Thanks to the folks at www.conservative.sc for creating this video. Watch it, share it with your friends/family. Then come to the Spartanburg Tea Party meeting on Wednesday February 9 to learn more specifically about Spartanburg reorganization happening on March 3.

However … both Neil King Jr. of the WSJ and Pollster Extraordinaire Scott Rasmussen contend that it will not be one of the well-known names snagging the GOP nomination.

National pollster Scott Rasmussen told members of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry that the search is on for a candidate to challenge Barack Obama in 2012. “I have no idea who the Republicans will nominate next year,” the keynote speaker at LABI’s annual meeting said.
He surprised some business leaders by saying “it’s not one of the big names” — Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty or Newt Gingrich. Instead, he said it will be someone who hasn’t previously been involved in a national campaign but has some national recognition.

South Carolinians will have an extraordinary opportunity to provide a tipping point for some of these candidates by our responses to and interactions with them while they are visiting our state. Hopefully you feel empowered and excited by that responsibility! To that end … I want to share this video with you of Herman Cain, who has announced the formation of an exploratory committee, as he schools Bill Clinton the last time around on health care. When you begin to see Herman interviewed and spoken about as a potential nominee, know that he had it right on health care way back when.

Click here for details on taking a tour of the State House and more information. You’ll be shown how to find your way around the State House and how to find the Senate and House balconies. You’ll also be shown where your Representative’s and Senator’s offices are located. We’ll also see the committee and sub-committee rooms, where much of the work on the bills take place.

Your guide will explain to you how you can have real effective influence on your representatives, and where their pressure points are, so that you can have maximum influence for the amount of work you put in.

This is a great opportunity to learn how to become a more effective activist in Columbia and right in your local district. Contact Talbert with your RSVP at talbertjr1@windstream.net.

The books have arrived! You can purchase a copy of “The 5,000 Year Leap” for $5.00 when you arrive at class if you need a copy. We will be using a video lecture series based on that book and 28 fundamental beliefs of the Founding Fathers outlined in it.

We have over 40 people signed up, but there is plenty of room for more! Please spread the word to your friends/coworkers/family who might want to learn more about the Constitution in an informal setting … just We The People learning together. Ask them to email me directly (to enroll or to ask questions) at info@spartanburgteaparty.org or use the link below to go directly to our sign-up page.

Click here to sign up for our Constitution Class.

There used to be a website called Buy Blue which was an online consumers’ guide designed to help progressives in the United States choose brands that favored their politics. It is now defunct, but I ran across someone on Twitter who had captured the info in 2005 and blogged it … from the Buy Red perspective. Right Wing Troll brings us this list of companies which support conservatives. I don’t think the blog is currently active, but the list remains.

I urge you to “go there” … go there in deciding how you spend your monies in every possible consumer transaction. Then “go there” when you decide what movies to support, what CDs to purchase, where you vacation … it’s not as exhilarating as standing shoulder to shoulder in a march on DC, but it may, in the long run, accomplish even more if we can move the majority to use their finances to fight the progressives.

I’m going to include the LONG list “below the fold” … I’m pointing this out assuming the original blog was credible, it seems to be.

* Ace Hardware Corporation 100%
* Advance Auto Parts, Inc. 100%
* Best Buy Co., Inc. 100%
* California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. 100%
* Cintas Corporation 100%
* Citgo (Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.) 100%
* CSS Industries, Inc. 100%
* Curves International Inc 100%
* Dollar General Corporation 100%
* Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. 100%
* Domino’s Pizza, Inc. 100%
* Fruit of the Loom 100%
* In-N-Out Burgers, Inc 100%
* Kohl’s Corporation 100%
* Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. 100%
* Lowe’s Companies, Inc. 100%
* Michaels Stores, Inc. 100%
* Nordstrom, Inc. 100%
* PETsMART, Inc. 100%
* RE/MAX International, Inc. 100%
* Russell Stover Candies Inc. 100%
* The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. 100%
* WinCo Foods, Inc 100%
* Bob Evans Farms, Inc. 99%
* Chick-fil-A, Inc 99%
* Huffy Corporation 99%
* Pier 1 Imports, Inc. 99%
* Raley’s Inc. 99%
* Gold’s Gym International, Inc 98%
* Outback Steakhouse, Inc. 98%
* Kelly Services, Inc. 97%
* Williams-Sonoma, Inc 97%
* CBRL Group, Inc. 96%
* McDonald’s Corporation 96%
* Exxon Mobil Corporation 95%
* Geico 95%
* Hershey Foods Corporation 95%
* TJX Companies Inc., The 95%
* Applebee’s International, Inc. 94%
* AutoNation, Inc. 94%
* Urban Outfitters, Inc. 94%
* Wendy’s International, Inc. 94%
* 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, Inc. 93%
* Darden Restaurants, Inc. 91%
* PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc 91%
* AirTran Holdings, Inc 90%
* Circuit City Stores, Inc. 90%
* International House of Pancakes (IHOP Corp.) 90%
* Panda Restaurant Group, Inc 90%
* Chevron Corporation 89%
* Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, The 89%
* Saks Incorporated 89%
* Activision, Inc. 88%
* Dell Inc. 88%
* J. C. Penney Company, Inc. 88%
* Kroger Co. 88%
* Meijer, Inc. 88%
* Office Depot, Inc. 88%
* OfficeMax Incorporated 88%
* Publix Super Markets, Inc. 88%
* Zale Corporation 88%
* Ahold USA, Inc. 87%
* ConocoPhillips 87%
* TIAA-CREF 87%
* Hallmark Cards, Inc. 86%
* America West Holdings Corporation 85%
* American Greetings Corporation 85%
* Oracle Corporation 85%
* Brinker International, Inc. 84%
* EarthLink, Inc. 84%
* Helzberg Diamonds 84%
* Limited Brands, Inc. 84%
* Molson Coors Brewing Company 84%
* Papa John’s International, Inc 84%
* Staples, Inc. 84%
* USAA 84%
* Marriott International, Inc. 83%
* Menard, Inc. 83%
* Shell Oil Company 83%
* Target Corporation 83%
* Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. 83%
* Home Depot, Inc. 82%
* Southwest Airlines Co. 82%
* SUPERVALU INC 82%
* Campbell Soup Company 80%
* YUM! Brands, Inc. 79%
* Longs Drug Stores Corporation 78%
* May Department Stores Company 78%
* Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 78%
* Heineken N.V. 77%
* Procter & Gamble Company 77%
* Weyerhaeuser Company 76%
* Albertson’s, Inc. 75%
* Continental Airlines, Inc. 75%
* Intel Corporation 75%
* InterContinental Hotels Group PLC 75%
* Nestle S.A. 75%
* General Motors Corporation 74%
* Georgia-Pacific Corporation 73%
* Guess?, Inc 73%
* MBNA Corporation 73%
* US Airways Group, Inc 73%
* Family Dollar Stores, Inc. 72%
* Ford Motor Company 72%
* Harley-Davidson, Inc. 72%
* Motorola, Inc. 72%
* T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG 72%
* United Parcel Service, Inc 72%
* Allstate Corporation, The 70%
* Clear Channel Communications, Inc. 70%
* Safeway Inc. 70%
* Qwest Communications International Inc. 69%
* Covad Communications Group, Inc 68%
* Federated Department Stores, Inc. 68%
* Northwest Airlines Corporation 68%
* Bank of New York Company Inc., The 67%
* Sears, Roebuck and Co. 66%
* Verizon Communications Inc. 66%
* Burger King Corporation 65%
* SBC Communications Inc. 65%
* Sprint Corporation 65%
* Walgreen Co. 65%
* Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. 64%
* Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company 64%
* Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. 64%
* State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company 64%
* Books-A-Million, Inc. 63%
* BP PLC 62%
* Coca-Cola Company, The 62%
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc, The 62%
* Bank of America Corporation 61%
* Capital One Financial Corporation 61%
* Constellation Brands, Inc. 61%
* Rite Aid Corporation 61%
* Xerox Corporation 61%
* Blockbuster Inc. 60%
* Amazon.com, Inc. 59%
* Hewlett-Packard Company 59%
* Sirius Satellite Radio Inc 59%
* International Business Machines Corporation 58%
* Jones Apparel Group, Inc 58%
* MetLife, Inc. 58%
* Wells Fargo & Company 58%
* Carnival Corporation 57%
* Countrywide Financial Corporation 57%
* Delta Air Lines, Inc. 57%
* Microsoft Corporation 57%
* Wet Seal Inc, The 57%
* AT&T Corp. 56%

The book focused on the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Founding Fathers which they said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desired peace, prosperity, and freedom. These beliefs have made possible more progress in 200 years than was made previously in over 5,000 years. Thus the title “The 5,000 Year Leap”.

There is no charges for these classes. We will have the book “The 5,000 Year Leap” available to sell at the classes for $6.00/book. We will cover two lessons each session (we will meet monthly on the last Saturday of the month at the Barrett Room, pending availability). Each video lesson will run 40 minutes, after which we’ll have a 20 minute discussion, and then a second video and a second 20 minute discussion. We’ll give you handouts at the beginning of the class to help you watch for the “learning objectives” for each session.

The video lessons look at the Founding Fathers’ reliance on both Biblical principles and the lessons of world history in writing the Constitution, and how the 28 principles noted in the book have lead to the exceptionalism of America. The lessons are detailed, but easy to understand, and will appeal both to history buffs as well as folks … like myself … taking another look at the Constitution and American history for the first time since high school civics.

Here is a video excerpt from one of the classes so you can see the course level and style.

Because we have to order 5,000 Year Leap books for you, and in order to ascertain interest in the Constitution Classes, please go here and sign up … OR … email me directly at info@spartanburgteaparty.org to sign up and/or ask questions about the class.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001707578690

Right now all around this country there are groups with harmless-sounding names like Americans for Prosperity, who are running millions of dollars of ads against Democratic candidates all across the country. And they don’t have to say who exactly the Americans for Prosperity are. You don’t know if it’s a foreign-controlled corporation. You don’t know if it’s a big oil company, or a big bank. You don’t know if it’s a insurance company that wants to see some of the provisions in health reform repealed because it’s good for their bottom line, even if it’s not good for the American people.

I’ve been fortunate to become friends with Linda and Debbie who represent Americans for Prosperity in the Upstate and let me tell you a couple of things Americans for Prosperity has done for us:

1. Funded and provided door hangers for District 5 Mulvaney v. Spratt with the voting record information to inform voters prior to the Nov 2 election. I spent the Saturdays in October up in Cherokee County taking advantage of this AFP campaign, going door to door with other tea party folks to help get the word out.

2. Funded and facilitated the Spending Revolt Bus Tour which traveled the country and made several stops in SC including Columbia and York County. Both Mulvaney and Spratt were invited to speak at the York County event. Mulvaney showed up.

AFP put a lot of resources into SC providing voter education on issues and candidates, and I know that Mulvaney’s victory owes some thanks to AFP’s efforts which helped inform voters. So I’m pleased to share this email with you about AFP’s first Upstate meeting and I hope you’ll join me.

++++++++++++++

Our first Upstate Chapter Americans for Prosperity South Carolina Meeting will be held on Monday, December 6 at Perkins, 1455 Woodruff Road, Greenville at 6:30pm.

We’re excited to announce that Jim Lee will speak to us and give us insight on how the State Legislature works and how we can best be effective in holding our representatives accountable in South Carolina. In addition we will discuss the issues we will focus on in 2011. We think it will be an educational meeting and hope you all will plan on attending. Please plan on having dinner. Thanks.

Linda Weeks
Debbie Spaugh
Grassroots Co-Chairs
Americans for Prosperity South Carolina

The Spartanburg GOP will be meeting this coming Tuesday December 7 at the County Council chambers, located at 366 North Church St. I do not know their specific agenda, I do know that precinct reorganization is on the agenda. While only officers can actively participate/vote, these meetings are open to the public.

I encourage … I urge you to attend. It will be informative, we will have the opportunity to meet some of our neighbors who are currently officers and precinct delegates, and it will help us learn how our county’s GOP operates. The way to elect better candidates in the party, beginning in the primaries and in local/state/federal elections is to have a say in the GOP party. For the tea party to operate effectively in future elections and to bring reform to the GOP itself, we must be involved in the party.

Please meet me at the County Council chambers next Tuesday at 7:00 PM.

If you’d like a briefing on the impact that precinct reorganization can have, and how you can help make that impact ResistNet has some links and how to’s that you can take a look at. Keep in mind the method to become a precinct delegate may vary from state to state.

We had a discussion about what areas/interest the Spartanburg Tea Party would like to take up in 2011. I offered five areas that I’d like to see our members participate in:

1. Get Out the Vote (GOTV) / Voter Fraud
2. Legislative Watch
3. Education/School Board
4. Events (promoting tea party)/Media
5. Precinct Organization

There were poster board sign up sheets for these areas, and members were encourage to put down their name if they wanted to work on a project. I’ll be calling those members and discussing what you see your role as … would love to have some of you take an area and move it forward!

In addition attendees put forth some other ideas; hopefully if you offered an idea that means you want to take the reins and work on it! Here is the list I wrote down from that discussion:

Health care, School reform/work with new superintendent, fiscal/monetary policy (interesting since Ron Paul may chair the federal oversight committee), host some folks who are first time candidate and help them “get their feet wet” in the political arena, work with RINO Hunt on some projects, learn how to work polls and poll watch (we’ll be inviting Henry Laye to speak with us about this).

If I’ve forgotten any, please post in comments.

Roger Nutt was our first speaker, he was elected to County Council on Nov 2 and has agreed to continue to attend our meetings and give us a report on what’s up in our county. He spoke of the concern that all council members have for re-election, and that makes our voices very important when issues arise. He noted that he’s already been receiving phone calls and having conversations advising him to “lay low” on some of the issues he’s spoken about … but that he intends to vote and speak unencumbered by those cautions. He explained how important it is for us to engage with council, telling us that he sent out emails to his district asking for thoughts and got ZERO replies back. He told us that if we want to achieve some of our goals, especially in the fiscal area, we have to be prepared to sacrifice, asking ourselves “what can we give up?” as a county. And he urged us to attend the monthly county council meetings, speak at them, call our own council reps and engage. (IF you would like to be on the email list to receive notice and agenda of these meetings send an email to dziegler@spartanburgcounty.org and ask to be put on that email list.) AND … you can look here to see past minutes and the County Council Calendar, their meetings are third Monday each month at Council Chambers of the County Administration Building at 366 N. Church Street. There is a committee meeting that begins at 4:00 or 4:30, and the general meeting begins at 5:30. Hope to see you there Monday!

Our second speaker was Kerry Wood who explained the importance and a few “how to’s” for precinct organization. This is our opportunity to have a voice in the GOP! After the first of the year we’ll be discussing this more, but please be thinking about getting involved in your precinct. Then you will have a voice .. and a VOTE … at our county GOP when they elect officers and discuss the GOP platform. Those officers will have a vote at the State level, and up the ladder. This is a bottom up process, and is the way that we citizens can change our party if we are dissatisfied, or desire improvement. I became a precinct delegate early 2009 and was excited about being able to vote on Spartanburg County GOP officers.

And finally the Spartanburg Tea Party will be offering Constitution Classes beginning in January. These classes are based on the book “The 5,000 Year Leap” and are easy to facilitate studies with videos, workbooks, and discussions. We’ll have a class once a month on a Saturday for a few hours, and Harry Kibler from RINO Hunt will help us get started. He’s been offering the classes in Greenville for a couple of months, and there are more than 50 folks enrolled! An informed voter is our best chance to make sure we have conservative, effective representation, both state and federal. I’ll post details in December, please watch for that and invite your friends/family to attend.