Posted by Jake Mabus on 04/25/09
Last updated 05/23/09

BUT...if somebody is trying to join who may be involved in other organizations that might...just might help your cause as well why not benefit from them?

Those who wish to reap the blessings of liberty must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it!  Truer words were never spoken.  Thomas Paine and other fellow patriots knew and understood the fatigue and strains of organizations and the birth pains that are involved.  This fatigue that most of us have experienced in the past two years, although at times seemed like we have been working so hard with no avail, have laid the foundation and action plan for the new fellow patriots of our time.  Like the days of our founding fathers not much has changed they too laid the foundation for us as we have today for these new groups to take advantage of.

I have recently had the opportunity to involve myself with these folks and boy, are these people passionate.  It reminds me of my political awakening two years ago.  We started PAC's and Meet-ups and started networking.  At times it was hard to accept new individuals, be it because of personal ego and/or caring for our new group so much that you feel that you don't want to loose control over something so near and dear to your heart.  These feelings are holding a lot of C4Ler's out there down and will make it very hard for us to expand.  These new groups awakened by the Glen Beck 9-12 Project are no different. 

They too will have a hard time accepting new groups into their world, even if we have done a lot of the ground work.  DO NOT RESENT THESE PEOPLE!  No matter if you dislike Beck, but he has awakened a lot of other passionate countrymen and women.  Isn't this what we've been working so hard for?  Who cares if it hasn't come from our movement, the point is its here and now what?  These 9-12 and Tea Party leaders are just like us but the difference is when we started we had groups of 10 maybe 20 people.  These guys are starting with 100 sometimes 500 people!  We all know how hard it is at times just to get through a meeting's agenda with just 10 people. 

Success with these new groups, start with how you approach the leaders.  If you have the thought in your head that you are going to take over right from the start you will run into big defensive walls and will outcast yourself rather than make your self a credible leader!  Go to the meetings and start to lay the ground work and show them that you are in this to work hard for the cause, and they will put you in a leadership position.  They will start to respect you and listen to your experiences.  Let them benefit from your experience and then lead them to the Campaign For Liberty. 

My experience thus far has been very rewarding and I'm in my first week working with this "New Blood".  When you begin to work with them don't throw the C4L down their throats right from the beginning this is something that will take patience.  You are so excited to tell them what they are looking for is right here, but let them get through their meetings with their agendas throughout the meeting you can through little nuggets in the conversations that in your experience over the last few months or years that you have been involved with various other movements.  Let them ask you don't tell them.  Just give small amounts of information that peaks their interests. 

Once you've let the cat out of the bag about C4L.  Define for them the "Division of Work" that the groups can capitalize on. 

The 9-12 Project and Tea Party's are more or less a "Social Network" we (C4L) are a lobbying group (501c4), and some of us are "Political Action Committees" (501c3's).  These great patriots are going to want to do something more, tell them not to reinvent the wheel if necessary.  Tell them to use you and your experience as a resource and the Campaign For Liberty.  They will love to hear that and take advantage of your expertise. 

Explain to them the sports analogy that C4L is the training grounds and the 9-12 or Tea Party's are the recruiters and the PACs are the Sponsors of the whole organization.  The C4L prepares us for the BIG GAME!  Our opponents are our politicians and we are always the visiting team and a lot of the time, not welcomed on our opponent's turf.

The bottom line is take advantage of this new movement!  They need us and we need them!  If you establish yourself as a true patriot and leader you will have enough influence to direct our new friends towards the C4L and make a larger more successful impact next time you talk with your local politicians.  Good luck and enjoy the new relationships you will create while you involve yourself into their agenda's.  With a little bit of time you will be helping to create the Agenda!

In my first week I have met with the two groups who organized the local April 15^th Tea Party, both in their infancy as organizations but have put together an event that gathered more than 1000 attendees!  That is amazing in just over a month of organizing.  Thus far I have the respect and ears of these organizations leaders and will most likely be an officer of one of the organizations.  These people are truly fantastic and its inspiring just to have met them and I'm looking forward to involving myself in helping our movement forward.

It will be tough to fit these new groups into my schedule but what's nice about these groups is the division of work within these groups is spread out over many people, which will make it tremendously easier to organize.  It will be exciting to help manage these groups and help them define our division of work when helping organize and explain how all three types (C4L, PAC's, Social Networks) of political activities will help towards our desired outcome together.  TAKING BACK OUR COUNTRY!

Your friend in Liberty,

Jake Mabus

IL 19^th Regional Coordinator

Posted 05/13/09 Jake Mabus Springfield, IL

Thank you for contacting me about a fellow patriot who may be some what miss-informed of the intent of my blog posting that has raised such a problem in your area. First let me say I am very impressed with the work you are doing down there in Alabama! It is extremely important to have leaders like yourself willing to put in the arduous hours it takes to implement action for true change within our Country. I'm sure you have a large amount of support as well who are working just as hard. It truly is inspiring to see so many like-minded individuals coming together to restore our Government to its original intent. One thing that I have noticed over the years from my political involvement is the individuals that find themselves in positions of leadership. We tend to take a movement like this to heart, so we love and cherish it so much that we don't want to loose control of it. So we throw up many personal walls of defense that isolate ourselves from growing the organization and sometimes cause more harm than good. It may be hard for us to see this in our own points of view and even harder to have them brought up for discussion. We all hate to be wrong, especially when we feel we have good intentions. Sometimes it's due to jealousy and we find ourselves fighting for who will get credit for the work performed. I feel the only credit due is due to our Founding Fathers. The work is done it is up to us to maintain our civil obligations and duty to support our own Liberty. In regards to the blog I wrote on my personal Campaign for Liberty site. I wrote this blog for other people within the Campaign for Liberty in hopes that they themselves get over their own apprehensions about reaching out to other groups, mainly the 9-12 groups and Tea Party groups. You see, within the Campaign for Liberty we have a tremendous amount of talented individuals who can take on important roles of leadership who have years of experience with political organizing. The point of the blog is "CoalitionBuilding", if the point was not clearly made, we can blame that on my lack of writing experience and lack of being able to properly express my opinion on paper. I don't claim to be a writer. At best, I'm just a "Passionate Patriot" for our Country. I don't know Marcelo Munoz but he is probably a prime example of the type of leadership that we need in our quest to take back our Country. The only thing that I can be sure of is that he is committed to "promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity." This is the Campaign for Liberty's Mission Statement and as a leader we all adhere to this statement. You must understand what the Campaign for Liberty is before someone starts to tear down our efforts or purpose. We are a 501(c) 4 organization. We are a lobbying organization. We lobby for policy change through our current political system. Currently we are working on HR 1207, This Bill in short is considered as the "Audit the Fed" Bill. There are many other issues we work on within our own states as well. As I mentioned in my blog, "They need us as we need them!" meaning the 9-12, and Tea Party groups need us as the Campaign for Liberty need's the 9-12 and Tea Party groups. What creates change in our current system of Government? Numbers and Size of organizations create change or influence. This is how we work as a Country. Unfortunately the only people capable of creating the influence in WashingtonD.C. are well organized Associations or lobbying firms. These Associations and lobbying firms are mainly corporations, not all, but a lot of them are. This is what the Campaign for Liberty has done. They have created a lobbying group based largely on the work of volunteers like myself, Mr. Munoz and roughly 150,000 (and growing) other "Freedom Loving" individuals trying to take our country back! The most important part or intention of my blog was to encourage other C4Ler's to introduce the "wheel" that has been invented by the Campaign for Liberty and to show the impact and effects the Campaign for Liberty are creating within our system, and that the new people speaking up about their discontent through the 9-12 and Tea Party groups have an opportunity to join another cause already in motion as well. I believe that all of you have a desire to ACT and not just protest! All you need is a little direction and proper leadership. Maybe you will find the talents God has given you to take leadership roles within the Campaign for Liberty, who knows? "The cream of the crop rises to the top." The point is that the "Wheel" does not have to be re-invented. The 9-12 Group has their own agendas and they are very important as to their own purposes and goals. The Tea Party has their own agendas and they are important to their own as well. We all can benefit from each group and each groups goals. The people involved in the Campaign for Liberty have great qualities for organizing and understand that you need a coalition of organizations to support each others efforts. There are limitations on what we can or cannot do as a group that are defined in our political system. For instance here in Illinois we have formed a Political Action Committee (Illinois Patriots PAC [IPPAC] 501(c) 3 Illinoispatriots.com). We would like to have a PAC within each county that would have their own leadership in line with our own by-laws and platform, ultimately to mirror lobbying efforts within each local Campaign for Liberty groups who are already creating change within their local governments. A PAC is a group that supports the efforts of action by channeling money and donations, and we all know it takes money to create notice and outreach, very much like a marketing firm does for businesses. Remember what Thomas Jefferson once said; "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." We are all experiencing this right now and if we don't take advantage of each other we will continue to just protest and no change will occur! So if I, Mr. Munoz or the Campaign for liberty is trying to take advantage of this new political movement and or the 9-12 or Tea Party groups are going to take advantage of us, is it really all that bad? If you feel this is bad please take heed of your own self pride you may just find your self in a power struggle and eventually that struggle will be alone with yourself because of the isolation you'll find yourself in. That isolation within your group will never create growth and it will always work to turn people away! Don't forget that not all personalities will get along, but it is extremely important to work diplomatically towards your organizations goals and set aside your personal disputes. Let's take advantage of the organizations already in place that are affecting the system and that have already gone through the growth pains. Take advantage of the other movements. Remember we don't have to re-invent the "Wheel". I hope this clears up any un-intended consequences of miss-understanding (Blowback). I can assure you that I am just another freedom-loving individual who cares about this Country. I'm sure you all can relate! Anyone can reach me at jake@jakemabus.com for further questions and or other coalition building ideas. Thanks to all who work diligently towards restoring our Constitution and system of Government!

Posted 05/23/09 Jake Mabus Springfield, IL

Some who read this will feel offended. I have no idea why! We are all trying to raise awareness to the issues of our state! Some has called these tactics "Insurgency" to name one. What they don't realize we are all "insurgents" to our current system of Government! My goal is not to infiltrate to change an organization! It is to raise awareness to other organizations out there and how they themselves might be able to benefit from the work and how you might be able to lead within an organization you feel passionate about! Nothing more nothing less! If you have a problem with this then I question your motives! Thanks for reading. Jake

Posted 05/24/09 Jake Mabus Springfield, IL

My intentions in giving an invocation was to give an invocation. I thought I also was going to be fit in to speak. When I got to the rally I explained to ____ that my invocation and speech was about 7-9 min. She seemed surprised. I thought I was also given an opportunity to speak. When I saw that this was going to create a time conflict with the event, I went to ____ and ____ and a few others meeting at the podium and said to them, "I thought I was also given an opportunity to speak, I obviously was mistaken and I have no problem just giving the invocation and we can forget about the rest." Terri said "no your fine, just go ahead." So I assumed everything would be fine. At no time was I ever told to "Just give the invocation". If I was given that command I would of politely obliged to just give the invocation. Your first question for me was "Why are you so bent on these "social" groups joining you?" All the social groups out there can join who they wish to. I don't have any stake in them joining "my group." Its not even "my group" I simply mean join me in creating change within our state. I am only concerned about taking back our state and giving the people an opportunity to decide for themselves in hopes that they too get involved. (in any group they wish to) Yes I would like to see more people get involved into the Campaign for Liberty. This organization has an action plan that works very well when it comes to creating influence in our government. Yes there are the few hyper-patriots out there who give every organization a questionable agenda. That is why it is important to take a closer look at the organizations by-laws, platform and mission statements to make sure it is legit. "Don't they all hold basically the same idea?" Not necessarily. Every group out there has certain things they can and can not do. The FEC is a good place to start when defining a groups organization and purpose. The Idea of "change" and "political involvement" may be an ultimate goal but, again there are certain guidelines each group needs to follow. "Aren't they all speaking the same language?" Sure if you mean language to mean "Freedom and Liberty"... I think so. Big groups? It is very necessary in my opinion that if we are to create change within our state we need to either define our purposes and goals or join other groups who have already gone through the initial growing pains and have clearly worked out a system that works towards the advancement of everyones goals. "Taking back our state" This doesn't mean that you can't start up your own and still be effective. Some people are very talented and can do this easier than others. But I believe that it is important for all of us to build coalitions between each other so that we can clearly define one another's goals. This will ultimately allow someone who visits an organizations site make a rational decision based on their own criteria if they want to join that organization. If they (the people who join) show leadership qualities, It is logical that they will eventually volunteer and work hard and probably be voted into places of leadership. This is what I meant when I said "HELPING to create the agenda." Any worthy organization out there should have their checks and balances in place to prevent anybody trying to create problems or a coup d'état of an organizations leadership. It is just common sense that someone who is a leader in an organization will help to create an agenda. We all drop nuggets about other groups we are involved in. I feel that is just common sense as well and a trait that we all find ourselves doing. We usually always want to create some kind of interest in what we do and express it to others. In hopes of being accepted and encouraging friends to join, that is human nature, is it not? The Campaign for Liberty is bigger than just one man, You mentioned Ron Paul, yes this is his brain child but even he would be the first to admit the goals are far more important than one mans political aspirations. The Campaign for Liberty is a very peaceful and diplomatic organization working within the system as a 501 c4 lobbying organization. Who's mission is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity. Now if there is something wrong with that I want to be made aware of it and want to know why it is wrong. In terms of following my speech to the letter. What I mentioned in my blog is a lot of human nature and common sense and logic when you are out looking to spread the word of your cause. It is very similar to sales. Your not trying to dup someone into doing anything, you just try and create the benefit and explain the features of your product, in our case "Liberty and Freedom" and what that means. As well as how you can get involved. Again I would like to know how I have left a bad first impression? Any of my attempts to raise awareness I feel have been honorable and I am not sure why some have found what I have wrote in a blog has made people "uneasy." A lot of it is just logical human traits and advantages of Coalition Building. Nothing more. Again I thank you for your concerns and opinion. I value all aspects of points of view and feel it is important to understand each other. I hope your work continues to encourages other individuals to get involved and put their protests into action plans. Jake

Posted by Jake Mabus on 05/21/09
Last updated 05/21/09

Good Afternoon

My name is Jake Mabus I am with the Illinois Patriots and am also the IL 19th District Regional Coordinator for the Campaign for Liberty

Invocation:

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your
direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ''Woe to those
who call evil good,'' but that's exactly what we have done.

We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
We confess that; we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism;
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation;
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem;
We have abused power and called it political savvy;
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there
be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
May you guide and bless all of us who have come here today and the
men and women who represent the people and who have been
ordained by You, to govern this great state of Illinois. Grant them
your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of
Your Will.

I ask in in the name of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ

My friends in liberty,

I believe many of us are here today are not satisfied with the
current state of affairs here in Illinois, Yes we are all gathered here to show our grievances to our political leaders today. But the sole responsibilities rest on our shoulders, Our politicians need our support and direction more now than ever. All to often after the elections we leave the work to our representatives. However what's not often mentioned is the outside influences that influence them once their in office. Swaying their vote and all too often our politicians forget about their oath of office in the name of politics!

So what does that mean for us? What lies ahead for us? What do we do about these special interest lobbyist's and How do we compete with them?

First we have to remember not all lobbyists are bad! Men are fallible but Gods will prevails always and our system of government CAN work. It takes a lobbying efforts from ourselves. We must fight within,..... and Many of us have been on the outside of this process.. for ..farrr too long. Make it your passion to involve yourself, make that commitment to yourself and to your children and their children.

 
If you are here today, that means you are ready for a plan of action you are ready for direction on how to create true change within our government. I believe many of you here today are looking for that sense of purpose. I don't need to tell you to educate yourself you already do that on a daily basis! I don't need to tell you to act with a sense of urgency, that's why you are here!

We have gathered here today in agreement amongst each other,... lets.. not ..let the work that lies ahead end with the messages upon our shirts and our signs! Let's stop making statements and start creating changes within our state policies

Those who wish to reap the blessings of liberty must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it! Truer words were never spoken. Thomas Paine and other fellow patriots knew and understood the fatigue and strains of organizations and the birth pains that are involved. Things are no different today than they were back when our forefathers formed this country. The groups that have organized this event are experiencing the same fatigues and growing pains our founders experienced. This fatigue that some of us have experienced in the past does not have to be re-lived. There is a division of work that is clearly defined by our political system and we must combine efforts as organizations and try to avoid re-inventing the wheel. I think today is a good example of what we can do together!

I am here to tell you there are thousands of individuals organizing right this very moment, lobbying for causes that will begin the transformation we need all across this country. TRUE CHANGE... not just another campaign slogan! This change occurs from our hard work today, and a good start is to have an organizer within every local precinct responsible for creating awarness.

One of the most effective organizations organizing aggressively across the country right now is the Campaign for Liberty. The Campaign for liberty has laid the foundation and action plan for the new patriots of our generation. It is one of the most effective organizations when it comes to lobbying for the people right now. We are an all volunteer lobbying organization currently working on HR 1207 we have rallied together and now have 165 cosponsors to this bill which is also known as "Audit the fed" and we all know that it is very hard to defeat an all volunteer army!

As strong as this army is, it still needs support and one way to do that effectively is to form a Political Action Committee. If you have started an organization and have not clearly defined yourself yet please think about looking into forming a PAC! Get in touch with us and ask for help, we are more than willing to lend a hand!

That brings me to Illinois Patriots. Illinois Patriots is a PAC that we formed to support the lobbying and education efforts here in Illinois, In hopes that one day some of our own patriots will rise up to run for political office themselves. PAC's are also another way we can support and raise up candidates to compete within the system, and the more PACs we have the stronger we will become!

I think we can all agree that we need some new politicians who have our interest at heart and want a fiscally conservative budget! I want to tell you what is also being decided on this week within our state that will help to encourage this change. Our State Republican Party currently appoints their leadership within the State Central Committees from the Party leaders at the top. We need to be allowed to vote for our representation not have them assigned to us. The Democratic, Constitution and Libertarian Parties already have this very basic right of election! So please call your representatives and urge them to support SB600 and Direct elections as well! And again it will come up for a vote this week in the house!

These issues that we don't often hear about needs the support from various organizations so I can't emphasize enough on the benefit of coalition building!

Do not hold back on taking advantage of established organizations for help! We must mobilize, we must remain passionate for our future. The challenge that we will all face tomorrow when we wake up is the question what will we do to begin the process of restoring our government to work for us and not special interests? We must correct the State budget and get rid of the waste and over spending! This is not going to be easy and it will take time. But we have a responsibility and the work we do today to build solid foundations with each political group will allow our children to take over and hit the ground running. The few issues I mentioned are very large steps in correcting our government and are good first steps.

I'm sure I'm not alone but I refuse to stand idly by any further and let the abuse of our tax dollars contribute to the dysfunction of our state, I hope you will all join me and my fellow patriots currently lobbying for change and working within the system and take advantage of the different organizations and their experiences. We must build the bridge between each other! We will become quite a force to be reckoned with!

Thank you!

Posted 05/21/09 Carl Wicklander Nashville, IL

Great speech! Did you recruit anyone for the Campaign for Liberty?

Posted 05/23/09 Jake Mabus Springfield, IL

Thanks Carl! You know what,... some people found it offensive for some reason. I'm not saying many but a small few had. Mainly the people who organized it? I really am puzzled by this! They themselves preach coming together for the benefit of our movement but when we're there they feel threatened? They originally got me to do an invocation so I found one from a preacher from Kentucky and read it with a few changes for our state. Then I also wrote this speech for the cause. Someone told me I might be able to speak as well. When we got there I told them it was about 7-9 minutes long and they were surprised. So they scrambled a bit and I went to the group of organizers just before we began and said "I can do the invocation only if the time will be a problem." The lady co-organizing it said, in front of the group that "everything is fine and go ahead you have time." So I took it for that and that was that. If they would of told me to just stick to the invocation, I would of obliged! There seems to be a claim that one of the guys said for me to specifically stick to the invocation. That simply is not true! But all in all I thought the reception was great from the crowd. I put the speech together in about three hours so I didn't have time to rehearse it but I think it was ok. I did my best not to sound as if I was reading it. Thanks again!

Posted 05/24/09 Jake Mabus Springfield, IL

My intentions in giving an invocation was to give an invocation. I thought I also was going to be fit in to speak. When I got to the rally I explained to ____ that my invocation and speech was about 7-9 min. She seemed surprised. I thought I was also given an opportunity to speak. When I saw that this was going to create a time conflict with the event, I went to ____ and ____ and a few others meeting at the podium and said to them, "I thought I was also given an opportunity to speak, I obviously was mistaken and I have no problem just giving the invocation and we can forget about the rest." Terri said "no your fine, just go ahead." So I assumed everything would be fine. At no time was I ever told to "Just give the invocation". If I was given that command I would of politely obliged to just give the invocation. Your first question for me was "Why are you so bent on these "social" groups joining you?" All the social groups out there can join who they wish to. I don't have any stake in them joining "my group." Its not even "my group" I simply mean join me in creating change within our state. I am only concerned about taking back our state and giving the people an opportunity to decide for themselves in hopes that they too get involved. (in any group they wish to) Yes I would like to see more people get involved into the Campaign for Liberty. This organization has an action plan that works very well when it comes to creating influence in our government. Yes there are the few hyper-patriots out there who give every organization a questionable agenda. That is why it is important to take a closer look at the organizations by-laws, platform and mission statements to make sure it is legit. "Don't they all hold basically the same idea?" Not necessarily. Every group out there has certain things they can and can not do. The FEC is a good place to start when defining a groups organization and purpose. The Idea of "change" and "political involvement" may be an ultimate goal but, again there are certain guidelines each group needs to follow. "Aren't they all speaking the same language?" Sure if you mean language to mean "Freedom and Liberty"... I think so. Big groups? It is very necessary in my opinion that if we are to create change within our state we need to either define our purposes and goals or join other groups who have already gone through the initial growing pains and have clearly worked out a system that works towards the advancement of everyones goals. "Taking back our state" This doesn't mean that you can't start up your own and still be effective. Some people are very talented and can do this easier than others. But I believe that it is important for all of us to build coalitions between each other so that we can clearly define one another's goals. This will ultimately allow someone who visits an organizations site make a rational decision based on their own criteria if they want to join that organization. If they (the people who join) show leadership qualities, It is logical that they will eventually volunteer and work hard and probably be voted into places of leadership. This is what I meant when I said "HELPING to create the agenda." Any worthy organization out there should have their checks and balances in place to prevent anybody trying to create problems or a coup d'état of an organizations leadership. It is just common sense that someone who is a leader in an organization will help to create an agenda. We all drop nuggets about other groups we are involved in. I feel that is just common sense as well and a trait that we all find ourselves doing. We usually always want to create some kind of interest in what we do and express it to others. In hopes of being accepted and encouraging friends to join, that is human nature, is it not? The Campaign for Liberty is bigger than just one man, You mentioned Ron Paul, yes this is his brain child but even he would be the first to admit the goals are far more important than one mans political aspirations. The Campaign for Liberty is a very peaceful and diplomatic organization working within the system as a 501 c4 lobbying organization. Who's mission is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity. Now if there is something wrong with that I want to be made aware of it and want to know why it is wrong. In terms of following my speech to the letter. What I mentioned in my blog is a lot of human nature and common sense and logic when you are out looking to spread the word of your cause. It is very similar to sales. Your not trying to dup someone into doing anything, you just try and create the benefit and explain the features of your product, in our case "Liberty and Freedom" and what that means. As well as how you can get involved. Again I would like to know how I have left a bad first impression? Any of my attempts to raise awareness I feel have been honorable and I am not sure why some have found what I have wrote in a blog has made people "uneasy." A lot of it is just logical human traits and advantages of Coalition Building. Nothing more. Again I thank you for your concerns and opinion. I value all aspects of points of view and feel it is important to understand each other. I hope your work continues to encourages other individuals to get involved and put their protests into action plans. Jake

Posted by Jake Mabus on 05/04/09

SB600 is on the schedule for a hearing in the House Executive Committee this Wednesday morning in Springfield. This is the last hurdle before a full vote on the floor of the House. Then it would be to the Governor's desk. There are only about 4 weeks left in this year's regular legislative session. So it's gotta get done in the next few weeks.

Thank you for all you've already done, but we can't let up. We're almost there.   Senator Chris Lauzen did a great job leading this bill through the Senate - now he's working it hard on the House side. But he could really use our help.  

There are 11 members of the Executive Committee. Phone calls are the best - but even if you just have time to send an e-mail urging a YES vote to move the bill to the floor, it would really help a lot. And please share this call to action with the other good Republicans you know and urge them to join all of us on this project.  

The piece linked below has more details, including a block of all the e-mail addresses for the 11. It's at the bottom of the short piece.  

 ACTION ALERT: Next vote approaching on Senate Bill 600

 http://www.championnews.net/article.php?sid=1852  

We're also suggesting that folks e-mail Democrat House Speaker Mike Madigan. He is key in this thing - as with everything that happens in Springfield. Given the Democrat majority - obviously NO bill can pass without Democrat support.  

The good news is Madigan has been working in good faith. Four years ago he told Cathy and me personally that he had no problem with the bill. He said he wasn't going to take the blame for Republicans not getting the same right to vote his party already provides. He's a smart guy, and quite frankly he probably wouldn't mind seeing a GOP that wasn't such an unworthy opponent. He's got no intellectual challenge now. There's every indication so far that he remains willing to support SB600. But we shouldn't take anything for granted.

The Dems need to hear from Republican voters how important this is.   So we should definitely be very courteous to Madigan on this thing. It's always been Tom Cross and Skip Saviano who have been the problem. They are the ones putting hard pressure on the members of the GOP House caucus to vote no.   But if it's the Dems who get most of the thanks for passing SB600, so be it. It shouldn't bother us at all. Cross and Saviano are poor excuses for Republicans to begin with.  

Thanks again and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.  

Doug Ibendahl

312/648-0061