1,462 people in Pasco County voted for Ron Paul in the Republican Presidential Preference on January 29th, 2008. If we can locate and encourage those people to join C4L and become active in the C4L mission, we can be a powerful political force for liberty in our county, state, and nation.
We will be looking for all our members to become active by contributing ideas and involvement in this great cause. Please contact James Moore with your input.
House Republicans - Spencer Bachus, Scott Garrett, Jeb Hensarling, Edward Royce, Joe Barton, Judy Biggert, Shelley Moore Capito, Sam Graves, Darrell Issa, Frank Lucas, Lamar Smith
The Congressmen in BOLD are not cosponsors of H.R. 1207 or S. 604 (they've been linked directly to their contact forms). There is still time to lobby this committee to let them know 80% of Americans want an audit of the fed! Contact members of the conference committee today and let them know you support the Paul/Grayson amendment to audit the fed.
Description: The staff of U.S. Senator Bill Nelson will help answer your questions and listen to your concerns regarding issues affecting Florida in the U.S. Congress.
Date: 8/19/2009 Start Time: 4:00 PM End Time: 5:30 PM
2902 West Bearss Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33618
Phone 813-273-3652 Library: Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library Location: Room 1
Questions were asked by Pasco County C4L members [in order]: Catherine Maentanis, James Moore, and Jenna Moore. The questions they asked were developed as a tool for vetting candidates. Questions and answers [that are in this video] are below.
Catherine Maentanis: What is your understanding of the legitimate and proper role of government as stated in our declaration of independence and constitution, and can you identify what those roles or that role is for the government?
Marco Rubio: It's basically to do for us what we can't do for ourselves, and that means, like we can't build roads for ourselves. You know, we can't fight a war, so the government's job has to be to fight our war and protect our country. In the modern era, got more complicated, so there are more things that the government has to do like regulate Internet stuff, or you know, a banking system by and large. But, mostly the role of government is to create the rule of law and enforce that rule of law so that individuals can go out into the marketplace and provide for themselves and their families and pursue their dreams. That's simplistic, but that's really the role of government. The role of government is to protect our rights, that's the role of government is to protect our rights and to create laws and systems where our rights are protected and to do for us only those things we cannot do for ourselves. It's not to create jobs. The role of government is not to create jobs, it's not to grow or stimulate the economy. I wish it were, by the way, I really do. I wish the government could stimulate the economy. I wish that by passing laws and spending money, government could stimulate the economy and create jobs. You know why I wish that? Because that's a lot easier than having to get up in the morning at 5:00 o'clock and open your business. That's a lot easier than having to work 7 days a week for 20 years. It would be easier if the President could just wave his magic presidential wand and create jobs and opportunity. But the fundamental truth is that the only thing that really creates jobs and prosperity is the willingness of people to dream and then work hard in pursuit of their dreams and to risk things in pursuit of those dreams. And that's why America is the only society, quite frankly, in human history where a billionaire can be put out of business by someone born into poverty because the person born into poverty has a better idea works harder and before you know it, the billionaire is out of business. That's a great thing. That's only possible in a country where the government doesn't pick the winners and the losers. And that's what's wrong with stimulus spending. Stimulus dollars go to people who (applause, covers audio).
James Moore: I saw an interview of Newt Gingrich where he said that he called for covert operations, for the US to engage in covert operations to destroy the only oil refinery in Iran that is capable of producing gasoline in the country, and the intent was, in that destruction to generate regime change to one that's going to be more friendly to the United States. I'd like you to comment on that as a foreign policy, whether you would support that kind of foreign policy or would you oppose it, and explain to us why?
Marco Rubio: Well, when we talk about national defense, I always preface it by telling you that there are things we don't know. And I would even say that about the President. There are things that Presidents and key leaders in the Congress know that you and I don't and so, you know, if we knew, maybe we would have a different opinion, so that's always important to recognize. I do think this, I think the world is a safer place when America has the strongest military on the planet. And the reason why I believe that is because America is pretty much the only powerful military in human history that has not used it's power to conquer land and grow it's territory, I mean, let's be fair, perhaps during the era of manifest destiny, but certainly not in the modern era, certainly not in the last hundred years. American doesn't invade Iraq because it wants to turn Iraq into a colony. America isn't going to Afghanistan because it wants to make Afghanistan a colony. America by and large, sends it's young men and women off to die on foreign battlefields almost always for other peoples' freedom and for freedom around the world. So when we, (applause). Having a military capable of carrying out covert operations is important because it may be necessary in an instance like that. Now, I don't know what the feasibility of it, I'm not a military commander, I don't have all the intelligence behind what that would mean. I don't have the intelligence of what that would mean in Iran. I mean, would it undermine the regime, or would it strengthen it? I don't know the answers to all of that. I can just tell you that America has to have options like that available because at the end of the day, our national security is paramount. It's the only excuse we have for deficit spending, is if you're doing it for national security. There's no other good excuse except for deficits..., for deficit spending than national security and I'm not advocating that tonight, I am telling you that's how important national security is. And whatever is in the best interest of the United States and it's national security, is what I am in favor of, and if that means a covert operation like that, we have to be supportive of it. But since it's covert, we probably shouldn't talk about it anyway.
Jenna Moore: If you're elected, what test will you use to determine if legislation is constitutional or unconstitutional, or is the interpretation exclusively the domain of the Supreme Court?
Marco Rubio: Well it's, ultimately the domain of the Supreme Court, but it's not only the domain of the Supreme Court. I think the legislators have an obligation, you know, not to vote for or pass or promote legislation they believe expands the scope of government. The constitution is pretty simple. The constitution is a document of limitations. It was based on the notion, the French and the Americans kind of started out in the same place, they both wanted freedom, they wanted to get rid of monarchies, they wanted to create republics. The French, however, said our republic will be based on the notion that we're just going to put better people in charge and we'll get better government. The American revolution was based on the notion that all people are pretty much flawed, we can't trust any people, and so let's just..., we'll have to have people in government, because you have to have government run by people, but we'll put all kinds of limitations around it. Therefore, our constitution, particularly our federal constitution, is a document of limitation. It limits the scope of the federal government, what it should be doing and not be doing. One of it's most powerful limits, for example, is the tenth amendment, which limits..., basically says the federal government..., any power that it doesn't explicitly have, belong to the states. There are other limitations like the second amendment and the first amendment. The whole constitution is a limit on government. And so I think every piece of legislation should be examined from the point of view of is this the proper role of the federal government, or are we just trying to address a problem in society and injecting the federal government in it? And, I think that really is what both parties have been guilty of doing over the last 25 or 30 years, especially, is basically finding a federally sponsored solution to every issue in America. Every issue in America, from the social issues we talked about to, you know, pythons invading the swamps in Florida, I mean every issue we face has a federal solution to it, and I think that goes outside the role of the constitution. And maybe it's not, per se, unconstitutional, but it certainly offends the purpose of the constitution that was we were never intended to have a central government. We were never intended to have a national government. Never, there was never this notion..., we wanted strong, vibrant, powerful states that respected the individuality and creativity of the individual states. We understood, the framers did anyway, that that competition among the states for jobs, for people, for business, that created public policy innovation. But the more powerful the federal government becomes, the harder it is to have strong states and so I think we need to return to that and that would be an..., that would be an important test for me on any legislation.
Georgia was the first state with both Senators as co-sponsors on S.604 Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009, and as of today, both of Oklahoma's Senators and Texas' Senators are now co-sponsors! CONGRATULATIONS!
There are 23 Senators on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, where the bill has been referred. Five committee members (22%) have co-sponsored this legislation:
Mike Crapo (ID), David Vitter (LA), Jim DeMint (SC), Robert F. Bennett (UT), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), all Republicans.
There are 20 Senators on the Democratic Policy Committee. Two have co-sponsored so far:
Blanche Lincoln (AR) and Russell Feingold (WI).
...AND THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!
In other Audit the Fed news...
HR1207 "100 Club"
There are currently 275 co-sponsors on HR1207 Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, and sixteen states have gained 100% co-sponsorship of their Representatives:
Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming! Congratulations!!
Fifty-four percent of the House Financial Services Committee members have co-sponsored the legislation. All House Republicans and 38% of House Democrats have co-sponsored HR1207, representing a 63% overall House co-sponsorship.
YOUR HARD WORK IS PAYING OFF
These successes prove that taking back your own backyard is the way to win. Get involved, become a Local Coordinator, take Boot Camp training, and WIN!
A BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE STATE OF FLORIDA, who has officially pulled ahead in number of Local Coordinators! Go Florida!!
Local Coordinator "100 Club"
FLORIDA 155 WASHINGTON 154 TEXAS 141 CALIFORNIA 140 NEW YORK 102 MICHIGAN 101
If most of us feel disenfranchised and marginalized, how come we cannot come together to end these disputes? I feel like I have been disregarded due to my political party. It is unfortunate that it is this way. Why wouldn't people who genuinely love liberty embrace a party that totally and completely embraces liberty and the constitution? The Democrat and Republican Parties have betrayed their party loyalists. They have left behind their bases. I will continue to fight the powers that be under the banner of the Libertarian Party. Libertarians are the party that embraces the liberty lovers and the constitutionalists. I was appalled to see that so many would discredit a 3rd party in this country, yet lament the fact that their party has left them behind. Hypocrisy will get us nowhere. Take a stand and join a party that has continuously upheld liberty, small government, sound economic policy, and our beloved Constitution.
If joining a different party is not for you, then join a non-partisan group that loves and upholds liberty and the constitution. Campaign for Liberty is a wonderful group of people who are coming together to advance liberty from all political persuasions.
The only way to make change is for us all: Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Tea Party Patriots, etc; to come together, despite our party choices, to make our country great again.
Emberlea Bruce-McCulligh Chair, Libertarian Party of Pasco and Co-County Coordinator, Campaign 4 Liberty
This is a copy of an email I that I sent in response to a local group mass email. Emberlea
Mr. Moore, thank you for your words of hope. I know all of us are frustrated over our apparent lack of power in these issues, and I appreciate the reminder of how powerful we really are. In the entire history of our country, indeed our world, it has been proven time and time again the sweeping changes that a small minority or clear thinking people can effect. Reminds me of an experiment I did in school, that I will tell you about.
If you put distilled water on a stove, and heat it, it will go past the boiling point with no bubbles even forming. There is nothing in it to create bubbles, and it sits, apparently unheated. If you then, however, throw some object into it, no matter how small, the water explodes! All the stored energy is released at once in a massive jolt. This is like the present system of things. The water is past the boiling point, so to speak, and only needs a tiny seed to become active. We are the seed, the clear thinking minority, which will cause the action to begin. Change is nessesary in any system, otherwise we only have stagnation, darkness, and death. No action.
I have read many of the educational materials on this website and will continue, I find them very enlightening. I will post this message on a blog and forward it to everyone I know. Please feel free to do the same. I will keep my eyes and ears open concerning a venue for a meeting, and will be attending the upcoming Hernando county meeting if I can. I am unemployed at the moment, but have a few prospects on the horison, so I look forward to becoming more active in this movement as soon as I can.
Thank you for your thoughtful message. Some of the questions you raised have been on my mind for a number of weeks and I just haven't taken the time to write about it yet. I can tell you what I believe to be the cause of the lack of anger over the trampling of our individual freedoms. It would take more time than I have to try to prove my theses, so I offer them for what they're worth.
The people that we're up against in this fight are very crafty and patient. They have been at this for over 100 years. They know that they can play a percentage game and, like a casino, over the long run the house always wins. The tools that they use are the ones that you point out: they allow just enough liberty that people get enough to eat, collect some trinkets and indulge in some amusements and that's enough that a large segment will be mollified. I want to defend apathetic people just a little bit, though. By strictly limiting the authority of the central government, dividing it among three branches, and by distributing power heavily weighted in favor of the state governments, the framers of the Constitution created a central government that was intended to be, and should have always been boring, uneventful, mundane, and uninteresting. They wisely recognized that if the people had to devote a large proportion of their time to minding the business of the central government, as we are obliged to do now, it will crowd out commerce and thus the livelihoods of the people. We should be able to be apathetic about the Federal government because we have more important things to do - even if it is only watching a ballgame.
Another tool is education. Government education has stripped away all the history and theory of American liberty. Political correctness dictates that the founders were rich white men that either personally owned slaves or permitted slavery to continue and therefore none of what they said shall be repeated. Consequently, gems like Washington's warnings about party politics and foreign entanglements, brilliance that he delivered in just one address, are lost. People simply don't know what they're missing. The government education establishment (in spite of the best efforts of countless dedicated teachers) assiduously avoids teaching children how to think, but concentrates much effort on teaching them what to think. For example, schools teach the fallacy that FDR valiantly fought the depression with myriad new government programs and ultimately, WWII lifted the country out of the depression. Consequently, when there's a problem like the housing bubble burst with resulting economic downturn, the bulk of both major parties blame the free market and propose more government to solve it. People aren't angry because it is the solution they've heard taught.
Now, here is the reason that, in spite of all that, I'm optimistic about the prospect of a renaissance of liberty in the US.
First, and foremost, Ron Paul is optimistic. He has been hammering away on all of these same problems for over 30 years and yet only now, he says that he's excited about the remarkable growth of the movement to return to the principles of free markets, individual liberty, sound money, and a non-interventionist foreign policy. Freedom is becoming popular again.
Second, we have truth on our side. Though they are crafty, the wizards that would be our masters are vulnerable to the sin of arrogance and therefore, also prone to miscalculate. They believe that they can create automatons using the educational system and indeed, many people behave (politically) as automatons. But, many of those same people instinctively embrace the simple principles of liberty when they are merely introduced to them. They know and (at least for the most part) live by the golden rule which is the foundation for individual liberty, property rights, and all of civilized society. Persuading another person is an art and the simplest arguments are most compelling. Fortunately, our arguments are simple and elegant. It just takes some practice to learn how to carefully use them to persuade others.
Third, you are not alone. I talk regularly with many others that hold the very same opinion that you do. This organization is growing. The message of freedom is attracting many people that were previously detached from any active involvement. In the world of politics, that's an earthquake. Those are the independents that are sought by both parties because a minor shift of 2-3% of those voters can tip the balance in most elections.
Here's what I suggest that you do. Read as much of the education materials on the Campaign for Liberty website that you can. I recommend starting with Griffin's "Creature from Jekyll Island." Next, Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson" and Hayek's "Road to Serfdom" form an excellent basis for sound thought. Along the way, tell your friends and relatives what you're learning and how it has shaped your opinion. If they seem to be even slightly interested, invite them to join Campaign for Liberty and to repeat what you're doing. Use the credibility that you already have with people that you know to engage as many of them as you can. Write your thoughts and your ideas down. Put them into your personal blog on C4L for others to see and so that you can use them to compose messages to your friends and relatives. Communicate with your elected officials at all levels frequently, especially face-to-face if you get the chance, and tell them that you want them to respect individual liberty and you want them to learn the true purpose of government. Send those same messages to the news editors of the newspapers or websites that you read or the television news that you watch. Make suggestions. I especially need suggestions for a venue to hold a Pasco county C4L meeting. Most of all, don't be passive. There's no need for you to wait for instructions from me, do what you can, where you can and then write a summary about it on your blog so others can use your ideas.
Again, thank you for writing to me. It's a great encouragement to hear from you. If you'll allow me, I want to post your message and my reply on the Pasco county C4L page. I think many people will benefit from it.
Hello, my name is Christine and I live in New Port Richey. I have been a member of this website and a few other Ron Paul and constitutional based movements for some time and I have a question. In my youth and that of my parents, there seemed to be so much anger and outrage every time they thought thier rights were being violated, or thier lives infringed upon in any way. It doesnt seem to be this way anymore. I have tried to speak to dozens of people about the Fed, the violation of the Constitution, the Patriot Act, and the many other issues that scare me and make me angry. What I have found time and time again is simply this... people just dont care! As long as they are employed, have enough money to get all the useless things they think they need, and arent having thier doors kicked in by people in black ski masks, they are happy to let all the swindling go on behind the scenes. Most of them dont even vote, or even pay attention to who is in office. I had one man tell me this; "As long as I can support myself and my family, and as long as they dont take away my right to have a gun, I dont care what else they do". I try to tell him that it may soon be too late to stop this train from getting to exactly that point, but he doesnt listen or care. So my question is this. Where did the anger go? Where is the outrage that we used to see when our rights were curtailed? Why dont people seem to care anymore?
I want to help, Mr. Moore. I dont know what I can do. I am unemployed, my husband supports us both, so I dont have much money. I will continue to talk to everyone I can and hope some listen to me and start asking the same questions that you and I are. I feel helpless and I want to do something. Like I said I dont have much money, but I do have plenty of time. If theres anything I can do, I'd be happy to try it. Thank you for your leadership and support.
Tony Holt writes in the Tampa Tribune Hernando Today section about the role Campaign For Liberty District 5 played in convincing US Representative Ginny Brown-Waite to co-sponsor HR 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009.
Read Holt's article, Grassroots group wants the Fed to be Audited, to see quotes from C4L Florida dist. 5 coordinator, John Baeza, on the Fed. Watch the video recorded by C4L members on the mass-action day that Holt referenced in his article:
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. [?]
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