Posted by Terry McCall on 04/28/09 9:30 PM Last updated 04/29/09 11:39 AM [Newer: Campaign for Liberty - Meeting Minutes - August 5, 2009] [Older: C4L Meeting Minutes - 2-12-09]

What an honor to be among patriots.  Today we met with Mike Osskopp District Director for Rep John Kline.  We had preambled the meeting with several contacts to the Minnesota staff:  1.  Early this Saturday an email requesting a meeting on HR1207.  2.  A phone conversation with staff yesterday AM explaining that we would be bringing in petitions and several constituents in support of the bill.  3.  An email this AM to staff listing who likely would join us.  4.  An email at 12PM to Mike Osskopp with details on the bill including current co-sponsors, and that more people may spontaneously show up for our 2PM meeting.  I ended the email to the District Director with, "It would be great to hear from you today that John has signed on to HR 1207". 

12 Patriots showed up for our 1:30 PM planning meeting.  We went in to meet with Mike Osskopp at 1:55.  We all crowded into his office.  The first words out of Mike's mouth, "John has signed on as a co-sponsor to HR 1207!"  We had a good rousing discussion about the Bail out vote, the Farm Bill, and following the Constitution (Thank you Michael Nietzel for your courage!).  The meeting ended with the District Director asking us to keep him particularly informed about legislation that we feel strong about since he is with the Congressman every weekend that he is home.  Osskopp can educate the Congressman like no other.

I want to thank Mike Osskopp for his efforts, staffer Brooke Dorobiala for setting up the meeting, Rep Kline's DC staff for quickly reviewing the materials and getting it to the Congressman promply with a yes recommendation.  On our end thank you to everyone in CD2 who signed Petitions and got them to me before the meeting.  Very special thanks to Rep. John Kline for signing on and to the following men who joined in the effort today.

Tom Dippel - HD57A, Trevor Johnson - SD40,  Ayrlahn Johnson - HD40A, Francis Klinkner - SD37, Chuck Devaney - HD35, Mike Overland - CD5 (HR 1207 Coordinator), Michael Neitzel - SD38, Bryan Mork - SD35, Leon Moe - SD57, Jeff Miner - SD 35

(And, I'm sorry I know that I am missing someone)

Who said that Petitions don't mean much?  We had a stack of nearly 60 of them that we left with the Congressional staff.  Having developed a relationship with the Congressional staff doesn't hurt either.  Having done the work we earned the right to effect change.  Kudos to Marianne Stebbins our State Coordinator and to the other MN CD Coordinators for your support.  Thanks to Jesse, Debbie, Deb, and all at C4L HQ.  This is your victory too.

 PS:  We focused on 'Hard Republicans' as C4L HQ suggested for our Petitions.  These are people who have fought the battles, got elected to a party position whether State Central Delegate, local BPOU leader, or regular delegate or alternate.  These folks' names mean more to GOP elected officials than just the average person on the street.  As HQ explained 'hard Republicans' have 100 to 1 impact vs any name.

Regards,                    

Terry McCall

MN CD2 C4L

Coordinator

Posted 04/28/09 8:23 PM Tom in MN Hastings, MN

Thanks Terry for all the hard work.

Posted 04/28/09 8:29 PM DebbieHopper Fenton, MO

Isn't it amazing what a dozen 12 patriots can do by being faithful, polite, and showing up. Congrats, Terry! Well done, brother!

Posted 04/28/09 8:46 PM Heather D Port Byron, IL

Wonderful! I can't wait to hear how many more decided to cosponsor as a result of today's actions.

Posted 04/28/09 9:16 PM Jonathan Kovaciny Mankato, MN

Great job, Terry! We've got half of Minnesota on board already now, right?

Posted 04/28/09 9:26 PM ndillon Plymouth, MN

Great job, Terry! You know, that kind of leadership, hard work, coordination and courtesy would be a great asset to the entire state of Minnesota... CD2 C4L rocks!

Posted 04/28/09 9:32 PM mstebbins Excelsior, MN

Terry makes us all so proud! He's been working on Kline in various ways from Day One. Jon, you deserve big kudos too. I can't believe what lengths you went to get petition signers. Walz is the next to come on in MN. I bet on it. And CD5 went gangbusters on this with Mike Overland in the lead. Mike says Ellison will at least vote this out of committee. CD 3 (Norann), CD 6 (David) and CD 7 (Craig, Ken and Jim) already have their congressmen on board, and CDs 4 and 8 are the toughest nuts of all to crack for this bill. Everyone picked up the ball and ran with this. But again, Terry, you absolutely ROCK!

Posted 04/28/09 9:54 PM tomdippel cottage grove, MN

Terry did a great job organizing and communicating! Michael Nietzel made some great points about the Constitution as well. All around it was a great experience and a great outcome.

Posted 04/28/09 9:58 PM MarilyninLakeJackson Lake Jackson, TX

Great work, Terry and group. Lots of good reports coming in today.

Posted 04/28/09 11:06 PM Ryan.Gaba New Lenox, IL

Great job!

Posted 04/28/09 11:35 PM Tom Leser Melbourne, FL

Great job!

Posted 04/29/09 12:34 AM jll62 Shakopee, MN

Well done everyone! This is great news. Perhaps this will open some doors for us with the Kline staffers and help to keep the Congressman aligned more closely with that little thing called the Constitution. We need to keep applying the pressure on all things related to the economy and monetary policy as his voting record and comments to constituents show that he's definitely out of his element when it comes to those topics.

Posted 04/29/09 12:44 PM Champion Of Liberty Pembroke Pines, FL

All of you hard work is so very inspiring to me you guys. I am currently brainstorming about getting people together in my district to work on our Congresswoman Wasserman-Schultz in the 14th district of Florida. How are you guys organizing?

Posted 05/01/09 12:16 PM Terry McCall Burnsville, MN

All thank your for your kind words. Champion Of Liberty. 1. We started with our CD C4L email list and sent them Petitions to sign and have others sign. 2. We went to places where we knew our people would be and got them to sign ("End the Fed Rally"; Liberty dinner featuring Dr Rand Paul). 3. We followed up with CD folks requesting people to come to the Congressman's office for our meeting on Tuesday. 4. We had signers indicate their position in the Party (i.e. Hard Republicans)to give us more credibility with the Congressional Staff. 5. We asked Party officers (e.g. GOP CD Chair) to help us, even though she is not a Ron Paul person. We have developed a relationship with her by helping candidates and working within the Party (e.g. I took on the Campaign Mgr role for a non-Ron Paul candidate who needed help last fall). 6. I kept the Congressman's Executive Director informed by sending him a copy of HR1207 and who the co-sponsors were before our meeting. No one wants to look stupid. 7. We met with our supporters (12) before the meeting Tuesday so that they knew what had been done and what to expect. Hope this helps. Terry

Posted 05/15/09 4:45 PM ethricplane chaska, MN

Thanks for your work. Now lets have a Tax Strike and get something done.