Heading into this summer, it appears we are closer than ever to having a cap and trade bill become law. The Kerry-Lieberman Global Warming Bill was introduced this month in the Senate and it will tax you at the pump as well as on your electricity bills. We absolutely must stop this bill in the Senate or face several decades of skyrocketing tax increases.

American Solutions will once again be on the front lines of this legislative battle, and we are going to need your help to stop Kerry-Lieberman. Here is our simple three step plan to accomplish this:

1.) Tell the truth about this bill being a tax: Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman continue to deny that this bill is tax using clever political spin. We plan on making a full-court press in the media through TV appearances, op-eds, and letters-to-the editors from members like you to get the truth out to as many people as possible.

2.) Target swing votes in the Senate: We have identified twenty-three Senators who could likely vote either way on this piece of legislation. We plan to target these members in their home states with a variety of ads that will lead to a dramatic increase of pressure from their constituents.

3.) Grassroots Blitz: With your help, we want to make over 150,000 phone calls to members of the Senate in opposition to this bill. We also will help organize on-the-ground activities in key states as well as get American Solutions members to attend townhalls so we can get Senators on the record about whether they support or oppose this legislation.

We need to raise $100,000 dollars online in the next 72 hours to implement this plan. Will you please consider making a small donation to help reach our goal?

The battle to stop the Kerry-Lieberman energy tax will be especially challenging since the liberals in Congress are doing everything they can to get it passed. They are trying to deceive the public by denying it a tax. They are exploiting the tragic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as an excuse to penalize every American who drives a car or pays utility bills. It’s time for us to start fighting back.

We have several donors willing to give $2 for every $1 we raise online between now and Thursday. This means that if you make a secure donation you can triple your impact on stopping this job killing bill. Please make a donation today.

We hope you will participate in this fight over the next few months. Together we can stop their new energy tax.

Your Friend,

Newt Gingrich

I don’t consider myself racist, but only the most blatant separatists would consider themselves bigots. Thus, I take this charge seriously and it is worthwhile to do some self-inspection. I wish there was a simple test. Answer these questions and we will tell you whether you suffer from the mental disorder of racial hatred. There is not. Similar to the person who says “some of my best friends are black”, the response of most tea party movements to the charge of racism has been to parade a few minorities to refute the claims. I believe this does little to address the issue either way.

First, let me say that many people simply use the term racist because it has power in our society. This diminishes the struggle that those who have faced true discrimination in our society have had. Some of the more salient issues facing our society that most frequently bring up the race debate are:

Ø School Vouchers
Ø Foreign Debt Relief
Ø Welfare Reform
Ø Housing and Mortgage Reform

Words are extremely important and understanding what a term means is key to determining whether that word applies or not. Most people in our society do not understand what racism is and isn’t. They apply a “I know it when I see it” test. Merriam-Webster provides the following definition for racism:

Main Entry: rac·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈrā-ˌsi-zəm also -ˌshi-\
Function: noun
Date: 1933

1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race

2 : racial prejudice or discrimination

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism

The argument that I am racist is two-fold. First, people argue that I have become politically active primarily because a mixed race President was elected. That would be what I will call racism 1, based upon the above definition. I will deal with that argument later because I think it is the easier to deal with.

Racism 2 is a little more elusive. I would invite you to search disparate impact on findlaw.com to read more. A full discussion is well beyond the scope of this article and, in fact, volumes have been written. Suffice it to say that the term racist is now used to describe people who promote policies which may have a perceived negative impact on a particular race or ethnic group.

The difficulty for me arises in determining what impact is negative. Is an impact negative if it proves to be a detriment in the short term but a benefit in the long run? School voucher programs demonstrate this clearly. There is no question that inner-city schools that are under performing will receive less funding if school voucher programs are put in place. Without citing statistics, we can assume for purposes of this discussion that these schools frequently have a higher percentage of minority students, teachers and administrators. The question is whether the negative impact will be short-term or long-term. Whether society will be better served if some schools are forced to admit failure while allowing students to choose other schools. Reasonable people can differ as to the relative merits of such a program. Many invoke the racism label in the fight to maintain the status quo. It is clear to me though that reasonable people can come down on each side of this argument without regard to the race of those affected. Is race an issue for some people in this argument? Of course. Maybe I am overly optimistic in believing that most people would like to see a society that treats all of our children with equal respect and equal protection of the laws. A society that educates all of its children in a safe and productive environment and where each student can achieve to the best of his or her ability.

As for racism 1, there is no way to refute the claim because those who make it do not know me. They do not know what is in my heart and they do not take the time to analyze my words to determine if they evidence a racial bias. They do not want to. They simply want to refute any argument with the simplest possible explanation. This intellectual laziness is very dangerous in our society today and it is my hope that people of all races, faiths and political persuasions will join together to denounce it.

I welcome your thoughts and comments. As always, the opinions expressed here are solely those of the author. No implication of agreement is to be implied by any person or organization publishing these comments.

I thank you for taking the time to read one man’s simple thoughts for the day.

This does cause me to question what we have been doing and where we should go from here. I hope we can address that issue together and it is my sincere hope that each of you (probably three or four will read this) will leave a constructive comment. Nonetheless, I believe that the pundits and prognosticators fail to understand the true nature of the tea party and write us off primarily because they want us to go away.

First, let’s revisit the Northwest Indiana Patriots mission.

To restore limited government, accountable representation, and fiscal responsibility through citizen activism and education, in order to preserve the Constitution of the United States of America. (emphasis supplied)

The mission is not to field candidates, win elections or even influence party platforms. Of course we will ultimately have to do all of the above if we are to have any true effectiveness. However our primary purpose is activism and education. I have been educated by many members of the NWI Patriots over the past several months and I have only attended a few events. Our message boards are full of information that I would not have otherwise known. I want to thank each of you for every post and I hope that you continue to provide useful and pertinent information.

Keep this in mind. The forces that we are going against are strong. The battle is a long one. There are literally billions of dollars at stake for some. No one is going to roll over and die but a few hundred people working hard can turn into a few thousand and then millions. We have to resist the influences of those who would like to co-opt our movement for their own gain. Republicans want to convert us and Democrats want to demonize us.

The question now is “Where do we go from here?” Are we losers because we were not a larger force in the outcome of this primary?
It is my hope that this campaign will strengthen our resolve to focus on our primary mission. No matter who the ultimate representatives are, we can force them to listen to the will of the people if we band together.

It seems America’s love for things processed doesn’t stop at fast food. The issues important to us have been ground up into barely palatable bits of political goo, deep fried and packaged for mass marketing. Maybe we can even get a free superhero figure for the kids if we buy the whole combo.

While those who were pushing the status quo celebrate their victories, I fight off a sense of frustration and bitterness. There were several men of strong character fighting for a chance to represent us yesterday. As has happened in many other states, the establishment candidates, hand-picked by those who wield political power, have won nearly every race. Despite the cries of Anyone But Coats by thousands of informed Hoosiers, the Coats victory was the first announced last night; coming just 2:45 after the polls closed here. While we waited for some of the slower Lake County precincts to report, the Republican race for 1st congressional district was effectively narrowed down to Dumb vs. Dumezich. The headlines continued to roll in from each side of the aisle with no surprises and no new names. Visclosky, Leyva, Repay, Coats, Ellsworth, Rokita, O’Donnell, Philpot, Gensel . . . the list of candidates from both parties reads like a Who’s Who from the turn of the century.

The Coats race is probably the most telling. Facing strong competition for his seat in 1998, Coats chose to leave Indiana for a lucrative K Street lobbying position. From 1998 to today, Marlin Stutzman, John Hostettler, Richard Behney and Don Bates lived and worked in Indiana. They cared about their local communities and learned the issues important to those who live here. They presented their positions to the voters and provided hope for a new direction for the State and the Republican Party. Coats entered the race with the endorsement of nearly every party loyalist in the nation. Some, like that of Pence, were surprising to us. Nonetheless, many of us believed that principle would ultimately prevail over party.

The opinions I express here are solely my own and carry no more or less weight than that of any other individual in our society. It is of paramount importance that I take a moment this morning to thank God for providing me a healthy dose of humility. Like a child eating a brussel sprout, I will plug my nose, reluctantly swallow it, and grow.

This article is written by Ken Davidson. The opinions expressed herein do not represent the opinion of the Northwest Indiana Patriots or any other individual or group of individuals.

This article was submitted by Ken Davidson.  As always, the opinions expressed herein are his and do not reflect the views of the Northwest Indiana Patriots and are not to be taken as an official position of this group or any member.

Here is an excerpt:

Emboldened by a belief that their political fortunes are on the rise, conservative activists descended Thursday on the capital city they love to hate, seeking to stoke what they consider a grass-roots uprising against President Obama and Democrats in Congress.

Read the entire article, Click Here!