Rally for America’s Honor

I have just returned from attending the “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington, D.C.

I, and many more people from Arkansas, learned so much more about our nation and its people than we would have expected.    We rode a bus, and any time we stopped people asked us about the event and the Tea Party.    I was amazed by the lack of knowledge and misinformation about the event and the Tea Party.

First, the rally was not political, but rather a chance to honor those that have shown honor in many ways.    There were military heroes, there were religious leaders, there were even sports figures that exuded heroism.    There were heroes that created thousands of jobs.    It truly was a rally about honoring our nation and how it was created, and is about the heroism in each of us.

Second, we were told that the Tea Party was creating a third party that was going to divide the existing national political parties.    This is far from the truth.

The Tea Party is not a political party, but is many groups with a common goal of smaller government, a government that relies on the Constitution and a government of fiscal responsibility.    Some Tea Parties may support a candidate that is an advocate of our goals, but most don’t back candidates.    Our major goal is the education of the voters.

I would like to invite anyone who has a question about the Tea Party to come visit a meeting and learn what we are about.

Make No Mistake

Interesting….The Associated Press felt it necessary to issue “guidelines” on reporting about the Islamic mosque being built in New York:

“ We should continue to avoid the phrase “ground zero mosque” or “mosque at ground zero” on all platforms… The site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque is not at ground zero, but two blocks away in a busy commercial area….”

This is our American “free” press, folks. Make no mistake about who they are promoting.

Interesting, also, that the AP has never felt compelled to issue “guidelines” on how to accurately report on the Tea Party Movement sweeping across America for almost 2 years now.    In fact (as we all know) the press mostly has insisted on mis-representing We the People, our intentions and our goals.   The AP is the one of the leading providers of press coverage in the U.S.

Think about it.    Make no mistake.

“Party of No”

Unless you live under a rock, we’ve all heard the media refer to the “Party of No.”

Well, we’d like to introduce you to the real “Party of Know.”    That would be the Faulkner County Tea Party.     So you Know , our Vision is to promote constitutional government and fiscal responsibility, thus ensuring our children continue to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It’s been said — and it is true — that all politics is local.     So, staying focused on our Vision, we strive to make our voices heard locally.      By making our presence Known at the Conway City Council, County Quorum Court, Conway Public Schools Board of Education, and UCA Board of Trustees meetings and being involved we Know what is going on in our community.     We Know where our tax money is being spent on past, present, and future projects.

By being involved, we Know the problems that our community leaders face.     We Know the issues as they come to the surface.      We Know who to contact and how to effectively voice our position and concerns.     By being involved, when it is time to vote on an issue or elect a candidate to be a community leader, we Know where to stand on the issues.

So you Know, the Faulkner County Tea Party will not tell you or anyone else how to vote on an issue, or for which candidate.     If you join us and get in the Know, you will certainly Know how to cast your vote or which candidate to support.

Please come join us and other fellow patriots who make up the Faulkner County Tea Party.    Get in the Know so the next time you read the Internet, open the newspaper, or turn on the TV, you won’t be saying, “Oh NO… How did that happen?!?!”

If you have No involvement, you have No reason to complain.   Get in the Know with the Faulkner County Tea Party!

Prayer Forbidden?

We’re not allowed to pray?  That is a ridiculous statement for so many reasons.

This country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles by people who believed in God.   Not a specific god, but GOD.   There were Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and many others of differing religions represented in the citizenry of the original 13 colonies.   The Founding Fathers were religious; they respected their differing beliefs, and did not want our country to stifle religion, but to enjoy it.   Each person was entitled to believe in the god of their choice, to worship their god, and to pray to that god.

The Socialist Progressives say we cannot pray in public, or in school, or wherever we choose to because “there is a Constitutional separation of church and state.”   Once again they lie and mangle the Constitution to meet their own agenda.   The separation of church and state is a restriction on the Federal government preventing it from establishing a state religion.   It has nothing to do with individual prayer, or, for that matter, the establishment of a state religion by one of the states.   So the separation of church and state is not a valid reason to prevent public prayer.

Then there’s that small problem called the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees us the freedom of speech and religion.    Prayer is speech, so our freedom to pray is guaranteed by the First Amendment twice.   I can find no room to interpret the First Amendment otherwise.   After all, it’s only 45 words long:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Then there’s the Tenth Amendment (“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”) that clearly states that any power not specifically defined as Federal belongs to the states or to the people.   As the First Amendment forbids Congress from making any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, the national government has no right to restrict how we practice our religion.

In other words, we can pray wherever and whenever we want to.   Our God-given freedoms guarantee it, and the government is powerless to prevent it.   We the People can and should pray wherever and whenever we wish to.   It is our right, and the Federal Government be damned!

What Is a Conservative?

• We believe in a smaller government.
• We believe in rewarding hard work not by every-increasing taxation.
• We believe that our government must live within its means.
• We believe in individual responsibility.
• We believe the first responsibility of our national government is to protect our nation and maintain this protection with a strong military.
• We believe our Constitution must be protected, and should not be changed by a few (five) unelected judges.
• We believe the weakest among us are not helped by keeping them in long-term dependence.
• We believe we pledge our allegiance to our Republic, not to a democracy that with a majority can take away the rights of the minority.

– by an FCTP member from the Second Infantry Division, Korean War, 1951-52

Arbor Day Funds

Conway’s City Council gets another opportunity to “do the right thing” in light of our current financial situation: Tuesday’s agenda includes a request for funding for an Arbor Day celebration in Conway. Like the “nice to have” annual fireworks show, celebrating Arbor Day is certainly a nice goal for a town that can afford it.

Unfortunately, in this current economic climate (and with so much financial uncertainty coming), Conway cannot spare the money. We look for the Council to deny this funding request and hold the line on unnecessary spending. We hope We the People will not be disappointed.

When is Enough Ever Enough?

Governor Beebe’s Office says there’s “No easy decisions to be made” in controlling Arkansas’ spending to be more in line with our recent deflated revenues.   We say a 10% cut in state spending across the board would be a great place to start — and take every bit of it out of employment!

Since 2000, Arkansas government has added 14,700 jobs at the cost of millions.   Using average pay numbers, the cost to taxpayers is $680,000,000+ for salaries alone.   Our state now has somewhere around 50,000+ taxpayer-paid employees….but our population hasn’t grown correspondingly over the last 10 years!   Why not RETURN to the employment level of early 2000?   A good number to shoot for would 40,000 employees.

Another worthy goal would be to increase employee productivity.   A gain of 25% productivity would result in substantial cuts in employment levels without affecting any services.   Hey, the private sector has to do this all the time these days! State Government should not be exempt from becoming more efficient and reducing headcount at the same time.   We can talk later about which services to eliminate….

Unfunded mandates are difficult.   However, many recent opportunities to reject unfunded mandates have passed us by – and no one in the Governor’s Office took those opportunities to stand up for fiscal responsibility.   A voice from the Governor’s Office objecting to and criticizing MORE unfunded mandates like the Healthcare Bill would have been appreciated by the 65% of the Arkansans who are against it.

Now all cities, counties and states are finding themselves scrambling to cover shortfalls by asking for tax-fee increases.

Arkansas, When is enough, ever enough?

It’s Our Money, It’s Your Decision

We talked to Governor Beebe’s Office recently about how Arkansas is the 5th largest growing state government across America and what that means to our state budget. (Did you know Arkansas added 1800 state jobs last year, in this recession??)

We asked about responsible budgeting of taxpayer money, and requiring state government to “do more with less” (become more efficient with fewer dollars) like everyone else must do in today’s economy.

It’s unfortunate. We got the usual scare tactics in response instead of leadership or real solutions. Here’s what Governor Beebe’s Office said:

“When you start talking about state services, keep this in mind. About 92% of every general-revenue tax dollar you and I give to the State of Arkansas goes to one of three areas: Education, Human Services, and Corrections.

“So, to cut 10% from the general-revenue budget is either going to mean
• eliminating everything else in state government and still making cutbacks in one or more of these areas, or
• making across-the-board cuts that will include schools, nursing homes, children’s health care and prisons.

“Either way, you’re looking at carving about $450 million out of the state budget.

“Oh, and if you cut any money out of Medicaid services, it’s actually four dollars lost for every dollar cut, because we get a 3-to-1 match from the federal government on those funds.

“No easy decisions to be made….”

“If you wanted to look at state services, you can go through the myriad of appropriation bills the Legislature passes to fund those services at http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2009/2010F/Pages/Home.aspx, or contact the Department of Finance and Administration for a copy of the current (Arkansas) budget.”

It’s unfortunate. Governor Beebe’s Office doesn’t seem to understand a simple concept… It’s Our Money. Why does it now take over 195,000 employees to run state government and yet state revenues and population hasn’t grown correspondingly? It won’t be easy, but a 10% cut is not a bad place to start to begin saving our state’s finances now.

So, we’re left with this, another simple concept: It’s Your Decision whether we wish to continue supporting this financial foolishness and the incumbent Governor who backs it. November is coming.

“Don’t Blame Me, I’m Just the President”

So, Obama is reminding his party that Democrats should “blame Bush for the economy.”   Never mind that this mantra is getting very old, two years into the man’s presidency and less than 90 days till November.    Obama needs a “new song,” but hey, we’ll take it for what he said.

What he’s really saying is “Don’t blame me!”

OK….   So we have the leader of what should be the world’s beacon of freedom and liberty who is passing the buck – not even on to someone else, but backward in time to the past.   Surely We the People should expect more than that from our President!

When our kids do this and they are actually responsible, we punish them, usually for both the lie they told and for not recognizing their part in the situation.    We want them to recognize the character issues involved when they don’t own their actions and take responsibility for themselves in the world.

We shouldn’t treat the Democrats and Obama any differently (nor the Republicans, for that matter, but that’s another post). Don’t we deserve a President who provides true leadership instead of finger-pointing?   Doesn’t character — in this case telling the truth — mean something?

Do We the People really want Democrats, who cannot face up to their actions and “act as leaders,” to remain in control of our entire Congress and presidency?    Whether we blame Bush, or blame Obama, it’s time for leadership.   We the People need a “new song” from our leaders.   You know what?   We the People should demand it.

The “Other Views”

From cartoonist William Warren, Americans for Limited Government

via GetLiberty.org & ARRA News Service