Wellington Chapter Meeting, November 14
Join us for a night of patriotism and enlightenment at the November Wellington Chapter meeting.
Our guest speaker will be the president of U.S. Term Limits, Philip Blumel. Mr. Blumel managed the campaign to enact term limits for the Palm Beach County Commission. Voters approved the law with 70% of the vote and it went into effect in 2010. He is now involved in a national campaign to enact term limits. Come to the meeting and get involved.
Date: November 14, 2011
Time: Meet and Greet, 5:30, Buffet 6:00pm, Meeting 7:00pm
Location: Binks Forest Country Club, 400 Binks Forest Drive, Wellington
Doors open at 5:30 pm, dinner buffet for $15 (all inclusive) from 6:00 to 7:00.
Click on the button below to RSVP or call Wellington Co-ordinator Gina Rascati at 561-952-5298 for details.
Boca Chapter Dinner/Speaker Night, Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
Join us for the Tuesday, November 1st meeting of the Palm Beach County Tea Party’s Boca Raton Chapter, with keynote speaker, United States Senate candidate George LeMieux.
Throughout his career, George LeMieux has demonstrated a consistent commitment to public service. He served as Florida’s Deputy Attorney General, Chief of Staff to Florida’s Governor, and most recen
tly as United States Senator for the people of Florida.
As Deputy Attorney General, LeMieux led an agency of more than 400 attorneys. He argued a death penalty case before the United States Supreme Court and won the case with a unanimous decision. LeMieux oversaw the office of governor for the administration’s first year as Chief of Staff and helped oversee and manage Florida’s state agencies.
In 2008, George returned to the private sector to lead Gunster, a prominent Florida law firm. In the summer of 2009, George was called back into public service when U.S. Senator Mel Martinez retired before the end of his term.
While serving as Florida’s 34th United States Senator, George was an active member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Commerce Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging. Senator LeMieux saw several of his legislative priorities signed into law including Medicare anti-fraud legislation and an export promotion act.
While in Congress, Senator LeMieux was given the “Tax Fighter” award by the National Tax Limitation Committee, the “Taxpayer Hero” award by Citizens Against Government Waste, the “Friend of the Family” award by the Christian Family Coalition, and the “Guardian of Small Business” award by the National Federation of Independent Business.
During his time in the Senate, George made the debt and deficit his primary focus because of our nation’s unsustainable fiscal path. George introduced a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and a proposal called the 2007 Solution, which would have reduced government spending to 2007 levels. Furthermore, he opposed wasteful earmark spending, which earned him a 93% rating from the National Taxpayers Union.
A lifelong Republican, George has been involved in grassroots efforts from a very young age. He was president of the Broward County Young Republicans, ran for the Florida State House as a Republican, and in 2000, was elected to lead the Broward County Republican Party. Demonstrating his firm commitment to Republican ideals, when Governor Crist left the Republican Party, George stated, “Our friendship runs deep, but my commitment to the principles of the Republican Party runs deeper. I cannot walk down the path he has chosen.” LeMieux endorsed then-GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio and helped Rubio gather support for the race.
At the conclusion of his Senate term in 2011, George returned to the Gunster law firm where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board. He lives in Broward County with his wife Meike and their four children Max, Taylor, Chase and baby girl Madeleine.
Q&A will follow his speech.
DATE: Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
TIME: Doors open at 5:30 PM, Buffet at 6:00 PM ($15, Cash Bar); Meeting at 7:00 PM
PLACE: Boca Greens Country Club, 19642 Trophy Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33498-4633
RSVP: Boca Greens Country Club is a gated community. Click below to RSVP with name of each attendee:
For More Information
Email
Call: 561-302-1479
Palm Beach County Tea Party
Hometown Crowd Assembles for Adam Hasner
In a refreshing contrast to the backdrop of the last Boca Chapter Speaker/Dinner Event in September, our event in October, on the 4th, was set up with a beautiful fall sunset, and a wonderfully balmy and clear 84 degrees, low humidity, and with no rain in sight. The turnout for this event was close to 140 people, and they were not disappointed by the lineup of events for the evening. Adam Hasner, the front-runner candidate for the Republican nomination for Senator in the upcoming election, was set to speak to his hometown crowd.
Senate Candidate Adam Hasner
Once again, familiar faces began to file in and get in line for the delicious buffet at around 6pm, but, as usual, there were many new faces, as well. One thing that you can say emphatically about the Tea Party movement is that it is an ORGANIC one. It is populated by a giant populace who is firmly entrenched in the Tea Party’s classic conservatism— but there seems to be an even larger base of those who are not necessarily affiliated with any particular group, but who are attracted by the purity and honesty of the Tea Party’s core ideology—that reflects the universal concerns that our government be CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED, that we hold our elected officials accountable regarding FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY, and that we encourage FREE MARKETS. These are all ideals that are as “relevant” today as they were when our Founding Fathers set the course quite specifically in that direction, and hoped that our nation would continue on that same course for future generations…
In any event, Alex Berry, the Co-Founder and Boca Raton Chapter Coordinator called the meeting to order, and the Pledge of Allegiance was conducted. Immediately thereafter, Carlos Santana—not the legendary 60’s guitarist, but a local proud Cuban descent vocalist—brought down the house with his extraordinary rendition of our National Anthem. Alex then rattled off a list of announcements of current events, and then read a very funny, but poignant, email that he recently received, about the battle between those who RECEIVE “free stuff”, versus the people who PAY for that same “free stuff”.
He then introduced the speaker, Adam Hasner, who seemed genuinely glad to be “home” in Boca, in the midst of such a heavy campaign schedule throughout the state of Florida. Adam took the podium with an aplomb that only one who truly believes in what he does can do—and Adam truly believes in the heart of each principal that he articulated…He did not hesitate to remind our crowd of how he voted on any number of issues, including the CAIR concern. He was not shy about reminding the Tea Party that he stood by issues that we embrace since before any local Tea Party was formed.
When Adam concluded his speech, Alex Berry took over the role as moderator and MC, and a “Question & Answer” period of about 15 minutes ensued. There were several interesting questions posed—from abortion to compromising with the Democrats—and space simply does not allow us to do justice to Hasner’s very good responses to each of these questions—but the one question that seemed to dominate came from one local citizen and first-time attender, who asked Hasner about the Federal Reserve System, and the Internal Revenue Service, and whether or not he felt they should be abolished. It was abundantly clear that Hasner was both appreciative, and challenged, by that question. In the end, he called for wholesale transparency of the Fed—though he stopped short of calling for its abolishment– and TOTAL reform of our tax system, which we all know is badly broken.
Hasner departed amongst universal applause, and the evening ended with Bruce Besser, a local leader in the Boca Chapter, drawing the winning raffle ticket for one lucky attendee. Bruce also reiterated the importance of getting involved on a LOCAL level, as he does—Bruce volunteers his house for all of us to meet on a weeknight to plan events like this one… It is extremely important that we TAKE ACTION in the place where you live—to arrange events like we have each first Tuesday of the month at Boca Greens Country Club.
In summary, it was a great night for patriots in Boca who still love what made this country the most prosperous nation in the world—one that created more wealth, more philanthropy, more generosity, and more opportunity (THROUGH the free market system), to eliminate poverty than ANY other system known to man!
We look forward to seeing not just YOU—but as MANY of your friends as you can muster to come—for our meeting on the first Tuesday of November…
Author David Bego Explains the Dangers Posed by SEIU in 2012
The Jupiter/PBG Chapter of PBCTP met last night at the Double Tree Hotel. Anita Carbone, out-going Chapter Leader, started the meeting with an Invocation, the Pledge and a playing of the National Anthem. Prior to our keynote speaker, Mel Grossman spoke about upcoming Rallies and the Gold Rush Tea Party Social fund-raiser. Terry Brady also spoke about fund-raising and the upcoming Fashion Show and Anita, Mel and Terry all stressed the importance the donations serve to putting on debates and other educational awareness events. Iris Scheibl spoke about activism and encouraged the attendees to participate in the Presidential Primary campaigns for a candidate of their choice.
Pam Wohlschlegel, County Co-ordinator, made a few announcement about the PBCTP newsletter, and introduced our in-coming new Jupiter/PBC Chapter leader – Gary Summers – who recently moved to the area. Gary and his wife will serve as co-leaders of the Chapter. Thank you Anita for being instrumental in the founding of PBCTP and in everything you’ve done to make the Jupiter/PBG chapter a success! And welcome, Gary!
Our keynote speaker was David Bego – author of “The Devil at My Doorstep”. Mr. Bego recounted his multi year battle against SEIU. He described SEIU’s strategy as one of a ‘thousand tiny cuts’ and showed how SEIU’s long term approach wears down 95% of targeted small and large businesses. They attack all aspects of an entity – the owners, the management, the customers and the employees with the intent of unionizing the business – not so much with the hope of bettering the plight of the workers, but to gain access to the union dues which can then be used to fund campaign coffers. David described the inter-relationship between SEIU, President Obama, Acorn and the Democrat party – all focused on re-election in 2012 and showed a couple of videos highlighting then candidate Obama talking to SEIU members and former SEIU president, Andy Stern (who has visited the White House more than any other person) relating their role in the election. The author made it clear that he never had a goal of writing a book or being on a book tour – but that he wanted us to all be aware of the challenges, strategy and tactics that will be used in the upcoming 2012 election cycle. His emotions came through as it was clear that he loved his employees, and he loves his country!
The meeting concluded with the drawing and candidate announcements.
Pictures from Fred and Ed.
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Wellington Chapter Meeting, Monday October 10th
Join us for an informative meeting. Our guest speaker will be the Honorable Anne Gannon, Palm Beach County Tax Collector.
She will address the up and coming charter review by the county and plans to eliminate the elected constitutional officers and replace them with county commission appointees. As always, Binks Forest Country Club will be providing a three course buffet, $15.00 all inclusive, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Can’t make dinner? Just come for the meeting which is from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. , located at 400 Binks Forest Drive in Wellington.
DATE: Monday, October 10th, 2011
TIME: Doors open at 5:30 PM, Buffet at 6:00 PM ($15, Cash Bar); Meeting at 7:00 PM
PLACE: Binks Forest Golf Club, 400 Binks Forest Drive, Wellington, FL 33414
It is important to give Binks an accurate number of attendees. Please click here to RSVP
Directions to Binks Forest Golf Club
What is the Tea Party? An Inside Look
Created by Heather Gustafson
Boca Chapter Dinner/Speaker Night, Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
MEETING NOTICE – Boca Raton Chapter
Join us for the Tuesday, October 4th meeting of the Palm Beach County Tea Party’s Boca Raton Chapter, with keynote speaker, United States Senate candidate Adam Hasner.
Adam is known as a limited government conservative, and was picked by Marco Rubio to serve as Republican Majority Leader in Florida. His senate run will be against against Bill Nelson. Adam is a life long Republican who believes in limited government, free markets, and a strong national defense. He is 100% pro-life and received an “A+” rating from the National Rifle Association for his record on second amendment issues. As a public servant, he amassed a consistent voting record in favor of tax relief, reducing government spending, increasing personal freedoms, reining in government regulations, and promoting entrepreneurship. Adam has also been recognized as a national leader for warning about the dangers of radical Islam. Adam is a consistent voice in favor of keeping Americans free, prosperous and safe by recommitting America to strong national defense policies.
Q&A will follow his speech.
DATE: Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
TIME: Doors open at 5:30 PM, Buffet at 6:00 PM ($15, Cash Bar); Meeting at 7:00 PM
PLACE: Boca Greens Country Club, 19642 Trophy Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33498-4633
RSVP: Boca Greens Country Club is a gated community. Click below to RSVP with name of each attendee:
For More Information
Email
Call: 561-302-1479
Palm Beach County Tea Party
Wellington Chapter Meeting Inspires New Member
The following was written by Janeen Capizola. The pictures at the end are from Ed Wolff.
I am Janeen and I am a Tea Party Patriot. I didn’t need to admit it, I needed to understand it. So no one is happier than I that I attended my first meeting of the Wellington Chapter of the Palm Beach County Tea Party Patriots Tuesday evening to hear TP Patriots Cofounder and National Coordinator, Mark Meckler, and State Coordinator, Dawn Wildman, speak about the Tea Party.
My story goes like this: I stood in a very long line on a cold, dark morning to early vote in the 2008 General Election. Hundreds of people were out voting for Obama and I was seething, thinking, “Dear Lord, they know what they do.” That’s when I began yelling on Facebook. I figured I had two years to simply get one apathetic voter to care and pay attention before they ever went out to vote again. On April 15, 2009 in downtown West Palm Beach, in the pouring rain, I stood passing out American flag stickers I purchased on my own for the Anti-Tax (Tea Party) Rally. When I saw the crowd, I never felt more at home in my life. Like-minded thinkers, fighting the same fight as I. Back to my comfy couch and Facebook where I immediately “Liked” the Tea Party Patriots and continued to yell through the 2010 elections up until today. Recently, I got off my couch and joined the Palm Beach County REC, a bunch of Republican Clubs and thought, “well, of course, I “identify” with the Tea Party, so I’ll join them, too.” After all, for the past two years, I’ve been trying to explain that the Tea Party is a “movement,” not a political party; that the Tea Party is NOT a “wing,” “branch,” or “arm” of the Republican Party; that the Tea Party is a force to be reckoned with and don’t underestimate the power of the people. But that is pretty much all I knew about the Tea Party Patriots. I know now that I don’t “identify” with the Tea Party, I AM a Tea Party Patriot!
Dawn Wildman spoke first and she was a hoot! She immediately started with, “the Tea Party is not about Democrat vs. Republican,” it’s not about liberal vs. conservatives, it’s about “looking at the values” of our elected leaders and candidates who run for office. The Tea Party is about finding people with “common interests and principles” and not about a particular political philosophy. And so you see, it is because the Tea Party can’t be LABELED that SCARES the heck out of those who resort to calling us terrorists and telling us to go straight to hell. She spent some time talking about how the movement is sweeping Europe. She said every region in Italy now has a Tea Party chapter and that hit home for me as an American of Italian decent. She told us, and we laughed out loud, to stop screaming at our TV’s and get involved. And I plan to do just that! Thanks Dawn, message received.
Mark Meckler spoke next and this man was born to lead. He explained the history of the Tea Party, starting with the famous February 19, 2009 Rick Santelli rant on CNBC where he called for another Tea Party on the 4th of July. That rant set the Twitter world abuzz and Mark, Dawn and 20 others, all strangers to each other, said, “why wait?” and they got to work promoting on Facebook. All over the country, Tea Parties were held one week later, February 27, 2009. Mark says he was stunned to see hundreds of citizens “standing against the government” at these rallies. After such a huge turnout and overwhelmingly positive reaction to the first Tea Party rallies, Mark called Dawn and others around the country to plan some Tax Day rallies figuring, “well, everyone’s angry on tax day!” Again, here were regular people simply posting on Facebook promoting these rallies and it wasn’t long before there were 850 planned tea parties posted on their site. Well, Fox News, and only Fox News, picked up the buzz and began covering what was being planned for April 15, 2009 across the land. Once that happened, Mark said the “lid just blew off!” He started receiving approximately 1000 emails an hour, more rallies were planned, and this was happening as Mark again said, “with no official ‘organization,’ no money, no one with any particular skills, and no marketing.” He says it took awhile to get some estimates and numbers, but they know now that 1.2 million people attended rallies across America on April 15, 2009. Wow! After that enormous success, the big question became “what now?” They named the group the Tea Party Patriots. And when asked by the media, (my words) “oh how clever of you to use the word ‘Patriot’ in your name, after all everyone is a Patriot, right?” Mark’s response was, “well, actually we just thought ‘Tea Party Patriots’ sounded cool.” I found it particularly striking that Mark and the others specifically chose to use the term “fiscal responsibility” over the more commonly used, familiar, “fiscal conservative” because they did not want to be seen embracing any political philosophy.
Fast-forward to September 12, 2009 where 1.7 million people marched on D.C. and even cleaned up after themselves! Another bit of information I had never heard and thought was super cool when Dawn mentioned it: the Smithsonian asked for a tee-shirt and sign from that day because they knew history was being made! Mark went on: As the Tea Party Patriots continued to grow, we all saw what was accomplished in November 2010: “the largest turnover in the House of Representatives since 1938.” I loved how Mark told of the Freshman Member Orientation where he and Jenny Beth pretty much “demanded” the freshman members attend. Mark said two things were said to the new members: 1)”We are here for you. We helped get you here from all over the country. We expect you to vote your conscious. And if you do, you have an army of people to back you up.” 2)”And if you don’t, we will send you all back to where you came from.”
What has been remarkable to me, a Patriot watching from the sidelines, is instead of fizzling out or dying as many movements usually do after an election, the Tea Party Patriots has continued to grow. Mark says there are now over 3,600 chapters, with approximately 22-23 million members, across the country and every single one is organized differently depending on what the need in a particular town, city or county is. An interesting statistic Mark gave, and he said they simply go from their Facebook page demographics, about half the members are under the age of 45 and half the members are over 45, with the under 45 crowd being active on Facebook and the over 45 crowd being active in meetings.
Let me end by saying I have thoroughly enjoyed my two recent Tea Party events, the Labor Day BBQ and the Wellington meeting. Every member has been so unbelievably welcoming to me, a newcomer. All of you have an enthusiasm and a passion for the 3 core values fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets, that make us all Patriots. When I attend a Tea Party meeting, it doesn’t matter what political party I belong to, what my thoughts on social issues are, what my religion is, and not only doesn’t it matter, no one cares since we are all Americans who want the same things for America! I am so happy the Tea Party is there for me and it is going to be my pleasure working with all of you as we prepare for November 2012.
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October 3, Jupiter – The Devil at my Doorstep
October’s meeting of the Jupiter Chapter on 10/3 will feature the author of “The Devil At My Doorstep“, David Bego.
Individuals and small to mid size business owners who believe in employee privacy rights and the American Dream must attend this unique opportunity to speak with the man who stood up to Andy Stern and the SEIU and won.
Please RSVP with all those attending and if for the buffet or just the meeting. The meeting will be held at the Double Tree Hotel, 4431 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens. Buffet begins at 5:45PM and the meeting promptly at 7:00 PM.
Click the button below to RSVP:
or call 561-444-8086
Meckler, Wildman Highlight Boca Chapter Meeting
The Palm Beach County Tea Party group kicked off September in grand style with it’s monthly dinner/speaker event on Monday, September 12th. While many people were still absorbing the impact in the wake of yesterday’s media blitz of the 10-year anniversary of 9-11-2001, many of our attendees were still contemplating the significance on just what it means to be an American in this day and age. There is nothing like being reminded of the sorrow of fallen heroes and their families to readjust your idea of what it means to be patriotic.
On a night when we had a major televised debate for the Republican candidates, as well as a torrential downpour that lasted about an hour before we opened for the evening, we still had about 70 patriots who braved the weather and showed up, so that our voices can be heard in force. As the rain began to subside, many familiar faces trickled in for a night of true education and encouragement. As usual, we had about one-third of our crowd who had never been to a Tea Party event before!
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After all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Boca Greens Country Club, Alex Berry, the Boca Chapter Coordinator of the Palm Beach County Tea Party, took the podium as the evening’s MC. A brief welcome was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, and a review of the three tenets of the Tea Party was presented. Our founder and County Coordinator, Pam Wolschlegel was then introduced to update the attendees on the latest PBCTP news and events. Pam also started a tradition of providing the “Quotes of the Month”—typically statements made by liberal politicians (but others as well) who wish to vilify the Tea Party movement, and to characterize us all as cartoonish malcontents. There was lots of laughter and guffaws at these statements, but was illustrative of how the Left is desperate to discredit our movement.
Alex then introduced Bruce Besser, a loyal member of the Boca Chapter, who encouraged attendees to get involved LOCALLY, and specifically in our Boca Chapter, which needs more patriots to get involved with us. Terry Brady, a co-founder, followed to inform the attendees about the various fundraising activities that he is conducting, encouraging those who are passionate about our cause to give in a sacrificial way, or at least give of your time to help raise the money needed to continue to educate about our great cause.
Alex then introduced the speakers for the evening: Dawn Wildman, a state coordinator of Tea Party Patriots from San Diego, CA, and Mark Meckler, the Co-founder and National Coordinator of Tea Party Patriots. Dawn took the podium first, and recounted her journey in the movement. As only Dawn can do, she used her wit and intelligence and wry humor to address what life is like in a liberal bastion like California. Her presentation brought both nods of understanding and laughter. Who says great patriots can’t be funny and encouraging?!?!
Mark Meckler then took the podium, after Dawn’s introduction. Mark told us the story of what the Tea Party movement is like nationwide. His incredible message resonated strongly with our boisterous and lively audience, because it was so entertaining and encouraging—he said that this movement has it’s hallmark in meetings like ours—mobilizing local people to get involved! Mark then regaled the crowd with stories of his experiences with the national media- like the Chris Matthews story—as well as dealing directly on Capitol Hill with elected politicians who benefited from the Tea Party vote. One thing is clear: not much has changed in the Big Political Machine in Washington. This means that the Tea Party still has a lot of work to do. A natural speaker, Mark truly captured the essence of what true patriotism really means on a local level—whether it means making a financial contribution, getting involved in events with your local group, or just having a bumper sticker to help our cause. The point he made is: “There is a Role For You”.
The “Q&A” portion was equally entertaining, and Mark Meckler handled all the questions with grace, aplomb, and a direct honesty that was appreciated and respected by all. After about 6 questions were asked and answered, the raffle prize was drawn and won by none other than the Boca Chapter’s own Howard Dekkers– who promptly returned the $100 prize back to the Tea Party. Thanks, Howard!
One of the best parts of meetings like ours is the fellowship that occurs afterwards. Not only do like-minded patriots get to meet each other and exchange ideas, but the speakers always make themselves accessible to answer any additional questions, as well. Several people stayed to chat and enjoy the evening, and many stayed till well after 9:00pm. Media present at our event included Michele Kirk, Associate Editor of BizPac Review, and Heather Gustafson, a student at nearby Lynn University, whose senior project in Journalism School is her report on local Tea Party activities.
We look forward to another great meeting in October for our Boca Chapter—please stay tuned into this site for more information, and INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!!! See you next month!
