Statement on Appointments for 87th & 98th House Districts from OH House Speaker

H/T Matt at Weapons of Mass Discussion

From Speaker of the Ohio House Bill Batchelder --

COLUMBUS—Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder (R-Medina) today released the following statement regarding the currently vacant 87th and 98th House district seats, formerly held by Republican Representatives John Carey and Richard Hollington:

“As the Speaker of the House, it is of the utmost importance to me that each House district has appropriate representation and that every Ohioan has a means to make his or her voice heard in Columbus. However, we are also in a situation that gives Ohioans themselves the opportunity to help us choose the appointees to succeed Representatives Carey and Hollington in the Ohio House during this General Assembly.

“Given the fact that multiple Republican candidates have filed for these offices prior to the March primary, voting for which begins in less than two weeks, we feel it would be most prudent given this timeline for the residents of the 87th and 98th districts to decide for themselves who their representatives will be. The Republican Caucus has decided to honor the outcome of the March primary for these two districts and ultimately appoint the winner of each race. We believe waiting until the results of the primary election will give the people of the 87th and 98th districts the most influence over their representation and ensure that their voices are being heard.

However, I also believe it is of the utmost importance that the constituents of these two House districts have a voice during the next few months of what promises to be a busy legislative session before the March primary. Therefore, I have been in contact with local officials in these individual House districts about the possibility of appointing someone to fill these seats until mid-March, so the voices of the constituents in the 87th and 98th House Districts can continue to be uninterrupted.”

Speaker Batchelder intends to make an announcement as details become available in the coming days about any potential appointments to the vacated seats.

SOPA & PIPA Only Delayed NOT STOPPED - Keep up the pressure!

 

Since our last Action Alert on SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and its Senate cousin PIPA (PROTECT IP).there has been a lot that has happened and much more to be done to stop these bills.

On the same day that thousands of websites had gone dark to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act; Florida Senator Marco Rubio announced he was withdrawing his name and support for the House and Senate bills and it's been a domino affect every since.

Senators Jim Inhofe, John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, John Boozman, David Vitter, Kelly Ayotte, and Roy Blunt have dropped their support and on the House side so did , former co-sponsors Representatives Ben Quayle, Lee Terry, Dennis Ross, Steve Scalise, Tim Griffin and Tim Holden.

 

SOPA is currently in the House Judiciary Committee, and just today House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) said he will postpone consideration of his Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) until there is wider agreement on the controversial legislation.

 

On PIPA, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) calls to shelve the bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has rescheduled a procedural vote on the legislation that was set for Tuesday afternoon.  Reid says he is confident some sort of compromise can be reached.

 

Trying to amend or fix SOPA & PIPA is like putting whip cream on crap - they might look more appealling, but underneath they are still crap and they must be flushed not fixed! SOPA & PIPA are not bills that can be amended into something acceptable, they must die completely.

What can you do?

 

Ohio has two Congressmen on the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH), a co-sponsor of SOPA and Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH).

Please contact Congressman Chabot and ask him to withdraw as a co-sponsor of SOPA and to drop his support.

Congressman Steve Chabot

  

Cincinnati Office

Phone: (513) 684-2723
Fax: (513) 421-8722

Washington DC Office
Phone: (202) 225-2216
Fax: (202) 225-3012

Email: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=9rxmyrdab&et=1109108093105&s=1117&e=001JB1HOv_G1JVQI4NjoCbIsbm8xy-2BN83SMyJ6vCPplesKYu2_NtIzZ6eOyfJRt3rpqVSktTRiepnNR8aBqNMxyrFc-M9lmcCGguHTgwVYrbbP4P5fROmHxra5M2BajXxu8fESd7fpOE=

Contact Congressman Jim Jordan and ask him to defeat SOPA by any means necessary.

 

 Congressman Jim Jordan

Mansfield Office

Phone: (419) 522-5757

Fax: (419) 525-2805

Washington DC Office

DC PH#: 202-225-2676

DC Fax#: 202-226-0577

 

Email: http://jordan.house.gov/Contact

On PIPA contact Senate President Harry Reid and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ask them to once in their careers do the right thing and to STOP any and all discussions on PIPA.

Senate President Harry Reid
DC Phone: (202)224-3542
DC Fax: (202)224-7327
Email: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Senator Patrick Leahy
DC Phone: (202)224-4242
Email: http://leahy.senate.gov/contact/

For a list of all the members on the Senate Judiciary Committee click here.

Tea Party Patriots Co-Sponsoring Presidential Debate Tonight

Tea Party Patriots, along with the SRLC and CNN, will co-sponsor a primetime Presidential debate this Thursday in Charleston, South Carolina – two days before the crucial South Carolina primary.

“The South Carolina primary is a critical contest in the march towards the Republican presidential nomination,” said Mark Preston, CNN political director. “The support of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference and the Tea Party Patriots is invaluable in helping us to provide the Republican candidates an opportunity to answer direct questions on the many challenges facing the nation.”

The debate will air live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on CNN, CNN en Español, CNN Radio and worldwide on CNN International and CNN.com. It will re-air on CNN for the primetime West Coast audience at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET. CNN will also provide a live feed of the debate to the American Forces Network, which is seen in 175 countries and aboard naval ships around the world so that U.S. airmen, marines, sailors, soldiers and officials serving overseas can view the debate.

Freshman Congressman Bill Johnson (OH-6) Faces Challenge in GOP Primary

Freshman GOP Congressman Bill Johnson from Ohio's 6th Congressional District will be facing challenger Victor Smith in the primary this year.  The winner will face off against the winner of the Democrat primary between former Congressman Charlie Wilson and Cas Adulewiz.

Working through the Ohio Project and helping to form Grassroots Ohio, Victor worked tirelessly to help pass Issue 3 the Ohio Healthcare Freedom Amendment.

Getting into office as a result of the GOP sweep across Ohio more so than being elected because of his ability, Congressman Bill Johnson has been a loyal servant to Speaker John Boehner instead of the people he was elected to represent.

Sent to D.C. to stop the out of control spending, Congressman Johnson did just the opposite and voted in support of the Continuing Resolutions, Omnibus Bills and Raising the Debt Ceiling.  Equally, if not more disturbing is that Congressman Bill Johnson voted in support of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 (NDAA), a new law allowing for Indefinite Military Detention of U.S. Citizens Without Charge or Trial.

While this is NOT an endorsement of any candidate, it should be noted that Congressman Bill Johnson, after ignoring the requests of many of Tea Party / Liberty group members that voted him into office, continually sided with the establishment elected elite & Speaker Boehner. 

From The Marietta Times --

Waterford resident Victor Smith has spent recent months working with The Ohio Project to get the Ohio health care freedom amendment on last November's ballot but in the next few months, he'll be campaigning as a candidate for Ohio's 6th district Congressional seat in the March primary election.

Smith, a Republican, is running along with Republican Incumbent Bill Johnson, of Marietta, Democrat Charlie Wilson, of St. Clairsville and Democrat Cas Adulewicz, of Steubenville.

Smith is a 1965 Warren High School graduate and 1969 graduate of the West Point United States Military Academy in New York. He retired from the military in 1989 and became a registered professional engineer in Ohio, working for several local plants, including DuPont and Union Carbide. He most recently worked as a consulting engineer for Apex Engineering's Marietta office.

Smith said his No. 1 priority is ensuring that the government does not stand in the way of Utica shale drilling.

New horizontal drilling technology is expected to be used in the coming years to tap into Marcellus and Utica shale deposits that are present in Ohio.

"It represents a great boom for our region, our state and our country," he said. "Everything is taken out at 10,000 feet, so this idea that they're going to pollute the groundwater - it doesn't happen."

Smith said he's also concerned about the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law at the end of December by President Barack Obama.

"Sections 1021, 1022 and 1023 need to be taken out," he said. "Those sections give the president the right to define what constitutes a terrorist...and that's not a power you give to any president, period."

Smith said he's also concerned about the debt ceiling, saying it should not be raised. Obama asked Congress Thursday to raise it by $1.2 trillion.

"What Congress is doing right now and they're continuing to do is max one credit card and take another credit card to pay it off with," he said. "Congress, by increasing the debt ceiling, has managed to not kick the can down the road - they're saying 'we don't care, we will never, ever fix this.'"

Santorum Unable to Make the Ballot in 3 Ohio Congressional Districts

This will not help Santorum in his bid for the GOP nomination.  Santorum is the only candidate in the GOP primary that was unable to make the ballot in all the Ohio Congressional Districts...

From the Cleveland PD --

If Rick Santorum is still among the Republican presidential hopefuls come Super Tuesday, he'll compete in Ohio's March 6 primary with a significant disadvantage of his own making.

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who surged after a strong finish in last week's Iowa caucuses, failed to qualify for local-level delegates in three congressional districts.

Secretary of State Jon Husted said Wednesday that Santorum did not file for the 6th, 9th or 13th districts. Under the Ohio Republican Party's system for awarding delegates to the national convention this summer, Santorum is ineligible for the districts' nine combined delegates.

Santorum will appear on ballots statewide as a candidate for 18 at-large delegates. Including three from each of Ohio's 16 congressional districts, 66 total delegates will be up for grabs.

Republicans Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney were certified to compete for local-level delegates in all districts and for at-large delegates. More...

NYC Gun Charges Dropped on Tea Party Patriots Co-Founder Mark Meckler

Many of you have heard how there have been several cases where CCW licensed individuals have been arrested in New York while they were attempting to legally declare their weapons.

In mid December of last year (2011) one of our National Coordinators and co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, Mark Meckler, who also holds a CCW permit was arrested at LaGuardia Airport while attempting to declare his weapon that was being transported in a TSA approved travel case. 

Now that Mark has had his day in court he is finally able to speak out on the incident...

From Across the Fence --

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 15^th, 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.”  It is 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.

(Note:  Every law enforcement officer I dealt with through the process was polite and professional.  They are not to blame for NYC’s unconstitutional or tyrannical behavior.  From my experience, they seem to be good people, just doing a difficult job.).

It should be noted that during this ordeal, Mark had the unwavering support of all the TPP State Coordinators and local coordinators across the country.  While we are happy this is now past, you can rest assured we, The Tea Party Patriots, will stand with an undying resolve in working to restore a much needed respect and adherence to our God given and Constitutionally protected rights for all citizens of this great country.

Oakland County (MI) Democrat Official Sentenced Over Fake Tea Party Candidates

It looks like if the democrats can't win through voter fraud, they are not above candidate fraud...

From the Detroit Free Press --

A former Oakland County Democratic party operative was sentenced to one year probation and ordered to pay more than $2,500 in fines and court costs for his role in creating “fake” tea party candidates in the 2010 election, in an effort to siphon off support for legitimate Republican candidates.

Jason Bauer, 31, of Waterford said nothing as Oakland County Circuit Court judge James Alexander, a former official with the county’s Republican party, told Bauer what he did was equivalent to murder.

“This is as heinous as someone who tries to kill somebody else,” Alexander said.

Bauer, in November, pleaded no contest to five felony counts of perjury and falsifying notarized documents. He and fellow Democratic official Michael McGuinness were indicted by a one man grand jury in March for attempting to put unknowing residents on the ballot as “tea party” candidates. Investigators said the ruse was an attempt to lure Republican votes, which would dilute the votes for authentic candidates. Click for more...

Running a "Smoker" in a race is not uncommon, but working to get someone on the ballot without their knowledge is taking it to a new low for the left and nothing short of political idiocy.  How these two guys thought they would not get caught is remarkable -- but when dealing with party hacks like this -- anything should be expected.

Here in Ohio I am sure we had some candidates using the "Tea Party" tag to get votes and raise money - the most noted fake Tea Party candidate was current Secretary of State John Husted during the 2010 elections. 

Thankfully most of the grassroots Tea Party groups in this state were already aware that SoS Husted, Ohio's Happy Hypocrite, was anything but a Tea Party candidate. In fact, the only relation John Husted would have with the Tea Party is if he would have been driving the British ship into the Boston Harbor."

If a candidate is a 'real' Tea Party supporter, you will see it in their actions and not their words or glossy handouts.