Ohio Tea Party Patriot Ralph King in the news

Photo credit: curatorialcuriosities.wordpress.com

Ralph Z. Hallow quotes CTPP Ralph King in The Washington Times:

If the GOP is still the party of the big tent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie needs to check the roof over his section for a gaping hole.

Over the past few days, Republican establishment leaders have rained down on Mr. Christie with a barrage of opinions — sometimes contradictory — in response to the media-driven fury over the closing of lanes on a New Jersey bridge that has put Mr. Christie’s 2016 presidential ambitions at risk.

Some party leaders have suggested “Bridgegate” is a small-potatoes scandal unworthy of attention, or pleaded to give Mr. Christie the benefit of the doubt. Others have shown far less sympathy, suggesting that the New Jersey governor should own a controversy that emanates from his own smashmouth political style.

. . .

Even former President George W. Bush’s chief political adviser, Karl Rove, the last Republican strategist to forge a winning coalition for the White House, has gotten crossways with a vocal wing of the party by suggesting that Mr. Christie may have earned some “street cred” last week with the tea party by quickly firing the aides responsible for the lane closures and resulting traffic tie-ups.

Tea party folks shot back by suggesting that Mr. Rove and Mr. Christie may both be out of touch.

“Rove’s statement shows, as he [has] shown in the last election cycle, he has no idea what he is talking about when it comes to the tea party or elections,” said Cleveland Tea Party founder Ralph King. “The firing of [Mr. Christie‘s] top aides was not enough to hide his RINO [Republican in name only] horn, and it is laughable at best for Rove to think this earned Christie any ‘street cred’ with the tea party movement.”

Political scandals can be galvanizing, getting party members to rally behind figures they think are unfairly accused or to abandon unsalvageable targets quickly. But the GOP has been unable to do either with Mr. Christie.

Mixed messages

Republicans’ wildly varied responses suggest party leaders are far apart on who should be the next face of the party or even what terms the next elections should be fought on. Is it pragmatic politics or ideology that will beat the Democrats the next time?

Right now, the answer depends on whom one asks.

That is, whether you ask  conservative value voters OR the go-along get-along elite GOPs.

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Protect the First Amendment from the IRS

In May of 2013, it became public knowledge that the Internal Revenue Service of the United States was targeting American citizens for their political and religious beliefs. This caused many Americans to spend time and resources to jump through hoops for the IRS to remain in compliance. Speculation is that this was done specifically to prevent conservatives from making their voices heard leading up to the 2012 election, effectively silencing a large segment of the population.

Now, the IRS is prepared to implement regulations that would make their targeting legal. This is an assault on the 1st amendment and we cannot let them get away with this.

We must call Congress and demand that they protect the first amendment. The IRS is accepting comments on the new proposals until February 27, 2014 and we should flood them with comments. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper to inform your community. Finally, forward this email to everyone you know who cares about protecting the first amendment!

TAKE ACTION NOW

1. Call, write, tweet Congress and tell them to stop this assault on the first amendment. Congress directory is here (House) and here (Senate). 
2. Leave a comment with the IRS so we can flood them with comments.
3. Write a letter to the editor to inform your community.

STOP THE CARP! Public meeting Thurs., Jan 16 / 4pm-7pm

Except this is no joke, and it’s not a Godzilla monster. 

It’s the Asian Carp.

The Plain Dealer editorial appears here, and below are some extracts. Mark your calendar for  Thursday, Jan. 16. The Army Corps of Engineers will host a public meeting at the Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Avenue, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The carp cometh. (Marlin Levison, The Star Tribune)

The pending carpocalypse of the Great Lakes

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- the same folks who have come up with endless ways to delay action on the threatened invasion of Asian carp into the Great Lakes -- seem determined to institutionalize that failure with a new report that obscures the need for immediate action beneath an avalanche of "risk matrix" and "cost methodology."

But you can stop the Corps from turning the Great Lakes into a corpse.

Circle Thursday, Jan. 16, on the calendar. The Corps will host a public meeting at the Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Avenue, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The topic: Their Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study, a wishy-washy "We could do this, we could do that" strategy that skims over the half-measures that have allowed the silver and bighead carp -- the most serious threats these 20,000-year-old liquid assets have faced -- to gain a finhold in the largest freshwater ecosystem on the continent.

The five glacial lakes provide drinking water to 30 million people and float a $7.5 billion commercial fishing industry and 800,000 jobs.

Then there is the tourism. In Ohio alone, Lake Erie recreation and tourism net an estimated $11.5 billion annually and support more than 117,000 jobs, according to state statistics.

And yet, the Corps apparently could care less about what happens in Cleveland or Milwaukee or Buffalo -- especially if it means upsetting President Barack Obama's Chicago shipping industry cronies. 

The study -- which took seven years, millions of dollars and a bipartisan boot-in-the-butt by Congress to produce -- offers eight options, beginning with the laughable suggestion that the Corps continues its current do-nothing tactic by relying on the electric barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Carp, er, Ship Canal that its own research has proven ineffective.

. . .

And then -- buried near the bottom [of the study] -- is the only obvious solution to stop the carp as well as other invasive species from gutting the Great Lakes: Hydrological separation of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins.

Cost: $18.3 billion.

And worth every penny.

Great Lake governors, local, state and federal elected officials, scientists, the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition and the Ohio Environmental Council all endorse that plan.

Now it time to make your voice heard. Tell the Corps why the Great Lakes mean so much to you. Personalize the relationship. 

Attend the Jan. 16 meeting at the Cleveland Public Library. Then ask the Corps officials and other officials who will be present the tough questions:

1. Hydrological separation is the only strategy that meets the congressional mandate to protect the Great Lakes and it's expensive, yet so is doing nothing. Are our lakefront elected representatives including Reps. Marcy Kaptur and David Joyce and Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman prepared to fight for this money? What about Ohio Gov. John Kasich? Spending hundreds of thousands of federal dollars on the Great Lakes Initiative annually will be a wasted investment if the lakes' fisheries and recreational attractions are laid waste by predatory carp.

2. Given that the Corps' own research confirms that the electric barriers are ineffective and that the physical separation of the two water systems will require extensive and time-consuming work, can Corps officials describe in detail the technologies and any physical barriers they are prepared to implement quickly to prevent the carp from entering the Great Lakes before the watersheds are separated?

3. Considering the urgency of the threat, how soon will Corps officials pledge to have a plan in place to separate the two watersheds? When will the actual separation work begin?

Getting unambiguous answers to these questions is critical for Northeast Ohio and all Great Lakes communities.

THE MEETING: Thursday, Jan. 16 / Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Avenue / 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tea Party Patriots: training sessions announced

Exclusive Tea Party Patriots Training open for Registration!

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From Tea Party Patriots National Support Team:

2014 is here, bringing new challenges for the movement! Tea Party Patriots is sponsoring virtual training specifically for activists and members across the country. For January's classes, there are four sessions to choose from, however there are a limited number of seats available. Registration is free, thanks to donations made by hardworking men and women everywhere!

Waking the Sleeping Giant - How Mainstream Americans Can Beat Liberals at Their Own Game: A look at how the liberal minority wields such power in American politics and practical tools that mainstream Americans can use to turn the tide.
Presented by Tim Daughtry, author of "Waking the Sleeping Giant" TODAY, January 9 at 2:00PM EST.

Register for "Waking the Sleeping Giant" HERE

  The Determinators - Whoever Pays Holds the Power to Decide: The dark underside of Obamacare that, once fully implemented, will significantly threaten the way Americans live…and die.
Presented by Dr. C.L. Gray, author of "The Battle for America's Soul" Thursday, January 16 at 7:30PM EST.

Register for "The Determinators" HERE

Trump the Race Card! Learn how to trump the race card, inspire more minorities, women and young people to join the ranks of the conservative movement.
Presented by K. Carl Smith, President, Frederick Douglass Republican Thursday, January 23 at 7:30PM EST.

Register for "Trump the Race Card!" HERE

Exercise Your Civic Authority - Put the Odds Forever in your Favor: A new approach to citizen activism.
Presented by Mark Herr, President, Center for Self Governance Thursday, January 30 at 7:30PM EST.

Register for "Exercise Your Civic Authority" HERE

Article V Amending Convention Symposium - Article V of the U.S. Constitution outlines two methods for amending the Constitution. The first method allows for Congress to originate an amendment and the second provides for a convention of the states. The second method has never been used. The founders specifically provided that method to allow the people and the states the ability to reign in an over reaching federal government. However, there are some fears and some dangers to an Article V amending convention.

Join us for this discussion to become well informed about this very important issue permeating our political discussions. The schedule is as follows.

Tuesday, January 14 at 7:30PM EST –  Arguments for and against: Continuing the discussion with a pro expert and a con expert regarding an Article V amending convention of the states.

Tuesday, January 21 at 7:30PM EST – Proposed Amendments Part 1: What are some of the amendments being promoted by pro Article V amending convention groups? From a Balanced Budget Amendment to Term Limits to Repeal 16, learn about them on this webinar.

Tuesday, January 28 at 7:30PM EST – Proposed Amendments Part 2: A continuation of proposed amendments.

If demand for classes is high, there may be opportunities for additional training. 2014 Will be a busy year for the Tea Party, make sure you have the tools to be a part of it!

War on Coal Update

A cartoon posted on the Ohio Coal Assoc.'s Facebook page. 

Erika Johnson at the blog Hot Air ("War on coal, phase two: EPA finally publishes rules for new power plants") reports that the next round of strangulation EPA rules is essentially

a ban on the construction of coal-fired power plants (and even that reveal was the result of still another months-long delay as the administration struggled to formulate the rules in a way that could both survive the inevitable legal challenges while not restricting greenhouse-gas emissions so stringently as to disqualify even the construction of new natural gas plants . . .

The Federal Register text is here. The Ohio Coal Assoc. is not happy:

EPA's NSPS regulations are the latest destructive energy policy from the Obama Administration. Yet another example of the war on coal.

Check the OCA's Facebook page for updates. 

Cuyahoga County Executive candidate debate cancelled

Not good news for Cuyahoga County voters:  

Cuyahoga County Executive candidate debate 

scheduled for Thursday  cancelled

From The Plain Dealer:

A county executive debate scheduled for Thursday night has been cancelled.

According to event organizer Mike Nenadovich, a Garfield Heights councilman, Ohio Sen. Shirley Smith pulled out on Wednesday following a death in the family.

Since former County Sheriff Bob Reid was the only other candidate slated to attend -- State Rep. Armond Budish took a pass -- the event will be canceled.

"We can't have a debate with one candidate," Nenadovich said.

The debate will not be rescheduled. The three candidates -- all Democrats -- are expected to appear at a forum organized by the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party on January 18 in an event that will not be open to the general public.

Bob Reid's Facebook page is here. 

Armand Budish's website is here. 

Shirley Smith's Facebook page is here. 

What is a Cartel Party?

Photo credit: capitalistpreservation.blogspot.com

What is a Cartel Party?

A recent article by Peter Oborne from the UK Telegraph is titled “Europe is slowly strangling the life out of national democracy,” with the subtitle “Decisions affecting the lives of voters are being taken by bureaucrats and unelected 'experts'.” But substitute “The U.S. Government” for “Europe” and his report will sound painfully familiar [emphasis added].  

A 20-page article in an obscure academic journal. . . written by the political scientists Richard Katz and Peter Mair, and called “The Emergence of a Cartel Party” . . . immediately explained almost everything that had perplexed me as a lobby correspondent: the unhealthy similarity between supposedly rival parties; the corruption and graft that has become endemic in modern politics; the emergence of a political elite filled with scorn and hostility towards ordinary voters. [The late Peter Mair’s book] Ruling the Void: The Hollowing of Western Democracy, . . . is every bit as brilliant as the earlier essay.

The opening paragraph is bold, powerful, and sets out the thesis beautifully: “The age of party democracy has passed. Although the parties themselves remain, they have become so disconnected from the wider society, and pursue a form of competition that is so lacking in meaning.

. . . Political leaders no longer represent ordinary people, but are becoming, in effect, emissaries from central government.

. . .  On virtually everything that matters, from the economy to immigration, decisions are made elsewhere. . . .  This means that decisions which viscerally affect the lives of voters are now taken by anonymous, unaccountable bureaucrats rather than politicians responsible to their voters.

Progressive members in both parties in Congress fit the description of the Cartel party, to repeat:

The Emergence of a Cartel Party . . .  explain[s] . . . the unhealthy similarity between supposedly rival parties; the corruption and graft that has become endemic in modern politics; the emergence of a political elite filled with scorn and hostility towards ordinary voters.

In this category would be the leadership of both parties, plus most of the usual GOP suspects: Sen. John McCain, Sen. Lindsay Graham, Rep. Paul Ryan, etc. It is indeed "self-stuffing," but hopefully not self-perpetuating.