The Tea Party Response to the State of the Union

Dear Palm Beach County Tea Party,

I hope that your February is going well. I, for one, am thankful that I wasn’t in my native Massachusetts during the most recent blizzard. I can deal with a little rain without any problems!

On Tuesday night, the President gave his State of the Union address. We received the following response to the President’s speech from Tea Party Patriots:

“Tonight, the President said: “The American people don’t expect government to solve every problem.” That’s the difference between the American people and the American government. Our government is growing out of control and overspending out of control and unfortunately, the President believes every problem in America needs a big government and that Washington knows the best solutions. This reasoning is why our country is $16 trillion dollars in debt.

Our country cannot sustain all of these big government programs and rather than offer spending cuts and pulling back in order to balance the budget, the President’s solution is more government.

The American people know Washington cannot solve their problems and will not send their hard earned tax dollars to further his wasteful programs. The state of our union will only be strong when government practices fiscal responsibility and our President makes true strides to stop the overspending.”

As Tea Party Members, as patriots and as Americans we can all agree with this statement. Government is not the solution to our problems; the American people are. The President, and all of our elected officials, need to remember that. We must demand fiscal responsibility from all of them. Those who do not become part of the solution need to be replaced.

Senator Rand Paul also responded:

Your new leadership team and board of directors are working on goals and strategies that will bring us all to the point where we will affect true change in the future. We will be announcing the dates of our next Leadership Meeting next week. I encourage all of you to attend. We will make crucial decisions on the future of the PBCTP together.

Yours in Liberty,
Michael Riordan
 

 

President’s Day Town Hall

Ben Carson for President

Exciting Times for the Palm Beach County Tea Party!‏

Hello Patriots!

This has been a very exciting and interesting week, and we’ve all gotten a boost to our adrenalin and our enthusiasm for our Country…and for that for which it Stands. In light of these facts, I’d like to go over some important ideas and thoughts about the current and future state of the Palm Beach County Tea Party and our movement in general.

The American people are hungry for a return to Fiscal Responsibility…to Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Enterprise. They fervently want these truths, as do all rational human beings who know that their lives belong to themselves and not to their government. They want to return to a place where we the American people don’t feel the need to have government regulating and legislating every aspect of our lives. That idea, that the government exists to serve the people of the Country, not the other way around, is the reason this country was founded. It doesn’t matter whether that government is in London, as it was in 1776, or in Washington, D.C., as it is today. The government exists to serve the People…not to exert autocratic rule.

In light of this fact, it’s important that we all be reminded that the real, fundamental divide in American Political Philosophy is not between the Left and the Right, nor between Republicans and Democrats…it is between top and bottom. I’m not referring here to some imagined class conflict or anything of the sort; I’m referring to the question of where the power to govern resides, with the State or with the People. Does the government own the citizens, or do the citizens own the government, and own their Country as well? Are we Statists…or are we believers in the Liberty of the Individual?

When we’re honest with ourselves, we all know the answer to that question, but we may not recognize all of its implications in National Politics. There are those on both sides of the aisle who think that all control and change has to come from above, that the government has to decide for the People of America how things should be run, even their own lives. This is logically untenable, given that those in the government are fundamentally not any wiser or better than those they govern, and cannot therefore know better than we how we should live. Unfortunately, logic often takes a back seat when power and control are involved.

This is part of the reason why Karl Rove has recently made public his animosity toward the Tea Party and openly declared himself opposed to it: The Tea Party is a threat to so called “Conservatives” like him, who are Republican in name only. If the Tea Party’s ideals truly become ascendant again, then such men, who are all about controlling the movement of politics and running things from the top down, will no longer have a place. Remember, Karl Rove is the classic example of the Consultant Culture, and he recognizes that in the long run the Tea Party movement is a threat to his influence, so he would like to knock it down. In this, he shares the same point of view as those Statists on the other side of the aisle who believe that our government is an end in itself, instead of just a means to the end of protecting the rights and freedom of the people of America. They use language in different ways, so it seems to the casual observer that their ideals are diametrically opposed, but at root, Karl Rove and President Obama share a point of view: The State, and they, know better than you do, and should be the source of and have control over your life.

Such ideas are the typical refuge of mediocre minds. We don’t need to be intimidated by them, but we do have to counter them, and we will. In fact, the Palm Beach County Tea Party has had a well-timed boost to our spirits this week in the person of Mark Meckler. Those of you who attended the meetings and spent time with Mark know just what a motivating and empowering person he is, and how well he understands the situation to which I have been referring.. Our eyes have been opened and the fog has begun to clear. Now we all have a very welcome surge of enthusiasm as well as some great advice and support from a person who was one of the reasons the Tea Party movement became so big so fast. We will use our energy, our motivation, and our commitment to the Ideals which made America, to make our stand against any forces which would threaten the freedom and self-determination of the American people, and to share the good news about the importance of these ideas and their embodiment in the Constitution of the United States.

That said, I am pleased and thrilled to be able to take this opportunity to officially announce our upcoming United Stand for America, which is the name for our pre-tax-day event this year. We’re calling it that because its message is all about being true to our convictions, and taking a stand in support of the principles upon which our Country was founded. For those of you who indulge in Social Media, we’ll be sharing about it using #UnitedStandforAmerica and #USAme, so follow those hashtags. The “me” at the end is there because the answer to the question, “Who will stand for America?” for each and every person in this country should be, “Me!” When we pledge our allegiance to our Nation, we are not just mouthing empty words, but making a commitment to this Country and to what it represents in the world.

This will be a gathering featuring inspiring guests who are thought-leaders, commentators, public figures, and private citizens. By this event we are calling on all Americans to stand up for personal and fiscal responsibility, for limited government, for economic freedom, for self-determination and the right to the pursuit of happiness. We are calling on the American People to remember that they own the government, that they are responsible for what it does, and that even inaction is a choice with consequences…usually bad ones.

To experience an articulation of that last point by a particularly Great Communicator, watch this video on YouTube of a powerfully moving speech by the man I believe was the last truly Great American President of the 20th Century.

A Time for Choosing

We have a lot to do and a lot to look forward to in the Palm Beach County Tea Party. I’m honored and humbled to be serving with all of you in this great and important work. Together we will respond to this CALL to ACTION!

In Liberty,

Dominique Feldman
Communications Director
Palm Beach County Tea Party
communications@palmbeachcountyteaparty.org

 

 

Upbeat Thoughts from Mark Meckler

To a packed crowd at Abacoa, Tea Party Patriots founder Mark Meckler provided optimism and insights for the future, along with some anecdotes from his current work as founder of Citizens for Self Governance. Those who are still depressed about what the 2012 election says about our country should take heart by his analysis of where we stand.

In cowboy hat and boots, California native Meckler was upbeat and hopeful.

The American Revolution was not about the Stamp Act or any specific taxes, he said. Rather, it was the reaction of a free people who had governed themselves in the 180 years from Jamestown to Lexington and Concord, throwing off the moves of a foreign sovereign to place shackles on their liberty. Liberty is also at stake today, in an existential way – our freedoms are unique in history and if liberty is extinguished here it will be extinguished throughout the world.

The 2010 blowout that stopped the Obama train would not have happened without the tea party and its success with local and congressional elections. That said, it is hard to see that we could have had as much influence on the dynamics of the presidential election (does the President call me for advice? he asked). We didn’t pick the candidate, and the local knowledge and organizing skills of the grassroots were ignored in favor of a top-down “we know best” campaign managed from Boston. That helps explain why the great success of the Scott Walker campaigns in Wisconsin were not repeated on the Presidential ticket in that state.

Change can happen from below – at the local and state level, he said. Mark has observed a new dynamic of business people becoming more than just “checkbooks” to the party apparatus and taking control of the process themselves. This has happened in Wisconsin (preparing the field for Walker and the win against the unions), Texas (where incumbent crony Republicans were thrown out in primaries), and Tennessee.

There is common ground to be found with the left, he said, as he imparted his meetings with left leaning academics and the leader of Moveon.org. We are not alone in opposing trillion dollar deficits or failing schools.

We should not buy the media drumbeat that the tea party is dead. How can it be, he asked, that the media portray us as omnipotent in preventing John Boehner from dealing with the President, yet impotent to affect events.

In closing, he asked us to get involved at our local level. Become members of appointed boards and commissions, run for town council or school board, go to your city council meetings. We can change the country from below, much as they did in the first revolution.

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PBCTP Co-Sponsors Candidate Forum for PBG City Council Election

February Jupiter Chapter Features Mark Meckler

Please join us Monday, February 4, at Abacoa, for an evening with Tea Party Patriot’s founder Mark Meckler. Mark will discuss the future of grassroots movements given the results of the November elections

We have also invited municipal candidates running for election March 12th.

Please click the button below to RSVP for the meeting.

Meckler Bio

Mark Meckler is a genuine grassroots citizen-activist. Like most folks in the self-governance movement, he is relatively new to politics.

Mark hails from the rural foothills of northern California. He has a BA in English from San Diego State University and graduated with honors from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1988. He built a career in real estate and business law for almost a decade. Prior to his accidental entry onto the political scene, he specialized in Internet advertising law.

Mark knows what it is like to be a small business owner in America. He has owned a variety of businesses from manufacturing to food service, and has seen the legal challenges facing a wide variety of businesses across many industries.

For most of his life, Mark was not politically active. He never campaigned for, nor donated to, any candidate. Due to his distrust of both political parties, Mark has been registered as an independent for more than a decade.

Then, on February 19, 2009, Rick Santelli, a financial reporter on CNBC, issued his now famous “rant” against a government run amok, and called for a new tea party in America. Like millions of others, Mark saw that rant on the web, saw on Facebook that people actually were organizing tea parties, and decided to get involved.

On Feb. 27, 2009, Mark held the first tea party in Sacramento, California, at the state capitol. Not knowing what to expect, he arrived with his wife, his two kids, his retired parents and some handmade signs. Much to his surprise, 150 people showed up from across the societal and political spectrum. He considered it an amazing success, and he was inspired by those he met to keep organizing.

Returning home, he began networking with others around the state, and across the nation. Eventually, he was among a small core group who helped to organize the April 15, 2009 Tax Day Tea Parties, which consisted of 850 events, and roughly 1.2 million participants spanning the country. Out of this initial surge of activity, Mark and a core group had the foresight to form Tea Party Patriots to be the go-forward entity for the tea party movement.

In 2009, Mark Meckler was one of many citizen “sparks” that helped to ignite a movement. He was the Co-Founder and a former National Coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, a group which at its peak boasted 3,200 chapters nationwide and millions of members.

Mark resigned from Tea Party Patriots in February 2009 to focus on broadening the philosophical reach of the idea of “self-governance” outside of the Tea Party movement, by founding Citizens for Self Governance.

Mark now appears regularly on television outlets as diverse as MSNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox Business, and the BBC. You may have seen him sparring with Chris Matthews on Hardball, or pushing back against Geraldo Rivera on Fox Business. He is highly sought after for the self-governance perspective from print and online news outlets, including theWall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Examiner,Politico and The Hill. His opinion pieces regularly run in many of the leading political outlets both on and offline.

Mark says, “I try to say what millions of American’s would say if they had the chance I’ve been given. It’s not really about my opinions, as much as it is my honest attempt to reflect what I hear from people involved in the self-governance movement all over the country.” Mark has a unique political voice, which many have said most clearly represents the citizens of this country fighting back against the incumbent machine of both political parties at all levels.

When not fighting to put the future of our nation back in the hands of self-governing citizens, Mark is an avid horseman, and lives in rural northern California with his wife Patty and two children.

President’s Remarks

Obama and Moderate Republicans See Conservatives as Common Enemy

Rush Limbaugh describes what’s “really going on”.

February Wellington Meeting features David D’Eugenio

Palm Beach County Tea Party Chapter meeting in Wellington

The first Wellington meeting for the New Year will be held on

DATE: February 11, 2013

PROGRAM: Our keynote speaker will be David D’Eugenio from Home Safety Academy who will be speaking about the Second Amendment and what we can do to safeguard our homes from thieves.

HomeSafety Academy’s mission is to provide superior learning opportunities for all students at all levels seeking the best courses in safety and firearm training.

It will be an extremely informative meeting, so please bring your friends and neighbors.

TIME: The buffet dinner begins at 6:00 for $15 and the meeting begins promptly at 7 PM

LOCATION:
Binks Forest Golf Club
400 Binks Forest Drive, Wellington, Florida 33414
(561)333-5731

DIRECTIONS: to the Binks Forest Golf Club:
Take FL Turnpike to Exit 97 or I-95 to Exit 69 or Military Trail or US-1 onto westbound Southern Blvd (FL-80) past Forest Hill Blvd. to Binks Forest Dr. Left on Binks Forest Dr.0.5 miles to golf club on left.

To RSVP for the event and the buffet, please click on the button below, or send an email to wellington@palmbeachcountyteaparty.org. You can also call Marion at 561-723-8596

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