Texas Tea Parties – TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY?

From the San Antonio Tea Party -

Regarding the state’s redistricting plan, Tea Party groups across Texas are supporting Plan H166- NIXON STATEWIDE HOUSE PROPOSAL 2. The reasons for supporting this plan are:

1. It is more reflective of the voting patterns of the state
2. It is fair and legal
3. It accurately reflects the voters intent -Includes a minimal amount of pairings -Consistently compact where possible
4. It is in compliance with the Voting Rights Act
5. It protects conservative House members
6. It provides for reelection of the conservative freshman House members that the voters elected in an overwhelming mandate in 2010
7. To view the map, click here to go to DistrictViewer, click on “select plans,” and then select “base plan.” Select “Plan H166- NIXON STATEWIDE HOUSE PROPOSAL 2.”

Rep. Burt Solomons has Plan 155, but his map puts some of the most conservative State Reps in districts where they will have to run against others of their party. It clusters conservative voters, which could make it easier for liberals to isolate if there is ever another “liberal wave”. This could cause conservatives to be a minority.

We should call our Reps. in Austin and tell them we support Plan H 166.

George Rodriguez,
President, San Antonio Tea Party

To find out who your representative is so you can call, them, go here.

(from GrassRootsTexas.net)

As you may know, a number of immigration-related bills, including bills related to employment verification, sanctuary city reform and mandatory reporting on government services to illegal aliens are currently stalled in Texas House committees. If action is not taken soon, these bills could die in committee without a floor vote.

A coalition of local tea party and other grassroots groups have come together to put the House Leadership on notice that stalling on key immigration reform legislation is simply not acceptable to the people of Texas.

If you agree that further stalling on these bills is not acceptable, you are invited to SIGN THE OPEN LETTER to the House Leadership by clicking here:

http://GrassrootsTexans.net/pages/openletter2

Comment by Spendulus, your friendly site administrator:

Immigration is a complex issue, but we will have no improvement at the national level, and may even find what they do to be negative. They don’t understand the issue and really don’t care, except to look at it as political football. Please respond to this request to sign the letter and do what else you can to get some action in Texas, for Texas.

FELLOW AMERICANS, THIS IS THE MOST CRUCIAL ELECTION IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY. IF WE DON’T TAKE CONTROL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOW, NOTHING WILL PREVENT THIS DEMOCRAT, LIBERAL ADMINISTRATION FROM TRANSFORMING OUR GREAT NATION INTO A SOCIALIST WELFARE STATE. DAMAGING LEGISLATION HAS ALREADY BEEN PASSED BY CORRUPT POLITICIANS AND, IF THEY ARE LEFT UNCHALLENGED FOR ANOTHER TWO YEARS, THE DAMAGE WILL BE IRREVERSIBLE.

DO YOU WANT TO STOP THIS INSANITY? THEN YOU MUST JOIN WITH US IN FIGHTING FOR THE LIBERTY OF EACH AND EVERY AMERICAN. HELP US ELECT STEPHEN BRODEN TO CONGRESS! WE WILL WIN THIS WAR…ONE HOUSE SEAT AT A TIME!

Many of you responded to last week’s urgent plea for help. We thank you.
However, we need hundreds of volunteers to join together to fight in the trenches. If you are receiving this email, it is because you indicated at some point that you would like to serve as a volunteer. Yet many of you still have not responded to our desperate plea for help. It’s too late now for anyone to sit complacently by while Rome burns. Each of you must take an active part in this campaign if we are to roll back the liberal agenda that Washington bureaucrats have forced upon us.

We have many activities for which you can volunteer–handing out flyers, neighborhood walks, holding signs at community events, and telephoning voters, to name a few.

To ensure that each polling location is free of election fraud, we need dozens of Early Voting and Election Day Greeters to display signs, hand out flyers to those who are interested, smile, and ask for their vote. We need many more supporters at key voting locations EVERY day during early voting and on November 2nd. We especially need your help this weekend because, historically on Super Sunday, suspected voter fraud runs rampant.

<Admin> Recieved the following email from Bryan Underwood, who has spoke at numerous South Texas Tea Parties about our critical need for a smaller, more responsive government

Support Bryan Underwood for Congress, and help deliver common sense conservative solutions to Washington, DC.

Go to

www.UnderwoodforCongress.com

and support Bryan today!

Bryan is a small business owner, family man and community volunteer who dearly loves the American Dream and wants to protect it for this and future generations.

Like many others, he is concerned with the direction in which our country is heading.

Bryan understands the economy won’t improve if the government is killing jobs, and that we can’t get the government out of debt by spending more of our hard-earned money.

With the urging of friends and family Bryan agreed to run for Congress with the hope that he may be able to serve the citizens of South Texas.

Bryan’s campaign platform includes:

* Repeal and replace Obamacare

* Budget and Spending Reform

* Reduce Taxes

* Defeat Cap and Tax

* Preserve, Protect and Defend the Constitution

* A Strong National Security and Secure Borders

* Protect Life from Conception to Natural Death

South Texas deserves a Congressman who shares its values and not Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco values. South Texas deserves Bryan Underwood.

Visit www.UnderwoodforCongress.com where you can learn more about Bryan and contribute to his campaign.

Elections have consequences.

I believe the American dream is available to every person who is willing to work for it.

I believe that only in America could a boy born to a modest family in the Panhandle, begin working the land at nine years old, raise a herd to put himself through Texas A&M University, and through an excellent public education be able to run successful American businesses.

Fundamentally, I believe in limited government, protecting our social values, and adherence to the Constitution.

I believe we are a Christian nation and that we should not shy away from our foundational beliefs in God.

I believe in peace through strength, that our nation has an unmatched history of spreading freedom and supporting democratic government around the world.

I believe energy security is a national security issue and that we must increase American energy while over time transitioning to renewable energy resources when they are technologically ready.

I believe individuals spend their own money better than the government.

I believe low taxes and fair regulation of business is always best to grow the private sector economy.

I believe the best social program ever created is a private sector job – which provides a person with basic needs, ends reliance on government assistance, and contributes to growing our nation.

I believe record deficits and overwhelming national debt are a significant threat to our economy.

I believe Congress should pass a budget, every year, just as our families and businesses do. If Congress is unable, or unwilling, to pass budgets that are balanced, they should have their pay cut for not doing the job they were elected to do.

I believe that education is best handled at the local level, which is most accountable and closest to the people.

I believe in term limits because we must return to the Founding Fathers’ notion of citizens leaving their homes to serve the public for a short time, then returning to live under the laws they wrote.

I believe every life is precious and has a soul that must be protected under the law.

I believe marriage is between one man and one woman.

I believe the Second Amendment is a fundamental right guaranteed to all Americans that must be protected.

I am a Christian, an American, a conservative and a Republican – in that order.

I believe we face greater challenges as a nation today than at any time in recent history and we must act now to stop the damage that has been inflicted on our nation. If we start now and work together, we can Restore America’s Promise, Prosperity, and Security for our Children and Grandchildren.

If you believe as I do, will you join our team?

Tuesday: Tea Party Planning Meeting at 5pm-6:30
Tuesday: Open Meeting with speaker Bill Flores, Republican running against Chet Edwards in CD 17, 6:30-8pm, Denny’s in the Woodlands (28669 I-45 North, The Woodlands, TX)

In keeping with our website policy, I strive to provide any and all comments by challengers and incumbants in Texas districts which represent Tea Party principles.

Here’s an excerpt from an email from Bill Flores (challenger R17) which does exactly this:

(more…)

The following note from Pastor Stephen Broden, challenger for TX D30, came in this morning.

THE NAACP IS WRONG! (more…)

Yes, Bryan has suggested that the current incumbent Henry Cuellar (D-28) could use some “help” this November, and Obama would be just the one to come down and “help”. (more…)

This morning Bill Flores sent an email that notes the following issue with his opponent Chet Edwards. Bill is running for District 17 of Texas.

Congressman Chet Edwards (D-TX) provided one of three deciding votes that allowed legislation to pass which protected Democrats from having to vote for an actual budget. As a member of the House Budget Committee, this is one of his most important responsibilities as a Congressman.

For the first time since 1974 Congress will not be passing an annual budget, missing an opportunity to provide spending discipline, cut the deficit, and rein-in out of control government spending. Instead, on July 1, with the help of Chet Edwards, Congress passed legislation which does not responsibly set spending limits and account for deficit projections.

Chet Edwards has abdicated his responsibilities, rather than show leadership and pass a responsible budget that begins to control deficit spending.

You don’t have to live in district 17 to help Bill Flores defeat Chet Edwards, because we all would benefit from this upstart. Not just the people in D-17.

Here is what Chet Edwards stated about Barack Obama:

• “He’s got the kind of solid judgment that our voters and our citizens want in a Commander in Chief. I think he would do an excellent job.” – 3/3/08 Chet Edwards on MSNBC’s Hardball (0:43 mark)
  
• “He has the experience and the solid judgment to be a great leader for our country.” – 3/3/08 Chet Edwards on MSNBC’s Hardball (1:03 mark)
  
• “I personally believe that Senator Obama is going to do very well in Texas, because his message of real change, not change for change’s sake, but change that will impact in a positive way the daily lives of average working families, that message is resonating.” – 3/3/08 Chet Edwards on MSNBC’s Hardball (1:31 mark)
  
• “He is the best voice for change in our country.” – 2/24/08 Chet Edwards in post-debate spin room (1:31 mark)
  

An email from Bryan says:

Are you for protecting the right to free speech?

Sadly our incumbent Democrat Congressman Henry Cuellar is not.

On Thursday Mr. Cuellar voted for the DISCLOSE Act to give speech privileges to labor unions and select interest groups but take them away from other groups such as National Right to Life and 60-Plus, an advocacy group for seniors.

Help fight against Speaker Pelosi and her pawn Mr. Cuellar. Visit www.Bryan-Underwood.com and support the campaign today!

From an email from Canseco R candidate TX-D23:

No one said it better than the current democrat House Budget Chairman John Spratt when in 2006 he stated “If you can’t budget, you can’t govern.”

Ciro Rodriguez and the democrats in Washington have decided that instead of passing a budget that set priorities, starts reducing our federal debt, and focuses on putting your money back in your family’s hands and that of small businesses they are going to continue to throw billions of dollars at wasteful efforts that line the pockets of their special interests. From the failed trillion dollar “stimulus”, that did nothing to improve the economy or promote private sector job growth, to the endless billions spent on bailouts and benefits for Wall Street CEO’s, this Congress has exhibited a reckless disregard on spending, debt, and our children’s future.

Here in Texas at your family’s kitchen table and in the offices of the small businesses that are the driving force of our economy, we have budgets to manage and plan our spending. …Join our team today so that we can change Congress, throw out Nancy Pelosi and send 40 new members to congress.

For more info see http://www.northhoustonteaparty.com/issues-legislation/

and the North Houston Tea Party calender http://www.northhoustonteaparty.com/calendar/

“Texas Stands With Arizona” Rally
Time: 1:00 PM
Support Arizona and SB-1070 by joining this rally at the Mexican Consulate on Sat, July 17, 1:00-4:00pm. Bring your flags & tasteful signs, friends & family – all are welcome to speak! 4507 San Jacinto at Wheeler (metered parking lot next to Consulate). Hosted by Minutemen of Texas. at 1:00 PM

Constitution Classes
Time: 7:00 PM
Commencing 05 July 2010, there will be a 16 week Constitution Class #1 every Monday evening from 7 PM to 9 PM. Commencing 05 July 2010, there will be a 16 week Constitution Class #2 every Monday evening from 7 PM to 9 PM. Commencing 09 Sept 2010, there will be a 16 week Constitution Class #3 every Monday evening from 7 PM to 9 PM. at 7:00 PM

July 20, 2010 * OPEN MEETING: Barbara Cargill, SBOE (State Board of Education)
OPEN MEETING: Barbara Cargill, SBOE (State Board of Education)
Time: 7:00 PM
Mrs. Cargill is the representitive for this area on the State Board of Education. We recently had a conservative victory concerning our social studies textbooks. Click to learn more. at 7:00 PM

URGENT REQUEST FROM MEMBERS REGARDING MORATORIUM ON DRILLING

www.thegulfspeaks.com – go here to learn more

July 22-24 – thousands of citizens will be contacting their Attorney General (Greg Abbott of Texas, http://www.oag.state.tx.us/agency/contacts.shtml) of their respective states and their legislatures to complain about this negligence on the part of our Federal Government. I would ask that we include our Governor of this great state as well and ask him where he has been on this issue!

The Gulf Speaks website has form letters and more information, go there or get in touch with us!

Bryan supports Tea Party principles, and has spoke at many back before he threw his hat in the race. Here’s his schedule for the next few weeks across South Texas’ 28th Congressional District.

• July 20 – Poth
• July 22 – Floresville
• July 28 – Schertz
• August 18 – Seguin

For more information see underwoodforcongress.com.

Hat tip to Ms. Turner from the North TX Mid Cities Power to the People – her post details all 70 of the Socialists in the US House, and I’ve excepted then ones from Texas:

These two individuals are up for re election in November. They are members of the House of Representatives from Texas.

Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30) representing South Dallas
Hon. Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18) representing parts of Houston

Both are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, the principal arm in the USA of Socialists International. Yes, that’s the group whose origins go back to formation by and first head by Marx and Lenin.

We’re not talking about the Marx Brothers here, but Karl Marx, the commie. This organization’s creed includes:

Dignified Work
Environmental Justice
Economic Redistribution
Democratic Participation
Community Empowerment
Global Non-Violence
Social Justice.

How well has all that turned out in other countries?

Roy Morales has received the endorsement of the Business and Industry PAC (BIPAC) for his race to unseat incumbent Gene Green in the November election for Texas congressional district 29.

Roy Morales for Congress, 713-240-9936.

A note from Quico Canseco this morning asks a simple but penetrating question:

“If Obamacare will not raise our taxes, why is the Administration defending the case against Obamacare by twelve states by …… claiming it is a tax???

Excerpt follows:

Throughout the debate over ObamaCare, the Obama administration and members of Congress like Ciro Rodriguez claimed that when the GOVERNMENT MANDATED individual health care coverage for you and your family, that it would not be “a tax”. Now the Administration is being sued for overstepping their Constitutional boundaries by forcing you and your family to use your money to make a purchase.

“In court, the Obama administration and its allies now defend the requirement [individual mandate] as an exercise of the government’s ‘power to lay and collect taxes’,” said Robert Pear of the New York Times on July 16th, 2010…..

This is unacceptable.

The Democratic incumbent, Ciro Rodriguez, claims that Obamacare is a good thing because “the CBO says that over the next 8 years, health care will cost us 4.1 trillion dollars”. Ciro was called out and corrected by people in the audience that knew the facts from memory, he threw a little temper tantrum.

And that’s unacceptable, too.

I’ve got the short video done and it is NICE! This is going really put the message out! What’s next?

Putting the message out! You are about 1/3 done. Now someone’s got to see your add. You want thousands or tens of thousands to see your add. Some of them will head on over to the site. Let’s assume there’s more than one person on your team, and that “you” have handed the add over to someone else who is in charge of distributing it, and “you” have now gone on to making some more cool products. So we’ve got the following task sets and people:

* conception and story boarding of the video
* editing and production of an up loadable product
* distribution
* quality control

There are lots of people who want to help with Tea Party campaigns. Guarantee you there are lots of people out there who can do this work of video production and distribution. They may be those who are too timid to hit the streets and knock on doors. Or not be in health to do so – hey, it’s August in Texas! They may be intimidated at the Internet, true. But this is easy stuff to learn if you take it part by part. Go ahead and make mistakes – get those mistakes out of the way! That’s learning. Conservatives have LEARNED facebook and twitter – now it’s time to go a step further.

We’ve set the short video up with embedded links to the site of interest. Next it is uploaded to SEVERAL video hosting sites, such as Youtube.com and WooTV.us. For each of these sites, there is set up a user account, and a channel. The user has “Favorites”. This means that if someone finds your product on youtube, they immediately see all your other products on the side. “Channel” is your work, so if a youtube subscriber subscribes to your work, they can get email notifications when you produce new material.

Determine what a broad set of tags is, and write it out. Have the description include a FULL link back to your primary website (in the case at hand, we’d write or say “BrodenForCongress.Com. But the full link is http://www.brodenforcongress.com.). Use a teaser line from the video audio or text in the description. Something to arouse curiosity. Upload the video, enter the description and tags. Keep a copy of these text elements in a text file because you are going to use them over and over on other video hosting sites.

Here’s an example tag line.

Tags: District 30, Texas, Broden, Stephen Broden, Black, Black Conservative

That sounds like a lot of work – why can’t I just upload it to Youtube, that’s what most people watch anyway.

Sure buddy…..Go try to do a search for Sarah Palin, and see what kinds of nonsense and smears come up. Someone’s made it very difficult to find actual video of Palin, right? Try Glenn Beck. Try Mel Gibson. Then try some darlings of the Left. They come right up, but the conservatives don’t? Hmm….

The Youtube system is liberally biased, and it cannot be considered reliable or trustworthy. What if your carefully prepared material becomes difficult for people to find in October and November? Perhaps someone types in Broden, and the search engine first five pages point to other people named “Broden”, plus smears on the real Broden?

In addition, each video hosting site has separate groups of readers. Your interest was in maximal exposure, right?

So…you’ve spent a half hour and you’ve got the product uploaded to a half dozen video sites. (plus you kept a spare copy on the local computer, and you have a directory with all the raw video that would enable making revised products).

What’s next? Twitter and Facebook.

Many people are starved for hope and real information today. They go to Internet sources (which include Facebook and twitter) to look for facts and to help separate out the propaganda, and to seek positive signs. Part of what is desirable here is for those people to not just go looking, but to go posting. They post links to your video. That’s the Internet equivalent to knocking on neighborhood doors. Enlist a group in this activity and saturate with your product. Always use your own words and opinion when you post – if it’s canned, it will sound robotic.

In other words, ask people to not be passive users of the Internet, but to spend part of their time passing interesting and captivating messages OUTWARDS. Sending links to your short videos would do this nicely.

Propagation and networking goes like this for your short video:

* Facebook and Twitter postings link to the video by using a provocative leadin. They lead people to your video
* the video leads them to the website, where there is more cool stuff that they like
* hopefully they are sold and come in to help or donate.
* even if not they may sign up for your email list (you have one, right….?)
* even if not you’ve captured their interest (and NOT ANNOYED OR BORED THEM) and you may well hook them some time later

Example of a Twitter post. Short, includes subject, locale, and the link.

Broden (Texas challenger for district 30) has got it right about Black Conservatives. Never heard his point of view before.

Stick to the subject of the video in posting, never get derailed or defensive. Never fall for someone trying to bait you into a insult fest. In the time you spent fighting an Internet troll, you could have posted 50 more links to the material. Be polite, firm, and stay consistently focused on the job.

Just as people are being asked now to get involved, get engaged, and get active, they must consider that a part of this is getting engaged on the Internet. And that requires a method, because otherwise the messages are lost, like little scraps of paper floating into the Grand Canyon.

Facebook postings

The final item in this is “Quality Control”. How do you insure that the above process was actually done halfway decently? Suppose you have 3 video sites that videos A, B, C, and D were posted to. You assign a person to check that that was actually done, that the tags were decent, the description includes a link, and so forth. This person can use the same login to make corrections if required.

Perfection isn’t required, but some management review is of course highly useful. In the six or so hours since I started writing this (on and off), the video placed on Wootv.US has been viewed 98 times.

Give people things to make them smile, make them a bit more inspired, and brighten up their day, and they’ll come back. And they’ll be quite likely to help with your campaign. All from little 30-120 second clips. Fascinating, isn’t it? In fact, why not ask them to send your clip to five of their friends before they are eligible to sign up to help your campaign? If in fact they liked it, they are only being asked to share something they liked. Then they could sign up, and have even more fun. But send the five copies out first, and earn the right to help. And you will need more people to help in distribution, right? Well, let them get started…

:)

Spendulus
TexasTeaParties.Com

Fellow Tea Party Patriots and Common Sense Citizens:

As you are probably aware by now, “Mega-Marcha 2010,” a march in support of ‘comprehensive immigration reform,’ is planned to take place in downtown Dallas this Saturday.

As you may also be aware, there is a counter-protest planned to take place in opposition to Mega-Marcha 2010.

We’ve been contacted by a number of individuals inquiring as to the role of Dallas Tea Party, if any, in these events.

Dallas Tea Party has not been involved in the planning of either event and is playing no operational or official role in the events taking place this weekend.  Our members and local leaders are still sorting out the details of immigration reform and providing us with their thoughts and guidance.  Each individual is free, of course, to take part in these events as they see fit.
EXERCISE DUE CAUTION

If you choose to participate in Saturday’s events, we strongly encourage you to keep your wits about you at all times, to refrain from escalating any actual or potential conflict and to avoid any situations that may present a significant risk of bodily injury to yourself or others.  Immigration activists have been perpetrating violence at their marches in other parts of the country, and there is a significant risk that they may initiate violence at this march, as well.  Accordingly, if you attend, we strongly encourage you to take along a video camera and RECORD EVERYTHING.

If you receive instructions from the police, we encourage you to COMPLY with those instructions.  If the police infringe your right to freedom of speech or your right to assemble, there is an appropriate place and time to deal with that, and we will do so.  Downtown Dallas on Saturday is neither the appropriate time nor place.
REFUSE TO ’TAKE THE BAIT’

If you take part in the events of this Saturday, please keep in mind that our political opponents and our critics in the news media would like nothing better than to see this highly-controversial issue generate sensational stories that they can use to attack, embarass and discredit our movement.  They can be expected to do anything and everything within their power to provoke some type of reaction from someone they can label as a “racist tea partier.”

Whatever the facts may be, in the event of any conflict, you can be assured that the ‘official media story’ will be sympathetic to the proponents of ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ and hostile to their opponents.  If you attend, it wouldn’t be unlikely for immigration activists to hang out some inflammatory “bait” for you.  If they do so, please don’t let them bait you into doing something in the heat of a moment you wouldn’t do with a clear head.  Keep in mind that any image, audio clip or video can be taken out of context and made into something it isn’t.  In short, use your head.

Dear Friend,

One of the biggest problems with our broken political system today is that our elected representatives have essentially become a ruling class that does not directly feel the personal impact of the legislation that they pass.

Today, our Representatives are only truly held accountable every two years. With 97% of all incumbents winning re-election every cycle, they are not being held accountable very often.

This was not what our Founding Fathers intended.

Our forefathers never intended to create a ruling class of elites that make policy and hold power over the people. Rather, they instead envisioned a system where citizen legislators would serve the public for a short time and then return home to live under the laws that they wrote.

We have strayed quite far from our founding fathers’ intentions and it is time that we restore their vision of citizen legislators. I believe that in order to reform our system and restore confidence in the Congress, we must urgently reconnect Congress with the people.

My plan has five simple yet powerful elements, and I will advocate for them if I am elected to Congress:

1. Congressional Pay vs. Public Pain – If Members of Congress felt the pain that we Americans feel everyday, they would vote differently. If we directly linked Congressional pay to specific and meaning targets, it would have an impact. Why should a member of Congress receive a raise when they cannot balance the budget? Does that happen in your family? Of course not! If Social Security beneficiaries do not receive a cost of living adjustment, Congress should not receive a pay raise. If the national unemployment rate rises to excessive levels (as it is today), Congress should directly feel the pain by having their pay reduced. With some of these changes, our Representatives would have a different perspective. Under this element, Congress will be much more in touch with the economic situation that the rest of us feel everyday.
2. All Laws Must Apply to the Federal Government – Congress has exempted itself and most federal government employees from many federal laws and programs. Imagine, if you could write rules that would not apply to you, those rules would likely be different than if they did apply. So, for example, now that Obamacare has passed, it should apply to everyone in the federal government (excluding the Military). In addition, everyone in the federal government (again, excluding the Military), should have no special retirement plans; rather, they should be participating in Social Security and a 401k plan (or equivalent), just like most of the rest of us in the “real world”. If Members of Congress had to live under its own laws and programs, their decisions would undoubtedly be different.
3. Term Limits – As stated earlier, our Founding Fathers never envisioned a ruling class of career politicians, however, that is exactly what we have today. In the House of Representatives, most Congressmen think everyday about how they can selfishly improve their standing for reelection and how they can raise more money to fund their campaigns, rather than dedicating themselves to representing their Constituents and implementing good public policy in a thoughtful way. Also, in order to protect their positions in Congress they shovel pork barrel dollars back into their districts at an ever-increasing pace and they use their mail franking privileges to endlessly campaign for reelection. Legislation enacting term limits, specifically determined by the voters, would end this corrosive practice. Politicians should serve to the best of their ability for a short time then go do something else. The notion of unbeatable 20-year incumbents is not only fundamentally undemocratic; it is incredibly harmful to our country, its economy, and the futures of our children and grandchildren.
4. Servant leadership – If you have ever been around the Congress, it is amazing to witness the high regard in which our Members of Congress hold themselves and each other. The unending genuflection among the ruling class further undermines our democracy, reinforcing the notion that there truly are Two Americas – one for those in politics and another for those of us in the “real world” who are forced to pay for their frivolity and to live under their economically destructive behavior. It should not be this way. We must return to the notion of servant leadership. We should not have to remind Members of Congress who they work for. . . after all, as my Mother used to tell me often, “we all put our pants on the same way.”
5. Replace Earmarks with a Transparent Appropriations Process – While there are important fiscal arguments against the use of earmarks, there is also a more important philosophical one. The unrestrained use of earmarks by Members of Congress is primarily for their own reelection, not for the public good. The notion that the public should appreciate a Member of Congress securing an earmark, which consists entirely of funding from the taxpayer and borrowed money is inherently corrupt. Our system of earmarks, which is wasteful and not sufficiently transparent for the public, further heightens the power and prestige of a Member of Congress and in the process separates them from reality. Those of us in the “real world” recognize that those pork barrel dollars came from our home districts-why do those dollars have to go to Washington in the first place? In addition, today, about 40 cents of every dollar of pork barrel spending is borrowed from foreigners (like the Chinese) and will ultimately have to be repaid by our children and grandchildren. It is insulting to real world Americans that they use our tax dollars and dollars borrowed from future generations to try to buy our votes. Our current earmark system should be ended immediately. In its place, we should establish a transparent appropriations process to fund local projects that are important national priorities, like Homeland Security.

Today our Congress regularly receives the lowest approval ratings in the history of polling. More than ever, the public has lost confidence not just in our politicians, but also in our political system.

Fundamentally, this is directly attributable to most people thinking that their Representatives are not representing them. Most people feel that they do not have a voice.

It is time for our Congress to be made up of regular citizens who wish to serve the public for a short time, live under the laws that they write, and who are held accountable in an open and transparent system.

Our country would be much better off.

If you would like to see these basic ideals reflected in the next Congressman from Texas’ 17th Congressional District, will you help me?

I would be grateful if you would consider making a generous $25, $50, $100, or $250 investment so we can win in November and reconnect Congress to the people.

With Great Respect,

Bill Flores

Bryan Underwood is running for the 28th US Congressional district.  He is a “self-described “capitalist-minded conservative”.  In this radio interview Bryan Underwood joins Kevin talks about his campaign against Henry Cuellar. Podcast is from 550 KTSA radio and dates from before the 3-31-2010 health care vote.

• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryan-Underwood-for-Congress/191156084860
• Radio station KTSA 550 webpage is here.

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Broden’s Facebook Page
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Broden 2010 Website Featuring Glenn Beck interviews of Broden
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Broden For Congress website

Stands on the issues.

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Stephen Broden is a long time conservative Republican and the only candidate who can defeat Eddie Bernice Johnson. A resident of District 30 for over 30 years, he is the only candidate who knows how to address the needs of District 30.

Economic Opportunity and Jobs: Broden will bring economic opportunity and jobs to District 30 by creating a business friendly environment for small businesses which create over 90% of all new jobs.

Educational Opportunity: Broden believes schools are best controlled at the state and local level. He wants to reform education to provide choice and quality for children of District 30 to break the cycle of poverty.

Limits on the Federal Government: Broden believes Washington spends too much, taxes too much, and intrudes too much into the lives of Americans. He opposes government bailouts and takeovers of health care, insurance, banking, manufacturing and other segments that are better left to the free market and the ingenuity of American entrepreneurs.

This email was sent by Roy Morales for Congress Committee, 2450 Louisiana, Suite 400-224, Houston, TX 77006, using Express Email Marketing.

Dear Friend, Democrats never met a new government job, program, or expenditure they did not like. In many states and in the federal government, they have consistently proven so for decades. At a time when states like California and New Jersey are buried under debt created by a vast public sector employee stranglehold, Democrats in Congress continue to ignore basic economics which say, “Our families, our communities, and our nation need private sector job growth to pull out of this recession.” Even though our economy saw 162,000 jobs created in March, of which 48,000 were jobs for the U.S. Census effort, our national unemployment rate remained at an unacceptable 9.7%. And while Democrats continue to ignore the economy, the real unemployment rate, which combines those who have stopped looking for work, the unemployed and the underemployed, shows that one in six Americans are currently without work. Has the Obama administration and the Pelosi Congress made it easier for businesses to grow and hire more workers? Of course not. So, while national unemployment remains a serious problem, what we have seen in the past few months is a never ending river of higher deficits and increasing national debt to continually extend social spending with no end in sight. It is time to hold Congress accountable. The federal government grew 44% in the past two years and Congressman Chet Edwards voted for both of the Obama-Pelosi budgets that allowed it to happen. Did your family budget grow 44% in the past two years? Of course not. The beltway spending spree has us on track to double our national debt in five years and nearly triple it in ten. It is time that our federal government begins living within our means, ending wasteful and unnecessary spending, and paying for things like our families and our businesses do. We desperately need leaders with business sense, who have taken risks, and displayed real commitment to cut the government budget so that money remains in the hands of families and small businesses because they are the best hope for America’s economic future, not another government worker. Will you help me defeat Chet Edwards so we can return to limited government and fiscal sanity? Please consider joining our team or helping our campaign by making a generous $25, $50, $100, or $250 investment so we can win in November and began to repair the damage that has been done to our economy. With Great Respect, Bill Flores

This email was sent to spendulus@texasteaparties.com.