Help Stop the Earmarks! (Action Alert)

Our first battle with the newly empowered GOP

For two years we have told the media and the rest of the country that we are nonpartisan and that we intend to hold all lawmakers to a higher standard, and now is our first chance to hold accountable the newly empowered Republican Party.

Next week, Senate Republicans will meet privately to elect their leaders and to consider changes to their conference rules. This is incredibly important and could determine whether or not they were serious about their campaign promises to reduce spending and the size of government.

Earmark ban being introduced

Senator Jim DeMint is introducing an amendment to ban all Republican earmarks in the Senate for the 112th Congress in their closed-door caucus meetings next week. Representative Boehner will be introducing a similar amendment in the House. Senator DeMint and Senator Cornyn will also submit an amendment making it the policy for the Republican conference to support an amendment that forces Congress to balance the budget without raising taxes.

The Senate earmark ban has been co-sponsored by Senators Tom Coburn (OK), John Ensign (NV), Mike Enzi (WY), and John Cornyn (TX) along with Senators-elect Pat Toomey (PA), Marco Rubio (FL), Rand Paul (KY), Mike Lee (UT), Ron Johnson (WI), and Kelly Ayotte (NH).

Senator DeMint states, "If adopted, the GOP earmark ban will represent a very important step toward getting our fiscal house in order. While the cost of earmarks is not large compared to the entire budget, they are used to pressure senators into supporting budget-busting spending bills that have buried our nation under a mountain of debt. As you know, many Republicans are still addicted to earmarks and won't give them up without a fight. I know it's difficult to quit this habit because I used to request earmarks too. But once senators give them up, they're free to fight against excessive spending without fear of retaliation. It's time for Republicans to lead by example on this issue so we can effectively stand together as a party against excessive spending."

Some Republicans trying to fight the ban

Here is the bad news – there are already a group of Republican lawmakers that are trying to fight against this ban. To read the Politico article about it, click the following link: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=317CEEC0-DC88-C8A7-61499B727950D540. 

The Senators that plan to vote against Senator DeMint's amendment need to be reminded about the message that was sent to them on November 2nd. Americans are tired of these games, including earmarks that breed corruption and favor-trading.

Take action now

We need to call these Senators that are thinking of voting no on Senator DeMint's amendment. Their numbers are listed below. Let’s melt their phone lines, and let them know that the Tea Party Patriots didn't disappear just because the elections are over.

We ask that you call Ohio Sen. George Voinovich first to find out how he is voting and then call the rest of the senators. Be polite, but firm. Some of these senators have been with us on other issues, but on this issue we need to remind them that they work for the people, and the people spoke last Tuesday – no more wasteful spending.

List of Senators to call

Sen. George Voinovich (OH)

DC Phone: (202) 224-3353

Cleveland Phone: (216) 522-7095

Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY)

DC Phone: (202) 224-2541

Jim Inhofe (OK)

DC Phone: (202) 224-4721   

Lindsey Graham (SC)

DC Phone: (202) 224-5972

Lamar Alexander (TN)

DC Phone: (202) 224-4944

Jon Kyl (AZ)

DC Phone: (202) 224-4521

John Barrasso (WY)

DC Phone: (202) 224-6441

John Thune (SD)

DC Phone: (202) 224-2321

Important note: The reason that these Senators are saying they will vote no on the amendment is because earmarks are such a tiny portion of federal spending that the effort to ban them is meaningless, especially when compared to reforming entitlements and cutting spending for other federal programs. This is true in the sense that compared to all the other trillions of dollars that politicians are spending, earmarks seem inconsequential. However, make sure you let them know you fully understand the numbers, but that regardless of the comparative size, it is still important. It shows that they were serious and honest in their campaign promises. As Marco Rubio said, the Republicans were given a second chance and this is their first test.  (H/T Medina Tea Party Patriots)

CTPP Salutes our Veterans

Don't forget to thank & hug a veteran today! It is because of their sacrifices, and the ultimate sacrifice of our fallen soldiers and their fallen brothers - that we have the freedom we do!  We must all remember... if it was not for what our veterans have done and are doing -- "We the People" would not exist!

Justice Dept. emails show politics influenced Dismissal of Black Panther Voter Intimidation Case

Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Justice Department released emails to Judicial Watch that reveals how political appointees dictated the decision to abandon a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party.

From Judicial Watch --

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) that provide new evidence that top political appointees at the DOJ were intimately involved in the decision to dismiss the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense (NBPP). These new documents, which include internal DOJ email correspondence, directly contradict sworn testimony by Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, who testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that no political leadership was involved in the decision. The new documents were obtained last week by Judicial Watch pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. Department of Justice (No.10-851)).

The new documents include a series of emails between two political appointees: former Democratic election lawyer and current Deputy Associate Attorney General Sam Hirsch and Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli. Both DOJ officials were involved in detailed discussions regarding the NBPP decision. For example, in one April 30, 2009, email from Hirsch to Perrelli, with the subject title “Fw: New Black Panther Party Update,” Hirsch writes:

Tom,

I need to discuss this with you tomorrow morning. I’ll send you another email on this shortly.

If you want to discuss it this evening, please let me know which number to call and when.

These emails were put in further context by an updated Vaughn index obtained by Judicial Watch, describing NBPP documents the Obama DOJ continues to withhold. These documents, which were attached to the DOJ’s Motion for Summary Judgment filing, include a description of a May 13 email chain that seems to suggest political appointee Sam Hirsch may have been orchestrating the NBPP decision.

Acting DAAG [Steven Rosenbaum] advising his supervising Acting AAG [Loretta King] of DASG’s [Hirsch’s] request for a memorandum by the Acting DAAG reviewing various options, legal strategies, and different proposals of relief as related to each separate defendant. Acting DAAG forwarding emails from Appellate Section Chief’s and Appellate Attorney’s with their detailed legal analyses including the application of constitutional provisions and judicial precedent to strategies and relief under consideration in the ongoing NBPP litigation, as well as an assessment of the strength of potential legal arguments, and presenting different possible scenarios in the litigation. [Emphasis added]

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas Perez testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that no political appointees were involved in the NBPP decision. Perez suggested that the dispute was merely “a case of career people disagreeing with career people.”

In fact, political appointee Sam Hirsch sent an April 30, 2009, email to Steven Rosenbaum (then-Acting Assistant Deputy Attorney General in the Civil Rights) thanking Rosenbaum for “doing everything you’re doing to make sure that this case is properly resolved.” The next day, the DOJ began to reverse course on its NBPP voter intimidation lawsuit.

Judicial Watch also obtained two email reports sent by former Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Loretta King to Attorney General Eric Holder.

The first report, entitled “Weekly Report for the Week ending May 8, 2009,” and sent on May 12, 2009, notes: “On May 15, 2009, pursuant to court order, the Department will file a motion for default judgment against at least some of the defendants” in the NBPP lawsuit. The report further notes that the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense “has been identified as a racist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League and the founders and members of the original Black Panther Party.”

The second report, entitled “Weekly Report for the Week ending May 15, 2009,” and sent on May 18, 2009, demonstrates that the DOJ did an abrupt reversal on the NBPP issue: “On May 15, 2009, the Department voluntarily dismissed its claims” against the NBPP and two of the defendants, the report noted. The DOJ moved for default judgment against only one defendant.

“It is now obvious to me why the Obama administration continues to be so secretive regarding the Justice Department’s decision to abandon its lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party. These documents show that not only was the Black Panther decision shamelessly politicized by the Obama administration but also that Obama officials lied to cover up the scandal. And these documents raise more questions about Attorney General Holder’s involvement. The American people need to know if racism and political favoritism are corrupting the nation’s highest law enforcement agency,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

The DOJ filed its lawsuit against the NBPP following an incident that took place outside of a Philadelphia polling station on November 4, 2008. A video of the incident, showing a member of the NBPP brandishing police-style baton weapon, was widely distributed on the Internet. According to multiple witnesses, members of the NBPP blocked access to polling stations, harassed voters and hurled racial epithets. Nonetheless, the DOJ ultimately overruled the recommendations of its own staff and dismissed the majority of its charges. Current and former DOJ attorneys have alleged in sworn testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that the Holder DOJ’s NBPP and other civil rights-related decisions are made on the basis of race and political affiliation.

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Senator Jim DeMint Under Attack by RINO's

It looks as if SC Senator Lindsey Grahamnesty wants to be the next RINO victim of the Tea Party Movement.  Senator Jim DeMint has been a strong supporter of the Tea Party Patriots and the Tea Party movement as a whole from the very beginning.

From ABC News -- (emphasis added)

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is in the midst of the Tea Party vs. GOP establishment debate. McClatchy’s James Rosen notes that DeMint “faces criticism that the millions he spent on hard-right candidates cost Republicans control of the U.S. Senate” and some Republican elected officials and pundits have already sent warning shots DeMint’s way.

Conservative Republicans are having none of it, however, and they are instead sticking close by DeMint. “The big winners of 2010 are Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin and liberal and moderate Republicans can’t stand it,” conservative leader Brent Bozell said in an interview with ABC News. “The Republican Party owes Jim DeMint a massive debt of gratitude and a standing ovation for what he did.” Bozell fired back at prominent Republicans, including DeMint’s South Carolina colleague, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who have suggested that endorsing insurgent candidates was a mistake.

“If the moderates in the Republican Party want war, they’re going to lose,” Bozell said, holding up Graham as an example. “I guarantee you we will see their political carcasses when they come up for re-election.” Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, one of the most active conservative groups of the 2010 election cycle, called DeMint one of the “shining lights” of the Senate. “Our movement is better off without having Mike Castle as the 51st vote,” said Phillips, who also participated in Friday’s meeting.

GOP's first Tea Party Test

As the jockeying & partisan pandering for new leadership positions heats up in the GOP, who is now in charge thanks to the Tea Party Movement, one must wonder if they will now thumb their nose at the Tea Parties and continue with more of the same....

From ABC News --

Republicans are facing their own leadership struggles with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite, challenging Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling for the job of House Republican Conference Chairman. The expectation is that Bachmann will fall short, but will the GOP leadership find a place -- even a symbolic one -- for the Tea Party? And, if they don't, will the roughly half of the 84 new GOP members of Congress who consider themselves Tea Partiers rebel?

ABC’s Rick Klein looks ahead to the unfolding drama within the party: “Republicans will face an early test of party unity in the spring, with a looming vote to raise the debt limit -- something many tea partiers oppose, even though a failure to pass such a measure would cause certain chaos in global markets and grind government functions to a halt. Other areas that could come up even sooner -- such as possible compromises on extending the Bush-era tax cuts and proposals to ban earmarks -- could pit tea partiers against veteran members who are more inclined to take more pragmatic stands in an era of divided governance. Republican leaders rightly point out that the new crop of members aren't strangers to them, personally or politically.

Top members of the GOP leadership campaigned for many of them and encouraged some of them to run; they have reached out to all of them in the days since Election Day. The presumptive House speaker, John Boehner, is signaling that the new crop will feel welcome in Washington.”

Will Boehner really extend a welcome mat or will he slam the door on the people who are responsible for him having the opportunity to be the next Speaker of the House?

1st Tea Party Patriots High School Club

From the Tea Party Patriots Facebook Page --

This is a piece submitted by Caleb Yee, founder of the first Tea Party Patriots High School Club.  The name of the group is called The A-Team Tea Party Club and they are in Hacienda Heights, CA.  They have done an incredible job. Go to their Facebook Page and check them out.  Leave comments of support..

FaceBook Page:  http://www.facebook.com/ATeamTeaPartyYouth?v=wall&ref=ts
Web Site: http://ateamyouth.org/

From Caleb:

Our story starts off with a group of high school students from Glen. A Wilson High School here in California hoping to not only make a difference in our youth but to make a difference in America . My name is Caleb Yee and I am part of the A-Team. We proud and humbled to say that we are the first high school Tea Party club in the country and our mission is to spread our youth movement across America like wildfire. Our main purpose is to inform, protect, and lead the American youth into a brighter future.

With a committed advisor and a group of conservative students we decided to tackle the problems facing America and show the youth that we need to get involved now in order to change it. We truly wondered on how our future would be like thirty, ten, or even a few years from now. With the gracious encouragement from the Tea Party Patriots and a group of other wonderful supporters across America , we felt confident enough to step into the realm of political activism.

We were clearly tired of students basing the GOP, the Tea Party Movement and conservative ideals off of liberally biased media stereotypes. We know that what is happening to country now would not only affect us, but also our future children and grandchildren as well. We wanted to bring back the cherished idea that American values are important and should be something we are proud of but also return to the ideals the Founding Fathers implemented in the Constitution.

We are still a fresh movement, the first of its kind and we still have a long and exciting journey ahead of us.  Our vision is clear:  We believe in fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets like America was intended to have.  We believe these principles are necessary in order for our country to be strong in the future.

 

We have a vision, a dream, a goal, and a mission to protect those ideals and the rights of Americans even though we cannot vote as minors. As we took the steps from making our dream become a reality, I realized that if a group of young adults in a Californian public high school can start this movement, then anybody can do the same anywhere in the United States of America.

We do not know yet the conflicts or opposition we may run into sooner or later, but we will carry on with the love, support, dreams, inspiration, and encouragement from Americans. We do not fear any attack from any critics because we know the truth and when you stand in the light of the truth nothing can tear you down.

I send this message out not only to the adults of America , but to the young patriots of America . You are not alone! Take a stand! Stand Up and carry on the torch of truth and courage.  I humbly ask all Americans to help support this movement by informing their children and grandchildren of our country’s history. To encourage them to educate themselves about what needs to be done in order to preserve the work our founding fathers laid out in order to secure our future. Like Ronald Reagan once said, “We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.”

We are waiting. Together we will win because victory is inevitable.Because we know that our states are united by a history being forgotten and a future we shall face together. We are the A-Team, and we send this message so that our nation’s past will always be remembered. For in these memories, we will strive towards Life, Liberty , and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Hire Nancy Pelosi!

After suffering an electoral beat down of historic proportions and a complete rebuke of her progressive policies, soon to be former Speaker of the House Ninny Pelosi is angling to be Minority Leader of the Democrat Party.

We've taken away her gavel.... maybe we should let her keep her broom and bewitching power over the winged-monkeys progressives left in the Democrat Party as it will serve as a reminder of all the hard work we still have left to do...

From The Examiner --

Republicans that recently gave President and the Democrats a beating on November 2, 2010 are gleeful that Nancy Pelosi, who led 60 plus liberal members of the U.S. House of Representatives over the cliff, may soon be the Minority Leader.  The chant and banners are "Hire Pelosi" so she can be the symbol of voters who have rejected almost every bill forced through the house by her.

The latest polls show that Pelosi is favored by 8% of Independents who have become an important segment of the voting population. She has come to be the face of the worst part of the Democratic Party and still she has so much control that she may easily win the spot, even if challenged by a few Democrats who are realistically facing their own demise in 2012 under her leadership.