Upcoming Events

1). TODAY !!  North Carolina’s first Nullification Action! -  Today (Friday), January 18th, at 3:00 pm, the Beaufort County Commissioners will introduce a Second Amendment Nullification Resolution to protect the citizens of Beaufort County from the reaches of the government in their attempts to strip the protections of the Second Amendment.  They have the votes needed to adopt the resolution.  It will be a historic moment for North Carolina.  Please attend the meeting of the Beaufort County Commissioners as they take this important step. The meeting will be held at the Administration Building, in the Commissioner’s Board Room, 121 West Third Street, Washington, NC (one block over from the Courthouse).

2).  LiberTEA Event ! -  Saturday, January 26 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm at the Warehouse Restaurant, Winterville —  The ENC Tea Party will be partnering with the Republican Liberty Caucus to educate the public on how ordinary concerned citizens can exert political power within the NC GOP in order to affect the leadership and future direction of the party.  We are calling the event the “LiberTEA” event.  We hope this will be the first of many partnered events.

We know that the GOP has failed in its leadership and in its support of candidates. It has failed to provide a clear contrast to the policies of the Democratic party and it has failed to address the concerns of grassroots conservative groups. Since the preservation of conservative values and the remnants of our founding principles lies with the GOP, we have no choice but to commit our energy to the re-definition and restoration of that party. It will take many of us to make the kind of difference that we need and so we hope that you will attend this event, bring your family, and anyone else who you think might be willing to get involved.  We are asking for a commitment of only 6-8 hours of your time for the entire year.

Former constitutional state house representative Glen Bradley and founder and president of Founders’ Truth, Dr. Greg Brannon will be the guest speakers. Also, there will be a short presentation given by the Republican Liberty Caucus on the ‘delegate’ process (how folks can effect the necessary changes within the party).

3).  The 2nd Amendment – “The Militia” -  Thursday, January 31, from 7:00 – 9:00 pm, aboard the CSS Neuse II, 118 N. Herritage St., Kinston, NC.  This seminar will focus on the 2nd Amendment and particularly, the “militia” aspect. The 2nd Amendment is clear and concise regarding militias and the history and intent of militias will be emphasized (including how it relates to modern times). Guest speaker is Jimmy Hobaugh, who presides over the Triangle Area Militia.  The seminar is free to the public and will include coffee and refreshments.  For more information, contact John Nix at (252) 560-2150.

4).  MOVIE NIGHT - Tuesday, February 5th at 6:00 pm at the Coffee Shack, Winterville.  Please join us to watch the documentary “Runaway Slave” by C.L. Bryant.

Synopsis: A one-time NAACP local chapter president, Rev. Bryant discovers that by buying into the entitlement mindset of “progressives,” the black community has traded one form of tyranny for another. Using leading black conservatives as “conductors,” Rev. Bryant believes it is time for a new Underground Railroad to help liberate all Americans from the Government plantation that has left the black community dealing with a new form of slavery: entitlements.

“Why are we still thinking we are not free at last? What ideas are keeping us down?” Rev. Bryant asks. “For too long, we have been depending on other people for our success. We have to pursue our happiness; our happiness is not provided to us. If we are relying on someone else for our well-being, that in itself is a form of slavery.”

From our nation’s capital and freedom’s birthplace, to the dens of slavery and Jim Crow, to wherever a light for liberty is shining, this runaway slave looks to bring hope to the oppressed. Among the leaders he talks with along the way are Dr. King’s niece, Dr. Alveda King; former presidential candidate Herman Cain; Congressman Allen West; economist and author Dr. Thomas Sowell; talk-show host and author Glenn Beck; the late Andrew Breitbart. We also meet a new generation of young freedom fighters who are on the front lines of change! Rev. Bryant’s conclusion? It’s time to run. “Run away from economic slavery. Run toward the blessings of liberty. Let us remain strong in this fight. Run away from socialism; run away from progressivism. And if you get tired, America … run harder!”

For a preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxEYfKWqZ-w

The documentary will begin at 6:30 pm.

UPDATES

1).  Please note my new email address. The old (“yahoo”) address was hacked over the Christmas holiday.

Diane Rufino’s new email address –  [email protected]

2).  For those who use facebook, the ENC Tea Party has a new facebook page which is continually updated with its events and updates.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eastern-NC-Tea-Party-of-Pitt-County/453127711367165?ref=hl

3). Legislator’s Contact Info:  Please take note of the following contacts and save them:

Legislative Aid, Bradley Ryon - [email protected] (202) 225-3415

Chief of Staff, Glen Downs –  [email protected] (202) 225-3415

Krissy Landon, Scheduler - [email protected]

Senator Richard Burr (R-Tx),  440 Hart Senate Office Building

Health Policy Director, Anna Abram - [email protected]

(202) 224-0121    Fax: (202) 228-0494

Governor Pat McCrory
(919) 424.7128

http://www.workforpat.com/share-your-ideas/

116 West Jones Street

Raleigh, NC 27603

(800) 662.7952 or  (919) 733.2391

Fax: (919) 733.2120

[email protected]

Lt. Governor Dan Forest
310 N. Blount Street
Raleigh, NC 27601

[email protected]

[email protected]
(980) 395.5184

Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger
16 W. Jones St., Room 2008
Raleigh, NC 27601-2808
Phone: (919) 733-5708
[email protected]

House Speaker Thom Tillis
NC House of Representatives
16 W. Jones St., Room 2304
Raleigh, NC 27601-1096

Phone: (919) 733-3451

[email protected]

House Speaker Pro Tem Paul “Skip” Stam
NC House of Representatives
300 N. Salisbury St, Room 612
Raleigh, NC 27601-1096
Phone:  (919) 733-2962
[email protected]

NC Senator Louis Pate (R) –  [email protected]
(919) 733 – 5621

NC Senator Bill Cook (R) –   [email protected]
(919) 715-8293

NC Senator Don Davis (D) –   [email protected]
(919) 715-8363

NC Rep. Brian Brown (R) –   [email protected]
(919) 733-5757

NC Rep. Susan Martin (R) –  [email protected]
(919) 733-3023

The NC General Assembly website (find status of bills and legislator info): http://www.ncleg.net/

Find your state representatives and state: senators here:http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/representation/WhoRepresentsMe.aspx

LEGISLATION AND ACTION ALERTS !

STATE:

On Saturday, January 5th, Pat McCrory was sworn in as our new Governor.  The last time NC had a Republican governor was 24 years ago. And for the first time in 144 years, a Republican Governor will meet a Republican Legislative Majority.

NC General Assembly representatives were sworn-in on January 9th.  After the ceremony, they adopted rules, elected officials, and other such housekeeping stuff.  The first official day of business will begin, however, on January 30.  In November, the state house picked up an additional 9 Republican seats (for a total of 77 out of 120 seats) and an additional 2 Republican Senate seats (for a record total of 33 out of 50).  We have a veto-proof General Assembly, should Governor McCrory become a RINO.

1.  Status of Obamacare Exchanges: -  As of today, 27 states – more than half – have refused to adopt a state exchange.  (We hope for at least 30. There are 30 states with Republican governors). According to the healthcare law, states are expected to set up state-run/state-financed exchanges (with some grant money from the government, of course) OR hybrid state-federal exchanges (where both parties participate). Mind you, even though the mandate is for the states to set up the exchanges, they are bound completely by the government’s plan. In other words, the states would be doing the government’s dirty work.  However, thanks to the healthcare decision, states can opt out. If they do so, because the healthcare law at this point is still the law of the land, the burden then falls to the federal government to set up the exchanges.

Here is why states should want to default to the government:

1).  The government did not plan for the states to opt out and they made are not prepared to do so.
2).  The government was planning on the states to use their resources and now, it doesn’t have the financial resources allocated to set up the exchanges.
3).  The government will have to go to the Republican-dominated Congress (where all spending bills MUST originate) and request additional funding.

Pushback by the sovereign States is WORKING. The Obama Administration is quietly admitting defeat by scrapping the Feb. 15th deadline for states to make a final decision regarding state-run ObamaCare Exchanges. This should be all the proof Governor McCrory and the General Assembly need that ObamaCare CAN be defeated at the state level!

So, here is what you can do:

1).  Pressure Governor McCrory to opt out of the exchanges
2).  Tell your state representatives (house reps and senators) to vote to return all the government grant money that was given to NC to start setting up the state exchanges
3). Tell your state representatives (house reps and senators) to refuse to expand Medicare, which is another one of Obamacare’s mandates and another very costly provision to our state. (Again, according to the healthcare ruling, states can opt out of the Medicare expansion provision).
4). Tell your state representatives (house reps and senators) to introduce and vote for another “Healthcare Freedom” bill and then an amendment to the state constitution which voters can vote on.

**  You can send a letter /email to Governor Pat McCrory as well.

http://www.freedomworks.org/press-releases/governors-reject-health-care-exchanges-white-house?

2.  Voter ID Bill - Tell your state house reps and senators that you want them to pass a strict photo Voter ID bill.  There is a rumor going around that both House Speaker Thom Tillis or Governor McCrory will consider a “watered-down” Voter ID bill.  Tell them that the bill that was introduced last term (H.B. 351) was a good bill and a constitutional bill (modeled after the one upheld by the Supreme Court).

General Assembly’s Upcoming Agenda:  According to Rep. Skip Stam (who unfortunately was elected to be the House Speaker Pro Tem), the 2013-2014 General Assembly agenda will include the following:

(1)  A Voter ID bill
(2)  Ways to deal with Obamacare – without harming North Carolina’s economy (whatever that means)
(3)  State Tax Reform – reduce the rate of state taxation
(4)  Regulatory Reform – identify those regulations that do not make sense and eliminate them
(5)  Education Reform – performance pay for teachers and increased school choice
(6)  Promote Pro-Life legislation

Here is something I find troubling.  Rep. Stam is actively soliciting funds for his “considerable political needs,” as his emails read. He notes that last year, for example, he used the funds to help 24 new and returning members seek or retain their seats. He also used those funds to unseat candidates he felt he couldn’t work with and to fund candidates who he targeted to be their replacements.  And he wants to have that same kind of influence on local elections in 2014.  I don’t think it’s the government’s job to invest in their own political interests.  Elections are for the people’s voice, and not for career politicians to manipulate to concentrate power.

Anyone interested in meeting with Rep. Stam to discuss these agenda items, please consider attending an event he is hosting at the Halle Cultural Center, 237 N. Salem Street, Apex on January 23, 2013 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

FEDERAL:

1.  Obama’s Executive Orders on Gun Regulation:  On December 14, a deranged 20-year-old killed his mother and then fatally shot 20 first-graders and 6 teachers and wounded two others at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Sandy Hook, CT.  It was obvious that the Obama administration, which has been hostile to the Second Amendment for 4 years, would exploit the nation’s grief and horror to move forward on his plans to weaken gun rights.  So, just yesterday, he signed 23 executive orders to address gun violence:

Here are just 5 of them  -  Some are just good common-sense orders (such as the first 3), but the last 2 are particularly troubling:

1).  The Dept. of Health & Human Services shall release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
2).  The Dept. of Health & Human Services shall conduct or sponsor research into the causes of gun violence and the ways to prevent it.
3).  Federal law enforcement agencies shall ensure that all firearms recovered after the date of this memorandum in the course of criminal investigations and taken into Federal custody are traced through ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms).
4). The Attorney General shall review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.  (Unfortunately, Homeland Security has a Report on file, issued in April 2009, entitled “Rightwing Extremism,” which states that conservative groups such as veterans, Christians (who believe that homosexuality is wrong), Tea Party groups, and those who actively oppose such government programs as Obamacare and Gun control pose the greatest threat of violence in this country – moreso than Islamic jihadists.
5). The Department of Justice (DOJ) shall issue guidance on how to improve the availability and access of “relevant federal records” and how to more effectively share them with the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System).  A working group will be created (comprised of  8 government agencies, including HHS, Dept. of Veteran Services, and Homeland Security) to determine how best to share records and what should be characterized as “relevant records.”

Why is this last one of concern?  Because the reality is that ordinary Americans break approximately 6 legitimate laws every day – ones that could cost them hundreds if not thousands of dollars in fines or even jail time.  (study results). Most of the time, the reason we break laws is because they are too numerous and broad in scope and we can’t reasonably keep up on the rule and regulations. But ignorance of the law is no excuse in the eyes of the government.  The reason people aren’t caught is 3-fold: (1) Police themselves can’t keep up with all the laws; (2) Limited resources (police have more pressing concerns); and (3) Jails are already too crowded.  If the government wishes to disarm us, all it needs to do is increase resources for law enforcement, monitor our conduct more closely, arrest us when we break the law, create a police file, and then use the law that criminals are forbidden to own and possess firearms.

Full List:   (Gun Violence Reduction Executive Orders):

Today, the President is announcing that he and the Administration will:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system (NICS).
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
11. Nominate an ATF director.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

QUESTION:  What will police do if and when they are issued an unlawful order to enforce the federal government’s gun control policy?  Will members of law enforcement obey orders that violate the Bill of Rights?  Will they use these executive orders (which seek to legislate, and therefore usurps the constitutional powers delegated unilaterally to the US Congress under Article II) as a tool of oppression against the American people who resist and refuse to comply with infringement on their right to bear arms?  Will they follow orders to enforce unconstitutional laws that might seek to register, fingerprint, and photograph ordinary law-abiding citizens to wish to own firearms?  (We’ve seen what happens when public information is used against citizens, as when the newspaper in Pennsylvania published a list, complete with google maps, of those citizens who have registered guns).

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2013/01/14/video-oath-keeper-officer-calls-on-brother-cops-to-refuse-to-enforce-gun-bans-or-registration/

“A man with a gun is a citizen. A man without a gun is a subject.”

2.  Fiscal Cliff:  (from Walter Jones)  The fiscal cliff deal, H.R. 8 was negotiated by the White House and leaders of the U.S. Senate at the last minute behind closed doors. 6 Democrats joined 151 to vote against the deal, but in the end, it passed overwhelmingly – by a vote of 257 to 157.  President Obama signed into law on January 2, 2013.

Here is the bad news (and there is plenty of it): According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill includes over $40 in tax increases for every $1 in spending cuts. It increases spending by $330 billion over 10 years while deferring sequestration cuts for two months so the 113th Congress can fight that battle again, along with raising the debt ceiling. It will raise the federal debt by nearly $4 trillion…..  this coming at a time when America’s federal debt is nearly $17 trillion, and federal deficits have clocked in at over $1 trillion a year for each of the past four years.

The bill gauges the wealthy for more tax revenue.  Congress raised taxes for the top bracket, which includes hundreds of thousands of small businesses, during what might as well be a recession. The Left’s favorite target, the “rich,” consisting of “millionaires and billionaires,” now officially includes individuals earning $400,000 and couples that earn $450,000 (that’s quite a marriage penalty, if you ask us). Capital gains and dividends taxes on these same taxpayers will rise from 15 percent to 23.8% (including the new ObamaCare surtax of 3.8%), and deductions will be limited for individuals earning more than $250,000 and couples at $300,000. The death tax also will increase from 35% to 40%, with a $5 million exemption. Obama wanted 45% (which would have gone to 55%) without a “deal.”

Democrats call this a “balanced approach,” but it leaves the U.S. facing yet another trillion-dollar deficit this year. Unfortunately, that pales in comparison to the looming crisis of $48 trillion in unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare. America is nearly broke and this administration refuses to acknowledge that its reckless spending mentality is to blame.

Unfortunately, Republicans will be blamed no matter what they do (and polls are showing this).  If they allow Obama to get his way, then Republicans are to blame for failing to stand firm against the Democrats and curb spending.  If they stand firm and refuse to give in to Obama’s demands, then Republicans are guilt of stalling the process and not addressing the debt crisis.  It’s no wonder that Congress’ approval rating is at an all-time low.  In fact, Congress is so unpopular now that both the Kardashians and Lindsey Lohan have better reputations in the eyes of the American people.  The US Congress is only slightly more popular than head lice, Genghis Khan, and gonorrhea.

3. Immigration: More than a quarter of the $1 trillion spent on welfare in the United States goes directly to the households of immigrants. And two out of three jobs created in the last four years went to immigrants. Those are jobs that would lift Americans out of poverty, and reduce welfare spending still more. Instead, just last month, the unemployment rate among black Americans rose to 14 percent.

The problem isn’t only illegal immigration: Most legal immigrants use at least one welfare program.  The problem is simply too much immigration.  In fact, while many illegal immigrants have gone home since the start of the recession, the number of legal immigrants in America continues to explode.

Some immigration is necessary. It fits our nation’s heritage as a melting pot. It honors the creed proclaimed by Lady Liberty.  But such massive levels of immigration are keeping Americans trapped in poverty. And they’re exploding the federal deficit, not to mention busting North Carolina’s own budget!

4. Repeal of the Johnson Amendment:  Rep. Walter Jones has introduced legislation to repeal the 1954 Johnson Amendment, which prohibits churches and other 501(c) non-profits from engaging in political speech or endorsing candidates.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/R?d113%3AFLD004%3A%401%28Rep.+Hudson++Richard%29