Cape County Tea Party Meeting - 04/16

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User-submitted story by Brian Bollmann

Friday, April 12, 2013

CAPE COUNTY TEA PARTY MEETING

On April 16th, 2013 at 6:30pm, the Cape County Tea Party (CCTP) will hold its open monthly meeting at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. The meeting is also called the Third Tuesday Tea Time (TTTT) and is held on the Third Tuesday of each month to continue the work to complete our Mission as stated below.

Self-Governance / Civic Authority:

There are lobbyists for unions; lobbyists for banks; lobbyists for lawyers; lobbyists for river smelt; lobbyists for death row murderers; lobbyists for sports stadiums. There are lobbyists for hospitals; lobbyists for labor; lobbyists for Wall Street; lobbyists for genetically modified corn.

Who's lobbying for you and me? The taxpayer / The voter.

Cape County Tea Party members are receiving training on how to expand Self-Governance and use our Civic Authority. What are Self-Governance and Civic Authority? That's the tease. Come to our Third Tuesday Tea Time meeting and get more information about the program and how we will be using it to advance liberty. We hope you will join us in this exciting program to advance the causes of Fiscal Responsibility, Founding Principles and Constitutionally Limited Government.

Guiding Our Representatives:

At our January 2013 "Working" meeting, we spent some time reviewing pending legislation pre-filed by CCTP's State Representatives and determined whether CCTP members felt the legislation should be passed or shelved. We worked to guide our representatives. Those who took part felt it was worthwhile and the effort was a great success. This month's meeting will again be a "Working" meeting with two activities:

Homework:

At our March 2013 meeting, homework was assigned (takeaway activism) to encourage practice in getting informed and educated on the pending bills in the MO House and Senate. TTTT attendees were asked to:

1. Visit the MO House or MO Senate Web Site lists of Pending Bills:

http://www.house.mo.gov/billlist.aspx

http://www.senate.mo.gov/13info/BTS_Web/BillList.aspx?SessionType=R

2. Locate a Bill that interests you.

3. Read the information on the bill and any other supporting information that you can find.

4. Prepare a short paragraph to present why support or do not support the bill.

5. Bring the information with you to the next TTTT, and we'll talk about what you have found.

We look forward to discussing the results of the March takeaway activism, and we've heard from a few folks that have completed the effort and are looking forward to reporting their results.

Legislative Review:

After reviewing our homework, we will again split up into groups, review legislation that is imminent on the legislative calendar (especially those filed by our local representatives as well as other high profile legislation), and quickly try to come up with thoughts and suggestions for our representatives' actions / votes in the House and Senate.

Does the bill increase government or reduce government? Does it increase liberty or reduce freedom? Does it advance the free market or stifle it?

Each group's decisions will be reviewed and accumulated, so we can report their decisions and notes back to our representatives... ...thus guiding their votes.

8th Congressional District Special Election

Tom Brown, write-in candidate, has indicated he will attend the event. We will ask the attendees if they'd like to give him a few minutes to speak and have any questions for him.

About CCTP/TTTT

The goals of each meeting are to:

- Promote Self-Governance, Freedom, Free Markets, Responsibility, and Civic Authority

- Disseminate current and topical information that affects CCTP members and the community at large (typically a speaker)

- Engage the attendees in a form of activism to work toward the completion of our mission

- Increase the membership of the CCTP

Everyone is invited regardless of party or ideology! We hope you will attend! Expect homework!

For more information, see the TTTT link on our website:

Contact

- Web Site:	www.CapeCountyTeaParty.org
- E-mail:	CapeCountyTeaParty@yahoo.com

Interview/General Contacts:

- Brian Bollmann	314.882.3327	bbollmann1964@gmail.com
- Jan Farrar	janfarrar@reagan.com
- Jeannie Hinck	573.334.6340	capecountyteaparty@yahoo.com

Our mission is to attract, educate, organize and mobilize fellow citizens to secure Public Policy consistent with Fiscal Responsibility, Founding Principles and Constitutionally Limited Government under God.

Comments

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No tea for me.

-- Posted by Thinking for myself on Fri, Apr 12, 2013, at 11:55 AM
What a ridiculous waste of time and effort! Why not instead, tutor children, aid the poor, promote love and fellowship etc. etc.?

-- Posted by bball15 on Sat, Apr 13, 2013, at 9:31 AM
The so-called Tea Party represents the worst thinking in America today.

-- Posted by dmt49 on Sat, Apr 13, 2013, at 8:45 PM
Mr Bollman;

I cannot attend your meeting Tuesday but what like to submit a question that maybe your members could render an opinion on.

Jason Smith, candidate for 8th district is co-sponsoring HJR11 & HJR7 in the house and the Senate has HJR22. This bill would prohibit a citizens referendum to make any changes to this law. It could only be changed by the general assembly. These bills virtuall gut the provisions of the "puppy mill laws" that were voted on by the citizens of Missouri with 51% of the vote.

Now, obviously 49% of the people don't agree with Prop B. But, as a democracy, a majority would normally prevail. I think as Tea Party people, you would be liviv that Smith would even think of trying to take away our rights to petition our govt. Your thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated.It might be interesting to note that Smith's mother operates a dog kennel in Salem that is labeled as one of "missouri's Dirty Dozen". Looks like this legislation is being promoted by Smith to protect his family from any oversight on cruelty to animals. You can google "Missouri Dirty Dozen" and see what I'm talking about.

-- Posted by left turn on Sun, Apr 14, 2013, at 8:44 AM
left turn, thank you for the information in your post. I am new to the SEMO area and was unaware of Jason Smith's sponsorship of a bill that would gut the provisions in the puppy mill laws. Since I am a strong supporter of animal rights I was glad to be made aware of this. Missouri has lots to be proud of, but its puppy mills are not one of the items on the list.

-- Posted by dmt49 on Sun, Apr 14, 2013, at 4:21 PM
Left Turn,

Your information is only partly correct.

Jason Smith owns (or used to own) the puppy mill himself. He is still (at the least) a part owner. When running for the State House the first time, his major credential was the he was a "small businessman" and he founded JT Smith Kennels. It put him through college. He only switched it to his mom's name when he started to get flak.

-- Posted by justiceforall1 on Sun, Apr 14, 2013, at 6:07 PM
Justiceforall1, thanks for your info also; appreciated.

-- Posted by dmt49 on Sun, Apr 14, 2013, at 6:30 PM
justice: What do you mean by "when he started to get flak"?

-- Posted by howdydoody on Sun, Apr 14, 2013, at 7:38 PM
Mr. Turn,

AFAIK, Jason Smith will not be at the meeting on Tuesday 4/16, but he will be taking part in the Candidate Forum on Wednesday 5/22 at 6:30.

Regarding the Puppy Mill legislation on the ballot in 2010, I spent hours studying the legislation, the current laws, and the current regulations. I wrote and lobbied extensively against its passage.

http://RockinConservative.com/2010/09/15/no-on-missouri-propostion-b/

It was horrible legislation that, among other things, would reduced the required feedings of the puppies from twice daily to once. It wreaked havoc on law-abiding breeders, did not fund any of the requirements under the law, and failed to do anything to eliminate puppy mills. AND, it likely would have resulted in the killing of 86,000 dogs. The legislature wisely corrected many of the egregious outcomes of the ballot initiative, and I believe, increased funding to add greater oversight.

I'll also note that Missouri is not a democracy. It is a republic with democratically elected representatives and the ability to democratically pass citizens initiatives. You and I don't vote on the 1500 or so bills that come before the legislature each year, so it is not a democracy. A democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for dinner.

And, it is my understanding that Mr. Smith's mother has filed lawsuit against H$U$ for inappropriately listing her kennel in a negative light. As I locate details on that suit, I will post them.

However, I am a student and proponent of Self-Governance. I am taking training to become an effective Citizen Lobbyist working toward greater citizen freedom and a more vibrant free market. So, it is likely that I will agree with your point after further study of HJR 7 / SS HCS HJRs 11 & 7 / SJR 22. Changing the Missouri Constitution to remove the citizens ability create their own laws based solely on the subject of the law seems 100% counter to Self-Governance and Freedom.

In addition, I'm extremely disappointed in the proposed ballot language which lacks any disclosure of the portion of the amendment that removes the citizens right to create their own laws on certain subjects.

-- Posted by bbollmann on Mon, Apr 15, 2013, at 10:11 PM

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