Welcome Cleveland 9.12 members!

This weekend, The Cleveland 9.12 Project closes down, and Cleveland Tea Party Patriots welcome members who want to continue the efforts to restore America to the country our founders envisioned. Front burner projects in Feb. and March, will be an Action Alert to phone your Columbus legislator when the Ohio Healthcare Compact gets out of committee. A short video explaining the Compact is here. We all need to be familiar with this legislation, as one of the biggest challenges is to educate our family, friends, and neighbors about this initiative.

SAVE THE DATE: February 20 at 8 p.m. Tele-Town Hall with the GOP primary candidates for U.S. Senate. Register here.

I wanted to start off with something about our priorities and directions. Last week, Kurt Schlicter posted his take, Political Moneyball: The Conservative Strategy for Winning the Fight Coming After the Election on the Big Government blog, on the short- and long-term goals of Tea Party Patriots. In particular, he distinguished between the Establishment GOP and conservatives of whatever stripe. Here are some extracts:

The GOP Establishment we keep hearing about is real, and it is also doomed.

That will not change whether the Establishment’s candidate Mitt Romney wins in November or not. After the election, the battle really starts; what is happening now are just skirmishes in a fight for control of the Republican Party. Not the soul of the party – if it had one, it auctioned it off long ago – but the mechanism of the party. The Grand Old Party matters only as a vehicle to carry our banner forward.

To do that, we need to seize control, and we do that by destroying the Establishment starting next November 7th.

Superficially, it might seem that we – the outsiders, the Tea Party, the conservatives, whatever the label – are outgunned by opponents with their hands on the reins of power, money in amounts we can’t hope to match, and pals in the media backing them. But if we understand our strengths, and our opponents’ weaknesses, we can not only compete but eventually prevail.

First, let’s understand our opponent.

The GOP Establishment is an amorphous entity composed of politicians, media types, consultants, writers, lobbyists, party hacks and donors whose first priority is protecting their positions and privileges. Power, and holding onto it, is more important than ideology. That’s where we conservatives differ – we have no formal power or position, so changing the power structure doesn’t scare us. We have nothing to lose; the GOP Establishment has everything to lose.

...

The most important part of the Tea Party/conservatives’ rise since 2009 has not been its remarkably rapid rise to significance and its ability to affect marquee elections in 2010. That’s the short game, and while it matters, what matters more is that it drew huge numbers of conservatives into the political process.

The next generation of GOP leaders will be Tea Party/conservatives. They are the folks starting out now to compete for the kind of local and state party and political offices that lay the foundation for the party’s future. These offices are vital – they are our farm team, a place for future congressional and senate candidates to gain experience and build resumes while implementing Constitutional conservative policies right now that will improve voters’ lives and win them over to our cause.

More on the short game and the long game here.

Welcome again Cleveland 9.12 members!

Tell the U.S. Senate & Harry Reid to Get Some CLASS!

Your Senators need to hear from you now!  The House voted to repeal the CLASS Act portion of ObamaCare.  Now it all goes over to the Senate where it will likely stall out without a push from you and your fellow Patriots!

Please call your Senators to demand they vote to repeal the CLASS Act!  We know the Democrat-led Senate will do nothing that will take away from ObamaCare without a powerful mandate from voters.  Now is the time to push your Senator to demand a vote!

The Community Living Assistance Services and Support program (known as the CLASS Act) is a voluntary program where taxpayers could volunteer to pay premiums for long-term care that would allow the taxpayer to get that cash later in life.   The Obama administration loves it because Americans would be forced to pay into the plan for five years before becoming eligible for any long-term services.

Since premiums for the program would be the same price for everyone healthy people will not voluntarily pay into the program.  The result?  Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted last year that the CLASS Act was neither financially feasible nor sustainable.  Still, the White House and Senate still continue to oppose its repeal.  Since we don't have the votes in the Senate to repeal ObamaCare in its entirety, we must count on our leaders to dismantle ObamaCare piece by piece.  Every concerned citizen must force the Senate to bring the CLASS Act repeal to a vote!

It is up to YOU to force your Senators to do the right thing!

Senator Harry Reid (Majority Leader)
DC Office PH: (202)224-3542
Email: Click Here to email

Senator Mitch McConnell (Minority Leader)
DC Office PH: (202)224-2541
Email: Click Here to email

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Cleveland Office PH: (216)522-7272
DC Office PH: (202)224-2315
Email: Click Here to email

Senator Rob Portman (R-OH)
Cleveland Office PH: (216)522-7095
DC Office OH: (202)224-3353
Email: Click Here to email

You can call your Senator for no charge here.

1000 Days & Counting; The Epic Failures of the Senate Democrats & Senator Sherrod Brown

Today marks the 1000th day that the US Senate has failed to pass a budget. Budgets are something that most Americans encounter, whether in their homes, in their jobs, in their businesses, or in their community groups, etc.


The purpose of a budget is to lay out a guideline for revenues and expenditures, so that one can have a forecast of the year to come.

It is no wonder our elected officials can’t seem to balance the budget and get our fiscal house in order. There is no budget; no guide to even point them in the right direction. In fact, they can’t find the “BOLDNESS” to cut even $1 from the federal budget!

In an economic environment where many Americans are out of work, losing their jobs, and struggling to find jobs, it is unacceptable that the members of the US Senate have been allowed to go on without completing a basic function of their jobs for nearly 3 years!

A budget is one of the most basic and fundamental requirements of our legislature and now for 1000 days, the Democrat led Senate & Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has failed.

What would happen to you if you failed to do your job for 1000 days? You would lose your job!  But thinking they are better than the American public, the Senate Democrats along with Ohio Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown, even after failing to do their job for 1000 days - still keep their job

No Budget. No Direction. No Leadership.

Unacceptable!

Judicial Watch Sues Obama Administration for Documents Detailing Secret Settlement Negotiations with Mortgage Lenders Accused of Faulty Mortgage Practices

From Judicial Watch --

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on January 3, 2012, against the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to obtain documents pertaining to accusations of fraud against the nation’s five largest mortgage companies and the creation of “federal accounts” to settle probes into faulty mortgage practices (Judicial Watch v. HUD and DOJ (No. 1:12-cv-0002)). The Obama administration has reportedly been engaged in settlement negotiations behind closed doors with mortgage companies that would result in at least $20 billion in payments from the nation’s major banks.

Pursuant to a Judicial Watch FOIA request filed with the DOJ and HUD on May 17, 2011, Judicial Watch seeks the following records:

• A set of government audits used to support allegations that the nation’s five largest mortgage companies of defrauding taxpayers in the handling of foreclosures on homes purchased with government-backed loans.

• A term sheet which outlined the Obama administration’s settlement offer to the mortgage companies accused of fraud. The terms described on this document allegedly included the creation of a federal account funded by the nation’s largest mortgage firms to help distressed borrowers avoid foreclosure and settle state and federal probes into alleged faulty mortgages practices.

The DOJ notified Judicial Watch by letter that the agency received the FOIA request on May 27, 2011. Under the law, a response from the DOJ was due within twenty working days, or by June 24, 2011. On September 22, 2011, the DOJ reported to Judicial Watch that it had located nine documents totaling 346 pages responsive to the FOIA request, but had referred the documents to HUD for processing and direct response.

A similar FOIA request was filed with HUD, also on May 17, 2011. According to a letter from HUD, the request had been received on May 18, 2011, which means that the response was due by June 16, 2011. On September 13, 2011, HUD indicated in a letter to Judicial Watch that under instruction from the DOJ “the records responsive to your request are being withheld in full…”

As Judicial Watch noted in its FOIA requests, in his “exclusive” May 16, 2011, article detailing the settlement negotiations with mortgage lenders, Huffington Post reporter Shahien Nasiripour referred specifically to the audits and the term sheet at issue in Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit. According to the article, four federal agents briefed Nasiripour on the “set of confidential audits,” while the confidential term sheet “was reviewed” by the Huffington Post.

In addition to conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations with the mortgage lending industry, the Obama administration is also reportedly pressuring state attorneys general to close down their investigations and sign off on the deal. Judicial Watch previously obtained documents calling into question the veracity of testimony by Elizabeth Warren, a then-Obama administration official, about the involvement of the new Consumer Production Financial Bureau in these negotiations.

“All Americans deserve to know the full truth about the Obama administration’s effort to extort $20 billion from the nation’s banking industry,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “This is another example of the federal ‘gangster government’ – in this case, the selective leaking of information to harm targeted businesses while denying access under law to the full truth.  This is an affront to transparency and the rule of law. It is this type of gamesmanship that has resulted in the Obama administration’s transparency crisis.”

The Last Time Senate Democrats Passed a Budget...

While President Obama does his best to claim we have a do nothing congress, we quickly approach the 1000 day mark since he and his Democrat led Senate have passed a budget.

Maybe he should look at the mirror and ask, "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall -- why am I the biggest hypocrite of them all?"

From the RSC -- 

Washington, Jan 19 - January 24, 2012 marks the 1,000^th day without a budget from Senate Democrats. The last time they passed a budget, you had never heard of the iPad. Tiger Woods was only known for his golfing abilities. General Motors had never declared bankruptcy. You had never heard of Swine Flu. And the national debt was $4 trillion smaller than it is today.

When Republicans took over the House last year, passing a budget was one of the first things we did. We’re trying to solve problems, cut the crazy spending, and stop the reckless borrowing. We’re trying to cut, cap, and balance the budget.

In the real world, there are limits to how much families and businesses can spend. They have to budget. So the question is, when will Senate Democrats join the real world?

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New Congressional Record App for iPad

Read the Congressional Record on your iPad wherever wi-fi is enabled, courtesy of the Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office.

Read the daily edition of the Congressional Record on your iPad. The Congressional Record App is presented by the Library of Congress using data provided by the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, and the Government Printing Office.

The link for the free app is http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-congressional-record/id492077075 or you can search in the App Store for "The Congressional Record."

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.