The 8th Congressional District of Illinois covers the northern suburbs of Chicago, including portions of Lake, McHenry and Cook counties. It has been represented by Republican Joe Walsh who is newly elected in 2010. The district has historically voted solidly Republican, though it has become more contested over time.
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Today, Monday, September 7th, 2009, members of the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition and Campaign for Liberty participated in a parade in Schaumburg, Illinois, celebrating the Schaumburg SeptemberFest. Our group made a strong statement to parade-goers of cutting Schaumburg sales taxes, which are high even for Cook County standards. Many people along the parade route applauded and cheered as our entry made its way through the procession and at least a thousand business cards and stickers were distributed.
After the parade was over, some freedom and liberty-lovers, including Brian Costin and myself, took the initiative to petition SeptemberFest-goers to help persuade the Schaumburg Township Board to take up a measure lowering the retail and restaurant sales taxes in the municipality. Schaumburg's restaurant and retail sales taxes are some of the very highest in the nation, currently standing at 12% and 10%, respectively.
Our efforts petitioning were highly successful as we gathered in the neighborhood of 50+ signatures in just two hours of work under a hot sun. Brian's group had already gathered hundreds of signatures on their petitions over the course of this four day event in Schaumburg.
As luck would have it, I was late for today's festivities. But as I made my way along the parade route to join my group, I seized an opportunity to urge Congresswoman Melissa Bean (IL-8) to support HR 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009. I was able to capture the encounter on film, as seen below.
While it seems like I was yelling, the fact is that I was simply over-driving the microphone on my cell-phone camera. You can't hear the Congresswoman's response, but she intimated that she doesn't know all of the bills before the House by name or number.
However, it is instructive to realize here that Representative Bean sits on the House Financial Services Committee where HR 1207 has been referred, so she must at least be aware of this bill (especially since 75% of the American people would favor auditing the Fed according to Gallup and Rasmussen Reports).
Also, it would behoove the Congresswoman to have already familiarized herself with the bill since we have delivered 80+ petition signatures of her constituents supporting HR 1207 and we have discussed the matter with her in person. Also, we have at least another 200 signatures that we will be delivering to her office in the near future.
Here are a few snapshots of the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition's entry in the parade.
Today, August 29th, 2009, seven (7) concerned citizens and grassroots activists met in Lincoln Park, a neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, to petition for S 604, the senate version of the bill before Congress to Audit The Fed, and to distribute handbills promoting our Audit The Fed Rally to be held at Federal Plaza in Chicago on September 15th, 2009.
We gathered fifty-one (51) and thirty-six (36) signatures, respectively, on our petitions urging Senator Richard J. Durbin and Senator Roland W. Burris to cosponsor S 604 and to seek roll call votes for the bill. We will be delivering these and thousands of other petitions to the offices of senators Durbin and Burris as part of our 9/15 Audit The Fed Rally.
Most of the passers-by that we spoke to agreed that the people deserve to know how their tax-dollars are being spent, regardless of their ideology.
The event was one for the books, one for Freedom.
Looking forward, tomorrow, Sunday, August 30th, is our event in Lake Zurich, Illinois, to petition for HR 1207 in the 8th Congressional District of Illinois (Rep. Melissa Bean).
Today, July 18th, five concerned citizens and volunteers for Campaign for Liberty petitioned in the 8th Congressional District of Illinois on behalf of the bill before Congress to Audit the Federal Reserve Banking System.
That bill is HR 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. The bill is currently supported by 270 cosponsors in the House, a majority (and fast approaching a veto-proof majority). Yet, this common-sense legislation languishes in the House Financial Services Committee, where it has been referred. I leave it to the reader to attempt to understand why such a condition exists.
The petition urges Congresswoman Melissa Bean, representing the 8th Congressional District of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives, to cosponsor HR 1207 to Audit the Fed and to seek roll call votes for the bill. It may be informative and revealing to the reader to learn that Representative Bean is, rather un-ironically, a member of the House Financial Services Committee (where HR 1207 has been seemingly relegated to an effective politico-pigeonhole).
I want to extend my personal gratitude to the four gentlemen who joined me in this important grassroots effort to inform and educate the residents of the 8th District about the Federal Reserve and the effort to Audit it. C4L Cook County Co-coordinator Bob Jones, Allen, Wayne, and Justin K. took it upon themselves today to take action to demand of Congress transparency and accountability from an institution that has devalued the monetary unit by some 95% since its inception in 1913.
Today we gathered forty-four signatures on our petitions, a formidable success for about two hours of work on a rather unseasonably cool and comfortable July day in northern Illinois (which your benevolent petitioners were grateful for).
That brings the total, to date, of HR 1207 petition signatures collected by grassroots activists in the 8th District to more than 250.
Apart from the somewhat painfully obvious and auspicious advantages to We The People to requiring by law transparency and accountability from the quasi-private, unelected central bank of the United States of America, our efforts, along with those of other concerned citizens, should rightfully elicit a cogent and coherent response from Congresswoman Bean. Alas, to date, we have not received an intelligible response.
Isn't it time for the Congresswoman to clearly and unequivocally articulate her position on HR 1207 and Fed transparency (especially since she campaigned on "transparency")? Having personally petitioned for HR 1207 in the 8th District on now the third occasion, I think that the answer is a resounding 'yes' when the question is put directly to Representative Bean's constituents.
It's clearly time for Congresswoman Bean to dispense with any equivocation--and what is becoming increasingly clear to be something like prevarication--and to answer the petitions of her constituents. We will deliver them to her forthwith and at the her earliest convenience, along with the reasonable request that she explain her position on HR 1207 to her constituents
Today I am proud to say that our participation in representative government of the United States still embodies a powerful and sanguine meaning and that honesty and accountability in government are still ideals that are highly esteemed by the good and decent people of this country. I am, again, proud to be an American.
Today in Lake Zurich, Illinois, members of the grassroots organization Campaign for Liberty met informally with Congresswoman Melissa Bean, representing the 8th Congressional District of Illinois, to discuss HR 1207, "the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009" and to persuade the Congresswoman to cosponsor the bill. Moreover, the discussion focused on Representative Bean's position on HR 1207 and the need for transparency and accountability of the institution that sets monetary policy affecting the entire economy.
First, I want to offer my sincere gratitude to the four gentlemen who joined me today to make this event possible. I also want to thank Congresswoman Bean for taking the time to talk to our Campaign for Liberty group and for making herself available to her constituents in a public forum.
Myself, Danilo, Mike T., Scott S., and Tony C. gathered at a coffee shop in Lake Zurich to discuss our strategy before approaching Congresswoman Bean. Since I as well as Tony are residents of the 9th Congressional District (and the rest of our group constituents of Representative Bean), we decided to designate Scott as the spokesperson for our group. We agreed that we would not be confrontational, but that we would politely and respectfully ask Congresswoman Bean to explain her position on HR 1207 and transparency for the Federal Reserve and urge her to cosponsor the bill. We also agreed that we would approach the Congresswoman as a group and present to her the some-98 petition signatures that Campaign for Liberty activists have gathered from residents of the 8th Congressional District in the preceding weeks urging Congresswoman Bean to cosponsor HR 1207. Lastly, it was decided that we would ask for permission to film the discussion with a video camera and also take still photographs, if possible.
By and large, our discussion with Congresswoman Bean went well. Scott did a good job of articulating our purpose in meeting with Representative Bean--to persuade her to cosponsor HR 1207 and to ascertain her position on transparency for the Fed--and making introductions for our Campaign for Liberty group. We each had the opportunity to express ourselves regarding HR 1207 and the need for transparency of the Federal Reserve.
Scott raised a salient point regarding the "moral hazard" of the Federal Reserve. My understanding of Scott's analysis is that by the Fed not fully disclosing its operations and deliberations regarding monetary policy and serving as the "lender of last resort" for private financial institutions, malinvestment of capital is a likely consequence (e.g. the housing bubble). Perhaps Scott can add to this discussion and better clarify his take on the moral hazard of the Federal Reserve in the comments below.
At the outset of our discussion, Scott presented nearly 100 petition signatures of 8th Congressional District constituents, urging their Representative to cosponsor HR 1207 and to seek roll call votes for the bill, to Congresswoman Bean and she accepted them and agreed to consider the petitions.
Danilo emphasized that there are now about 180 cosponsors of HR 1207 in Congress and urged Congresswoman Bean to seriously consider cosponsoring the legislation. He also raised the point that he felt motivated to take action because he is concerned that his children will be inundated with an even greater burden of taxation when they grow up if something is not done to bring accountability and fiscal responsibility to the federal government and to the Federal Reserve.
Our discussion with Representative Bean took place at the Jewel-Osco store in Lake Zurich, Illinois, where the Congresswoman had scheduled a sort of meet-and-greet event with her constituents from the 8th Congressional District open to the public. This particular event was one of a series of events like it scheduled for today. We were told by her staff that the Congresswoman would also be making stops at Jewel-Osco stores in Palatine and Hoffman Estates today (and, I think, a few other stores tomorrow). We were also informed that the Congresswoman would also hold meet-and-greet events at Jewel-Osco stores in the northern suburbs of Chicago in three weeks.
I was compelled to bring to the attention of her staff that, unlike previous events of this nature, there was no press release issued from the Congresswoman's office announcing today's event(s). I learned of this opportunity to meet with Congresswoman Bean only this past Friday thanks to an automated "robo-call" received by Bob S. that announced that Representative Bean would be available to her constituents in Lake Zurich today.
With regard to our request to film our discussion with Congresswoman Bean, I spoke to a member of the Congresswoman's staff, Jonathan Lipman, prior to our informal meeting with the Congresswoman. For one thing, it is the policy of Jewel-Osco stores to prohibit the use of video cameras in their stores--so we knew that we were at an obvious disadvantage in that sense going in. However, we were allowed to take still photographs. But indeed we respected the right to private property of the Jewel-Osco store and did not attempt to film the event.
I asked Mr. Lipman if the Congresswoman would make herself available to her constituents at a location that did not prohibit the use of video cameras. I suggested that the Congresswoman should take into consideration citizen-journalists like myself who wish to document the words and actions of our elected representatives and government bureaucrats--in an effort to hold them accountable and to get them on the record regarding, for example, transparency of the Federal Reserve.
Mr. Lipman compared my request to film our discussion with the Congresswoman to a request for an interview from the Press and that allowing constituents to film their discussions with Representative Bean would open the way for "games" and "ambush" journalism.
Mr. Lipman did graciously offer his card to us and said that our request for an "interview" with Congresswoman Bean would be given due-consideration if we would contact him later. I will be working with 8th Congressional District resident and C4L Cook County Co-Coordinator Bob Jones at a later date to do just that. But I can assure you that there will be no "games" or "ambush" journalism if we are able to interview Congresswoman Bean. Instead, we, like so many of her constituents (as evidenced by their HR 1207 petition signatures), would like to get Congresswoman Bean on the record with regard to her position on HR 1207 and transparency and accountability for the Federal Reserve.
So, what was Representative Bean's response to our discussion with her regarding HR 1207? Let me just say that it left something to be desired.
While she was friendly and seemed to listen intently to our conversation, her answers amounted to an extended dodge of the central questions--would she cosponsor HR 1207 and what is her position on the bill and on transparency of the Fed? She seemed to indicate that she was not terribly familiar with the bill, but that she was aware that Representative Ron Paul had introduced the bill in the House and that the bill was in the House Financial Services Committee of which she is a member.
Congresswoman Bean acknowledged that "people have concerns" regarding transparency of the Federal Reserve but that "the Fed has its own authority." She articulated the need for "transparency" with regard to the T.A.R.P. funds, but she seemed almost mystified when I rejoined that HR 1207 would bring a greater measure of transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve in general and that the issue was larger than the matter of the TARP funds alone. Effectively, I sensed that her discussion of TARP was a red herring.
I found it almost humorous that as I began to take notes while our discussion with Representative Bean took place, Mr. Lipman made a special point to mention to the Congresswoman that she should be aware that I was acting as a "citizen-journalist" in taking notes.
As our discussion concluded, Mr. Lipman was kind enough to take our photograph with Congresswoman Melissa Bean, which I will post here as soon as Danilo forwards it to me. The Congresswoman offered us these words of encouragement (I suppose) as we departed--"this is democracy."
In closing, as my tribute to Congresswoman Bean and to that tired-old, ambiguous, virtually-meaningless word, "democracy," I renew my pledge--
How many signatures will be enough for our representatives to clearly and unequivocally respond to our petitions? Several hundred? A thousand? I'm prepared to keep working on this project to Audit the Fed until grassroots political pressure is brought to bear on any Representative in Illinois who stands in the way, through inaction or otherwise, of transparency for the Fed.
The following is a letter of mine printed in the Wednesday, May 6, 2009 edition of TheNashville News, my very local paper. It is reproduced here exactly as it was in the paper except I corrected their misspelling of "taxpayers'" in the second paragraph and I have added the links.
Thanks, Congressman
Thank you to Congressman John Shimkus for voting against reckless spending and for economic liberty as he described in last week's letter.
I would also like to take this time to thank our congressman for cosponsoring H.R. 1207, The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, introduced by Congressman Ron Paul of Texas to audit our national bank. With endless bailouts and so much money being spent, Americans have a right to know what is really happening with their money. If what taxpayers do with their money is the government's business, then what the government does with our money should likewise be the taxpayers' business.
This is an important bill because even though we were promised transparency and accountability in our government, much of the government's actions remain clouded in secrecy. H.R. 1207 has broad bipartisan support and opening the bank's books for the first time in its nearly 100-year history could help usher in a real era of responsibility to our government.
It's not often we can congratulate our public servants since so many of them embarrass themselves and their constituents, but Congressman Shimkus deserves our appreciation for joining a cause that puts Illinois taxpayers first.
If anyone is interested in learning more about H.R. 1207 and The Federal Reserve Transparency Act, I would encourage them to explore www.campaignforliberty.com.
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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