Spartanburg Tea Party

Hello all, our April meeting will be:

Tuesday April 13
7 PM
at the Downtown Spartanburg Library branch, in the large conference room downstairs:
151 South Church Street
Spartanburg, SC 29306

It would be great to see you there, please come! We had several folks at our March meeting who told us it was there FIRST EVER political meeting (hmmm let’s see if they come back

Based on some of the feedback we got, we will have the following agenda:

Paul Jansen with some information for us on The Fed

Wayne Middleton of Independence Caucus with a process to vet candidates, and announcement of the ICaucus endorsed candidates from our area

Jim Lee, candidate for SC04 Congressional District for Q&A

Report on Spartanburg Poll Worker training

Please email me at info@spartanburgteaparty.org OR call me at 864.249.0305 with any questions, thanks!
Karen

The Upcountry Coalition of Conservative Organizations recently conducted an in-depth interview with Bill Connor, candidate for Lt. Governor. I am encouraging everyone to take some time to watch this interview and learn about Bill and his candidacy. You can also visit Bill’s website here.

Not sure but suspicion is that these entertaining dudes are from here in Spartanburg:

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Please read the report below by Talbert J. Black, Jr. and contact your Senator accordingly.

Dear Friend of South Carolina,
Congratulations! Take a minute and pat yourself on the back! We just overcame one big obstacle to transparency in our State House. Because of your constant contact with your Representative in the State House, H3047, the bill that will require a recorded vote on every new law, passed the House unanimously! Roll was called and the vote was 104 – 0! Now get ready for our biggest challenge – the Senate!
Key members of the Senate have made no bones about their opposition to this bill. Even Senate president pro tempore Glenn McConnell has voiced opposition to it. He can do much to bog it down in committees and sub-committees, with no end in sight, or he can grease the wheels of the Senate and have this thing passed in no time! Contact Senator McConnell today at (803) 212-6610 and SJU@scsenate.org and tell him you want him to do everything in his power to get this bill passed with no amendments! Yes, sadly, Glenn McConnell does have great power to kill a bill or grease the wheels to get it passed, depending on what committee he assigns it to. Fortunately, McConnell likes to appear to be conservative, so if we shine the spot light on him we can help him do the right thing.

Next, call your Senator and tell him you expect him to support H3047 with no amendments! We want an up or down vote on the Senate floor without delay! You can find your Senator and his contact information by clicking here.

Bear with me as I tell you what Glenn McConnell did with the Senate version of H3047. You need to understand what we are up against and why your action is needed right away to prevent this from happening to H3047. S11 is exactly the same as H3047. Look at the facts and judge for yourself McConnell’s intentions. S11 has 23 cosponsors. That’s 23 out of 46 Senators. Fully half the Senate have attached their name to this bill indicating that they support its passage. You might think that it should sail easily through the Senate.

Upon closer look, you can see that Glen McConnell, is not a cosponsor. As president pro tempore of the Senate, he is the one who has the privilege of assigning this bill to committee. He assigned it to the Judiciary committee, where guess who’s the chairman… yep, Glenn McConnell is the chairman. Then, as chairman of the Judiciary committee, he assigned it to a subcommittee where none of the members are cosponsor of the bill!

This subcommittee has three members… Larry Martin, Jake Knotts, and Robert Ford. Check the sponsor list of S11 by clicking here. You’ll see that none of these three are sponsors.

Do you see how bills can get killed by one Senator? Is that the kind of representation you want? One of the members of that subcommittee, Jake Knotts, is my Senator. I had a conversation with him thinking I might reason with him and convince him to support S11. After about a 20 minute conversation, it was clear to me that he was not going to support the bill. So I told him, “I guess you won’t be supporting this bill when it comes up in subcommittee.” He said, “I don’t even know what subcommittee it is in.”

“It’s in your subcommittee, Senator.” I responded. He smiled and looked over the top of his glasses as he smugly replied, “That bill will never come up for a vote.” I can’t say I was surprised. I’ve seen Knotts in action before.

These Senators think they can operate in the dark and kill this bill without being noticed. We must let them know that we are watching! So call and e-mail Senator Glenn McConnell today and ask him to do all in his power to see that H3047, gets an up or down vote on the Senate floor ASAP with no amendments. Next, call your Senator and tell him the same thing! We want an up or down vote on the Senate floor without delay! We need this bill on the governor’s desk right away! Can we afford any more secret votes in the state house?

Sincerely,
Talbert J. Black, Jr.
Interim State Coordinator
South Carolina Campaign for Liberty
(803) 767-1152
Talbertjr1@windstream.net

The Palmetto Scoop has an update on Mick Mulvaney’s campaign to unseat 14-term Democrat Congressman John Spratt in November.

From the article:

“His campaign has put Democrats on notice that Americans are ready to turn the page on the failed experiment known as the Obama-Pelosi agenda.”

Now often here in SC, we don’t have the opportunity to take down reprehensible democrats who have worked to destroy our country because we are such a red state. However, THIS IS OUR CHANCE! I know many of us watched the Scott Brown race in Massachusetts and wished we could have been there to walk some neighborhoods, wave some signs. District 5 is close enough for many of us to make an impact in this race. Here is Mick Mulvaney’s website. Go and find out how you can help. Donations are crucial to beat an incumbant, can you help financially? There is a clickable link “How can I help Mick beat John Spratt?”

This is an opportunity to focus your loathing of what’s happened in Congress to really defeat one of the liberals who had a hand in taking away your liberties. See for yourself:

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I know we are all DYING for November to get here so we can sweep OUR CONGRESS clean! But for the local races we are currently watching, like the Fourth Congressional District, the June primary is the real goal of our efforts. You need to make sure that the candidate you are supporting is either first or second in that vote, so they’ll be in the runoff two weeks later, because whoever wins the primary has an easy path to winning the November election. If we don’t pull out all the stops to get out the vote and inform the Upstate electorate that in order to elect the most effective conservative to go fight for us in Washington then November won’t matter. So please use your gift of gab and powers of persuasion to get people to commit to go to the polls on June 8 to vote for the candidate you are supporting, and NOT to wait until November to exercise their right to vote.

May 8 is the last day to register to vote in the June primary, so if you know people who are not registered, bring them to the election office:

Greenville:
301 University Ridge
Suite 1900
Greenville, SC 29601
Email: Conway Belangia 864.467.7250 Office

Spartanburg:
Evans Resource Building
Room 123
142 South Dean Street
Spartanburg, SC 29302
(864) 596-2549 (Phone)
(864) 596-2958 (Fax)
hlaye@spartanburgcounty.org

Union:
320 East Main Street, Union, SC 29379
864.429.1616

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has an interesting discussion on the medical profession opting out of the third party payment system, including Medicare. Their rationale is that without the intrusion of third parties, they would be able to give better AND less expensive service a direct pay basis between them and their patients.

From the article:

Accepting payment directly from the insurer is a relatively recent aberration in the long history of the profession. There was never a crisis in access to doctors’ services in the pre-Medicare/Medicaid era. Physician fees were usual, customary, and reasonable. Doctors charged well-heeled patients a bit more and those less well off a bit less. Pro bono care was a part of every practice. There was, and still is, competition between physicians for patients, and this restrained charges.

There is no more efficient model than direct pay since it eliminates the middleman for the majority of charges. Office costs are dramatically reduced when third party billing is abandoned. By setting their own rates, doctors will be in control of their time and patient volume would decrease. Quality of care would improve, again saving money.

Today was my very first ever time to stand on a corner and wave a sign for a political candidate. I was anxious to see how it went, not having the natural enthusiasm of some more experienced and expressive folks, but determined to pitch in. And it was quite fun! So for those of you who may be shy about such things, let me share with you the five best things about sign waving:

1. You get to practice your Miss America wave. You know you always wanted an excuse to do that.

2. You don’t have to wonder “does my butt look big in this sign?” because the sign covers EVERYTHING! Everyone is a perfect size 10 behind a campaign sign if held properly!

3. Great excuse to get a manicure … “But people will be looking at my hands while I wave to them, and I must represent my candidate well!”

4. People wave BACK! If you’re feeling a little blue, grab a sign, pick a busy corner and WAVE and SMILE! Instant pick me up when folks wave and smile back! I’d estimate 1 of every 4 cars that drove by either waved, smiled, honked, thumbs upped us.

5. Calories expended. Not a tongue dragging cardio workout mind you, but 2 hours of standing on your feet and waving beats 2 hours sitting on your couch and reaching for bonbons. Not to mention the fresh air. Yep, sign waving is healthy!

There ya have it! Now decide which candidate best represents your values, grab a sign, pick a corner and let me know what you think the five best things about sign waving are!

What’s on your mind?

Feeling a new resolve now that the health care vote is over and we know what we need to go?

Have any thoughts on Obama’s shameful treatment of Israel?

Excited about the victories in SC legislature this week?

Let’s hear what you have to say, use the comments section to share.

Tea Party Express is hosting a mega rally tomorrow 3/27 in Harry Reid’s backyard. This event has been months in the planning, and includes among the speakers Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. I am almost certain the event will be streamed live and when I find that info, I’ll post it up.

I think keeping track of this event tomorrow will do much to boost our spirits after a tough week. The tea party movement in Nevada is VERY STRONG! Very Passionate! and Very Committed to getting rid of Harry Reid in November!