the closest column and enjoyed the show. Dr. Gorka was dynamic and engaging and the audience was excited to be there with him. Dr. Gorka spoke of his life, his new book, “Why We Fight” Russiagate, the economy,the time spent in the White House and some Q&A. There were selfies to be had and hundreds of books were signed. For me, I was just happy to be a part of it all.

TPP Call – 9/30/18

TPP Call – 9/9/18

Why I Will Be Voting NO in November on the Property Tax Increase for the School District

On November 6th, 2018 registered Florida voters will be going the polls to vote in the midterm elections. On the ballot for Palm Beach County (PBC) residents will be a vote to raise property taxes to provide more money for teacher’s salaries and safety in the county’s public schools. The money is intended to subsidize the mandate set forth in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, that includes but is not limited to paid school resource officers. On Wednesday July 18th, by a vote of 7-0, the PBC School Board members agreed to place a proposed tax hike on the ballot that will raise property taxes on Palm Beach County residents by an estimated $150 million a year for four years according to the Palm Beach Post. The proposal would add $1 to every $1000.00 of property value if passed on the November ballot. This will be the second time in two years the PBC school board has asked voters to raise taxes to finance the county’s public schools. This decision was the result of our state lawmaker’s decision to lower school property tax rates for the past four years. On November 9, 2016, 57% of Palm Beach County voters approved raising the sales tax rate from 6 to 7 percent. This resulted in a 16.7 % sales tax increase of which the school district netted half.

As a tax-paying resident of PBC I knew it was my duty to familiarize myself with the relevant data and facts about how our property tax dollars are being spent and to analyze the question, “does the passing of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act justify raising our property taxes.”

I. The FY18 School District of Palm Beach County Proposed Budget

The proposed budget for the School District of Palm Beach County and millage for tax year 2018 was $2,934,318,538 for all funds.

II. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act
When state Legislatures passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, they allotted $99 million in state dollars for schools that applied for it. $97.5 million would go to fund a school resource officer at every school. Each of the 67 districts in Florida would get $1.4 million. The average cost for an officer’s salary and benefits is $100,000 per officer. Palm Beach County School District is adding 75 additional officers and is getting $5.7 million to cover the cost of the hires. PBC has close to $40 million from the 2016 sale tax referendum which can be used to cover the bulk of the expenses.
See State to Issue Funds to Harden Schools

III. Overall Revenues/Dollars per Student
According to two articles by Brian Mudd published on June 6, 2018, I learned the Palm Beach County school district received $447 million over the last year from the state and $629 million over the past two years. Compare that to Broward County which received $87 million over the past year and $152 million over the past two years. Miami-Dade County received $87 million over the past year and $144 million over the past two years. Palm Beach County’s revenue was 72.9% higher than that of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. Palm Beach County spends $15,420 per student compared to Broward County which spends $8,928 per student and Miami-Dade County which spends $9,116 per student.
See: Brian Mudd on School Funding – Part 1 and Part 2

IV. Costs of Education to Floridian Taxpayers for Illegal Aliens
According to a report published in 2009 by Jack Martin, the Director of Special Projects for FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), based on the estimates of the illegal immigrant population in Florida and documented costs of K-12 schooling, Floridians spent nearly $2.9 billion annually on education for illegal immigrant children and for their U.S. born siblings. About 8.7 percent of K-12 public school students are children of illegal aliens. In addition, more than a quarter million illegal immigrant children and their U.S. born siblings were enrolled in special English instruction classes that cost the taxpayer more than $2,200 per student per year. In sum, the total expenditures for illegal alien public school students is $3, 451 million. Notably, under federal and state law, all Florida schools are barred from making inquiries from a student or his or her parents which may possibly expose the undocumented status of the student or parents.
See: Section 5 – Registration Procedures and Florida Study – The Costs of Illegal Immigrants

V. PBC School District Official’s Salaries
According to an article published in the Palm Beach Post on September 29, 2017, by Andrew Marra the number of Palm Beach County school executives making $140K has nearly tripled in two years. Marra found that since Robert Avossa took office in June 2015, the number of school officials earning at least $140,000.00 a years tripled, from nine to 26. The number of teachers earning at least $50,000 increased by 5%. In the same period the number of officials making at least $120,000 doubled, from 37 to 74. “During Avossa’s tenure, says Marra, Avossa created at least 16 high-level administrative jobs paying $120,000 or more, while boosting the salaries of other positions as he appointed new people to fill them.” Salaries for top administrators under Avossa ranged from $202,000.00 $157,996.00. Avossa was hired at $325,000 per year and when he stepped down from his position in June 2018, he was earning a base salary of $334, 750.

VI. PBC School District Teacher Salaries
According to the palmbeachschools.org website, beginning teachers can receive an annual total compensation package worth $59,653. They receive a base salary of $41,000, medical coverage and Life Insurance worth $9,195, paid time off (10 Sick/Personal Days) worth $2,091, Holiday Leave (6 Paid Holidays) worth $1,255, pension investment plan contributions worth $2,976, Social Security/Medicare Employer Contribution worth $3,136. Additional employee benefits and earning potential include the “Best and Brightest” Annual Bonus Potential of $6,000.00 and the “State Highly Effective” Annual Bonus Potential of $1,200.00.

VII. Palm Beach County School Enrollment and High School Graduation Rate
According to the United States Census Bureau in 2010-2015, the School District of Palm Beach County was home to an estimated 1,422,789 residents. According to the palmbeachschool.org website, the School District of Palm Beach County is the 11th largest in the continental U.S. and is the 5th largest in the state of Florida with 185 schools serving 176,724 K-12 students who speak 150 languages/dialects. In 2010-2013, the PBC School District’s employed 20,810 employees of which 12,480 were teachers. Over 38,256 community volunteers provided academic assistance to students through the Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) program. Approximately 1,200 partners provided between $3 million and $4 million per year in cash and other resources to support student achievement. The graduation rate for District-operated schools increased to 90 percent for the 2016-2017 school year. The graduation rate for all schools, including charter schools, was 85 percent for 2016-2017.

VIII. Palm Beach County School Options and School Grades.
There are 148 Choice and in-house programs within 25 PBC high schools. The Palm Beach County School District offers Magnet Schools Assistance Program that receives a grant of $11,645,103 from the U.S. Department of Education. According to an article by Scott Sutton, dated June 28, 2018, Palm Beach County received an A grade based on student achievement, learning gains on statewide standardized assessments and high school graduation rate. See:
FY18-Budget

There is no denying that based on my research Palm Beach County School District exceeds the revenue of other Florida counties, has quite the lofty budget and has very well paid administrators. Now we are being asked to cough up more of our taxpayer dollars. Instead of trimming the bloated administrative budget we are being told by the Palm Beach County school district that there are no other options available. I don’t buy it and neither should you.

TPP Call – 8/16/18

TPP Call – 8/12/18

TPP Call – 7/22/18

Welcome to the Tea Party Patriots Weekly National Leadership Call Report. Glad you stopped by.

From Washington Bill Pascoe reported on the FBI Department’s release of the heavily redacted versions of the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant application of Carter Page.

The Treasury Department announced late Monday that it will no longer require non-profit organizations to disclose the names and addresses of donors giving $5,000 or more arguing this change doesn’t affect the information legally available to the public. No surprise the Left is outraged that the IRS will not be receiving this information given their proclivity to police state tactics. See: irs nonprofit donor disclosure/

President Trump met with Putin in Helsinki on Monday where his response to a hostile media went sideways – the President took the side of Putin over his intelligence community in whether or not the Russians interfered in our election process.

CALL TO ACTION

Jenny Beth Martin’s Call to Action for the week of July 23 through July 27 remains the same as last week. The Call to Action remains the same with the #ConfirmKavanaugh media campaign and the Pledge to Vote. Please visit the Tea Party Patriot site follow the directions to have the action items placed on your Facebook page and Twitter account.

Finally, this week is the much anticipated Tea Party Patriots national fly-in conference, July 24-25 in Washington, D.C. Conference speakers include Representative Jim Jordan, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator David Perdue, Representative Mark Meadows and many, many, more. Portions of the fly-in will be taped and possibly live streamed.

The conference will include a premier viewing of the award winning documentary “The shredding of the U.S. Patent System.” The documentary will be available to the public beginning Friday 7/27 on Amazon Prime, iTunes and Xfinity. A small fee may be required.

https://www.teapartypatriots.org/weekly-action-items/action-items-for-this-week-july-16-july-20/

That’s all for this week.
Thank you for tuning in.
Keep fighting for Liberty and God Bless.
Teri Hughes

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