Category Archives: News

Randy Ramsey from the Carolina Journal

Carolina Journal News Reports

Perdue Aircraft Provider Seeks GOP Senate Seat

More than 90 percent of Ramsey’s campaign donations went to Democrats

Mar. 29th, 2012

 

Story photo
Top photo from Ramsey’s website; bottom photo by Don Carrington
Businessman Randy Ramsey (top) is running as a Republican. He has been a long-time Democratic donor and is connected to at least four campaign flights for Gov. Bev Perdue.

RALEIGH — Carteret County businessman Randy Ramsey, who has made substantial campaign contributions to Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, and the N.C. Democratic Party, is running in a three-way Republican primary for the 2nd District state Senate seat.

Ramsey is the owner of Jarrett Bay Boatworks, a boat-building company located in Beaufort. He is a registered Republican, but his past support for Democrats, which includes air travel for Perdue and a $2,000 contribution to her campaign in July, has outraged several Republican Party activists.

Before this year, he has given $3,750 to Republican candidates, but more than 10 times that amount to Democratic campaigns and to the state Democratic Party.

Ramsey told Carolina Journal that he gave to Democrats from eastern North Carolina and thought they would help his part of the state, but that he has “been disappointed” in them.

Moreover, either Ramsey or Jarrett Bay is connected with at least four flights provided to the 2008 Perdue campaign, based on records from an investigation by the State Board of Elections. Ramsey says he recalls providing two of the flights, but the records — provided by the Perdue committee — are spotty and incomplete, making it difficult to connect payments with specific flights.

Two former Perdue fundraisers face felony charges related to unreported or improperly reported flights during Perdue’s campaign for governor.

Air travel for Perdue

Perdue was elected governor in November 2008. Investigations and news reports later would reveal that she made extensive use of private aircraft for campaign and official business without paying the owners. Perdue has attributed the initial nonpayments to sloppy work by her campaign staff. A Perdue spokeswoman characterized the free flying for official business as “gifts to the state.”

Through an investigation by the Board of Elections, the public eventually learned that Perdue’s campaign had accepted dozens of free flights. After a hearing in August 2010, the board fined the Perdue committee $30,000.

A spreadsheet listing Perdue’s air travel from 2001 through 2008 became public information during the election board’s August 2010 hearing. That document listed a total of 243 flights, but the details of many of the flights were missing.

The records appear complete for a Sept. 26, 2008, flight in a Beechcraft King Air provided by Crystal Aviation. May 11, 2009, the Perdue campaign committee sent Jarrett Bay Boatworks Inc. a check for $629.34, listing it as a debt payment for air travel related to that flight.

Crystal Aviation is involved in airplane leasing, according to corporation records from the N.C. Secretary of State’s office. Randy Ramsey of Jarrett Bay Boatworks was listed as a managing member in 2004 and as a member in other years.

A Carolina Journal review of Perdue’s campaign reports could not match reimbursements for three other flights involving Crystal Aviation:

• A Feb. 21, 2008, flight listed as New Bern/Charlotte/Chapel Hill/ New Bern was attributed to Crystal Aviation Partnership and Trawick “Buzzy” Stubbs. No cost or payment information was listed. CJ could find no record of payment to Stubbs, Crystal Aviation, Jarrett Bay, or Ramsey.

Stubbs, a longtime friend of Perdue and the law partner of Perdue’s late first husband, recently pleaded not guilty to two felony charges related to the governor’s campaign funding. Stubbs was identified in the Board of Elections’ report on Perdue’s campaign flights as an architect of an “aircraft provider” program, along with Peter Reichard, the campaign’s former finance director. Reichard took a felony Alford plea in February in the state probe of the governor’s campaign.

• A May 4, 2008, flight listed as Beaufort/New Bern/Chapel Hill/Beaufort/New Bern also was attributed to Crystal Aviation and Buddy Stallings. The cost column reads, “cost sheet not completed.” CJ could find no record of payment to Stubbs, Crystal Aviation, Jarrett Bay, or Ramsey.

• A March 8, 2007, flight listed as New Bern/Chapel Hill/Charlotte/Chapel Hill/New Bern was attributed to Crystal Aviation and Buzzy Stubbs. Notes indicate the trip was part official business and part campaign. The total cost was listed as $1,260.60. CJ could find no record of payment to Stubbs, Crystal Aviation, Jarrett Bay, or Ramsey.

Ramsey told CJ the Perdue committee reimbursed him for two flights, but he didn’t remember the details. When asked who asked him to make his aircraft available to Perdue, he said, “I don’t remember — don’t know who asked.”

NCSU board appointment

In June 2009, Perdue appointed Ramsey to the N.C. State University Board of Trustees. Ramsey filled the vacancy left by board chairman D. McQueen Campbell, who resigned at the request of UNC System President Erskine Bowles.

At the time, Campbell was the subject of news stories and investigations involving free campaign-related flights he had provided to Gov. Mike Easley, for his role in helping Mary Easley obtain a job at N.C. State, and for helping the Easleys purchase a lot in the Cannonsgate development in Carteret County.

In November 2010, Mike Easley entered an Alford plea to a felony charge of failure to report campaign expenditures. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the evidence against him may lead to conviction from a jury. Easley, the first North Carolina governor with a felony conviction, paid a $1,000 fine.

Party loyalty

The 2nd Senate District is made up of Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico Counties.

The other two candidates are current GOP state Rep. Norm Sanderson of Arapahoe and Pine Knoll Shores Mayor Ken Jones. Incumbent Republican Jean Preston decided not to seek another term.

Some local conservative and Republican activists can’t stomach Ramsey as a Republican candidate.

“Randy Ramsey has been a major player in liberal Democratic ‘pay-to-play’ politics and is not representative of the conservative values of the Tea Party, or what we expect of the Republican Party,” wrote Ken Lang of Stella on the Crystal Coast Tea Party’s website.

A letter from Fred Decker of Newport, published in the Carteret News-Times, was also critical of Ramsey, and claimed the Republican state Senate leadership recruited him. “We don’t need people from Raleigh, Jacksonville, and Wilmington telling us whom we should select to represent us,” he wrote.

When asked if he had been recruited to run for the Senate, Ramsey told CJ that “recruited was too strong of a word,” and that he discussed his interest in running with Preston, state Senate leader Phil Berger of Rockingham County, and state Sen. Harry Brown of neighboring Onslow County.

Brown, the Senate majority leader, told CJ that Ramsey approached him about running for the seat and that the Senate leadership had no problem with it. “We were looking for candidates, and Norm Sanderson had not come to us at the time. We try to stay out of the primary,” he said.

When CJ asked Brown if he knew that Ramsey had been an aircraft provider to the 2008 Perdue campaign he said, “I had no clue on the flying.”

Most recent contribution

Last year, Perdue issued frequent criticisms of the budget passed by the Republican-led General Assembly. Perdue wanted to continue a 1-cent temporary sales tax that was scheduled to expire. She vetoed the budget bill, but the General Assembly voted to override her veto.

”Tonight, the Republican-controlled legislature turned its back on North Carolina’s longstanding commitment to our people to provide quality schools, community colleges, and universities — all to save a penny. I vetoed the Republican General Assembly’s budget because I believe it will cause generational damage to this state,” she said on June 15 after the override vote. “This budget is shortsighted and irresponsible. It cuts a full half-billion dollars more out of education than I proposed in my budget. It not only damages our education system but also hurts public safety, our environment, and our ability to care for those who need us most.”

The following month, on July 25, Ramsey made another $2,000 contribution to the Perdue campaign.

Ramsey’s donations to Perdue total $16,500. He also gave a total of $7,500 to Easley and $2,000 to former Democratic Senate leader Marc Basnight. Ramsey also gave $5,000 to the N.C. Democratic Party in October 2008 and another $2,500 in April 2010. He has made additional donations to Democrats.

In April 2008, just before the May primary election, Ramsey’s mother and three Jarrett Bay employees gave a total of $9,500 to the Perdue campaign.

Ramsey’s contributions to Republicans prior to this year total $3,750, including $1,000 to Brown and $1,250 to Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry.

Don Carrington is executive editor of Carolina Journal.

 

Do You Believe this RINO?

Here is a guy who says he’s a life-long Republican; A guy who has donated over $36,000 to Democrat candidates and the Democrat Party in NC, while saying that “they best represent the values of the voters in Carteret County.” A guy who never contributed a dime to Senator Jean Preston or Representative Pat McElraft. A guy who hasn’t shown up to a Republican fund raiser, or to a Carteret County Republican Convention. A guy whose campaign is largely funded by Democrat donors, and folks from Raleigh, NC State University, and some from states other than North Carolina. A guy who puts together a slick TV spot put together by a group of political wonks from Louisiana trying convince eastern North Carolinian’s that he’s a conservative Republican. This guy spins a yarn nearly as good as Obama!

Letter to Editor – Update on Ramsey & County Republicans

I had hoped to respond to Ken Lang’s recent letter concerning Randall Ramsey’ obvious absence from all things Republican by providing an account of Mr. Ramsey’s attendance at the Crystal Coast Republican Women’s Club general meeting on Friday.  Mr. Ramsey and a number of other local candidates asked for time to address that group, but he did not make an appearance, although he did make a call to excuse himself.    I personally would like to hear Mr. Ramsey’s explanation of his true association with the Republican party.  But that doesn’t appear likely to happen.  Voters, if Mr. Ramsey won’t take on the tough issues right here at home, how can we expect him to function in Raleigh as our representative?
Jennifer Hudson
547 Broad Creek Loop Road
Newport, NC 28570
252-726-1318
Stay informed – – – Stay involved

Who Didn't Show Up for the Party

Letter to the Editor

Who didn’t show up for the Party?

The Carteret County Republican Convention was Saturday, March 10, 2012 at the Leon Mann Center in Morehead City, NC. It was as inspiring as it was informative. The Who’s Who in the county GOP were in attendance; well, almost everyone. A record breaking 96 delegates and guest attended this year, including NC Senator Jean Preston, and Representatives Pat McElraft and Norm Sanderson. Every Republican candidate in the County’s state, and local elections were present to tell the convention delegates their vision and plans for the state or county if they are elected, all EXCEPT one. Frank Palombo, who is challenging Congressman Walter B. Jones in the third District House race, was at the convention. Representative Norm Sanderson, and Mayor Ken Jones, candidates for the NC Senate race to replace retiring Senator Preston were there. Representative Pat McElraft, who is unopposed in the Republican primary, was there, as were Carteret County Commissioner hopefuls Harry Taylor, Elaine Crittenton, Jimmy Farrington, Larry Land, Terry Frank, and Craig Weber. Two District Judge candidates were also at the convention, Clinton Rowe and Dave McFadyen; and Debra Goldman, candidate for State Auditor was there. Only one Republican candidate from Carteret County didn’t show up to the Republican Party convention to address the delegates. It was the one who has donated nearly 15 times more money to the NC Democrat Party and Democrat candidates than he has to Republicans because in his words “they [the Democrats] best represent the voters in Carteret County.” Randy Ramsey didn’t come to the Party to face the Republican delegates to explain why over the last 15 years he has donated so much money to the Democrat Party, or why he hasn’t been seen at any Republican functions or fundraisers. Mr. Ramsey didn’t come to the Party to explain to the Republican delegates why much of the money he has raised thus far in his bid for the District 2 Senate seat has come from Democrat donors. Mr. Ramsey didn’t even come to the Party to tell the Republican delegates how he “will best represent the voters of Carteret County.” Mr. Ramsey didn’t show up for the Party to campaign or glad-hand the delegates. I guess you could say, Mr. Ramsey was a Carteret County Republican Party pooper.

Ken Lang
Stella, NC
252-777-3066

The Most Liberal Republican – Walter B. Jones

The National Journal (click here) recently rated Walter B. Jones as the most liberal Republican behind ten Democrats who are rated more conservative than Jones. Just click the link above and page down the list to see where Walter ranks. We can do better in eastern North Carolina’s Third District. It’s time to bring Walter Jones back home to Farmville.

 

Updated: February 23, 2012 | 5:38 p.m.
February 23, 2012 | 4:00 p.m.

Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y.: 47.3, 52.7

David McKinley, R-W.Va.: 47.3, 52.7

Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.: 47.5, 52.5

Dave Reichert, R-Wash.: 47.8, 52.2

Todd Platts, R-Pa.: 48.2, 51.8

Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J.: 49.5, 50.5

Michael Grimm, R-N.Y.: 49.8, 50.2 (At the center of the House)

Pat Meehan, R-Pa.: 50.0, 50.0 (At the center of the House)

Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb.: 50.2, 49.8 (At the center of the House)

Chris Gibson, R-N.Y.: 51.2, 48.8

Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.: 52.3, 47.7

Robert Dold, R-Ill.: 52.7, 47.3

Richard Hanna, R-N.Y.: 52.8, 47.2

Charlie Bass, R-N.H.: 53.2, 46.8

Dan Boren, D-Okla.: 53.7, 46.3 (Most conservative Democrat)

Chris Smith, R-N.J.: 53.8, 46.2

Tim Johnson, R-Ill.: 54.0, 46.0

Justin Amash, R-Mich.: 54.2, 45.8

Mike Ross, D-Ark.: 54.2, 45.8

Ron Paul, R-Texas: 54.3, 45.7

Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio: 54.5, 45.5

Jim Matheson, D-Utah: 54.5, 45.5

Jason Altmire, D-Pa.: 55.8, 44.2

Mike McIntyre, D-N.C.: 56.2, 43.8

Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.: 57.2, 42.8

Tim Holden, D-Pa.: 57.2, 42.8

John Barrow, D-Ga.: 57.5, 42.5

Collin Peterson, D-Minn.: 57.5, 42.5

Henry Cuellar, D-Texas: 57.7, 42.3

Ben Chandler, D-Ky.: 57.8, 42.2

Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.: 58.3, 41.7

Walter Jones, R-N.C.: 58.5, 41.5 (Most liberal Republican)

Jim Costa, D-Calif.: 58.8, 41.2

Larry Kissell, D-N.C.: 59.2, 40.8

Heath Shuler, D-N.C.: 59.2, 40.8

Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif.: 59.5, 40.5

Nick Rahall, D-W.Va.: 59.5, 40.5

Jerry Costello, D-Ill.: 59.7, 40.3

Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill.: 59.8, 40.2

Gene Green, D-Texas: 60.0, 40.0

Bill Owens, D-N.Y.: 60.2, 39.8

Sanford Bishop, D-Ga.: 60.5, 39.5

Ron Kind, D-Wis.: 61.2, 38.8

Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa: 61.8, 38.2

Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md.: 63.8, 36.2

Terri Sewell, D-Ala.: 64.0, 36.0

Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas: 64.2, 35.8

Gary Peters, D-Mich.: 64.3, 35.7

Tim Walz, D-Minn.: 64.3, 35.7

Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.: 64.7, 35.3

Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.: 64.7, 35.3

John Dingell, D-Mich.: 64.8, 35.2

Joe Baca, D-Calif.: 65.0, 35.0

John Carney, D-Del.: 65.0, 35.0

This article appeared in the Saturday, February 25, 2012 edition of National Journal.

Email from Walter Jones re. Federal Employees not paying Taxes

Dear Mr. Broyles:

 

Thank you for your recent email regarding federal employees and tax delinquency.  I appreciate you taking the time to contact me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to respond.

 

You are right.  This is a serious matter and should be addressed immediately.  Companion bills have been introduced in the House (H.R. 828) and Senate (S. 376) to deal with it.  The House bill was referred to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which approved the bill last June.  However, as of this date, the House Leadership has yet to schedule the bill for floor action.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reach out to me about this issue.  If you have further questions about other federal matters, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

 

 
Sincerely,

Walter B. Jones
Member of Congress

Obama Harvard Tapes Exposed on Hannity

Professor Admits Hiding Obama College Video By Todd Starnes

Harvard University Law School professor Charles Ogletree admitted that he hid controversial video footage featuring a college-age President Obama speaking at a campus rally in support of a radical professor.

“I hid this during the 2008 campaign,” Ogletree said in the video. “I don’t care if they find it now.”

The entire video was aired exclusively on Hannity by Breitbart.com editor-in-chief Joel Pollak and contributor Ben Shapiro.

The unedited video shows Obama speaking at a 1991 rally for Professor Derrick Bell.

Bell has been described as the Jeremiah Wright of academia. At one point in the video, Obama embraces Bell.

It’s unclear why Ogletree felt the need to protect Obama and hide the video during the 2008 campaign.

So how damaging do you think this video is to President Obama? How will the Mainstream Media react? And will it change anyone’s mind?

 

View video here

Email from Walter Jones on IRS Harassment of the Tea Party

This email was sent to Congressman Jones re. IRS Harassment of the Tea Party…

 

Dear Congressman Jones:

For the second time this week, I’ve seen articles describing what amounts to harassment of Tea Party groups by the IRS. The first one was concerning a group in OH, and the second was in Richmond, VA. The article on the latter is at this link http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/claim-irs-won-t-grant-richmond-tea-party-tax-exempt-status_629931.html

The Executive Branch continues to exceed it authority under the Constitution. The administration is attacking the freedom of average Americans using the Federal institutions that should be protecting our freedoms. I would appreciate it if you and your colleagues would find out what is going on, and take some action to prevent this abuse of power by the Executive Branch.

 

This is Congressman Jones’ response…

 

Dear Mr. Lang:

Thank you for your recent email regarding a Weekly Standard article on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treatment of certain Tea Party groups.  I appreciate you taking the time to contact me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to respond.

I am troubled by allegations that the IRS may be engaging in inequitable treatment of groups seeking registration as tax-exempt entities.  If any resident of North Carolina’s 3 rd District believes the IRS is treating them unfairly, I am always happy to help, as the law must be applied equally to all citizens.  I would encourage the individuals associated with the groups mentioned in the article to contact their own members of Congress and Senators to request that they weigh in with the IRS on their behalf.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact me about this issue.  If you have further questions about other federal matters, please don’t hesitate to contact me.


Sincerely,

Walter B. Jones
Member of Congress

 

NOW ISN’T THAT REASSURING?

Letter to Editor – 99 Percent Spring

Editor,
Just when things have quieted down in the Occupy Movement, mostly due to winter’s cold rain and snow as well as and irritated Public officials, whispers are becoming voices for our Spring to come. Various online media sources are now reporting that the Occupy Wall-Street Movement known also as Occupy, has morphed in to The 99 Percent Spring. Just as our Red Bud trees are blossoming in North Carolina the ‘Red’s” of the Far Left are coming out like daffodils and reports are that there will be nationwide training sessions April 9th-15th for a new batch (100,00 +) of blooming idiots. The training of these pesky weeds of discontent, will be fertilized by MoveOn.Org’s new green Soros dollars, spread by the UAW, SEIU and other unions and watered by numerous left leaning groups and individuals to include Socialists and Communists. These folks have every intention of disrupting  America. They will, in the guise of Democracy, attempt to move our center-right country more to the left by their outrageous behavior and demands, hoping that we’ll give ground to them in compromise.  Check it out, Google up; 99 Percent Spring and see what is coming to North Carolina long before the Democrats hit Charlotte. Say where did that ACORN get buried? Will Eastern North Carolina’s cities, towns and campus’s be targeted? Stay tuned!
Austin M. Wilgus

Agenda 21 Becomes a Major Issue

via Right Side News

 

Thursday, 23 February 2012 06:34  by Tom DeWeese

After hiding under the radar for more than 19 years, Agenda 21 became the cause of 2011 as thousands of concerned Americans began to study United Nations documents side – by – side with their local comprehensive development plans. To the horror of most, they found identical language – and the battle was on.

Fighting Back

The battle to stop Agenda 21 in local communities and in state legislatures has taken several varied but effective paths. In my travels to speak to more than 38 groups in 12 states in 2011, I have been privilege to meet and work with some of the most amazing activists I’ve even encountered. I’ve also been able to meet with state legislators in four states, along with a large number of county commissioners and city councilmen – all eager to learn about Agenda 21 and how to stop it. Here are some of the results of their work in countering the massive power of those enforcing Agenda 21 across the nation:

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Communities are Leaving ICLEI

It started last January, 2011 in Carroll County, Maryland, as the newly elected Board of Commissioners, led by Richard Rothschild, voted to cancel the county’s membership in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). At the same time the Commission also terminated the contract of the county’s sustainable development director, and they sent the county planning commission back to the drawing board for the state-mandated comprehensive development plan – with instructions to not resubmit it until it protected private property rights and complied with the U.S, Constitution. Little did these new commissioners know, they were at the head of a tidal wave that was about to sweep the nation.

Following Carroll County, next came Amador County, California, as the county commissioners voted to end their membership in ICLEI; then came Montgomery County, PA; followed by Edmond, Oklahoma, Las Cruces, New Mexico. The successful battle against ICLEI in Spartanburg, South Carolina was sparked by County Commissioner Roger Nutt; Virginia became a hotbed of activity against Agenda 21 and ICLEI, especially through the efforts of activists like Donna Holt, Cathy Turner and Charles Battig, to name a few. As a result of their efforts, Albemarle County, Virginia (home of Thomas Jefferson), James City County, Virginia (where America basically started at James Town), Abington, Virginia and Lexington, Virginia, have all voted to throw ICLEI out; we can now add to this list Plantation. Florida; Carver, Massachusetts; Pinellas, Florida; Garland, Texas; Sarasota, Florida; Clallam County, Washington; Monmouth County, New Jersey, Chatham County, North Carolina and Somerset County, New Jersey.

Unofficial reports indicate that at least 54 communities have withdrawn from ICLEI in 2011 (though I don’t have all of them listed here because we don’t have official verification). In addition, while ICLEI set a goal of 1000 American cities as members by 2015, indications are that only 17 new cities joined ICLEI this past year. That would be a net reduction of 37!

Property Rights Council

As I arrived in Idaho last September to speak, I was told that a county commissioner wanted to have dinner with me. I said, fine. I’ve gotta eat! What I received from that dinner was nothing short of stunning. As I arrived at the restaurant I was ushered into a back room where about eight people awaited me, including Bonner County, Idaho attorney Scott Bauer and Bonner County Commissioner Cornel Rasor. They began to lay out a full-blown presentation for a plan to protect property rights in their county. They called it a Property Rights Council. This was to be an official arm of the county government, complete with a full time employee and a selected council of citizens who would oversee all county legislation and regulations to assure they didn’t violate private property rights. In addition, the plan was to connect the council’s activities with a state wide network of free market think tanks that would help make such judgments on the proposed legislation. Amazing idea! I mentioned it in my monthly report to APC supporters and it became a sensation. Tennessee activist Karen Bracken picked up the idea, spent hours discussing every detail with attorney Bauer and quickly organized a conference call of national activist leadership, and the idea is now spreading across the nation. Property Rights Councils will be an invaluable tool to counter ICLEI’s near total control of county government.

State Legislative Activity Against Agenda 21 It has truly been amazing to see anti-Agenda 21 efforts in state legislatures across the nation. My report here is only a fraction of the activities actually taking place, as I literally can’t keep up with the many meetings, hearings and resulting legislation that is being introduced. But here are a few of the highlights:

In the state of Washington, State Representative Matt Shea is succeeding in creating an ―Anti-Agenda 21 Caucus,‖ designed to educate fellow legislators to the dangers of Agenda 21 and to block passage or any such legislation. Eight House Members have joined so far.
A bill (Assembly Bill 303) has been introduced by Representative Mary Williams into the state legislature of Wisconsin to repeal state mandated smart growth legislation.

Smart growth legislation has been passed in almost very state and is the Sustainablist’s main weapon to enforce Agenda 21 policy in every county. Repeal of such legislation gives the local government the right to choose whether it wants to participate in Sustainable planning or not. The bill has already passed the Wisconsin House and is awaiting action in the state Senate.

Similar legislation has already been passed and signed by the Governor in the state of Florida. That means that Florida counties are now free from state mandates to write and impose comprehensive development plans.
The state of New Hampshire has two landmark bills before it. First is HB 1634, introduced by Rep. Amy Cartwright which prohibits ―the state counties or towns from implementing programs of, expending money for, receiving funds from, or contracting with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).‖ The second bill prohibits federal, state and local government agents from entering private property without the property owner’s written permission.

Republican National Committee Passes Anti- Agenda 21 Resolution

On Friday, January 13, 2012, Helen Van Etten, Republican National Committeewoman from Kansas, sponsored a resolution entitled ―Resolution Exposing United Nations Agenda 21.‖ It was adopted during the RNC’s general session that day. This resolution may now be used by all opponents of Agenda 21 to help convince lawmakers that this is a threat serious enough that one of the two major political parties now understands and opposes it. All Republican officeholders now have a valuable tool to stand united and oppose Agenda 21 – if they choose to use it. It is also a major weapon for local activists, who, till now have fought alone, constantly labeled fringe conspiracy theorists.

Mainstream Conservative Movement and Candidates Join The Fight for Individual Property Rights

In addition, The Heritage Foundation has now acknowledged the threat of Agenda 21, in an article entitled ―Agenda 21 and the Threat in Our Backyard.‖ This is a sign that the mainstream Conservative movement is coming on board in the Agenda 21 fight.
A few months ago, I was contacted by the Newt Gingrich campaign after he had been pummeled with questions about his position on Agenda 21. When his answers weren’t satisfactory to the crowd, people shouted ―Call Tom DeWeese,‖ and he did. A few weeks later Gingrich appeared on the Sean Hannity radio show talking about Agenda 21, and then he even brought it up in one of the debates.

In his last week on Fox News, Glenn Beck used some of his remaining precious air time on an international news network to expose Agenda 21. I was very please to have been contacted by his producers to provide information for the program. And Beck provided a link the American Policy Center’s website so viewers could learn more.

The tin foil is falling off of our hats rapidly as the fight against Agenda 21 is quickly escalating into the main stream of the political debate.

Breaking up Consensus Meetings

One of the chief tools used by the pro-Agenda 21 forcesistheuseoftrainedfacilitatorsandconsensusmeetings. These are psychology-driven sessions designed to reach a predetermined outcome, as the participants are led to believe it is their own idea. It’s very effective in countering our arguments that Agenda 21 is implemented behind closed doors, against the will of the people. Of course, behind those closed doors is where the predetermined outcome and the tactics to enforce it is, well, determined.

That’s all starting to change as anti-Agenda 21 forces are learning counter techniques. First, author Beverly Eakman has produced a book entitled ―How To Counter Group Manipulation Tactics.‖ Beverly has studied this tactics for years and has learned how to stop its progress. Created by the Rand Corporation and known as the Delphi Technique, the process depends on the fact that there is no debate, no open discussion and no dissention allow. Beverly’s book show how that can be turned around on the facilitator, and in effect, ruin his day and his meeting’s outcome. Beverly teaches activist how to lay low and quietly upset the process. Others have taken a more blunt, in-you-face approach. It works too!

Case in point, at a recent meeting in San Francisco, about 50 anti-Agenda 21 citizens turned out for yet another controlled consensus meeting, only they refused to play by the rules (key to messing up the pre-planned process). They spoke out, they video-taped the process, they refused to put their names on sign up sheets (an intimidation tactic used by the Sustainablists), they continually corrected the facilitator’s incorrect statements, they did not participate in the ―phony voting process,‖ (again a tactic used in the Delphi technique to make you think you had a part in the outcome. As soon as you take one step in becoming part of the process, even to vote no, you are in the process). The protestors refused to give their names to the media and they brought in cameras and signs. Above all, they passed out flyers to every participant explaining the process being used on them and telling them their rights in a free assembly. No one was arrested in this process. Take away the power of consensus and you have gone a long way toward stopping Agenda 21. It simply cannot be implemented in a free, open society of free debate and transparency in government, as our local, state and federal governments were designed to be.

So, there you have it, a brief rundown of the growing battle to stop Agenda 21. 2011 was an amazing year in this fight to resort the Republic. But 2012 is already shaping up to be the year we finally crush Agenda 21.

Related Agenda 21 and Videos Explaining Agenda 21

Tom_DeWeeseTom DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence. Go to americanpolicy.org for more information

Letter to Editor – We're Just Frogs Dropped into Pot of Warm Water

Wow, what a week! Here we sit in warming gasoline while prices at the pump spiral up and up towards $4.00 and further. We are just like the proverbial “Frog In Warming Water”. But who’s worrying? The prices will all come down folks keep saying, but when? The answers are to be found in Raleigh and Washington. Could Bev Purdue call for  a special session of the Legislature and redo the NC Fuel Tax? Could Obama call off his regulator Czars and open the way for the building of new refineries and sign the Keystone Pipeline Bill immediately to let Canada’s sand oil flow south? Sure, both of them could take those actions, but they won’t. They don’t care about regular folks daily use of cars for work and the American Dream of “Cruising” on a Sunday afternoon, the oldtime “Sunday Drive”. Ah, the “Sunday Drive”, a freedom thing, ironically that is the cover of the latest OUR STATE magazine. The Sunday Drive has sort of gone the way of the horse and buggy. How about  high school kids going to the Local Drive In or Berger Joint and hanging out on a Friday or Saturday night? Is that a soon to be forgotten thing of the past? Sadly, it seems so. You see, we will all sit here like frogs and let it happen, we are so used to letting Joe or Jane do it, the Tea Party do it or worse yet Letting The Government Do it! We, you and me, our neighbors and friends are for the most part too damned lazy, sitting in our comfort zones, to get involved by writing letters, e-mailing or even phoning our elected officials. some of us don’t even bother to vote! We sit idly by waiting for a miracle from St. Bev or the Messiah Obama. We don’t even vet or check our local Candidates for Office like RINO Republican Candidate for NC Senate, Randy Ramsey, who in his own words tell you he is not a real Republican. He openly admits that he gave Big Dollars to Purdue, Basknight, Easley  and Company and did we get better government as “Rino Randy”, expected? NO! We have the highest taxed fuel in the Southeast and about 3rd highest Lower Forty Eight and our roads are worsening. So, if you want to change things like the price of gasoline, roads or the economy, you must personally get involved. Start by going to political meetings, find out about the inside scoop on local and state candidates before you vote. Ask yourself, How’s That Hope and Change really working out that Obama and every Democrat ran in 2008? Now once again RINO (Republican In Name Only) Republicans or Pay to Play Republicans along with Democrats are trying quietly move a similar agenda as in 2008 ahead. The potential vehicle of change now may well be the American Automobile User/Owner/Voter that needs a quick “right turn” for a conservative voter refueling. Remember voting for a RINO (Republican In Name Only) will usually mean that a Democrat Policy or Position will be put in place or nudged ahead somewhere.
Austin “Gus”  Wilgus
Emerald Isle, NC 28594

Letter to the Editor – THE ILLEGAL FLOOD OF DISEASE

THE ILLEGAL FLOOD OF DISEASE

Did you know hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants crossing our borders without being health screened have brought us thousands of new cases of leprosy in the past years since we  opened the southern border back door? (Dumb Question).  Additionally, they brought 10s of thousands of cases of incurable (multiple drug resistant) tuberculosis, hundreds of thousands of cases of high resistant hepatitis (ask me about it), blood parasites (ask me about it), head lice (not yet) no hair and many other diseases.
Chagas Disease (Chagas (SHA-gus) disease is an inflammatory, infectious disease caused by a parasite found in the feces of the triatomine bug. Chagas disease is common in South America, Central America and Mexico, the primary home of the triatomine bug. Rare cases of Chagas disease have been found in the southern United States as well, but it is coming close to high levels now and can be passed from person to person.
Exotic Newcastle Disease (ND) is another newcomer. A catastrophic outbreak of exotic ND led to contact between chickens that were packed in crates and brought across the unguarded section of the border from Mexico.  The chickens were raised in a farming district in California.  Poor security at a chicken farm led to contact with the infected chickens and the commercial poultry business. The disease spread rapidly from 1971 through 1973 within the California poultry farms. The disease was eradicated after eight Southern California counties were quarantined and millions of chickens destroyed (Colonel Sanders rolled over in his grave after seeing all those chicken wings going to waste).
The cost to the tax-payers was $56,000,000.00 (chicken feed to the US Congress) (Pun intended) in 1973 dollars. But it was not the illegal chicken immigrants that caused the problem, it was the “poor security failing” as our liberal friends would say.  They (liberals) shed blame like water off of a duck’s back (I wanted to keep this section in the fowl mind set).
Don’t take this letter to mean that our country shouldn’t have an “open arms policy” towards immigrants, but it should be the legal way. But we cannot continue to let our Leaders (I use that term very loosely) keep this flood of people that will shortly cost us trillions of dollars (“trillion” a very small amount of money in a politician’s mind) to pay their health costs and schooling, taking away jobs from the America poor.  The liberal answer to that is “Don’t worry, we always have “Obama’s stash” to fall back on.”  But remember, that “stash” is our tax dollars, which was your “stash” for old age enjoyment, if there is such a thing. I’ll be 70 in May and don’t feel a day over a 105 (I do get some of Obama’s “stash”) but I’m still out there working, paying into Obama’s “stash” also.
Remember, thousands of children that have never been vaccinated or even seen a doctor in their lifetime are now mingling with our children in all of the school systems in the country. I’d like to see their health/shot records that a school is supposed to get (or at least they used to) before they  start school, but in the liberal’s mind, that would be called the “BAD old days – it’s not progressive”.
I served my country for 28.5 years and got blood parasites and hepatitis from serving as a liaison on a Vietnamese patrol boat on the Mekong Delta.  I had the best health care, yearly shots and check-ups and I still came home with a host of diseases (but no new holes) that still give me problems (the diseases, not the lack of holes) sometimes.
Don’t worry, I’m not Typhoid Mary, I am not contagious, I may be a bubble out of plumb, but I don’t want my country to go down the drain now.  I do worry about what my son/daughter, grandsons and granddaughters will have if this keeps on going as is.
I did have to go to Long Bien Hospital to be treated.  That’s where there were a lot of guys that didn’t have the lack of holes, some had way too many.  Somewhere along the line I got separated from my uniforms; all I had was one pair of “Tiger Greens”, those that were there know what they look like.
I was told to report to Saigon.  After I got there they offered me a choice to go back to a Vietnamese boat or go back to the USA……I’ll give you 25,000 chances to get the right answer.  So off to San Francisco I went with orders to report to Alameda CG Base. After I got to the San Fran airport I called the base and told them I had enough money to fly back to the East Coast and report in there, where my family and next duty station were.  They gave me the nod with verbal orders to go.  Of course I had to borrow some money from another Coastie going to the East Coast (I’m still in tiger greens with a wallet with a service ID and a load of Dongs and “MPCs…Dongs/MPCs???? Ask a Viet vet.). I had my wife meet me at Philadelphia airport where I paid off the guy for my plane ticket.  Boy, I did get the weird eyeball and a wide berth in a number of places. I don’t know if it was the way I looked, or was it smelled? My uniforms even arrived home before me.
A lot of people said that some people would spit on servicemen coming in from Vietnam and I was asked if that had happened to me.  The only answer for that was “I’m not in prison for murder, am I?”
It is time for “YOU” to wake up, open your eyes, get involved, pull your noses out of the roses (always like to throw in a rhyme when I can) and take back our country from that POOL OF FOOLS in Washington, D.C. (and I like to end with a rhyme).
PS: I had the displeasure of serving a three-year tour in that POOL (everyone I know said I had a mental problem afterwards)…..visit, but don’t live there. It has to do with all of the self- adoration and the thought pattern that “anyone outside of the beltway is an idiot” that is in the air.
Every person, before they can be elected to Congress, should have to serve a year in a dirty/filthy combat zone.

CWO Roma D. Wade
USCG Retired

Criticisms Convince State To Back Off Projections of Dramatic Sea Level Rise

This is why it’s so important to write legislators, Letters to the Editor, and go to public meetings. “We the People” had an impact on this decision. “We” went to the Governor’s science panel meetings and spoke out. NC-20, representing the 20 NC coastal counties was instrumental showing that the science panel had NO scientific data supporting the sea level rise conclusions they were heading toward.

Why was this so important to you? Dramatic decline in coastal real estate values, high cost of new insurance rates based on new unscientific flood predictions are two reasons. And as you read the article below, note that NC regulators may still try to implement some of the findings. YOU need to tell your legislature ‘NO new regulations based on unscientific sea level rise predictions.’

 

Feb. 20th, 2012

 

RALEIGH — State officials are pressuring local governments to plan for a one-meter sea-level rise by 2100, even though many independent scientists have argued the rise is highly unlikely if not impossible.

Even though a state advisory panel no longer recommends regulations based on the one-meter projection, local government officials worry that state regulators will try to implement those rules.

Such a policy, they say, would have a devastating impact on coastal economies, property values, and citizens’ ability to secure financing and property insurance. North Carolina also would become the first state to enact policies consistent with a projected sea-level rise of that magnitude.

In a 2010 report (PDF), the Coastal Resource Commission’s Science Panel said the sea level is likely to rise one meter by 2100. Now the commission is drafting policy “encouraging” coastal communities to consider accelerated rates of sea-level rise in local land-use and development planning.

A group of independent scientists have challenged the panel’s report, pushing the CRC to revise its draft sea-level rise policy so that the regulations in it read more like suggestions and the one-meter benchmark no longer appears.

There’s nothing scientific about the way the science panel came up with its one-meter projection, said John Droz, a physicist and environmental activist. Droz, with the help of more than 30 other scientists, wrote a critique (PDF) of the panel’s “NC Sea-Level Rise Assessment Report.”

Droz’s first complaint is that the panel based its one-meter projection on a review of scientific studies, but the review excluded studies concluding that sea-level rise is not happening. Also, the study cited most by the panel is no longer supported by its own author.

“They never mentioned this,” he said. “These people are either totally incompetent or they’re just totally dishonest.”

Droz also criticizes the broadness of the range of possible scenarios the panel came up with.

The report states that the panel has not attempted “to predict a specific future rate or amount of rise because that level of accuracy is not considered to be attainable at this time.” Instead, the panel predicts a “likely range of rise” between 15 and 55 inches and settles on 39 inches (one meter) as the “amount of rise that should be adopted for policy development and planning purposes.”

“It appears the authors want to have it both ways,” Droz said. “They rightfully acknowledge an accurate future prediction is unattainable, yet they make a future prediction that they expect North Carolina to use for development and planning purposes.”

Droz also takes issue with the tide gauge measurements the panel relied on. Of the eight measuring stations in North Carolina, the panel said it “feels most confident in the data retrieved from the Duck gauge,” which shows the highest measurements of all eight stations and which has been collecting data for the fewest number of years.

The Duck station’s 24 years of data show an average rate of sea-level rise at 16 inches per century. By contrast, a measuring station in Wilmington with 67 years of data shows an average rate of 8 inches per century.

Additionally, Droz calls the tide gauge measurements too crude to provide useful data. The report says that “a tide gauge can be as simple as a long ruler nailed to a post on a dock.”

It also admits “a drawback to tide gauges in North Carolina, in addition to their small number, is that most of them don’t extend back in time more than 50 years, making it difficult to resolve changes in the rate of rise over the decades.”

The report adds, “More accurate” satellite measurements have been available only since 2001. Droz argues that 10 years of data are “clearly insufficient in determining things like hundred-year trends.”

Droz said some scientists believe the sea is not rising at all. He points to a recent newspaper profile of Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, former head of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics Department at Stockholm University and former head of the INQUA International Commission on Sea Level Change.

“Despite fluctuations down as well as up, the sea is not rising,” Morner said. “It hasn’t risen in 50 years. If there is any rise this century it will not be more than 10 centimeters (4 inches), with an uncertainty of plus or minus 10 centimeters.”

Droz asked Morner what he thought of the science panel’s prediction.

“Sorry, simply physically impossible,” Morner wrote. “It is, for sure, not rising by one meter by year 2100. Our best estimate for 2100 is 5 centimeters with a 15 centimeter margin of error, and that is nothing to worry about.”

Damage control

After circulating his critique, Droz was invited to make a presentation to state lawmakers, who put pressure on the CRC to change the language in their sea level rise policy draft.

After reviewing his critique, Droz said one member of the science panel sent him a confidential message. “He apologized for signing off on it and said he was totally remiss in his obligation to do the right thing.”

Because of Droz’s work, the North Carolina Office of Emergency Management now is studying the impact of a range of potential levels in sea rise from zero to 15 inches by 2100, instead of 15 to 55 inches.

“We brought it down after talking with Droz and other individuals,” said John Dorman, director of the flood mapping program for the Office of Emergency Management. “We believe, as Mr. Droz says — and I’ll give him credit for that — that it needs to be based on science.

“None of us know what’s going to happen in the future,” he said. “The more we thought about that, the more we decided that while there’s value in showing what potentially could happen, when you get way outside the bounds of reason, it becomes more of a detriment than a benefit.”

Dorman said his department met with Droz and Tom Thompson of NC-20, a coalition of 20 coastal counties formed to protect their economic development interests from what they consider “unreasonable” environmental regulations.

“Honestly, they convinced us to run only the scientifically based, extrapolated rates [as opposed to the predicted accelerated rates] with some deviation to the lower side and upper side,” Dornan said.

“I agree with Tom Thompson and John Droz, you don’t want to put something out there that could impact North Carolina in a negative way, especially if it’s not based on science,” he said.

Full steam ahead

Chairman of the Coastal Resource Commission Bob Emory said he still is comfortable with the one-meter prediction and that his agency plans to continue “encouraging” local governments to use the benchmark in their land-use plans.

After local government officials expressed “some real heartburn” over the 39-inch benchmark, Emory says it was deleted from the CRC’s official policy. However, it still will be used for “education purposes.”

“It’s too soon to take a regulatory approach,” Emory said. “I don’t think people are ready for that. But it’s something they should start incorporating into their thinking.”

Carteret County Commissioner Doug Harris said coastal counties are being pressured to plan for a significant rise.

“Unfortunately, state bureaucrats are convinced that the presently not increasing rate of sea level rise will increase rapidly in the future, and, ignoring the second-guessing within the science panel, both the Division of Coastal Management and Sea Grant are aggressively educating and manipulating local government officials to impose 39-inch-sea-level-rise land planning immediately,” Harris said.

“Certainly, if sea level is rising more rapidly, or will begin to rise more rapidly, by any cause, we need to know it,” Harris said. But depending upon the final wording of the CRC’s sea-level rise policy, he fears it will in effect “take homes and businesses, raise insurance rates, diminish bank financing, and reduce property values by billions.”

Harris noted that North Carolina is the first state along the East Coast to propose a future sea-level rise rate and would be the first to develop a policy based on this future rate.

Sara Burrows is an associate editor of Carolina Journal

 

 

Another Case of IRS Abuse Against the Tea Pary

The Weekly Standard reported earlier in an article in this blog that the IRS had imposed questionable requirements on the Richmond Tea Party. Here is another case of of Potential IRS abuse against the Tea Party. Considering the Obama IRS allows groups like Media Matters operate with a tax free status, it seems odd that they would be asking so much private information from Tea Party groups. Isn’t it time for you to call or write your congressman about this potential abuse of power. I did here.

 

From: Tom Zawistowski <tomz@portagecountyteaparty.com>
To:

Sent: Sat, Feb 11, 2012 12:05 pm
Subject: IRS Request for Information from the Ohio Liberty Council

Dear ———–,

 

I am writing to share with you a first hand look at how our Government looks at our movement and what they are intentionally doing, as a governement, to stop us.  First of all, I know that many Ohio liberty groups have been waiting for months and even years to get their 501(c) 4 corporation applications processed by the IRS.  We need to incorporate to protect our groups from liabilty and 501(c) 4 is the only IRS category for which our groups qualify – so we have to do this.  But the government is not processing these applications which puts our groups at great financial risk until they are approved.  As you will see below, this is no accident.

 

Many groups have also had to file what is called an IRS 1024 form to apply for Federal Tax Exempt Status so that we can do our income taxes.  Our own Portage County TEA Party has been waiting for over a year just to get a response from the IRS so we can file our 2010!!! tax return.  In the attached PDF’s I am going to share with you the “Additional Information Requested” of the Ohio Liberty Council from our June 30th, 2010 1024 application which we just received on January 30, 2012.  Yea, they took a year and a half to respond to our application and they are giving us two weeks to respond back. As you will see, this is no simple request.  We have been told by people in Washington that the IRS is under specific instructions to delay and scrutinize any applications having to do with TEA Party or Liberty Groups.  I have ask our “representatives”, and your should be asking them as well, when they are going to call the IRS in front of a Congressional Committee and demand to know if this is true and who has implemented this policy and why?

 

Now, I want you to share with all your friends and relatives who think we are all paranoid about government intrusion into our lives the attached two pages of PDF’s.  Have them read what our government is asking from us, so that we, as a group, are able to have free political speach and be able to support the causes and individuals we choose to support.  See if they think these requests are “resonable”.  Would they want me to share this information about them?  These documents are real – not something from our imagination or from the Soviet Union.  I have to repond to them.  It’s not just the absurd requests like “provide a hard copy printout of your organizations website” and “list the social media outlets (you use to promote and publicize your organization) and provide hardcopy printouts of those outlets.” Take a look at how many pieces of paper that takes. They don’t just want the URL of our website, they want a hard copy and yes they want us to fax it to them, not email a pdf – I am not kidding. How about asking us to provide a list of anyone we invite to speak to our groups, including their “qualification” and contact information, and provide hard copies of everything that was handed out, and a list of everyone who attends those events?  You like that one?  How about wanting the “name, address, and corporate federal ID of all organizations that are members of our organization” or who attend one of our events?   What does that have to do with our organization being classified as being not-for-profit?  You think that is not government over reaching?  Does this sound more to you like something the KGB would want to deteremine if you are a threat to the “cause” Comrade?  You haven’t gotten the half of it.  Print out these PDF’s. Then read them carefully, because they will scare you and then they will make you VERY angry.

 

These document are what the Democrat/Socialist party has in store, not just for TEA Party groups, but for your business, your church, your boy scout troop, your gun club, your favorite charity, your doctor, your life.  If we do not rise up and defeat Barack Obama and then FORCE the Republican’s we elect to wake up and disassemble this big government machine that is bent on enslaving us all,  we will all suffer the same fate of all the people in communist and socialist states throughout history who failed to demand and defend individual liberty.  Show this to the people you know, who do not yet believe we should fear this government, in an effort to get them to join us in pushing our nation back from the brink of disaster and on toward a renewed committment to individual freedom and liberty. Together, we can not fail.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tom Zawistowski

President
Ohio Liberty Council
1-800-846-4630 Ext 104
tom.zawistowski@ohiolibertycouncil.org

Letter to the Editor – RINOs Need Not Apply

RINOs Need Not Apply

Representative Norm Sanderson and Mayor of Pine Knoll Shores, Ken Jones, filed to run for Senator Jean Preston’s seat on February 13th. For weeks it had been rumored that Randy Ramsey, owner of Jarrett Bay Boat Works would also declare his candidacy for Senator Preston’s seat.  Mr. Ramsey’s did not show up at the Board of Elections with the other candidates as his filing was being protested by some people concerned about his political connections. Mr. Ramsey delayed filing until the protestors left. So why did Mr. Ramsey avoid confronting the protestors? What is Mr. Ramsey hiding?

Both Representative Sanderson and Mayor Ken Jones are solid conservatives each who have public records to validate them as conservative Republicans. Voters have been able to judge both of these men based on their actions while serving in elective office.

Mr. Ramsey is a registered Republican, but his political views are largely unknown to voters. He does not have a public record that voters can judge what he may do as an elected official. Some might say that is a good thing. But wait, you might want to dig deeper, because what Mr. Ramsey has done “in the smoked-filled room behind closed doors” could be very telling. When you look at Mr. Ramsey’s political contribution and political associations for the last 15 years it gives a clear picture of his politics.  If you go to this web site www.followthemoney.org (a site that tracks money in state politics) you will learn that since 1997, Randall Ramsey has given $36,950 to Democratic candidates in NC including, Mike Easley, Bev Perdue, Marc Basnight and the NC Democratic Party.  But wait, there’s more… during that same period he gave only $2,750 to Republicans. Mr. Ramsey did not give a dime, not one red cent to Senator Preston, or Representative McElraft during the same period.

But wait, there’s more… Mr. Ramsey has been quoted in the press as saying “I’ve tried to support the candidate I’ve felt would best serve the people of our community.” He also said “I have supported the other party in the past, but it was because I thought they (the candidates) understood the issues in Carteret County and would support us the best.” Mr. Ramsey by his own declaration thought that Democrats including Mike Easley, Bev Perdue, Marc Basnight, and the Democrat Party would represent Carteret County better than Senator Jean Preston, or Representative Pat McElraft. The people of Carteret County certainly disagree with Mr. Ramsey because they elected Senator Preston and Representative McElraft over and over.

But wait, there’s more… in addition to the large donations to the NC Democrats, Randy Ramsey, the owner of Jarrett Bay Boat Works, was reported by NC Civitas to have used his corporate airplane to provide “unreported flights” for Governor Bev Perdue (also called Bev’s “Travelgate”) (Reference- http://www.civitasreview.com/elections-campaigns/travelgate-perdue/).
These actions follow a pattern dating back to the Easley administration of political donors providing free air travel and political contributions in return for political favors or political appointments.  In Ramsey’s case, “pay to play” political favor was appointment to the NC State University Board of Trustees.

But wait, there’s more… Mr. Ramsey recently boasted in his own Press Release dated February 10, 2012 (http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=1b8f1d3fdc546a00dc3621b76&id=b80e336ca2)  that he had amassed $132,827 four days before filing to run. Mr. Ramsey, who donated all that money to you? Are you willing to disclose your donors before the campaign reports come out just before the primary election? How many of these donors are political players like you who will be expecting political favors if you are elected? What is the quid pro quo? Do you expect you can simply spend a lot of money to create a smokescreen that the citizens of Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico Counties can’t see through? Do you really?

Randy Ramsey has been a major player in liberal Democrat “pay to play” politics and is not representative of the conservatives values in NC District 2. Anyone who expects the liberal Democrat machine of Mike Easley and Bev Perdue to “understand the issues important to the citizens of Carteret County” better than those representatives elected by the citizens of Carteret County to serve them does not themselves understand what is best for Carteret County citizens. Mr. Ramsey has supported Democrats because that defines his values.

We do not need or want a Democrat pretending to be a Republican to run for the Senate seat currently occupied by a fine Senator such as Jean Preston. This is no way to honor Senator Preston’s service to District 2 by electing a RINO Democrat hack to her seat.

Kenneth Lang

Email to Congressman Jones & Senator Burr re. IRS Abuse of Power

For the second time this week, I’ve seen articles describing what amounts to harassment of Tea Party groups by the IRS. The first one was concerning a group in OH, and the second was in Richmond, VA. The article on the latter is at this link http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/claim-irs-won-t-grant-richmond-tea-party-tax-exempt-status_629931.html

The Executive Branch continues to exceed it authority under the Constitution. The administration is attacking the freedom of average Americans using the Federal institutions that should be protecting our freedoms. I would appreciate it if you and your colleagues would find out what is going on, and take some action to prevent this abuse of power by the Executive Branch.
Kenneth Lang

Claim: IRS Won’t Grant Richmond Tea Party Tax Exempt Status

1:16 PM, Feb 16, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER

The Richmond Tea Party group is blasting the IRS for allegedly failing to grant tax exempt status to the pro-limited government organization. “The Internal Revenue Service has served Richmond Tea Party (RTP) with unreasonable requests to obtain a tax-exempt status, fitting the pattern of the Federal Government’s forcing liberty groups to spend inordinate time and money complying with their demands during this critical 2012 election year,” RTP claims in a press release.

According to the Richmond Tea Party, here’s the process that led to the “unreasonable documentation requests” from the IRS:

On December 28, 2009, RTP applied to become a 501(c)(4) organization. After nearly ten months, the IRS finally responded with a letter (dated September 17, 2010), requesting detailed documentation to satisfy 17 questions, giving RTP only a two-week window in which to finish. (As the response was curiously due on the opening day of the inaugural Virginia Tea Party Convention, for which RTP was a central organizer, we requested and received a two-week extension.) We fully complied, providing over 500 pages of documentation. We received no response for over a year. Eventually the IRS sent a letter dated January 9, 2012, thanking us for our “complete and thorough responses” from the first request, but then asking us to answer 12 additional questions in 53 separate parts, including the totally inappropriate request for a full list of our donors and volunteers. We were given the same two-week timeframe for completion. It should be noted that this most recent letter was issued on the same day that the IRS issued a new 45-section bulletin regarding applications for tax-exempt status.

The IRS did not immediately respond to THE WEEKLY STANDARD’s request for comment.

The Richmond Tea Party claims this kerfuffle with the IRS reinforces their view of the government. “This illustrates everything the American people find unacceptable from their government,” the group says. “A simple request for tax-exempt status should not take years to complete, involve hundreds of pages of documentation, require hundreds of volunteer hours, and request private information we should never have to disclose. This grants the Federal Government the dangerous power to selectively stymie those voices with which they disagree, bogging them down in endless paperwork and compliance costs so that they are unable to spend time serving the principles they founded their organization to advance.”

By its own self-description, Richmond Tea Party favors limited government, constitutional adherence, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and virtue and accountability.

 

Weekly Standard

Email to Congressman Jones & Senator Burr re. Obama's Plan to Cut Nuclear Arsenal by 80%

President Obama has asked the defense Dept to reduce our Nuclear weapon stockpile by 80%. That would take our current level per our treaty with Russia (who by the way have threatened to walk away from our agreement on numerous occasion) from 2550 to 510. Pakistan has 300. Russia has 4550. The President took an oath to protect and defend this country. He is bound to do so by the U. S. Constitution. So far, each time the President has flaunted the Constitution (e.g. recess appointment while Congress is in session) our Congress has stood by and done nothing! It is way past time for Congress to act. What will it take for you to act?

 

Kenneth Lang

2/14/2012

Shades of Brown Shirts and Jackboots???

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 2:02 PM
This is in the Carolina Journal:

Carolina Journal News Reports

 

Preschooler’s Homemade Lunch Replaced with Cafeteria “Nuggets”

State agent inspects sack lunches, forces preschoolers to purchase cafeteria food instead

Feb. 14th, 2012
RAEFORD — A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.

The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day.

The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs — including in-home day care centers — to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.

When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones.

The girl’s mother — who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation — said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a “healthy lunch” would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25.

“I don’t feel that I should pay for a cafeteria lunch when I provide lunch for her from home,” the mother wrote in a complaint to her state representative, Republican G.L. Pridgen of Robeson County.

The girl’s grandmother, who sometimes helps pack her lunch, told Carolina Journal that she is a petite, picky 4-year-old who eats white whole wheat bread and is not big on vegetables.

“What got me so mad is, number one, don’t tell my kid I’m not packing her lunch box properly,” the girl’s mother told CJ. “I pack her lunchbox according to what she eats. It always consists of a fruit. It never consists of a vegetable. She eats vegetables at home because I have to watch her because she doesn’t really care for vegetables.”

When the girl came home with her lunch untouched, her mother wanted to know what she ate instead. Three chicken nuggets, the girl answered. Everything else on her cafeteria tray went to waste.

“She came home with her whole sandwich I had packed, because she chose to eat the nuggets on the lunch tray, because they put it in front of her,” her mother said. “You’re telling a 4-year-old. ‘oh. you’re lunch isn’t right,’ and she’s thinking there’s something wrong with her food.”

While the mother and grandmother thought the potato chips and lack of vegetable were what disqualified the lunch, a spokeswoman for the Division of Child Development said that should not have been a problem.

“With a turkey sandwich, that covers your protein, your grain, and if it had cheese on it, that’s the dairy,” said Jani Kozlowski, the fiscal and statutory policy manager for the division. “It sounds like the lunch itself would’ve met all of the standard.” The lunch has to include a fruit or vegetable, but not both, she said.

There are no clear restrictions about what additional items — like potato chips — can be included in preschoolers’ lunch boxes.

“If a parent sends their child with a Coke and a Twinkie, the child care provider is going to need to provide a balanced lunch for the child,” Kozlowski said.

Ultimately, the child care provider can’t take the Coke and Twinkie away from the child, but Kozlowski said she “would think the Pre-K provider would talk with the parent about that not being a healthy choice for their child.”

It is unclear whether the school was allowed to charge for the cafeteria lunches they gave to every preschooler in the class that day.

The state regulation reads:

“Sites must provide breakfast and/or snacks and lunch meeting USDA requirements during the regular school day. The partial/full cost of meals may be charged when families do not qualify for free/reduced price meals.

“When children bring their own food for meals and snacks to the center, if the food does not meet the specified nutritional requirements, the center must provide additional food necessary to meet those requirements.”

Still, Kozlowski said, the parents shouldn’t have been charged.

“The school may have interpreted [the rule] to mean they felt like the lunch wasn’t meeting the nutritional requirements and so they wanted the child to have the school lunch and then charged the parent,” she said. “It sounds like maybe a technical assistance need for that school.”

The school principal, Jackie Samuels, said he didn’t “know anything about” parents being charged for the meals that day. “I know they eat in the cafeteria. Whether they pay or not, they eat in the cafeteria.”

Pridgen’s office is looking into the issue.

Sara Burrows is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.

Letter to the Editor – Vet Candidates to Discover RINOs

Editor
No one in the Media would vet Obama’s connections to the Far Left when he ran for President and now we in Carteret County and in particular those represented in Senate District 2 (Carteret, Craven and Pamlico Counties) need a candidate vetted. You see a lot of us in Carteret County know Ken Jones, Pine Knoll Shores, two term Mayor and a great many of us know NC Representative Norman Sanderson from Pamlico, a solid conservative Republican Legislator from Pamlico and Craven Counties, who trounced Alice Graham Underhill in 2010. You see both of these men ( Sanderson & Jones ) have been active doers in Carteret, Craven and Pamlico County Republican events and activities as well as the 3rd Congressional District. They have a record! ? But who is Randy Ramsey? What is his record? The one thing I’ve been able to find out through the website; WWW.FOLLOWTHEMONEY.ORG  is that Randy Ramsey has been a BIG contributor to the DEMOCRAT PARTY and to Democrat elites like Beverly Purdue ($2,000 as late as July 11.) Mark Basnight, Scott Thomas, and Mike Easley. If the public records are right, Ramsey has spread big. big dollars to the Democrats (About $37,000) and a mere pittance to his(?) Republican Party candidates. He’s not given a dime to our two local Carteret County ladies Senator Jean Preston (who he seeks to replace) or Representative Pat McElraft who both have diligently served our local interests in Raleigh. So, other than owning Jarrett Bay Boat Works and allowing his company plane to ferry Gov. Beverly Purdue around in the Fly-gate or Travel-gate Scandal, who is this guy! Where has he been hiding when local Republicans are working?  I think I smell a RINO ( Republican In Name Only) in our back yard, soon to be fed big green dollars by the Democrats and Pay to Play Republicans in order to retake control of the now Conservative Republican Senate District 2 Seat. We all know that the Democrats want control of North Carolina’s Legislature  and the Governor’s Office. Retaking control the Legislature is their #1  goal. So why not a Stealth, Manchurian or RINO candidate running in Senate District 2 or else where to ease the task. The real facts are out there hidden in the shadows and every Eastern North Carolina news media outlet needs to shine the light on the facts.

Randy Ramsey is no Republican & no Conservative

The race to fill Senator Jean Preston’s seat in the NC Legislature is heating up. A few weeks ago Rep. Norm Sanderson announced his intention of running for Senator Preston’s seat. Saturday, Ken Jones, Pine Knoll Shores mayor announced he would throw his hat in the ring. For weeks it has been rumored that Randy Ramsey, owner of Jarrett Bay Boat Works would also declare his candidacy for Senator Preston’s seat.

Rep. Sanderson is a staunch conservative. Ken Jones from all reports is also a solid conservative. But even though Mr. Ramsey is registered Republican, his politics is largely unknown, until you look at his political contribution and political associations as far back as 1997.  If you to follow this link to www.followthemoney.org a site that tracks money in state politics.  It shows that since 1997, Randall Ramsey has given $36,950 to Democratic candidates in NC. They include, Mike Easley, Bev Perdue, Mark Basnight and the NC Democratic Party.  During that same period of time he gave $2750 to Republicans.

Randy Ramsey is the owner of Jarrett Bay Boat Works and his company airplane was included in the first round of “unreported flights” for Governor Bev Perdue that became known as Travelgate”. (Ref. http://www.civitasreview.com/elections-campaigns/travelgate-perdue/)
This followed a pattern dating back to the Easley administration of political donors providing free air travel and political contributions in return for political favors or political appointments.  In Ramsey’s case, the political appointment was to the NC State University Board of Trustees.

Randy Ramsey has been a major player in liberal Democratic “pay to play” politics and is not representative of the conservative values of the Tea Party, or what we expect of the Republican Party.   I encourage you to do your own research and then if you come to the same conclusion, pass this information on to your friends to warn them that a major Democratic political player is running in the Republican primary for NC Senate.

We do not want a Democrat pretending to be a Republican run for the Senate seat currently occupied by such a fine Senator as Jean Preston. This is no way to honor Jean’s service by electing a RINO Democrat hack to her seat.

Democrat Contributions                      Republican Contributions

$2000  Mike Easley Gov       12/18/97          $500  David Hipps Senate           1/20/00
$500 Bev Perdue Senate       7/15/98           $500  Jonathan Robinson House 9/28/00
$1000   Mike Easley Gov       3/31/99           $500  David Hipps Senate           11/5/00
$500   Mike Easley  Gov        6/24/99           $1000  Cherie Berry Labor Com 12/10/03
$1000  Bev Perdue  Lt. Gov   6/25/99           $250   Cherie Berry  Labor Com  10/16/07
$1000  Scott Thomas Senate    6/29/00
$2000  Bev Perdue  Lt. Gov      9/22/00
$2500  Mike Easley  Gov          10/3/00
$200  Scott Thomas  Senate     8/26/02
$250   Scott Thomas Senate     10/01/04
$2000  Mike Easley  Gov           10/16/04
$1000  Bev Perdue  Lt. Gov       10/20/04
$2000  Bev Perdue  Lt. Gov       12/27/05
$2000  Bev Perdue  Lt. Gov        6/29/06
$2000  Bev Perdue  Gov            12/27/07
$4000  Bev Perdue   Gov           10/3/08
$1000  Marc Basnight  Senate    10/17/08
$5000  NC Democratic Party       10/17/08
$2500  NC Democratic Party       4/28/10
$1000  Marc Basnight  Senate     7/2/10
$1500  Michael Walters  Senate   9/16/10
$2000  Bev Perdue Gov               7/25/11
==========================================================================
$36,950                                                                    $2750

AFP Sponsors Bus Trip for Supreme Court Obamacare Case

Header

Dear Kenneth,

March marks an important and unfortunate anniversary. It will have been exactly two years since President Obama forced his unpopular health care takeover onto the American people. Americans for Prosperity has educated the public about the dangers of government interference in the health care market for the past several years, and now the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments and make a ruling on that very issue.

As you are most likely aware, the U.S. Supreme Court will be considering the constitutionality of several elements of the President’s health care bill. This may be our best chance to overturn this offense against our health care freedoms. That’s why Americans for Prosperity will be hosting a Hands Off My Health Care rally for free-market grassroots activists from North Carolina and across the country near the Supreme Court on March 27th. Details can be found below.

Americans for Prosperity – North Carolina will host bus rides to DC from the following locations the day of the event:

Bolivia, Charlotte Area, Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Sanford, Southern Pines, Wake Forest, Wilmington, Wilson.

Click here to register for the Hands Off My Health Care Rally now!

Hands Off My Health Care Rally

Near the United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C.
March 27th at 1:00PM

Over the past few years, Americans for Prosperity has been the premier grassroots group educating the public on the dangers of the President’s health care bill. AFP’s Hands Off My Health Care Tour criss-crossed the nation in 2009 hosting over 300 events and rallies. Then, in late 2009, over 5,000 activists gathered for AFP’s Code Red Rally in Washington.

We must remind the Court and all of Washington (including the President and Congress) that the President’s health care takeover is an affront to free-market principles and our Constitution. Not only is the individual mandate unconstitutional, but it forces consumers to enter the health insurance market against their will. Click here to read more about the individual mandate.

Click here to register for the Hands Off My Health Care Rally now!

Sincerely,

Dallas Woodhouse
State Director
Americans for Prosperity – North Carolina

Obama's Attack on the Catholic Church and Freedom of Religion

 BEAR WITNESS – Waking up America

ACTION ALERT – February 8, 2012

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OTHER NEWS:

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EMAIL THIS TO A FRIEND

Reference links and credits are listed in the website.

 

 

ACTION ALERT

 

President Obama and his Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kathleen Sebelius, have put people of faith and religious organizations squarely in their crosshairs! The ObamaCare contraceptive and abortifacient mandate that has erupted into front-page news is an overreaching government intrusion into the lives of all Americans – and is patently unconstitutional.Obama’s dictate has stirred up a firestorm of protest from religious organizations and is being likened to a slap across the face to people of faith.

Liberty Counsel Action has been in this war for many, many years, and we feel this latest eruption is unique.  Make no mistake – we are wholeheartedly standing with other groups that are strongly opposing this outrage, but we have known for a long time where ObamaCare’s implementation was heading!

 

By coordinating with tens of thousands of deeply concerned patriots like you, we believe we can win not only this particular battle, but make substantial headway in turning back the entire ObamaCare law and further dismantling the Obama/Reid power base!  Read my very important message below – Mat.

In a blatant assault on religious liberty, Barack Obama has ventured far out on a limb by openly challenging Christians and their institutions.

This escalating confrontation erupted over the unveiling of yet another unconstitutional “mandate” during the implementation phase of ObamaCare.

And, President Obama has yet again reneged on a promise made to get his healthcare “reform” bill through Congress two years ago:  He is retracting an ObamaCare “conscientious exemption” for people of faith and religiously oriented institutions.

++ObamaCare’s contraceptive and abortifacient mandate assails the moral integrity of every American who holds religious convictions.

With this brazen (some would say “reckless”) policy announcement, the President has used ObamaCare to inflict even more damage on our Constitution.

He and Secretary Sibelius are now declaring that all employers, including nonprofit organizations, must adhere to an ObamaCare contraceptive and abortifacient mandate requiring employers to pay for birth control, contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs as supplied through their insurance providers.

The January 20th announcement, made by Sebelius but clearly speaking for the President, immediately provoked a firefight between the Obama Administration and religious organizations, especially the Roman Catholic Church.

But the over-reaching and inappropriate severity of the policy impacted EVERY believer in the nation and delivered a stark and chilling message:

“Your religious freedom and conscience protections are not  as important as our statist initiatives and bureaucracies.   Comply or suffer severe consequences.”

Obama and his Administration have so far refused to compromise.

After meeting resistance, President Obama circled his wagons.

Kathleen Sebelius has been on the media circuit with campaign-style rhetoric to make it sound as though the mandate is not as bad as it seems – and actually “respects religion.”

Nancy Pelosi called Obama’s decision “courageous.”

Liberal media outlets are characterizing people of faith opposed to this overarching mandate as “zealots” and are using the new leftist term for citizens who defend their constitutional rights, “sovereignty activists.”

But we are returning fire! Catholics, Baptists, and outraged Americans of all denominations are up in arms over the Obama Administration blatantly trampling on our religious liberties!

++Senator Marco Rubio jumps into the fray.

Senator Rubio (R-FL), a pro-life Catholic, scolded the Obama Administration and then offered a congressional counter attack…

“The Obama Administration’s obsession with forcing mandates on the American people has now reached a new low by violating the conscience rights and religious liberties of our people….

“Under this President, we have a government that has grown too big, too costly, and now even more overbearing by forcing religious entities to abandon their beliefs.”

Rubio’s countermeasure: The “Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012,” about which he says…

”This is a common sense bill that simply says the government can’t force religious organizations to abandon the fundamental tenets of their faith because the government says so.”

Liberty Counsel Action stands in strong support of Senator Rubio’s bill. We began lobbying for such a bill the moment we realized the President had the audacity to try to force this new policy down America’s throat by using an administrative vehicle to circumvent the will of the people.

Now, we are calling on 100,000 pro-life, pro-faith, pro-family, and pro-liberty citizens to demand that Congress PASS THIS BILL NOW!

Please, click here to sign the LCA petition to stop Barack Obama’s intrusion on our religious civil liberties and to support the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012”:

http://www.lcaction.cc/660/petition.asp

++This is a call to action!

Liberty Counsel and Liberty Counsel Action would be among the employers forced into adhering to this most recent ObamaCare mandate.

Religious-based hospitals and healthcare providers would no longer have an “out” under Obama’s promised “conscience clause.” They would be required to comply – or pay stiff fines that would in all likelihood lead to their closing down.

The implementation of ObamaCare has turned out to be one socialist infringement of our personal liberties after another – and it must be stopped NOW!

If our President honored his oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States, our petition would be unnecessary.  But ObamaCare and its mandates are blatantly unconstitutional and this “contraceptive mandate” is not only unconstitutional – it is a total violation of the conscience of the entire nation!

The two most likely methods to turn back this latest outrageous mandate:  First, through the Supreme Court’s decision that ObamaCare itself is unconstitutional (and Liberty Counsel is filing two briefs at the High Court on this issue). Second, through the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012,” we can stop this most recent infringement on religious liberty.

That’s why I am urging all of my Liberty Counsel Action team to take one minute and add your name to this petition.  PLEASE, click here to sign:

http://www.lcaction.cc/660/petition.asp

Mandi Campbell, Director of Public Policy for Liberty Counsel Action, wrote to Senator Rubio about his legislation. He published our letter in a press release:

“Liberty Counsel Action, on behalf of more than 750,000 members nationwide, would like to express support for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012. … [W]e appreciate the exemption that your bill provides to secure the consciences of those with deep and sincere religious convictions opposed to the coverage of contraceptives (especially those that act as abortifacients) and sterilization, the provision of which is currently mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Thank you, Senator Rubio, for introducing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012.”

I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important and timely Senator Rubio’s bill is – and how urgent it is that we immediately endorse it with the signatures of at least 100,000 grassroots citizens. Right now, Senator Rubio has 21 Senate co-sponsors for the bill.

Please click here to sign our petition of support:

http://www.lcaction.cc/660/petition.asp

Thank you for taking immediate action on this critical issue!

God bless you,
Mathew Staver, Chairman
Liberty Counsel Action

P.S. The ObamaCare “contraceptive mandate” requires employers to pay for birth control, contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs as supplied through their insurance providers. This is unconstitutional and immoral!  As a counter-assault, LCA is strongly endorsing Senator Marco Rubio’s “Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012.” We are calling for 100,000 signers as soon as possible!  Click here to add your name to the petition:

http://www.lcaction.cc/660/petition.asp

Senator Richard Burr Discusses the STOCK Act, Economy, Housing, Syria & Afghanistan with Jerri Jameson

In the radio interview below, Jerri Jameson sets the stage for Senator Richard Burr to feigns his outrage that the Congress would even consider passing a bill that Senator Burr says is unnecessary because Congress is already subject to the same law forbidding insider trading that everyone else is subject. Of course Senator Burr is among the few Republicans who voted against the Stock bill. However, Fox News, CBS (story), and Red State (story) contradict Senator Burr’s version of the truth. Members of Congress are in fact exempt from the insider trading law that every other citizen can be fined and jailed for violating. Another example of Senator Burr’s “I’m better than the rest of you” attitude? Senator Burr should be ashamed of himself once again, just as he should have been for his sponsorship of the Big Government growth plan of the Food Safety Act. Read the radio interview transcript below:

In case you missed it this morning, be sure to listen to Senator Richard Burr’s (R-NC) interview with Jerri Jameson on News Radio 570 WWNC.

Listen Here: http://bit.ly/yHqHWC
FULL TRANSCRIPT
JAMESON: On the phone with me, I believe in Washington, is Senator Richard Burr.  Senator, how are you this morning?
BURR: Jerri, doing great, and I am in Washington.
JAMESON: I thought you might be.  There’s a lot going on, isn’t there?
BURR: Oh, another productive week.  I think the United States Senate has had one vote, and we’re going to be embattled in legislation all week, and probably next week, which does no more than codify what existing law says. 
JAMESON:  Now let me guess, you’ve got to be talking about the STOCK Act.
BURR:  I am.
JAMESON:  You know, I’ve asked some listeners for questions, and then I am mixing them in with some I have on my own, but that actually is something that somebody said, “Is it really necessary to pass law to make lawmakers follow laws that are already on the books?
BURR: It’s ludicrous.  That’s why Dr. Tom Coburn and I were the two brave souls that walked up and said we shouldn’t be doing this. We should be focused on jobs, the economy.  We should be taking up real legislation.  It’s like me saying to you, “Jerri, before you come to work this morning and you’re going to drive your car, I’m going to pass a law that says you have to have a driver’s license.”
JAMESON: Right.
BURR: I mean, it’s insane.
JAMESON: They just need to enforce laws that are already on the books.
BURR:  The laws that are currently on the books apply to all members of Congress and all staff, not limited staff.
JAMESON: Right, it prohibits government workers period from engaging in these financial transactions.
BURR:  So we’re going to have political theater this week as to whether it applies to the executive branch, whether it doesn’t.  The fact is SEC law applies to every person who trades in America.
JAMESON: You know, you pointed out that you were one of two who voted against it.  Of course now that’s being turned around that you two were the partisan ones.  But I agree with you that it’s kind of
ludicrous that we have a law on the books that does apply, as you said, to everybody who trades, and they have to codify it even more.  I want to get to unemployment, though, if we may.  North Carolina’s unemployment in December went up in 93 of 100 counties.  American Airlines, the third largest airline, announcing they are going to be laying off 13,000 employees in the next couple weeks.  Simple question, not so simple answer.  What needs to be done to get Americans back to work?
BURR: Very simply, Jerri, we need our policies to reflect the willingness of people with capital to invest in job creation.  Right now businesses are frozen because they don’t know what tax rate is going to be applied to them in the future.  They don’t know what regulatory architecture they’re going to have to live under.  Therefore, they can’t figure out whether it’s worth investing based upon what the return might be.  As long as we’ve got capital in that situation, then you will freeze private capital, and the only place, the only place, to create jobs will be in the public sector.  What we don’t need are more public sector jobs.  We actually need the reduction of the federal workforce.  We need to replace those and increase them with new jobs, new employment, in the private sector.
JAMESON:  Some are saying we need to obviously offer incentives for people of insource rather than outsource, with outsourcing of course being kind of the trend. 
BURR: Well, but Jerri, I think what we need to ask is what’s the reason for outsourcing?  The reason for outsourcing is that it’s cheaper to do business in other areas.  Every economist in the world and every review of the United States system today says that if we would do comprehensive, corporate tax reform  in the United States, get the corporate rate down to 25%, we wouldn’t have to have a debate about dividends or capital gains at a different rate.  We would be so competitive in the rest of the world that we would actually see insourcing, not by U.S. companies but by foreign companies coming here, and we would stop the outsourcing of U.S. companies. 
JAMESON:  That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
BURR: Well, I think it’s an easy fix.  But let’s face it, this is an election year, and the President would rather use corporations as the boogeyman for the election than he would as the secret to turning our economy around and creating jobs.
JAMESON: Well, speaking of the economy, obviously foreclosures, homeowners are struggling, the President this week expanding on his plan to allow homeowners, even those who owe more than their home is worth, to be able to refinance their homes, to take advantage of the low interest rates.  His plan calls for it to be paid for with an assessment on big banks.  I want to separate the plan and the funding of it, because I know Congress has not gone for bank assessments before.  But do you think giving homeowners more access to refinancing at the lower rates would be good for the housing market?  
BURR:  Jerri, I call it loan modification, and we ought to have been doing loan modification on any mortgages that the federal government, that the American taxpayer, was obligated for.  That’s all the Freddie & Fannie inventory, that’s all the FHA inventory.  But I don’t think it’s appropriate for the federal government to go into the private marketplace and tell private risk-takers, “Okay, we’re going to charge you a fee and you’re going to modify these loans.”  Smart financial institutions have already re-worked the loans that they think people have the capabilities of paying off.  The ones they haven’t re-worked are the ones where the individual probably never should have gotten the loan to begin with or the property was over-valued from the start.  It will, in their estimation over the life of the loan, never see revaluation.  That’s what the President’s attacking.  I think his own Administration has admitted out of the modifications that have already been made, almost 50% have gone back into foreclosure.  So this is not a panacea.  But I think what we need to try to do is re-structure the re-payments to where people have got 30 years versus 10 or 12 or 14.  None of us know when prices will re-inflate, but we all can agree to this.  The debt problem that we’re in in this country, as a country, as states, as localities, and as individuals, is going to take decades for us to work out from under.
JAMESON:  Well, you mention Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and I know there’s legislation under consideration that would stop the executives from getting their bonuses, the bonuses worth millions.  The measure would take the unpaid bonus money and go to paying the outstanding debt still from the 2008 taxpayer bailout.  Where do you stand on that?
BURR:  Listen, I don’t think that any corporate executive ought to be rewarded for bad performance.  In Freddie & Fannie’s case, that’s exactly what they’re doing.  Those that run it now argue that if they don’t
offer bonuses they don’t get talented people.  We’ve got a lot of talented people unemployed today that would love to be at Freddie & Fannie helping to turn it around, and a lot of them, if not all of them, come right out of the financial services industry.  So to suggest that they can’t attract the talent with the salary that’s already on the job without the bonus is just ludicrous.
JAMESON:  We’ve got just a couple more minutes, but there are two stories that are in the news today that I really do want to touch on.  One is the Arab League resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar al-
Assad to leave power.  Of course, the United States pushing for that, Russia opposing that.  Where do you see this going?  Is there concern of possible intervention by NATO and therefore the U.S.?
BURR:  It may be talked about in international circles, but I don’t think there’s concern within Syria or the Bashar al-Assad government.  They’ve got a firm handle on things.  They are running Syria just like his dad did when they had a genocide of 30,000 people.  Not 300 but 30,000 in one swoop.  I think that until we apply the correct amount of international pressure, until we really get aggressive on sanctions, until we cut them off from the rest of the world, than we’re going to see the Bashar al-Assad   government  try to hang on through the use of their military.
JAMESON: Lastly on my end, and then whatever you want to speak about of course we’ll open to you, but Defense Secretary Leon Panetta saying that U.S. and its NATO partners will be ending their combat role in Afghanistan next year, switching from combat to training and advising of the Afghan forces.  So, a little earlier than originally planned or announced.  Is this a good strategy to be setting that kind of deadline?  I know there’s pros and cons to it, but or pulling it in sooner?
BURR: Jerri, yesterday I would have told you no, today I still tell you no.  I’m not sure what lead to the Secretary’s announcement late in the afternoon.  There was certainly no warning on Capitol Hill that I’m
aware of.  I think that all of the military plans have been developed based upon a date in 2014, and I was supportive of that.  But I think to accelerate that by a year may fit in the Secretary’s need for the budget constraints of the Department of Defense.  If we’ve got men and women that we’ve asked to go into a combat theater, I don’t want to run the war in that theater based upon what the budget says we can do.  I want to do it based upon whether we intend to win and if so, what we need to do to win.  
JAMESON: Alright, Senator Burr.  Thank you so much.  Anything else that you would like to touch on maybe for your constituents or listeners that we may not know is going on there in Washington?
BURR: Well, Jerri, there’s not a whole lot going on there right now.  We have seen Presidential politics start in an earlier period than ever in the 18 years that I have been involved in service.  I think it will continue to dominate the direction of the legislative debate up here.  I believe that means very little gets done this year, and that’s sad based on the financial condition of the United States.
JAMESON:  With that, Senator Burr, we thank you for your time.  We look forward to speaking with you regularly.

Response to Email Survey from Walter Jones + Survey

I have a couple of comments on your recent email survey.

Question #1 I checked other. That is because the most important thing to me is to reestablish the balance of powers between Congress, the courts and the Executive Branch. For too many years, especially during the current administration, Congress has willfully permitted the President to violate his Oath of Office and the US Constitution. I view this as Congressional malfeasance based on individual congressman selfish desire to get reelected at the expense of the US Constitution and the freedom of the people of the United States. When the President does anything that exceeds his authority under the Constitution, Congress should challenge that action in court and pass further laws as needed to prevent these excesses in the future. But Congress has done NOTHING when the current President tramples on the US Constitution.

Question #8: Didn’t have a choice that I could pick. The Defense Department should operate more efficiently, and they should not cut critical programs whatever they may be (your selection #1 in part). All Defense spending should be on the table (your selection #2) but not bases in the US or new weapons based on need not politics, but certainly foreign bases in countries like Germany should be on the table for cuts and elimination including NATO. Your choices were too politically creative to make address defense spending in a comprehensive approach.

Kenneth Lang

 

 

OFFICIAL WEBSITE BILL SEARCH CONSTITUENT SERVICES UNSUBSCRIBE
I NEED YOUR FEEDBACK!

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new session of Congress is now underway.  I would like your thoughts on

the most important issues of the day so I can better represent you.  Please fill out this survey to let me

know your views and opinions. Thank you in advance. It’s a privilege to represent you on Capitol Hill!

 
1. What is the most important issue you would like me to address in Congress?

 
Economy/Creating Jobs
Deficit/ Government Spending
Health Care
National Security
Immigration
Energy
Education
Moral Issues
Other
2. The national debt is $15 trillion. I believe we must balance the budget, cut spending and reduce the debt. What do you think we should do to balance the budget?

 
Cut spending (including Medicare) and raise taxes
Cut Spending (including Medicare) but don’t raise taxes
Raise taxes, but don’t cut spending
Let budget deficits continue
Other/Unsure
3. What do you think is the best way to create jobs?

 
Reduce government spending
Cut taxes
Reduce government regulations
Invest tax dollars in private companies
Increase government spending for “economic stimulus”
Other/Unsure
4. I voted against President Obama’s giant health care “reform” law because it will increase costs and threaten the quality of our care. What should we do now?

 
Keep the law the way it is
Reform and rewrite the law
Repeal the entire law and start from scratch
Other/Unsure
5. Do you share my belief that we should allow the Keystone XL Pipeline to be built to carry Canadian oil to U.S. markets, creating jobs and increasing oil supplies?

 
Yes, I’m tired of getting our oil from the Middle East and Venezuela
No, the environmental risks are too great
Other/Unsure
6. I haven’t voted for a foreign aid spending bill in over 16 years because I believe it is wrong to send your tax dollars overseas when we have so many fiscal problems here at home. What do you think about foreign aid spending?

 
No to foreign aid; we can’t afford it
Yes to foreign aid; we need it to support our allies
Unsure
7. We’re spending $120 billion a year in borrowed money to fund the war effort in Afghanistan. President Obama wants to keep a significan number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan through the end of 2014. What do you think?

 
We’re spending too much in Afghanistan trying to prop up a corrupt leader. We killed Osama bin Laden and we’ve done all we can do. Let’s save the money and withdraw our troops as soon as possible.
Let’s stick with the president’s schedule
We should borrow as much money as needed to stay in Afghanistan however long it takes to ensure the terrorists never return
Other/Unsure
8. The Administration recently announced plans for $487 billion in defense spending reductions over ten years. I strongly oppose closing bases in Eastern North Carolina; slashing pay, benefits or services for active duty service members or veterans; or canceling critical next generation capabilities like the F-35 fighter. What are your thoughts on reducing defense spending?

 
I agree with you. The Defense Department should operate more efficiently, but we shouldn’t close domestic bases; slash pay, benefits or services for active duty or retired; or cancel critical programs like the F-35 fighter
All Defense Department spending should be on the table, including cutting U.S. bases, benefits for troops, and new weapons
Don’t touch defense spending. Balance the budget through the other available options including cutting entitlement programs and/or raising taxes
Other/Unsure
9. I believe law abiding citizens have a constitutional right to own guns. What is your view about gun ownership?

 
We have a basic constitutional right to own guns
There should be more restrictions on gun ownership
Other/Unsure
10. There are over 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. I am a strong supporter of actions to secure the border and stop illegal immigration. What should be our top priority when it comes to illegal immigration?

 
Secure the borders and don’t give amnesty to illegal immigrants
Secure the borders, then develop a comprehensive solution which may include amnesty for some illegal immigrants
Provide amnesty now
Don’t worry about it; illegal immigration is not a problem
Other/Unsure
11. Do you think there should be more resticitions on abortion?

 
I would vote pro-life
I would vote pro- choice
I am pro-choice, but taxpayers should not fund abortions
Unsure

3rd District Candidate for County Commissioner-Terry Frank

Please allow me to communicate something that I believe is of importance to all taxpayers in Carteret County.

 

My name is Terry Frank and I own Frank Door Company located in Newport, NC. I believe in civic responsibility as demonstrated by my two years of voluntary service on the local ABC Board of Directors and four years on the Carteret County Economic Development Council Board of Directors.

 

I chose to move my family and business here over ten years ago because of the quality of life, the quality of the workforce and the true sense of community I found here in Carteret County. My business has thrived and I feel that sense of community even more.

 

I believe that we need strong leadership from our elected officials

and I can offer the strength that comes from the real experiences of owning and operating a successful business.  This business perspective brings a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility and scrutiny of expenses. It is this perspective and my belief that with responsible leadership, Carteret County will continue to grow and prosper. I am willing to offer my time and expertise in this effort.

 

            Therefore, I will be filing to run for County Commissioner in District 3. I am asking for your support.

 

The decision to run came from of a strong commitment to my community and the belief that with your help we can make a difference. You can be assured that I will have your tax dollars and the role of government in supporting businesses at the center of my focus.

 

I have always been a Republican and believe strongly in its core principles and know they are what we need in 2012 to lead us out of this economic downturn.   I have also staunchly supported the Carteret County Republican Party and its candidates and have continually increased my participation in the party over the years.  I will take the opportunity to use my talents and business experiences gained over the past twenty-five years with Republican principles as a guide to assist Carteret County government.

 

Thank you,

 

Terry Frank

Email from Walter Jones – Straight Talk about the Military Budget and Eastern North Carolina

February 2, 2012

 

Dear Fellow Eastern North Carolinian,

This is a critical time for Eastern North Carolina, our nation, and our armed forces.  As we begin this new session of the 112th Congress, I wanted to quickly brief you on what President Barack Obama is proposing, why I think he is badly off the mark, and ways that I believe we can responsibly address the deficit while still preserving and modernizing our military strength.

I don’t need to remind you that America is $15 trillion in debt and running annual deficits of over $1 trillion.  Last week the Obama Administration rolled out a new budget proposal to cut military spending by $487 billion over 10 years.  Meanwhile, last year’s compromise bill to raise the debt ceiling – which I strongly opposed and voted against – requires an additional $500 billion in military “sequestration” cuts over 10 years starting in 2013.

While there is no doubt that there are billions of dollars of wasteful spending in the Defense Department (DOD), and that taxpayers’ money must be spent much more efficiently, I oppose both the President’s defense cut proposal and the ‘military’ sequestration cuts, and I’d like you to know the reasons why.

I make no apologies for being a leader in the fight to cut wasteful federal spending and eliminate the debt.  Among other things, I have been a champion of and always voted for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution; I voted against the President’s $1 trillion ‘stimulus’; I voted against the bailouts for Wall Street and Detroit; I voted against every foreign aid bill in the last 16 years; I was one of only 8 members to vote against the pork-filled Highway Bill that included the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere”; I voted against Obamacare; and I am proud to be the only member of the House of Representatives to have voted against every single increase in the debt limit in the past 8 years.

Going forward, I believe there are many steps we should be taking to eradicate deficit spending and the debt.  Those steps include eliminating foreign aid, the Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the taxpayer bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and profligate European governments; repealing Obamacare; and downsizing many other federal agencies.  But attempting to balance the budget through devastating, disproportionate cuts to our military is not the way to go.

Before the Obama Administration even thinks about proposing to take jobs, services and benefits away from our troops and veterans, or about slashing crucial programs like the F-35B fighter jet – two cost reduction proposals which I have strongly opposed throughout my career in Congress – they need to eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars in the Pentagon.

For instance, did you know that DOD has never audited its own books even though it was statutorily required to do so over 20 years ago?  As a result, a recent DOD Inspector General (IG) report demonstrated that wasteful spending at the Pentagon is out of control.  In some cases taxpayers are paying nearly $1700 for items that cost $7.  That’s ridiculous!  Finalizing the audit of DOD and reforming the defense procurement process to cut wasteful spending and give taxpayers more bang for their buck should be this Administration’s top priority – reducing pay, benefits and services for our troops and veterans and making major cuts to the F-35B should be off the table.

I also oppose the Administration’s request for another round of domestic military base closures (BRAC).  Amazingly, right now,  President Obama is opening a new base in Australia and increasing our military presence in the Philippines – while at the same time threatening to close bases in the United States.  The fact is that DOD already has 622 overseas sites.  Before anyone talks about closing bases here at home, we need to evaluate and eliminate any overseas sites that are no longer in our national security interest. 

Finally, it is no secret that I disagree with President Obama’s decision to keep our troops in Afghanistan through 2014.  America is borrowing $10 billion a month from the Chinese and other foreigners – over $120 billion a year – and then sending that money back overseas to spend on that operation.  At a time when this nation is over $15 trillion in debt, we simply can’t afford it.  The reality is that if the President weren’t spending that money in Afghanistan, military spending reductions of any kind would be much, much less necessary.

Since being elected to Congress in 1994, I have taken my responsibility to represent Eastern North Carolina’s values seriously.  As one of the most senior members of the House Armed Services Committee, I fully understand how critical our military facilities are to our economy and way of life.  During the last BRAC round in 2005, I was able to use that seniority to successfully protect Camp Lejeune Marine Base, Cherry Point Marine Air Station, the Naval Air Depot at Cherry Point (NADEP) and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.  And with this seniority I will have significant input into how the recent defense cut proposals play out.  Please rest assured that I will use my position to continue to do everything in my power to fight for Eastern North Carolina’s military installations and for the courageous men and women – past, present and future – who protect our freedom. 

Please know that I will never forget what an honor it is to represent you.  If I can be of service to you and your family, please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time.  Thanks for all you do to make America the greatest nation the world has ever known.

Sincerely,

 

Walter B. Jones
Member of Congress (NC-03)