Please join our team of dedicated activists to take our country back. We will focus our political activism primarily on local politics. We will influence state and federal legislation through emails, calls and petitions; but, taking back our local governments is a necessity for true representation. This is how we can Save our Republic.
Local Grassroots Development
◊ Become a C4L Local Coordinator
Take ownership of the Campaign for Liberty and its place in politics by paying your annual dues. Then, become a local coordinator. This crucial step allows for you to receive grassroots training; which provides an opportunity to understand your local political landscape while teaching you how to win. This is accessible through the dashboard of all local coordinators.
◊ Attend Meetings
Attend local political parties, school boards, water boards, city/town councils, etc... . Place your meeting's information on your county calendar on this C4L website and the Campaign For Liberty in Alabama local website www.alc4l.org
◊ Dress for Success
It never hurts to be the best dressed in the room, but it does to be the worst dressed
◊ Leave controversial issues that will marginalize you at the door
Do not discuss issues that have little or no relevance to governance or local issues
◊ Be professional and respectful
What you say or do as a representative of Campaign for Liberty is a reflection of the organization.
◊ Get the local C4L members to attend with you
Be successful in encouraging C4L members and friends to attend your meeting. Begin by attending yourself and reporting back to C4L with a blog. Blogs are read by a lot of people and your encouraging words will persuade others to do the same. Email and call to remind members about meeting time and place
◊ Get to know your local issues
Recognize the leaders in the room, and get to know them on a personal level through personal conversation. Recognize local issues that you have in common, like taxes, property rights, civil liberties, water issues, etc..., and develop alliances with members
◊ Organize political activities around local issues
Be a leader and organize political activities around these common local issues . Walk your local streets with informational flyers, about these local issues, have informational booths at farmer's markets and community events. Report back your success to the members of your meetings, write a blog and tell C4L about it.
If you are active in a political party work for it, find those issues and candidates that your can agree with and focus your political activities on them. You will earn the respect and trust of the established local party leadership for your organizing. Work harder then anyone.
◊ Influence your local governance
Be your local political activists for the cause of Liberty. When there are local issues, be known as the group that is willing to hit the streets and make a real difference. When ever there is an issue of importance, let the local establishment know that there will be local grassroots organizing. With a few local victories, you will have successfully influenced your local governance. With influencing local politics, you have established yourself as a local leader, your neighbors and friends will expect you to have information about local issues. You will be expected to lead. You are now a political leader. This is the key
Should you become the precinct walkers and political activists of your local party, you will have real influence on party politics. The local party can only mobilize on issues that are in alignment with you and Liberty.
◊ A true leader makes more leaders
Encourage others to do the same. Find the other "go getters" and encourage them to organize in their local districts. Compare notes with them, on what works and what doesn't work. Learn from each others mistakes to build and forge stronger relationships.
A Local Coordinator is a volunteer who is willing to go door to door in their precinct or neighborhood regarding an issue that affects their neighborhood. The times that people will go door to door are generally prior to an election to hand out information on candidates or issue that will be on the ballot, when there is a community or neighborhool issue that you want to raise awareness about, or just a neighborhood bar-b-que. Local Coordinators are the most valuable people to make a change in elections. There are 180,000 precincts in the country and if we can get 180,000 people who are willing to be Local Coordinators it will be very easy to make a difference in elections.
For instance, if your county has 30 precincts and you have 25-50 people who agree on something that have stepped up to be Local Coordinators it is very easy to get information to people. We all are aware of the problems with the talking box (aka television) and newspapers. Many times they give an opinions and not facts but the people who watch or read them seem to think that they are seeing or hearing facts.
Let's use the example of a new road. If a county wants to put in a new road for the benefit of a company in a neighboring county the currently elected county officials discuss it and how much it will cost. There are usually a few articles in the local paper about it and maybe a talking head will mention it once or twice. The request for the funding is put on the municipal ballot and people are asked to vote for or against it. Just how much information do the voters really have about the issue? Because this is not really a partisan issue the republican and democratic precinct leaders are probably not going to do any canvassing of their precincts to provide information to the people. Republican and Democratic precinct leaders mainly canvass to keep or get back their party's power or dominance.
If there were liberty minded Local Coordinators who would go door to door with information regarding the project the voters would be better informed. Maybe provide a copy of the budget for the highway that shows where the county intends to get the funds from, information that shows the layout of the proposed road, information about who benefits the most from the road, and information about what property the county will intend to take through emininent domain for the project. This information is needed by voters to make informed decisions and they are not going to get it from partisan parties so it us up to us, We The People. The Local Coordinator would also remind people when the election day was and maybe even offer to provide a ride for their neighbors who don't drive.
The Campaign For Liberty Local Coordinator program has great tools and teaching programs to help people learn about their precinct. While not necessary they are EXTEMELY helpful as you learn how many voters you have, how many people vote in the general election verses the municipal elections, which way your neighborhood generally votes, etc. As an active Local Coordinator your neighbors will start to look to you as a source of information after you have canvassed your area a few times. They will recognize you and most are happy that someone has stepped up and is willing to provide them with information that they don't get from the talking box or dying newspapers.
How many of you walked your neighborhood to hand out information regarding Ron Paul? If you could walk your neighborhood to give out information regarding the presidential elections why can't you walk your neighborhood to give out information regarding local issues that directly affect you and your neighbors? To restore constitutional principles to our country we must to restore order to our local governing bodies. To make our voices heard we must stand together. As we work on our local areas as a Local Coordinator we can and will re-awaken the spirit of our country and remind people that what made our country great was less government, not more. Local elections are extremely important to fix the foundation of our government.
Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. You can message me here if your are logged into the Campaign For Liberty site or here if you are not a member yet. The R3volution continues with people taking action.
Robyn Hamlin MO CD 1 Interim MO State Co-Coordinator
There is a familiar saying, "Money makes the world go around." Without money, one cannot purchase the things needed to survive. Americans depend upon money for such things as food, shelter, clothing, recreation and transportation. Money is misunderstood by most Americans to be the green slips of paper carried in their wallets and purses. In reality, today's money is an illusion because it has no intrinsic value of it's own and its purchasing power can be manipulated in ways that do substantial damage to the economy of a nation and in many cases, to the economy of the world.
So what is money? To put it in simple terms, money serves as a medium of exchange for the acquisition of goods and services. Though this is a correct explanation of money, it leaves much to be desired in fully understanding what money is. Perhaps the best way to define money could be to explore the origin and role of money first.
Long ago, before money existed, people had to trade what they had on hand for things that they needed. This simple arrangement of trading goods for other goods, a barter system, was used throughout antiquity. What is important to note about the barter system is that the goods being exchanged for other goods had an inherent value to both parties involved. Neither party involved in the barter lost value in the deal. As a matter of fact, both parties were winners in the barter because both parties received what they needed, when they needed it.
Sadly, the barter system of exchange is not exactly the best way of getting what one needs by using what one has on hand. A person who owns a hat but needs a basketball may not be able to find someone who would be willing to trade their basketball for a hat (Woods, 2009). Money finds its origin in the need for people to overcome this inherent weakness of the barter system.
To overcome the weaknesses of the barter system, people began to utilize items that could serve as a medium of exchange. These items were the first examples of money and were often based on specific quantities or weights of precious metals like gold and silver. Money that has its intrinsic value based on things like gold and silver are called 'commodity currency' because both gold and silver are commodities. There are no hard rules about what commodities can be used to back a currency. Virtually any commodity can be used as a backing for currency. Other examples of commodities that have historically backed currency are platinum, land holdings, cotton, and copper.
To truly be money, it must be able to perform the three basic functions of money. It must serve as a medium of exchange, it must serve as a store of value, and it must function as a standard of value (Melicher, 2008). As a medium of exchange, money is something that people are willing to accept in exchange for the goods or services they have for sale. As a store of value, money is something that can be spent immediately after it is received or spent some time after it has been received, without losing the spending power it had at the time it was received. As a standard of value, money is the means by which the terms of prices and costs are defined (Melicher, 2008). For example, for purchases in the United States of America, both prices and debts are defined as being in dollars.
In the early days of colonial America, money was strictly understood in terms of gold or silver. People were willing to accept silver or gold specie, a technical term for actual gold or silver metal, usually in the form of coins, in exchange for goods and services. The people liked the arrangement because said money had intrinsic value and held that value over time. During the war of American independence, the Continental Congress, needing to make payroll for the soldiers and also in need of guns, ships and other supplies, began to issue paper money, backed by nothing, to meet their demand.
So attractive was the ability to print money that did not require gold or silver backing, the Continental Congress turned the printing presses on and forgot how to shut them off, literally flooding the economy with worthless money. It was during this time that the dangers of non-commodity backed currency, also known as "fiat" currency came to light.
The soldiers and merchants that were expected to accept this currency refused to do so because they knew that it lacked value. In other words, they would not accept it because nobody else would be willing to accept it from them when it came time for them to make purchases (Maybury, 2000). The Continental dollars failed at meeting the three requirements of being money.
When the War for Independence ended and the time came to write the Constitution, which established this republic, the founders demonstrated that they had learned their lesson and placed the requirement that debts could only be paid by tendering gold or silver (Maybury, 2000). "The U.S. Congress adopted the dollar as the standard monetary ... Shortly thereafter, it created standards for the dollar in both grains of pure silver and grains of pure gold. All gold and silver coins were to be full-bodied money, meaning that the metal content was worth the same as the face values of the coins. After passage of the National Banking Act in 1863, paper money, fully backed by a precious metal, that would serve as an acceptable medium of exchange was finally issued and circulated successfully." (Melicher, 2008)
As time passed, the hard learned lesson about fiat currency must have been forgotten, because two centuries later, the currency that the United States uses no longer has a backing of gold or silver. The transition began near the turn of the twentieth century with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and reached the ultimate conclusion in 1963 when the final traces of commodity backed currency slipped quietly away with the introduction of the modern day 'Federal Reserve' notes. Now, the money in circulation is only a phantom of currency.
If one were to study a dollar bill for a moment or two, the truth about money is quickly revealed. Along the top of every denomination of currency used in the United States, one will find the term "Federal Reserve Note." Another important feature, also found on the front of every denomination of currency is the phrase, "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." The key word in both the term and the phrase previously mentioned is "note." But what is a note?
A note is an instrument of debt. In more precise terms, a note is a legal document that indicates the amount of debt owed by one party to another party. The Federal Reserve notes that the general public uses as money, are actually pieces of paper indicating that the government of the United States is indebted to the Federal Reserve banks. For every dollar bill in circulation or on deposit in a bank somewhere, the government of the United States owes a dollar to the Federal Reserve banks. If the government of the United States were to repay all the debt owed to the Federal Reserve banks, there would be no "money" to circulate, because the notes would have been redeemed and taken out of circulation.
A quick primer on money creation, simplified for brevity, hopefully will help to remove any confusion that most Americans have about this subject. The United States government needs money for things like salaries, war making, social programs and the like. Just like anyone else who needs money, the government goes to the bank to borrow it. They have to borrow the money because the law of the United States forbids the government from printing money that is not backed by gold or silver.
To borrow money from the bank, the government issues what are known as bonds, as a form of collateral, to the Federal Reserve banks, which in turn, deposit the amount of the bonds, into the bank account of the government. In other words, the government makes a promise to repay what it is borrowing by issuing the bond and the Federal Reserve creates the notes, which look like money, for the government's financial needs. Where did the money come from that the Federal Reserve put into the government bank account? It was created out of thin air by the issuance of the bond by the government. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago makes the point clearly in their publication entitled Modern Money Mechanics, "Then, bankers discovered that they could make loans merely by giving their promises to pay, or bank notes, to borrowers. In this way, banks began to create money." (Chicago, 2002) The Federal Reserve banks loan the United States government this money, backed only by the potential that the United States government can assess taxes upon the people to provide what is otherwise called the "full faith and credit of the United States" as collateral.
Some have the understanding that the Federal Reserve System is a part of the government of the United States. This is not the case. The Federal Reserve is no more a part of the federal government than is the company Federal Express. The Federal Reserve is an independent cartel of banks that operate for the purposes of profit and are excluded from audits by the government of the United States. It is by no means a part of the government. It just happens to be the primary source of funding for the government.
What makes the phantom currency of Federal Reserve notes function like money? The notes do not represent value, but rather debt. How can debt be spent to obtain goods and services? The answer lies in the phrase "legal tender" found on all Federal Reserve notes. Americans are legally required to accept the Federal Reserve notes (the government's debt) as a payment of debts. If someone is not willing to accept the payment of debts using Federal Reserve notes, the debt is cancelled and void. This means that if someone owes you money and you refuse to accept payment in the form of Federal Reserve notes, they cease to owe you money any longer. It also means that merchants are forced to accept these Federal Reserve notes as payment for their goods and services (Maybury, 2000). The desire to collect on an owed debt is motivation enough for a creditor to accept these notes as payment on the debt.
Finally, the issue of scarcity must be revisited. The characteristic which gives gold and silver specie their value is the scarcity of those metals. There is only a finite amount of gold and silver that has been mined and refined for use as currency and turning on a printing press cannot create more gold or silver. Paper money, on the other hand, can be printed without ceasing, making it easily obtained and therefore significantly less valuable. As more paper fiat money is printed, its value declines. Most Americans have heard previous generations state that a dollar does not buy what it used to. This loss of value over time, known as inflation, is the primary reason behind fiat currency failing one of the three primary functions of money. Fiat currency, because it loses its value over time, cannot fulfill the function of being a store of value.
For example, if one were to sell an item for five dollars six months ago, that person would have to spend more than five dollars to purchase that same item today. Gold and silver on the other hand, have held their value for millennia. This is why gold and silver are the only true forms of money. They meet all three functions of money and are expected to do so in the foreseeable future.
It is only by the force of law that fiat notes have any form of value. These notes are not money, but only an illusion of it.
As long as Americans allow the monetary system of this republic to be manipulated by the banking cartel known as the Federal Reserve, the spending power of the dollar will continue to spiral downward and the theft of our hard earned money through inflation will continue to be the rule.
Americans must demand that the real money the Constitution of the United States requires be returned to circulation immediately and the artificial currency of Federal Reserve notes be removed from circulation forever.
Despite the lack of oversight at its inception, and the corruption that likely continued through its distribution, the federal TARP-Troubled Assets Relief Program has had its life extended by the Obama administration.
The $700-billion bailout fund, which was set to expire at year's end, will now end in October. The news comes as a government audit finds the program lost $41.4 billion in the last fiscal year. More...
We are just now beginning to get a clearer picture of the waste, fraud, and abuse that has already occurred in the program with the help of an independent audit investigation.
This brings to mind the Federal Reserve. The TARP program has only existed for one year, and under extreme circumstances. After nearly a century of secrecy and no accountability, who knows what will be uncovered when there finally is a complete audit of the Fed. We need to Audit the Fed now!
Nov. 22 marked the 46th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Before his death he signed executive order 11110 to unburden Americans from relying on the Federal Reserve System to print our dollars. This order returned our money to a stable silver-based standard. Only a few billion of the new silver certificates were ever released before President Johnson stopped the issuance.
Since then, politicians have been able to bilk Americans because of an unending piggy bank at the Federal Reserve. Our government Treasury prints bonds, which it sends to the privately owned Federal Reserve System. The private Federal Reserve System issues dollar bills, which are debts that have interest payable by Americans. The compound interest on these bills was so destructive that it bankrupted our country with a Great Depression.
The Federal Reserve is once again bankrupting our country. Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and his supporters have managed to gather more than 310 congressmen to fully audit the Federal Reserve System for the first time in its existence. Over 30 U.S. Senators have signed on in support of S604 as well. Unfortunately, Senators Shelby and Sessions are not among them. Why?
In its report, GM initially said the $88 million it had received to date for 5,279 vehicles shipped was responsible for creating or retaining more than 105 jobs.
But the company told the Free Press last week that, as was the case with the other automakers, employment actually “remained static” and the order was incorporated into regular production.
“The government asked us to attach a number of employees to fulfill the order,” said GM spokesman Greg Martin.
Translation: No jobs created.
Which is just a drop in the "phantom jobs" bucket. It's funny how the Obama administration says the federal stimulus bill has created or saved 640,329 jobs so far, yet unemployment continues to rise (10.2% reported in October). Read more about phantom jobs here if you like.
Didn't vote on co-sponsoring HR 2194: Expanding Economic War with Iran [More info]
House of Representatives
Mr. Jo Bonner AL-1st (R)
2236 RHOB Washington, DC 20515-0101 DC Phone: 202-225-4931 DC Fax: 202-225-0562 [Website] [Contact]
1302 North McKenzie Street Foley, AL, 36535 251-943-2073 251-943-2093
11 North Water Street Suite 1529 Mobile, AL, 36609 251-690-2811 251-690-2815
Voted against HR 1: ["The Scamulus Package"] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Voted against HR 1388: ["Obama's Camps"] Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act [More info]
Voted against HR 2847: Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes [More info]
Voted for co-sponsoring HR 1207: The Federal Reserve Transparency Act [More info]
Voted against HR 1256: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act [More info]
Voted against HR 2346: 2009 $106B War Supplemental [More info]
Voted against HR 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 [More info]
Voted against H.R. 3435: Another $2 billion for clunkers [More info]
Voted against HR 2749: Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009
Voted against HR 2647: Imperialism Authorization Act of 2010 / Hate Crimes Creation Act [More info]
Voted for HR 4061: Cybersecurity Act of 2009 [More info]
Voted for co-sponsoring HR 2194: Expanding Economic War with Iran [More info]
Ms. Martha Roby AL-2nd (R) (freshman)
414 CHOB Washington, DC 20515-0102 DC Phone: 202-225-2901 DC Fax: 202-225-8913 [Website] [Contact]
22 Monroe Street Suite 1-B Montgomery, AL, 36104
217 Graceland Drive Suite 5 Dothan, AL, 36305 334-794-9680 334-671-1480
City Hall 505 East Three Notch Street #322 Andalusia, AL, 36420 334-428-1129 334-222-3342
Mr. Mike Rogers AL-3rd (R)
324 CHOB Washington, DC 20515-0103 DC Phone: 202-225-3261 DC Fax: 202-226-8485 [Website] [Contact]
1129 Noble Street Suite 104 Anniston, AL, 36201 256-236-5655 256-237-9203
1819 Pepperell Parkway Suite 203 Opelika, AL, 36801 334-745-6221 334-742-0109
Voted against HR 1: ["The Scamulus Package"] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Voted against HR 1388: ["Obama's Camps"] Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act [More info]
Voted for co-sponsoring HR 1207: The Federal Reserve Transparency Act [More info]
Voted for HR 1256: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act [More info]
Voted against HR 2346: 2009 $106B War Supplemental [More info]
Voted against HR 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 [More info]
Voted for H.R. 3435: Another $2 billion for clunkers [More info]
Voted for HR 4061: Cybersecurity Act of 2009 [More info]
Voted against HR 2749: Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009
Voted against HR 2647: Imperialism Authorization Act of 2010 / Hate Crimes Creation Act [More info]
Voted for co-sponsoring HR 2194: Expanding Economic War with Iran [More info]
Voted against HR 2847: Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes [More info]
Mr. Robert B. Aderholt AL-4th (R)
2264 RHOB Washington, DC 20515-0104 DC Phone: 202-225-4876 DC Fax: 202-225-5587 [Website] [Contact]
Federal Building 600 Broad Street Suite 107 Gadsden, AL, 35901-3745 256-546-0201 256-546-8778
Morgan County Courthouse 302 Lee Street NE PO Box 668 Decatur, AL, 35602 256-350-4093 256-350-5056
Carl Elliott Federal Building 1710 Alabama Avenue Room 247 Jasper, AL, 35501-5400 205-221-2310 205-221-9035
Voted against HR 1: ["The Scamulus Package"] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Voted against HR 1388: ["Obama's Camps"] Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act [More info]
Voted for co-sponsoring HR 1207: The Federal Reserve Transparency Act [More info]
Voted against HR 1256: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act [More info]
Voted against HR 2346: 2009 $106B War Supplemental [More info]
Voted against HR 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 [More info]
Voted for HR 4061: Cybersecurity Act of 2009 [More info]
Voted for H.R. 3435: Another $2 billion for clunkers [More info]
Voted against HR 2749: Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009
Voted against HR 2647: Imperialism Authorization Act of 2010 / Hate Crimes Creation Act [More info]
Voted for co-sponsoring HR 2194: Expanding Economic War with Iran [More info]
Voted against HR 2847: Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes [More info]
Mr. Mo Brooks AL-5th (R) (freshman)
1641 LHOB Washington, DC 20515-0105 DC Phone: 202-225-4801 DC Fax: 202-225-4392 [Website] [Contact]
302 Lee Street Room 86 Decatur, AL, 35601 256-355-9400 256-355-9406
2101West Clinton Avenue Suite 302 Huntsville, AL, 35805 256-551-0190 256-551-0194
1011 George Wallace Boulevard Tuscumbia, AL, 35674 256-381-3450
Mr. Spencer Bachus AL-6th (R)
2246 RHOB Washington, DC 20515-0106 DC Phone: 202-225-4921 DC Fax: 202-225-2082 [Website] [Contact]
1900 International Park Drive Suite 107 Birmingham, AL, 35243 205-969-2296 205-969-3958
703 2nd Avenue North PO Box 502 Clanton, AL, 35046 205-280-0704 205-280-3060
Voted against HR 1: ["The Scamulus Package"] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Voted for restoring the gutted HR1207: The Federal Reserve Transparency Act [More info]
Voted for HR 1388: ["Obama's Camps"] Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act [More info]
Voted for co-sponsoring HR 1207: The Federal Reserve Transparency Act [More info]
Voted for HR 1256: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act [More info]
Voted for HR 4061: Cybersecurity Act of 2009 [More info]
Voted against HR 2346: 2009 $106B War Supplemental [More info]
Voted against HR 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 [More info]
Didn't vote on H.R. 3435: Another $2 billion for clunkers [More info]
Voted against HR 2749: Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009
Voted against HR 2647: Imperialism Authorization Act of 2010 / Hate Crimes Creation Act [More info]
Voted for co-sponsoring HR 2194: Expanding Economic War with Iran [More info]
Voted against HR 2847: Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes [More info]
Ms. Terri A. Sewell AL-7th (D) (freshman)
1133 LHOB Washington, DC 20515-0107 DC Phone: 202-225-2665 DC Fax: 202-226-9567 [Website] [Contact]
300 Washington Street Marion, AL, 36756 334-683-2157 334-683-2201
300 Washington Street Marion, AL, 36756 334-683-2157 334-683-2201
2 20 Street North Suite 1130 Birmingham, AL, 35203 205-254-1960 205-254-1974
186 Field of Dreams Drive Demopolis, AL, 36732 334-287-0860 334-877-4489
UWA Station 40 Webb Hall 236-237 205 N. Washington Street Livingston, AL, 35470 205-652-5834 205-652-5935
Federal Building 908 Alabama Avenue Suite 112 Selma, AL, 36701 334-877-4414 334-877-4489
Campaign for Liberty is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization which neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office and claims no responsibility for the actions of individuals or groups of individuals who use the Campaign for Liberty logo or name or who may claim to act as representatives of the Campaign for Liberty without prior written consent of the Campaign for Liberty. [?]