Thanks to RawStory.com for this live stream of the South Carolina Tea Party Convention being held Sunday/Monday in Myrtle Beach.

Here is the posted agenda:

Agenda Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012

11am Welcome Brunch Joe Dugan
12pm Prayer Pledge
12.10pm Convention opening Sen. Jim DeMint
12.50pm SC Congressional Delegation Congressmen Scott,
1.50pm Raging Elephants Apostle Claver
2.20pm Strong America Now Michael George
3.00pm Break
3.15pm SC GOP Chairman Chad Connelly
3.25pm MB Chamber of Commerce Brad Dean
3.30pm Reserved
3.35pm Tea Party Patriots Founder Jenny Beth Martin
3.45pm Sharia law Ryan Mauro
4.15pm Freedomworks Max Pappas
4.45pm Closing remarks Joe Dugan

7.00pm Reserved
7.40pm Freedomworks Dean Clancy
8.10pm “Free Market Warrior” Loren Spivack
8.40pm Constitutional Lawyer Larry Kobrovsky
8.45pm ROAR Allen Olsen
8.50pm Music

Monday Jan, 16, 2012

9.00am Opening Remarks Prayer
9.10am 2012 Governors Priorities Governor Nikki Haley
9.40am Author of Throw Them All Out Peter Schweizer
10.10am Freedomworks Matt Kibbe
10.30am Fair Tax John Steinberger
11.00am United States’ Military Role as a Global leader; Post-Obama Future Major General James E. Livingston
11.30am Agenda 21 Tom DeWeese
12.00pm Lunch-Marlin’s Restaurant
12.50pm Music
1.00pm SC Treasurer Curtis Loftis
1.10pm Returning from Afghanistan Katherine Jenerette
1.15pm SC Attorney General Alan Wilson
1.25pm Education Supt. Mick Zais
1.35pm Tea Party Patriots Founder Mark Meckler
2.05pm Presidential Candidates

Here’s a list of the 50 bills in Congress that moved people to contact Congress about them. (boy that is an unfriendly grammatical sentence!)

It’s good info to have. However … it’s extremely depressing to see how many of the bills We The People thought important enough to communicate with Congress about are unpassed, still in committee, or never got a vote.

Really cements the reality that it’s not the People’s House any longer. Pissed about that? Me too.

Ready to put aside your lives, recreational time, money, agendas, short term plans to change that?

We’ll see. I know some of you are. I know some of you are getting there I believe, based on my own experience, that there are more of us out there who just need some information and understanding of “What Can I Do About This?” … go find them. We need them.

An informed electorate is a politician’s worst nightmare.

Happy New Year. A year from today, let’s check in again, and I pray we’ll be more free, more secure, more optimistic about our future, less worried about our children’s future.

Cross post from the Spartanburg Tea Party

I had a chat with my good friend Linda today, we were both kinda feeling the pain of not having had any “wins” yet. A win, like an actual budget. Some regulations abolished. A showdown with the Senate or the Obama Admin that we don’t cave to. A South Carolina law passed that an activist judge or the DOJ doesn’t squash.

But I got to thinking about the retirement of Ben Nelson. And Barney Frank. And Herb Kohl. And Mike Ross. And Kent Conrad. And Dan Boren. And more. All Dems, all used to having the power, and the chairmanships and the committees. All resigning before the next election cycle, before their primaries. What this tells me is that they know … THEY KNOW! that they will not be in power after 2012. Their retirements tell me more than polls, more than pundits, more than tea party blogs swearing they will defeat those traitors … They tell me the Dems KNOW they are headed for disaster.

Why else give up all the power of a Senate seat before they have to fight to defend it? It’s still a while away, long months to come, and we will probably have our hearts and spirits broken a few more times, however … “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

And I think a few seeds are beginning to take root.

Cross post from Spartanburg Tea Party

I pulled into my driveway today I saw the guy was there do to my termite bond inspection. He pointed to the Spartanburg Tea Party magnets on my car door and smiled and said “Ah! Tea Party!”

We chatted, and had the same conversation that you’ve probably all had. How’s it looking for President. Our disappointment that Cain had dropped out. How angry he was, as a combat veteran and Ranger, at the state of our country. The gap between those who pay taxes and those who live off entitlement programs. But then … as I’m wont to do … I narrowed it down. Explained that while the rallies have had their day, it’s time for “boots on the ground” in this battle for our country. That the new fight is to spend the hours and days it takes to knock on doors for a candidate you are volunteering for. To spend 6 hours sitting in a chair labeling and putting stamps on mailers. Driving across the county to staff a candidate appearance.

We agreed that neither of us gave much thought to politics before, and we had similar volunteer backgrounds. I helped run a spay/neuter program for 7 years, he volunteered for Animal Rescue Foundation by building a kennel in his backyard and fostering and vetting dogs. He remarked that it’s disheartening that our votes don’t seem to count these days, and I shared with him the story of how one of our local school board candidates, with a strong commitment to reform, had recently won a school board seat by 3 votes, and that I and two of our tea party folks voted in that election.

We talked about how “they” don’t seem to want to do what it takes to make the changes we need. I explained that by becoming a precinct delegate and then a county and state delegate that “WE” can become “THEY” and set the direction for our party. He admitted that he was not even registered to vote. So I set him a mission … between now and the end of the year he was to register so he could vote in the June 2012 primaries … and no backing out just because he didn’t want to be called for jury duty! Which, he admitted was the major reason he hadn’t registered yet We kinda agreed that complaining without being in position to do anything about it wasn’t a good strategy.

So he took my tea party business card, said he’d get on our email list right away. He also wants to check out the RINO Hunt since he lives in Greenville/works on Spartanburg.

So … one thing that I’ve found applies to volunteers in both the animal advocacy field and the tea party field is to give people a “task” … a “next step”. A belief that if they take action, they can make things change. Registering to vote is step one. Getting on email list step two. Finding a candidate and volunteering is step three. I don’t even know the guy’s name, but I envision that either Harry Kibler or I have found a new partner in liberty. I can see him being the “go to” guy for one of our statehouse candidates in the Spring.

Let me give you a task. Find someone between now and the end of the year, have a similar conversation, give them a vision for impacting change instead of just being angry. Chat with them about their next step.

Cross post from Spartanburg Tea Party

For a couple weeks now, Michele Bachmann’s campaign in South Carolina has been attacking the tea party movement by accusing tea party supporters of Newt Gingrich of being bought off.

Now that Michele Bachmann herself has decided to throw fuel on the fire, and this issue has become national news, we as leaders within the South Carolina tea party movement feel we must speak out to defend our integrity.

The South Carolina tea parties have a well-developed network and history of working together on statewide campaigns and legislative issues, and we are disappointed and angry that the Bachmann campaign is using this negative strategy in an attempt to divide us.

Speaker Gingrich has often said that he has one opponent – Barack Obama. He is right, because we must be unified as a team if we are to defeat President Obama and restore Constitutional government from the ground up.

When the Presidential campaigns leave our state on January 22, we will continue to work together to make South Carolina the freest state in the nation. There is support for many presidential campaigns among our organizations, but contrary to the inaccuracies being spread by the Bachmann campaign, there is no Bachmann/Gingrich war amongst our members.

Some of us may disagree on our choices, but those disagreements will not divide us, despite the attempts by Michele Bachmann and her campaign.

There are many Tea Party leaders who have decided to support Gingrich as a candidate. While 3 of them went on to join his staff, the vast majority of them are volunteers. We encourage our members and leaders to get involved at every level with campaigns, even staff positions. What better way to have an impact on those candidates!

The undersigned repudiate the negative tactics of Michele Bachmann’s campaign, and ask that she repudiate this continued questioning of the integrity of the movement she claims to represent.

Brit Adams
President, Concerned Citizens of the Upstate
Rick Santorum Supporter

Dianne Belsom
President, Laurens County Tea Party
Unpaid County Chair for Newt 2012

Jeffrey Betsch
Fairfield County Tea Party/Vice Chair Fairfield County GOP
Rick Santorum Supporter

Talbert Black Jr.
SC Campaign For Liberty
Not voting for Gingrich

Joe Dugan
Chairman, Myrtle Beach Tea Party
South Carolina Patriots. State Coordinator
Gingrich-not paid a penny

Charlotte Hendrix
President, Florence Tea Party
Unpaid Gingrich Supporter

Chris Horne
Charleston Tea Party
Gingrich Staff

Harry Kibler
Founder, RINO Hunt
Leaning Santorum

Karen Martin
Organizer, Spartanburg Tea Party
Unaffiliated

Gerri McDaniel
Treasurer and Board Member, Myrtle Beach Tea Party
Gingrich Staff

Allen Olson
Former Chairman, Columbia Tea Party
Unpaid Gingrich Supporter

Shery Smith
Chairman, Sumter Tea Party
Unpaid Gingrich Supporter

Linda Weeks
Coordinator, 912 Greenville
Undecided

The January meeting of the Spartanburg Tea Party will be a volunteer fair … because … the work of the tea party is to show up! In our county we are represented by six House Reps who all voted against the GOP platform on at least one significant issue last session, and received mostly D’s and F’s on their SC Club for Growth scorecard. Several of our GOP Reps had DEMOCRATS who scored higher than they did! We believe our county can do much better, and intend to support some challengers in the June primary.

To that end, our January tea party meeting will be a volunteer fair; we will invite some conservative candidates who are stepping up to run against some of the platform eschewing incumbents. We will introduce them, listen to them, question them, and then sign up to volunteer on their campaigns! My goal is that each of our members in attendance that night sign up to volunteer for one campaign, and that EVERY MEMBER sign up for each candidate’s email list so we keep up with their campaign events.

We may not be able to field a candidate for each House seat, but those who run will have boots on the ground, some campaign help, some small donations to start out, and the encouragement of knowing a group of patriots who have their backs.

The Spartanburg Tea Party is convinced that taking care of business in our own backyard is paramount to seeing our entire country get itself righted, and that we have a responsibility to other tea parties in our state and our country to send the most conservative representatives to our state capital in Columbia. Please steal our idea!!!! and host your own volunteer fair in January for your county.

RINO Hunt, Americans Have Had Enough, and the Spartanburg Tea Party are teaming up to hold a retirement party for a sitting SC State Senator. Here’s the scoop:

Many of you may remember the USA Today story about South Carolina legislators collecting lofty pensions at the same time they continue to serve. The question is who are they serving? The legislators are not just taking advantage of a law that’s on the books; many of them created the law that they are benefiting from.

During the last legislative session they passed the largest budget in State history while funding many questionable projects and programs. The State’s health care system and the SC DOT are in deep financial troubles. Many legislators have admitted that the State’s retirement system is severely underfunded and reform is needed. However, they fail to mention the need to reform their own gravy train of retirement.

Because the foxes are guarding the hen house it is up to the citizens of South Carolina to “reform” the South Carolina Legislature. The best way to accomplish that goal is to retire as many of the self-serving legislators as possible in 2012.

That is why we are hosting a David Thomas Retirement Party this Thursday evening October 20th. The retirement party will be held at Chief’s Wings and Fire Water located at 723 Congaree Rd. Greenville, SC and will start at 6:00 pm.

Maybe the reason Senator Thomas continues to run for office is because no one has held him a party. During the party we will have an auction for a few of Senator Thomas’ retirement items including a pocket watch and maybe even his rocking chair. Please make plans to attend this fun event. Say thank you to Senator David Thomas for his 27 years of service to his constituents and himself.

Baby steps. It is my strong conviction that, as thoughtfully and practically as possible, we should not support those who are seeking … through intentional action/words or even those who are ignorant … to take away our liberties. That conviction extends to entertainment, shopping choices, travel, insurance companies … any time we as consumers can make a decision to support or not support liberty destroyers.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream has come out with a statement supporting those who are Occupying Wall Street. So this makes it easy to make one decision.

Will you decide with me to no longer purchase Ben & Jerry’s products? Will you visit their site and tell them why?

Once you take a stand on specific consumer choice, look for more. Information abounds on which companies, which entertainers, which vacation destinations, which in-your-home products are from entities who support the progressive agenda. Battle them one at a time. Spread the word. Visit their websites and tell them why. Be a consumer warrior.

We are still fighting here in South Carolina for registration by party in order to vote.  So many of our RINO problems in our state are because politicians who are Dems in their core convictions KNOW they cannot get elected running as a Dem, so they register and run as Republicans and the Dems cross over and vote for them.  Or the Dem crossover gives us a weak candidate rather than a strong conservative.  Then we get the maddening consequences of supposed Republicans, such as the Spartanburg Six (Rita Allison, Doug Brannon, Derham Cole, Mike Forrester, Steve Parker, Eddie Tallon) who vote to table and kill a school choice bill that is a Republican platform issue.

What if candidates who want to run as Republicans have to follow the Republican platform in order to get on the ballot?  What if we were able to only field strong conservatives based on their commitment to our platform … that wouldn’t give the Dems anyone BUT a strong conservative to cross over and vote for!

Greenville County has a plan to ensure those very things.  Take a look at this video.  You can bet we’ll keep you up to date on this!

BTW … we are able to talk about this because the tea party and liberty groups in Upstate SC worked very hard at precinct reorganization this year. Harry, founder of RINO Hunt is the County GOP First Vice Chair, Linda of Americans for Prosperity is the GOP County Second Vice Chair, Laurie original tea party activist is the GOP County Third Vice Chair, and the Precinct President and Precinct Executive Committeeman and delegate positions are filled with activist conservatives. Betty, long time conservative Republican and a leading figure in the National Federation of Republican Women is the Greenville GOP County Chair.

This is what we can do when we become involved in the GOP Party through our precincts.

Cross post from The Spartanburg Tea party

I’m an editor for a living, a freelance editor, so I need to occasionally contract for work with new employers. In order to determine whether my editing skills and viewpoints meet their expectations we come to certain agreements. I have to agree to edit their materials according to their house styles/standard. Once agreed, they hire me and pay me to do the work to the agreed standards. We have a contract.

If we reach an agreement, my employer and I, that all materials will be edited according to the Chicago Manual of Style and two weeks into the engagement I decide that I’m going to end every sentence with a question mark instead of a period it really doesn’t matter what my reasons are. I’ve broken the contract.

I could have a “personal preference” reason and say that questions marks are more quirky, more visually interesting, it could be an artistic decision, geared to produce materials that are fresher, jazzier, more avant-garde.

Or I could have a “philosophical” reason and tell my employer that the world would be a better place if we all asked questions in discussions, thus showing our interest in what our fellow man had to say rather than just relying on our own experiences. That questions rather than declarative statements are less threatening, and serve to build bridges and relationships. Contract still broken, I would lose the benefits of the contract (would not be paid), and I’d be fired.

When a politician runs for office as a Republican, the contract they have with voters is that they agree to vote in accordance with the Republican Platform. The voters “hire” that politician by voting for them, and that politician’s job is to perform in accordance with the contract … the Republican Platform.

There is some leeway. As I edit for my employer, I can decide which words best fit a certain situation; I can use “messy” or “unkempt” or disheveled”. Some decisions are up to the discretion of the employee and are not contract obligations.

For instance a politician can decide to vote for excess funds to be invested in infrastructure or set aside in rainy day fund, or used to bolster an existing program. We voted for them partially based on our assessment of their reasoning skills and judgment to make decisions on discretionary issues.

But not on issues that are a bedrock of the Republican Platform. In that, there is no discretion. It does not matter what an individual’s preference or personal conviction on a Platform issue is. That is the deal they made with voters when they decided to run as a Republican.

The Spartanburg Six (Rita Allison, Doug Brannon, Derham Cole, Mike Forrester, Steve Parker, and Eddie Tallon) broke their contract with Republican voters in their districts when they voted to table the School Choice bill and not allow any debate on it. The Republican Platform states:

“Parents should be able to decide the learning environment that is best for their child. We support choice in education for all families, especially those with children trapped in dangerous and failing schools, whether through charter schools, vouchers or tax credits for attending faith-based or other non-public schools, or the option of home schooling.”

As an employer of your Representative, you had the expectation that the Republican Platform would be upheld. In this case, not only did they not uphold their portion of your contract, they hid their defiance behind a tabling motion … they would not even allow discussion on the House floor for other Representatives who wanted to be heard on the issue.

If I turned all the punctuation to question marks in my editing work, then bypassed my employer’s review of my work and published it under their name without giving anyone the opportunity to see/comment/object to my work … I’d likely have some consequences to face. And rightly so, I did agree to the contract.

Cross Post from Spartanburg Tea Party