South Bay Tax Day Tea Party

“The Most Powerful Office in the Land”

As we prepare for Victory 2010 in California's 29th Congressional District, it's important that everyone have a good understanding of Precinct Organization which is absolutely essential to electoral success.  The article below by Rick Herron is a simple yet powerful explanation of why Precinct Organization is so important to our American political system.  The Pasadena Patriots are now actively recruiting Precinct leadership at all levels - from Block Captains to District Chairpersons.  If you really want to make a difference in 2010, give us a call and we'll get you started (626) 792-1772. Note: As you read, keep in mind that although the precinct structure Mr. Herron refers to in Ohio is very similar to ours, there are some differences.  For instance, according to the by-laws of the California Republican Party, only seven Central Committee members are elected per Assembly District to represent all the Precincts of that District.  Running for these offices is fairly simple and includes obtaining 20 signatures and filing by February 1, 2010.  The election takes place during the Republican Primary on June 3, 2010.  We need as many Tea Party Patriots as possible to run for these offices! "The Most Powerful Office in the Land" by Rick Herron (Disclaimer for internet: Mr. Rick Herron gave this speech, and then approved this transcript of the speech, in 1988 for the Platform Republicans in Hamilton County, Ohio. The original talk and pamphlet was not copyrighted and was meant as a public service to go into the public domain for the benefit of the average pro-life voter in America who did not understand how our precinct system works. Mr. Herron has not been consulted on the posting of this public domain article on this website, nor should any endorsement of other items on this website, or any related website, by Mr. Herron be understood or implied by the posting of this excellent article here. Obviously, the precinct system is open to any group working on any issue or set of issues.) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   Introduction to the Original Pamphlet In 1986 Rick and Debbie Herron attended conferences put on by the FREEDOM COUNCIL. At this meeting the "nuts and bolts" of politics in the United States were explained. Rick Herron explains that the first time through he did not fully appreciate what he had heard. When Mr. Herron's explanation was first transcribed into print in 1988, 321 pro-life candidates for Precinct Executive were already on the ballot in the Republican primary in Hamilton County the county which houses Cincinnati, Ohio. Everyone was now looking forward to the primary in May which would then be followed by the Hamilton County Republican convention in June, 1988. The pro-life faction had adopted the name "Platform Republicans" to indicate that they wished the local party to begin nominating only candidates who strictly adhered to the pro-life, pro-family planks of the 1980 and 1984 National Republican Platforms. Articles had already appeared in the Cincinnati Post, and the Cincinnati Enquirer; the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio's pre-eminent newspaper, had devoted front page coverage to the movement. Why all the excitement? The Herron article explains why hundreds of Cincinnatians had been persuaded to run for the office of Precinct Executive. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   The Four Laws of Civics "Why are we running for Precinct Executive? The main thing to keep in mind is our goal. What do we want to accomplish by this? We believe this project will actually get the law changed. (Note: Herron is here referring to the law permitting the killing of unborn children by abortion and the need to change the law to protect the right to life of these babies.) "First of all, I would like to make clear that we don't believe this struggle between the forces of life and the forces of death is some kind of a debate. If this were a debate, we would have won a long time ago because all of the facts, all the logic, is on the side of life. Obviously, it's not a debate. We pro-lifers have been studying for debate while the enemies of life have been studying war. So guess who is winning the war? Whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not, we are in a state of war with the enemies of life. And don't kid yourself, you are their enemy. This war, this struggle, is being fought in the courts, and in the legislatures. Battles won and lost in this war are measured by government policy. Policy is the prize. And, right now, killing children is a policy of the United States. So our goal is to change the policy. So if policy is to change we must know how policy changes. This is where the four laws of civics come into play.   The First Law of Civics is that People Are Policy. And what that means is if you want to change the law, if you want to change the policy you have to change the people that make the policy. And if you doubt that, try writing a letter to Howard Metzenbaum sometime. "So how does the law change? Well, these Senators or Congressman up there they make a decision, they pass a bill the law changes. That's basically all there is to it. If during a vote there are more of THEM, then THEY make the policy. If on the other hand there are more of US, then WE make policy. Personally I would like it better if we made policy. So how do legislators get in there where they're in a position to change the policy? "Well, they're elected in the November General Election in accordance with: The Second Law of Civics which is: If Your Name Is Not On The Ballot, You're Not Going To Win. So in order for our friends to win the November General Election so they can change the policy we have to get their names on the ballot. "Well, how do we get their names on the ballot in November? Well, we get their names on the November ballot by ensuring that they win the Party Primary election in May. So people who want to be Senators and Congressmen have to run in the primary and then if they win, they get their name on the ballot in November. "So if we want to change the people who change the policy, it becomes our job to make sure that our friends win the primary. So how do we ensure that our friends win the primary in May? Victory in May is based on: The Third Law of Civics: Only Candidates Endorsed By The Party Win The Primary. It's just that simple. There might be six Republicans wanting to be Congressmen in the First or Second Congressional District. And they're all running in the primary. Only one of them is going to win and that's invariably the one that's endorsed by the Party. And there's a very good reason for that. Most voters are just like myself. They don't have time to study all the issues or candidates. Election day comes up on them just like it does on me oh my goodness, it's election day already. They go down to vote, and someone outside the polling place hands them a sample ballot that was published by their Party. They take the sample ballot in, they take a stylus in their hand they look at the sample ballot and they start punching holes. They're trusting their Party to have made the correct decision in endorsing these people. "So if we are going to change the people who change the policy we must ensure that our friends are endorsed by the Party so their names get on the sample ballot. "So, where do these Party endorsements come from? Who is the party? For all practical purposes the party is made up of members of the Executive Committee. And it is the Executive Committee that hands out the Party's endorsements. Every County has their own Democratic Executive Committee and Republican Executive Committee and we have ours in this county. These Committees decide who's name will go on the sample ballots which are distributed outside the polls at the primaries. The endorsed candidates win, they invariably do. After winning the primary they move on to the November General Election. The winner there goes on to Columbus (Ohio) or Washington and changes the policy. So it turns out these endorsements are very important. Because if our candidate doesn't get endorsed for the "May Primary" he doesn't go any further in the process. That's the end for us. It is important that we understand that in order to get to Columbus or Washington to change the policy, we have to succeed at each one of those steps. If we miss any one of them, the whole thing fails. "So, if we are going to change the policy, it becomes our job to get as many of our friends as possible onto the Executive Committee, so that we can ensure that our friends get the Party's endorsement at the "May Primary" step. "So what is the Executive Committee that passes out these endorsements? Wouldn't you agree with me that these are pretty important people, even more important than the people they endorse? Do you know any members of your Party's Executive Committee? Where do they come from? Who are they? How do you get to be on the Executive Committee? Do they run recruiting advertisements in the paper? Do you go down to the unemployment office and tell them you want to be on the Executive Committee? No. To ensure that our friends have a majority on the Executive Committee so that we can ultimately change the policy we must help them get elected to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee of the Party is elected every two years by the members of the Party's Central Committee. "So what is this Central Committee that elects the members of the Executive Committee? Wouldn't you agree with me that these are pretty important people, even more important that the executive committee that they elect? Where do they come from? Do you know anybody on the Central Committee? Did you ever hear of the Central Committee? Well, what is it? The Central Committee is made up of one person from each precinct in the County. (Note: your precinct consists of about five or six streets around your house.) Our County has 984 precincts, so there are 984 members on the Hamilton County Republican Central Committee. And each one of those members is called a Precinct Executive. The terms "Precinct Executive" and "Member of the Central Committee" are synonymous. This very important Committee meets at a very important meeting once every two years where the Executive Committee is elected. "So if we want to change the people that make the policy it becomes our job to ensure that our friends have a majority on the Party's Central Committee, so that our friends are elected to the Executive Committee, so that our friends receive the party endorsement, so that our friends win the primary, so that our friends can get on the ballot in the November General Election, so we can help them win there, so they can go on to Columbus or Washington and change the policy. "The bottom line is that membership in your Party's Central Committee is the Highest Office in the land. The reason that this is so is because the Central Committee decides who all of the policy makers are going to be. "So if we want to change the policy it becomes our job to become members of our Party's Central Committee. And that's why we're asking you to run for Precinct Executive: so that you will become a member of the Central Committee; so that then you will decide who becomes a member of your Party's Executive Committee; so that next a pro-life majority on the Executive Committee will endorse an all pro-life slate of candidates for the Party Primary Election; so that only our pro-life friends are on the ballot for the November General Election; and then, finally a pro-life majority in the state and federal legislatures will change the policy and keep it changed. "Because there can be only one member of the Central Committee from each of the 984 precincts in Hamilton County, it is imperative that we locate, and encourage to join with us, at least one pro-lifer from each precinct. That is why if each of us would do this in our own precinct then we will succeed. And so we conclude with: The Fourth Law of Civics: "The Precinct Executive turns out to be THE MOST POWERFUL OFFICE IN THE LAND. And that's why we are doing what we're doing."

 

WSJ - What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says

By BETSY MCCAUGHEY

The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know.

What the government will require you to do:

• Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there's no grace period. You'll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit.

• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you'll be legally required to pay for it. That's like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later. 

MORE

Kiss Your Freedoms Goodbye If Health Care Passes

Andrew Napolitano   - FOXNews.com  - November 06, 2009
(Judge Andrew Napolitano is Fox News Channel's senior judicial analyst.)

Congress recognizes no limits on its power. It doesn't care about the Constitution, it doesn't care about your inalienable rights. If this health care bill becomes law, America, life as you have known it, freedom as you have exercised it and privacy as you have enjoyed it will cease to be. 

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on a 2,000 page bill to give the federal government the power to micromanage the health care of every single American. The bill will no doubt pass. It will raise your taxes, steal your freedom, invade your privacy, and ration your health care. Even the Republicans have introduced their version of Obamacare Lite. It, too, if passed, will compel employers to provide coverage, bribe the states to change their court rules, and tell insurance companies whom to insure.

We do not have two political parties in this country, America. We have one party; called the Big Government Party. The Republican wing likes deficits, war, and assaults on civil liberties. The Democratic wing likes wealth transfer, taxes, and assaults on commercial liberties. Both parties like power; and neither is interested in your freedoms. Think about it. Government is the negation of freedom. Freedom is your power and ability to follow your own free will and your own conscience. The government wants you to follow the will of some faceless bureaucrat.

When I recently asked Congressman James Clyburn, the third ranking Democrat in the House, to tell me "Where in the Constitution the federal government is authorized to regulate everyone's healthcare--, he replied that most of what Congress does is not authorized by the Constitution, but they do it anyway. There you have it. Congress recognizes no limits on its power. It doesn't care about the Constitution, it doesn't care about your inalienable rights, it doesn't care about the liberties protected by the Bill of Rights, it doesn't even read the laws it writes.

America, this is not an academic issue. If this health care bill becomes law, life as you have known it, freedom as you have exercised it, privacy as you have enjoyed it, will cease to be. 

When Congress takes away our freedoms, they will be gone forever. What will you do to prevent this from happening?

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/06/judge-andrew-napolitano-health-care-freedom-congress/

Will Rep. Harman’s Healthcare Vote Raise California Taxes?

AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM
CONTACT:  JOHN KARTCH
202-785-0266; [email protected]
6 NOVEMBER 2009

Nancy Pelosi’s Tax and Government Health Bill to Be Voted on Saturday

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Americans for Tax Reform today alerted the taxpayers of California that Rep. Jane Harman will be voting on a bill tomorrow which would raise their taxes by thousands of dollars per year.  On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on H.R. 3962, a trillion-dollar government healthcare bill.  This legislation would impose several major new taxes on California families and small businesses

Some of the most damaging tax hikes include:

• A new 5.4 percent “surtax” on income that exceeds $500,000 ($1 million for families).  Even Nancy Pelosi’s own tax scorekeeper, the Joint Tax Committee, says that fully one-third of all the new tax revenue from this provision will come right out of the bank accounts of small businesses.  This tax hike will fall on a majority of mature small business profits.  What Washington doesn’t understand is that small businesses pay taxes on their owners’ 1040 tax forms.  To raise taxes on “the rich” inevitably costs jobs on Main Streets across California

• A new tax penalty for failing to sign up for health insurance designed by Washington.  If taxpayers in California don’t sign up for the type of health insurance Washington politicians want them to buy, they will have to pay a new tax equal to 2.5 percent of their income.  A family earning $60,000 who chooses not to pay for this gold-plated health insurance would see their taxes go up by $1500.

• A new jobs-killing payroll tax on small businesses who can’t afford health insurance.  If a small business in California cannot afford health insurance, they are going to be socked with a new 8 percent payroll tax.  This is on top of existing payroll taxes for Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment.  It’s also on top of federal income taxes, the self-employment tax, property taxes, and taxes paid to California

• New taxes on health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs).  There are 8 million Americans with a low-premium health insurance plan and an HSA.  Under this bill, the additional tax for non-medical withdrawals rises from 10 to 20 percent.  It will also be next to impossible to keep a low-premium health insurance plan under a government-controlled healthcare system.  There are 30 million Americans with a use-it-or-lose-it FSA.  These would face a new annual cap of $2500.  Both HSA and FSA users would no longer be allowed to buy over-the-counter medicines with these tax-free accounts.
• New excise tax on medical devices.  There is now going to be a new 2.5 percent excise tax on medical devices like breastpumps and pacemakers.  This will be passed along to California taxpayers in the form of higher taxes
• New “heads I win, tails you lose” rule for the IRS.  Believe it or not, under this new tax increase the IRS will be able to deny perfectly-legal tax deductions just because they think the taxpayer was motivated mostly to reduce his taxes

 “President Obama said again and again that he would not raise “any form” of taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year,” said ATR President Grover Norquist.  “Representative Jane Harman has also made commitments that he would not raise taxes on working families.  This bill clearly raises taxes on these California families.  His chance to ‘put up or shut up’ comes tomorrow.”

 Americans for Tax Reform is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all tax increases.  For more information or to arrange an interview please contact John Kartch at (202) 785-0266 or by email at [email protected].

Voting Results - November 3, 2009

http://www.dailybreeze.com/elections/ci_13707159  - For all local results

REDONDO MEASURE UU:

By The Daily Breeze

Posted: 11/04/2009 08:54:44 AM PST

The AES power plant has won its battle over a Redondo Beach ballot measure that would have forced the company to pay taxes on the gas it uses to generate electricity. Measure UU, which would have brought an estimated $1 million to $2 million annually to city coffers, fizzled at the polls Tuesday.

 

Fishman, Duclos, Bobko take Hermosa Beach council seats

HERMOSA BEACH CITY COUNCIL

by Andrea Woodhouse Staff Writer

Posted: 11/03/2009 11:58:21 PM PST

» Results: City contests

» South Bay election results

Hermosa Beach voters awarded City Council seats to two frequent candidates and the current mayor Tuesday, but ousted a two-term incumbent.

With all seven precincts reporting in the race for three seats, Howard Fishman led the eight-candidate field with 24.8 percent of the vote, handily snagging the seat he declined after a victorious run four years ago.

Jeff Duclos, a longtime local activist with several council bids under his belt, won a seat with 18.3 percent of the vote, and incumbent Kit Bobko earned a second term with 15.8 percent of the vote.

A third term eluded Councilman Michael Keegan, who he earned just 13.7 percent of the vote.

Councilman J.R. Reviczky did not seek a fifth term.

Keegan was the target of much of this election season's more caustic campaigning, including a prime spot on two negative aerial advertisements over the weekend as well as a large banner on a prominent corner in town.

Misetich, Campbell win Rancho Palos Verdes seats; Measure TOT defeated

RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL, MEASURE TOT

By Melissa Pamer Staff Writer

Posted: 11/04/2009 12:15:43 AM PST

 Results: City contests

» South Bay election results

In the seven-candidate race for two seats on the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council, voters Tuesday moved to take the city in a slightly different direction.

With all precincts reporting, Anthony Misetich and Brian Campbell had won, with 22.6 percent and 18.7 percent of the vote, respectively.

The two were backed by politically conservative organizations on The Hill, some of which are critical of the current council.

"I walked 30 of 37 precincts and I have two bloody feet to prove it. I think that personal contact with the voters had paid dividends," Misetich said of the preliminary results.

Voters also rejected Measure TOT, which would have raised the city's hotel tax from 10 percent to 12 percent, bringing in an additional $700,000 annually from Terranea Resort.

The results could be interpreted as a rebuke to the existing council, which had largely backed Planning Commissioners Jeff Lewis and Paul Tetreault, who are both attorneys and were near the bottom in returns. Lewis had encouraged voters to support him if they approved of the council's current direction.

"Who I support and who I think can do the best job - the day of the election, that's over," Councilman Doug Stern said.