UPDATED! W just found out that Senator Dorgan has signed on to S604, so we will direct all our attention to Senator Conrad.
Join us September 15th at 3:45 PM as we present Audit the Fed Petitions to our Senator.
In Fargo, we will meet at Senator Conrad's office:
Federal Building 657 2nd Ave. N. Fargo
We are meeting 15 minutes early to allow for delays caused by security checks. This is in the federal building, so are metal detectors and you will have to present picture ID, so be prepared.
Pass the word along and let's have a big crowd of people there.
Welcome to the North Dakota Campaign for Liberty website!
The Campaign for Liberty is a grassroots organization, working for change beginning at the most local level: the precinct. Precinct Leader are the foundation of the success of Campaign for Liberty. My job as Interim State Coordinator is to give you the tools you need to be an effective citizen activist. But you are key to the success of Campaign for Liberty. You are the ones who will communicate with voters in your precinct about the important issues of the day. Your participation in working toward our goals is essential and truly appreciated.
The people who are running our country would like nothing more than to keep your attention on CSPAN and the evening news, to worry and complain about what goes on in Washington. Like the magician who doesn't want you to see what's really going on, they keep our attention on things we can't control or influence so that we neglect the one area we can influence: our neighborhood.
The fact is the folks in Washington DC are doing exactly what we have trained them to do for the past 10-15-20 years. They first ran for school board and adopted all-day kindergarten and built extravagant, state-of-the-art schools when the student population was declining. And what did we do? We re-elected them.
Then they ran for county commission and increased our property taxes and neglected the township roads and bridges. Most of us grumbled and called the radio show to complain. And then we re-elected them.
Then they ran for state legislature where they increased state spending, subsidized their pet industries, and raised our taxes. Those who paid attention didn't like it. But what did we do 1½ years later? We put them back into office. So by the time these guys got to Washington they had just spent the last dozen or so years learning that they could do whatever they wanted and still get elected. That's why they voted for a bailout even though constituents' calls were 100 to 1 against it. Because they knew we wouldn't do a thing abut it.
It's time to put a stop rewarding them, stop training them to be tyrants. It's time to teach them a different lesson. We must teach them that there is a price to pay when they erode our freedoms and take our hard-earned money. We're the ones who will change Washington, but we will only do it after we've cleaned out City Hall. And the County Commission. And the State Legislature.
Our work starts now. The legislative session begins in a matter of weeks. We need to be informed and prepared. We need to inform our friends and neighbors and get them involved. Don't look at the magician's tricks. Instead, pay attention to what's up his sleeve.
The power is in your hands to make a change. Take charge of your precinct today. I encourage you to use all the tools that Campaign for Liberty has to offer. Precinct Leader Training is a great tool as well as the C4L online education and local meetings and training. I look forward to working with you sot that together we can become an force that cannot be ignored.
Below is the schedule of Senator Dorgan's Townhall meetings around the state. Unfortunately, all of them are in the middle of the day, making it difficult for honest, working folk to come. But try to go to the one nearest you and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same:
Edgeley, ND
August 11th at 2:45pm at Teddy's Restaurant
Oakes, ND
August 11th at 4:30pm at the Angry Beaver Lodge
Colfax, ND
August 11th at 7:30pm at the Paul and Vanessa Kummer Farm
Casselton, ND
August 12th at 11:00am at the fire hall
Mayville, ND
August 12th at 1:15pm at the senior center
Langdon, ND
August 13th at 1:30pm at the Bread Pan Bakery
Cando, ND
August 13th at 3:30pm at the Towner County Medical Center
Ryder, ND
August 20th at 11:45am at State Senator John Warner's Farm
Minot, ND
August 20th at 3:00pm at ING
Ray, ND
August 21st at 9:15am at the Dorvan and Eileen Solberg Farm
So far I have been unable to get Senator Conrad's office to tell me when and where he will be holding public meetings. At this point the best information is that he is only holding three meetings, all of them are by invitation only and no comments--listen only. The meetings are in Minot on the 20th (with Dorgan), Center and Harvey. I will get you the dates and times of those two as soon as I have them.
I would suggest that you stand outside one of these meetings with another 20 of your friends and protest Conrad's unwillingness to listen to us. Hold signs demanding that he listen. This is arrogance at its worst.
Be sure to check out the You Tube clip of our own C4L-er Renae Mitchel at the Townhall meeting in Casselton:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMiwzqItLYY
Our petition drive to get signatures demanding our Congressional delegation co-sponsor HR1207/S604 is off to a good start. If you haven't gotten signatures yet, you still have 4 days.
Our top signature gatherers so far are:
Charles and Cathy Carier-200 Judy Stahl-100 Curtis Stegman-60
And several who have reported 20 signatures. We're off to a good start but we need more. Our goal is to have 7000 signatures delivered on July 9th. If you would like a copy of the petition, please email me: charlene.nelson@campaignforliberty.com.
We are blessed right now with long, pleasant summer days, so come on! Let's get some more!
The Precinct Leader plants seeds in the neighborhood garden, cultivates and nurtures them, and watches them grow. The Precinct Leader is a good neighbor.
A Precinct Leader makes the largest impact by simply connecting with neighbors. Meet a neighbor while out raking leaves, walking the dog, getting the mail, shoveling snow or mowing the lawn. Bring up something that affects the neighborhood and let them talk about it and you'll have an idea where they stand and what is important to them. Knowing about specific legislation that affects your neighborhood and keeping up with current events in your area is critical. That way, you can match the neighbor's concern with current and upcoming legislation.
"Hey, did you know the city council just approved an increase in what we pay for trash collection? They're nickel and diming us to death." Listen to the neighbor's response and take note of it. If they are a hard-nosed tax and spender or don't want to talk about it, it's time to meet another neighbor. Listening to your neighbors is the key to good planting practices.
Attending city or town council meetings is a great way to cultivate your garden. When you listen to what people have to say and watch their reaction to certain things being said, you will know who might be a good person or persons to approach after the meeting and talk a little further to plant a seed. "I can't believe they just approved that." Let the neighbor talk. "I live off of McGee Street. Where are you?" If they're in your precinct, they'll remember you when you do your door-to-door survey and other activities. In fact, they may offer to help you. They will recognize your name when they read your Letter to the Editor in the news.
Precinct Leaders are instrumental in keeping tabs on what area representatives are doing, watching them closely, building a "file" on them and calling them out on their infractions. Letters to the Editor, radio call-ins and "tattling" to neighbors is effective and can even be fun. The whole point is to nurture, protect and cultivate your neighborhood garden.
Before you know it, you'll be the person that neighbors come to when they want to talk about issues. They'll come to you because they know you care, that you listen to them, that you're knowledgeable and that you will take action to protect your neighborhood. You will be the person that neighbors come to when they learn of a new piece of legislation and wonder how it may affect them. They will want to know your thoughts on upcoming election issues and candidates. Your influence will be felt in the community and you may be asked to become a member of a board or even run for office.
As a team, Precinct Leaders will come together at county- and district-wide meetings and in the state capitol for legislative sessions. Nationwide strategies will be employed. The more voices, the greater the impact. New faces and large crowds will keep local government on their toes. They are used to having people attend meetings near election time, but they are not used to us being there asking thoughtful questions between elections, where harmful legislation is many times passed virtually unnoticed.
After this election, our neighbors will begin to realize that nothing has changed. They'll continue to complain. We'll continue to listen and plant our seeds, water them and feed them, and with time and patience, reap the rewards as we stand proudly together in our lush neighborhood gardens across the world.
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson
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. [?]
