By Dr. Rod Beaman, D.O.

The Tea Party movement flourishes. What started no more than four years ago as a loose, splintered group of people concerned with runaway government taxes has metamorphosed into a political force that cannot be ignored.

It seems to have emerged in multiple locations across the country. I attended the first meeting of one in a coffee house in Five Points right after the 2008 election. There were about eight people.

Shortly, the term Tea Party was being bandied throughout cyberspace and I attended another organizing meeting of a Tea Party, in a library not far away just a few months later. Attendance was well more than a hundred.

Since then, there has been a series of demonstrations across the country on April 15. That tradition has continued. I have attended two of the April 15 demonstrations.

Like many others, I came to the Tea Party movement from Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign. Many of us here in Jacksonville did. We also have moved to the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC).

Here in Florida, the RLC was organized in 1991. Nationally, it emerged from the ashes of several predecessors. There has been growing political restiveness over the past twenty years, especially within the Republican Party. Today, more and more the ranks of the RLC and the various Tea Partys are being embellished by dissatisfied Republicans and they are in turn bringing their message to the Republican Party, the one major party that even seems interested in at least hearing what we have to say.

Early on, I assumed the role of coordinating the outreach campaign for Northeast Florida RLC (RLCNEF). I would routinely send out notices of our meetings to the various Republican Executive Committees and clubs of the counties that comprise Northeast Florida.

Once, I received a response from a recipient advising me that we might be breaking the law by using the word Republican which is supposed to be reserved to organizations approved by the Party state chairman, at the time, Jim Greer. Greer sent letters to 10 state chapters of the Republican Liberty Caucus warning the Caucus not to use the word Republican.

After a series of confrontations between Greer and several of our officials, the RLCNEF retained the right to use ‘Republican’ in its name. The battles were bruising with several Northeast Florida Republicans siding with Greer who used stream roller tactics to stifle dissent against his autocracy. Ultimately, after the in house brawl, Greer was ousted as chairman. Just months later, he is now under indictment on corruption charges.

Ron Paul has presented a conundrum for Republicans. On the one hand, he has been a proponent of free market policies that have been core beliefs for the party for decades, specifically those espoused by Robert Taft, throughout The New Deal. That record gave Robert Taft the title of Mr. Republican. It also helped stop his nomination for president by the party three times. That opposition led to the me-too Republicanism that attempted to block Barry Goldwater’s nomination in 1964.

But Ron Paul has also been a proponent of non-interventionism in foreign countries and disengagement from overseas involvement. His opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan actions has earned him the ire of many Republican leaders. The problem is that Ron Paul’s position is more consistent with that of Mr. Republican Robert Taft than even Barry Goldwater’s and Ronald Reagan’s.

Taft opposed the founding of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on the grounds that it would permit the executive to pursue foreign policy without Congressional approval. Talk about prescience!

Ron Paul is committed to no protracted military actions without a declaration of war by Congress, a position that is far more consistent with Taft’s than what has prevailed. It is Congress that is supposed to determine foreign policy, not the Executive and certainly not an unbridled agency like the CIA.

This disagreement engendered fierce opposition to Ron Paul’s presidential campaign in 2008 within the GOP. When I was serving a similar outreach function for his campaign, I frequently experienced outright anger and hostility from various area Republican leaders including warnings not to attend their meetings to campaign! Yet, as another club president remarked to me, why should Republicans be so antagonistic toward us inasmuch as we agree on at least 90% of the issues and yet turn around and fall over themselves welcoming the support of Joseph Lieberman whose voting record could barely have been distinguished from Ted Kennedy’s or Barack Obama’s?

Why indeed? Is victory so precious that it must come at the sacrifice of all principle? The Republican Party has far more to fear from those who would cater to Joseph Lieberman than it should ever fear from the Tea Parties and RLC. Adherence to principles has a way of winning in the long run. A fellow named Jesus Christ is one example.

The development of the various Tea Parties and the recent growth of the RLC have been pretty contemporaneous. One common characteristic of all the meetings has been a reverence for The Constitution. Copies are distributed and passages cited regularly.

This is why the collectivists hate us. Whether they are called Democrats, liberals, socialists, fascists, Marxists or outright communists as many should be, they cannot deny the truth of The Constitution and that is their crucial problem. All of their programs are unconstitutional and they know it! That is why they also fear us.

They fear an increasingly informed electorate that is asking questions of the leaders and candidates of both parties. Joe the Plumber was a perfect example.

They also fear things like what happened June 8. Two Tea Party candidates won. In Nevada, In a three-way race, Sharron Angle won the Republican nomination for senator, to face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. One opponent was Danny Tarkanian, the son of the former University of Nevada at Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. He enjoyed terrific name recognition. The other was Sue Lowden, a former state party chairman who had the backing of most Republican regulars. Angle won, going away, with a late surge.

In South Carolina, Nikki Haley, a political neophyte, won the primary for governor but will face a runoff against the runner-up because she didn’t receive the necessary 50%. In the California Senate race, the Tea Party candidate, Chuck Devore, came in a strong third with 17.6% of the vote. Just a few weeks ago, in Kentucky, Dr. Rand Paul, the physician son of Dr. Ron Paul, won the Republican primary for Senate over the endorsed candidate.

Now how quickly the knives come out. Rand Paul has received the equivalent of an alleyway mugging because of his views on some clearly unconstitutional sections of the 1964 Civil Rights Bill that Barry Goldwater voted against for precisely the same reasons. Nikki Haley is being attacked with charges of extramarital affairs; this coming from the party that gave us Ted and John Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Bill Clinton, Barney Frank and Gerry Studds. It will get much, much worse.

Look for the increasing vitriol, nationally, from attack dogs like Stephanie Miller, Frank Rich and Leonard Pitts. Locally, look for more frequent alarms being raised at Jacksonville Progressive Talk Radio, WJSJ, Folio Weekly and other fever swamps of the lunatic left. You see, what they fear isn’t just that we might win. We might not win but then the republic is doomed.

What the Leftists and Republican establishment types fear the most is a public educated about The Constitution. The RLC and Tea Parties must continue to make The Constitution and taxes the battleground. Unlike them, we have nothing to fear from an enlightened public.

An educated public means an electorate that will question the legitimacy of what this gang of thieves began to build, in earnest, nearly a century ago. They have been plundering us since and want an ignorant electorate.

Let us serve this notice on the Democrats and the GOP. We are not going away.

The American War for Independence began over taxes that amounted to less than three percent of the estimated gross domestic product of the time! The debate over freedom emerged from that dispute. We owe the memory and the bloodshed of those original tax rebels no less.

Here in Jacksonville, the First Coast Tea Party hosted their own Tax Day Tea Party on the big day itself, April 15, at the Jacksonville Landing.  It was a nice day to host such an event, and there were plenty of people in attendance.  Estimates put the figure at around 7000, as people filled the Landing to listen to the guest speakers.  The audience was varied: young to old, black and white, members of various political parties.  The speakers were also a good mix, and helped to represent how diverse the tea party movement is.

All of this speaks to why we, as liberty activists, should attend tea parties and get involved in that movement.

The tea party movement represents millions of people who are disenfranchised with the government and both major political parties, and want to show their displeasure.  Unfortunately, most of them have no practical political experience and the most they do is attend an event once or twice a year.

This is where we come in.  While we’d like for these people to get involved, and to direct their displeasure in a meaningful manner, the reality is that they cannot do this without someone helping them to understand how they can best make a difference.  Many lament that the Republican Party seems to be exerting some influence over the tea parties, but that is on our shoulders.  We left a vacuum, and some party officials saw a chance to fill it and direct the energy of their movement for their own motives.

This wouldn’t be possible if more liberty activists got involved.  It’s easy to do.  Simply look up the information for your local tea party group, and get plugged in.  Attend planning meetings, share your ideas.  And, above all, show up at the tea parties!  You can get in touch with all of these people at the source, and introduce them to organizations where they might be able to help fix the government they are unhappy with.  You can invite them to a Republican Liberty Caucus meeting, or to join the Campaign For Liberty online.  You can show them the value of becoming a precinct committeeman/woman at their county’s Republican Executive Committee.  In short, you can provide the direct for them to focus their energy, and ensure that it works toward the goals of liberty and not some political hacks.

There are millions of Americans who don’t like what is going on in our nation right now.  If we don’t get to them and show them how to go about correcting it, someone else will, and chances are, it won’t be someone we want being involved.

Get to them first.  Support your local tea party movement, or at least attend the tea parties, and help grow the ranks of the liberty movement.

And while you’re at it, you can even have a little bit of fun.

(Following are some pictures from Jacksonville’s Tax Day Tea Party.)

Cal Heseman opened with the Patriot’s Pledge, then RLCNEF Chairman John Stevens recognized the guests and gave an overview of the RLCNEF, its mission, values and goals.

In light of the cancellation of Marco Rubio’s appearance, his campaign offered Representative Aaron Bean to be the surrogate speaker on behalf of Rubio. Bean gave a compelling overview of the US Senate race, state and national politics.

Following Bean’s remarks, RLCFL Chairman Will Pitts, was interviewed by Radio Host Doug Kosarek. The interview contained questions pertaining to how an RLC endorsed candidate for the US Senate race might stand on specific policy issues. Chairman Pitts’ remarks were educational, stimulating and enlightening.

At the conclusion of this interview, the audience members were able to ask questions of Chairman Pitts and Representative Bean.

After the forum, three new events coming up for the RLC were introduced. Savannah Poole gave the details for the Members Only Cocktail Party on March 19^th. Mike Durden and Cliff Johnson explained the importance of the upcoming RLCFL Lobby Days in Tallahassee on March 22^nd and 23^rd. Kristi Dunn gave an overview of the Leadership Institute classes for Liberty Activists that will take place at the Four Points by Sheraton on May 1^st and 2^nd.  Information on all three events can be found on the RLCNEF website.

Charlie Shephard spoke about his company Community Advisors, LLC, the sponsor for this month’s meeting.

Chairman Stevens wrapped up by announcing the next regular meeting on April 6th.  At the meeting, there will be a vote on the RLCNEF bylaw revisions, as well as elections to fill the positions of Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer (and any other vacancies on the Board).

Some comments regarding the meeting:

“The meeting was great. I would have loved to hear more from Mr Pitts. He was very informative. I loved the format. At the same time, I liked that John interrupted in the interest of time. It showed that the RLC recognizes that our time is valuable. Over all, I give the meeting 2 thumbs up!” –Lesa Melaugh

“Outstanding format. Will Pitts is such a great communicator.” – Mike Austell

“Thought it was great.  Beautiful place, and I think it is a dynamite place to have your monthly meetings.  Thought, in spite of Rubio canceling, you got a pretty darned decent turn out.  I had a great time and really enjoyed doing the food table thing!  Many very, very nice people, and everyone seemed to enjoy the event.” – Pat McBride

For more information on any of these events please see the RLCNEF Calendar at www.rlcnf.org

Next Board meeting: March 31, 2010, Office of WG Pitts

Next Regular meeting: April 6, 2010, Four Points Sheraton (8520 Baymeadows Rd.)

The efforts of those who attended last November’s nationwide rallies, and the Rallies to Repeal the Federal Reserve in April, helped launch a movement in the nation that has seen Congress shifting closer to passing H.R. 1207, also known as the “Audit the Fed” bill, which will help to expose the corruption within the Federal Reserve, paving way for the eventual passage of H.R. 833.  But we must be ever-vigilant in reminding our elected officials that we want to see some real accountability with our nation’s money supply, so I’m asking you to join me November 22 for this year’s End The Fed rally.

As occurred last year, these rallies are taking place in 38 cities across the nation, including Jacksonville, FL.  We are preparing for this rally, and would be honored to have you stand and march with us.  Invite everyone you know, and bring your signs, your flags, and your spirit.

We’re going to meet up and organize opposite the Federal Reserve building, as we did with the last two rallies.  There’s a special bonus this time in that the Jacksonville Jaguars will be playing a home game that day.  While that means it’ll be a little harder to find parking if you don’t arrive early, it means there will be plenty of people near the Federal Reserve getting ready to head to the game, and later at the Jacksonville Landing, and that will give us an even larger audience.

We are already working with local authorities to make sure that the rally goes smooth, and some of you will recall in April that they were very helpful and respectful.  We’re working some contacts in the media to get some coverage of the event, too.  We’re also working to secure a deal with a restaurant to help everyone have a good affordable place to have lunch after the rally, so you won’t head home on an empty stomach!

All the hard work is already being done, all you have to do is show up, display your support for the cause of sound money, and have a good time.  Of course, if you want to help with the pre-rally setup, we’ll always accept extra help!

If you want more information, or to help in any way, please drop me an email at .

Thank you for your time, and I hope to see many of you there with me on Sunday, November 22!

Erik Setzer

http://www.rlcnef.org

Two attendees of the April ETF rally in Jacksonville show a sign to support the cause.

The rebellion against Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer appears to be coming to a head. As first reported by Gary Fineout of The Fine Print, a number of GOP leaders Florida are demanding a “special emergency closed meeting” of the state party’s executive board.

Read the full story here.

The concept of voting for the lesser of two evils is prevalent in American politics. This is the philosophy that when given two poor choices for elected office, the people vote for a candidate that they think will do the least amount of damage.

After years of supporting the candidate that always seemed to be a choice between the lesser of two evils, I have started to study this philosophy.

A few questions come to mind when thinking about the best way to cast your vote:

Is a vote for the right candidate, which may in the end, not be able to win, a wasted vote?

Or is a wasted vote one that is cast for someone that you do not believe in, and will not be the right leader for the country or state?

I have found that the ‘lesser of two evils’ philosophy is fundamentally flawed. When a voter chooses to vote for ‘evil’ it is still evil. Regardless of which of the two they vote for- they are still choosing a candidate that is inadequate for the job

When one of the options is considered the lesser or the greater evil, either choice will be to the detriment of the Country.

When we as citizens cast our vote for the lesser of two evils, what we are basically saying to the candidates is that we support them. The politicians know this, and the parties know this. They do not need to offer other alternatives because the majority will make the choice for the lesser evil, and they can then continue with business as usual.

The ultimate conclusion that I have reached is that when I am presented with two bad choices, I am not going to vote for the choice I think is “less bad”. Evil is evil, a bad choice is a bad choice. One might be slightly better than the other, but in the end they’re both going to do more harm than good. By following this school of thought – that there is a lesser evil – I would be giving into a false dichotomy.

A common response to this conclusion is that there is no such thing as a perfect candidate and therefore at the end of the day pragmatism should win out to idealism. Political pragmatism has its merit as long as decisions are always made from a fundamental set of core principles that are never compromised. Everyone must have a line that cannot be crossed. For example, if you believe that an elected official who supports/votes for authority outside that which is authorized in the Constitution should never be elected, then that is a line that cannot be crossed even in the name of pragmatism.   Each voter needs to know where their line is before determining who they will or will not vote for.

Another common counter argument to not voting for the lesser of two evils is that you have to make a choice when given two poor options, because third party candidates are simply not viable. But as I began to study this philosophy I had a realization: The reality is if all the Americans that felt that they were choosing between two evils, refused to vote for the lesser evil choice, and instead voted for a third party, a third party would likely have a viable chance at winning the election.

With this in mind, in the future, I will encourage voters to break away from the mindset of voting for the lesser evil. I suspect this is the majority of Americans. Not only is this mindset a flawed way of thinking, it degrades our country and slows progress.  If we ever want true change, voters need to wake up and stop voting for more of the same. We need to stop voting for the status quo!

By: Kristi Dunn

CTDC is one of the groups we partner with on local fiscal issues.

Be sure to turn in and tell all your friends who are new to the RLC.

The video should be up on CTDC’s website soon!

http://www.jaxtaxpayers.org/multimedia/

An explanation is given to the differences between the RLC and the Duval County REC especially when it concerns mayor Peyton’s three new taxes and his proposed property tax increase.

Kimberly Wells has been an active and founding member within the Republican Liberty Caucus of North East Florida. She currently holds the office of Vice Chairman of the RLCNEF board. She led the way in creating our web presence on both meetup.com and our new independent website, www.RLCNEF.org. She has created the bulk of our business graphics, documents, and brochures.

Kimberly is a successful entrepreneur and works within various aspects the web-presence industry. She has three children, and her significant other, Buck Wright, is also an active member who currently acts as Treasurer of our regional board.

She has been active within the Duval County Republican Executive Committee, and competed in a tough race for Duval County State Committeewoman. She has worked with various campaigns as a consultant for their web presence.

Will Pitts is the founding Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida and is now the current State Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida. He is the CEO of W.G. Pitts Construction, husband to Susan Pitts and father of four children.

Will’s work in this movement began in the summer of 2007 when he joined a small group of 20 to 25 people who, like him, felt compelled to do more than talk about the erosion of freedom and liberty that has been occurring in our country.   He has never let up since.

Over the past year Will has…

1.    Continued to open his personal business (during tough economic times) as a headquarters where activists continually meet & organize to further the cause of liberty.

2.    Traveled all over the state of Florida at his own expense to further the cause of liberty.

3.    Was elected State Chairman of the RLC of Florida in March

4.    Has written and delivered numerous informative and inspiring speeches on the subject of liberty.

5.    Endured unfair personal character assaults due to his unwavering commitment to further the cause of liberty – even when it requires going against popular opinion.

Will is a man of ideas and solutions who continually inspires those around him to fight for the cause of liberty.