Top Ten Reasons Why Congress Hates the Tea Party & Patriot groups (and why you should register for the Oct. 8-9 Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention at www.vateapartyconvention.com):
10. Most Tea Party & Patriot group supporters actually work for a living, and it’s human nature not to like people who are so very different from you.
9. One word: emails.
8. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters won’t shut up and eat their cake.
7. Qualifying for a lifetime pension the day they take office apparently isn’t enough for members of Congress.
6. Two other words: phone calls.
5. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters APPARENTLY ARE NOT READING THE FORM LETTERS THAT THEIR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE SENDING THEM.
4. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters are crazy lunatics obsessed with things like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
3. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters act like Congress works for them. What’s up with that?
2. How can anyone who doesn’t have a personal driver know anything about how the country should be run?
1. Tea Party & Patriot group supporters seem to think that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Want to really aggravate Congress?
Come to the first annual Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention on Oct. 8-9 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center! REGISTER NOW at www.vatteapartyconvention.com.
- See nationally known keynote speakers like Lou Dobbs, Dick Morris, John Fund, Herman Cain, JennyBeth Martin, Ginni Thomas and Bishop E.W. Jackson.
- Attend Seminars on Constitution, Public Policy and Grassroots Training.
- During the National Policy Forum, hear from policy experts such as Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Steve King, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia governor and U.S. Senator George Allen, and others.
- Take part in the first Presidential Straw Poll of the 2012 campaign – WHO DO YOU WANT TO GET A JUMP START ON UNSEATING THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION? MAKE IT HAPPEN HERE!!
- Party hard at the Friday Night Freedom Lovers Extravaganza (only $20/ticket)!
REGISTER NOW at www.vatteapartyconvention.com
The Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention is being presented by the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation. For more information, go to www.virginiateapartypatriots.com.
For general information: info@vateapartyconvention.com
For sponsor / vendor information: sponsors@vateapartyconvention.com
To leave us a message via phone, please call: (888) 567-6896.
REGISTER NOW at www.vatteapartyconvention.com.
First for the good news:
- SB 417 passed the House today, 66-29! This means that one half of the RTP’s health care freedom initiative has successfully navigated the legislative branch of VA. Now, the bill should be enrolled and sent on to the governor, who is expected to sign it. However, procedurally, that might not happen for another several weeks.
- HB 69, the VA Firearms Freedom Act, was reported by the full Militia Friday morning, 17-2. It should now come before the full House for debate and a vote next Monday and/or Tuesday. For HB 69 to receive a vote by the House before “crossover”, it will have to move through its three readings in two days. This is not uncommon as each house approaches Crossover. So, when we actually see the debate and vote on Monday and/or Tuesday is hard to say.
- Word just came that Bob Marshall’s HB10 has been assigned to the Senate Education and Health Committee. Why would this bill be assigned to Education and Health when the Senate versions were assigned to Commerce and Trade if not to stop it’s passage? Can it be that no one on the Senate side wants Bob Marshall to get credit for his defense of our health care freedom? What about credit for all of your hard work on HB10 which was the first bill we came together on.
Now the bad news from our friend at Campaign for Liberty, Donna Holt:
We must call and email the members of the Senate Education and Health Committee immediately. Be polite, but be firm. We will tell you that the votes to get this out of Committee are currently NOT THERE!
State Senators who are a part of the Senate Education and Health Committee:
Houck (Chairman), Saslaw, Lucas, Howell, Quayle, Martin, Newman, Edwards, Ruff, Whipple, Blevins, Locke, Barker, Northam, Miller, J.C.
Phone Number Contacts
Email Addresses
UPDATE FROM DONNA HOLT: No sooner than I sent the last email out, HB10 was reassigned to the Senate Commerce & Trade Committee.
Either you are REALLY fast on the draw or they realized their mistake and fixed it. While I have no doubt you are always fast on the draw, I gather they realized their mistake and reassigned the bill to the appropriate committee.
That being said the action has is the same but directed to the members of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.
Use the contact links above. This is the list of the members of the Commerce and Labor Committee:
Saslaw (Chairman), Colgan, Miller, Y.B., Wampler, Norment, Stosch, Edwards, Watkins, Wagner, Newman, Puckett, Puller, Herring, McEachin, Deeds
Here is an email we received from Donna Holt of Campaign for Liberty, who has been a tremendous leader in helping shepherd through these 10th Amendment bills:
In a 4 – 1 vote in the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee #1,
HB 69, the VA Firearms Freedom Act, was recommended to be reported by the full MPPS Committee to the full House for a vote. It was a party vote with the 4 Republicans in favor and the lone Democrat opposed. The recommendation is non-binding. The bill will come before the full MPPS Committee next week.
There was much opposition testimony by those who believe that guns kill. I’ve never seen a gun law that reformed a criminal or prevented them from getting guns. Imagine how life would be if everyone felt that way. You and I would be defenseless against an arsenal of weapons any criminal is able to obtain regardless of gun laws that restrict them. [RTP Sidenote: Not to mention that it is a right in the Constitution. We support the entire Constitution, not just selective parts.]
The feeling is that this bill will pass the full committee. The real battle will be in the Senate. We will need ALL HANDS ON DECK when it comes up on the Senate side with as many patriots in attendance and willing to give testimony in support of the bill as possible.
I will keep you updated as the bill moves forward and alert you to the meeting of the full MPPS Committee on HB69.
HB 10, the VA Healthcare Freedom Act, passed the full House Commerce & Labor Committee Thursday by 15-4. Three committee members later registered their votes to make the final tally 17-5. Significant in this vote is that three Democrats, Dels. Johnson, Joannou, and Lewis, joined the 14 Republicans on the committee, making this a bi-partisan bill.
Additional action was taken during the committee meeting. HBs 576 and 722, identical to SB 417, were “rolled into,” or merged into, HB 10.
Senate bills to be merged?
On the Senate side, now that three identical bills have passed the Senate, SBs 283, 311, and 417, it remains to be seen how these bills will be merged and under which number. I spoke today with Sen. Quayle, patron of SB 283, Sen. Martin, patron of SB 311, and the legislative aide of Sen. Vogel, patron of SB 417. No clear answer was given, except that tradition often allows the bill to go the senator with the most seniority. So, while we TEA Party Patriots have championed SB 417, it looks likely that it will be rolled into one of the other two bills.
Then we will have the issue of whether HB 10 and the surviving Senate bill will be merged. While they are similar in some respects, they are uniquely different. The Senate bills focus on the individual not being required to purchase health insurance. HB 10 focuses on no law restricting an individual’s right to choose his own health plan or medical services. They each have also been written for different subsections of the Code of Virginia. More later.
SB 417 was place on the calendar today under First Reading, Regular Calendar, meaning it was reported from a committee with at least one dissenting vote. Nothing happened to the bill.
The bill should be placed on the calendar Thursday under Second Reading, Regular Calendar. Nothing should happen to it. It should then be placed on the calendar Friday under Third Reading, Regular Calendar. At this point, normally, the bill may be debated, amended, recommitted to a committee, or passed by for the day by the senators. The public, having already had their chance to speak to the bill on Monday, may not speak to the bill at this point. Again, normally, after they have debated the bill on its third reading, the senate will vote on the bill.
Pray that all 18 Republicans vote FOR the bill and that Sens. Colgan and Puckett, both Democrats, will continue to support the bill. They voted FOR the bill in committee. If no other Democrat joins the others, a tie-breaker vote must be cast by the lt. gov., who presides as president of the Senate. The current lt. gov. is conservative and should vote FOR the bill if necessary.
Email the following Democrat Senators your encouragement and praise!!! They are most likely to support this bill:
Senator Ralph S. Northam (D) (804) 698-7506 district06@senate.virginia.gov
Senator W. Roscoe Reynolds (D) (804) 698-7520 district20@senate.virginia.gov
Senator John C. Miller (D) (804) 698-7501 district01@senate.virginia.gov
Senator Charles J. Colgan (D) (804) 698-7529 district29@senate.virginia.gov
Senator Phillip P. Puckett (D) (804) 698-7538 district38@senate.virginia.gov
If the bill is passed by for the day on Friday, then it will come up again on Monday, where again it may be passed by for the day. Hopefully it won’t be delayed, and we’ll witness a vote on Friday.
Joe Guarino, Chairman
RTP General Assembly Committee
HB 10, the VA Healthcare Freedom Act, will be heard in the House Commerce and Labor Subcom #2 on Thur., 28 Jan., in House Room D (on the 1st floor of the GA Bldg.), immediately following the adjournment of the full committee hearing. The full committee will begin 1/2 hour after adjournment of the House session. My estimate is that the full committee will begin sometime between 1:30 and 2 pm and dispose of 22 bills over at least the next two hours. HBs 576 and 722, comparable to SB 417, will also be heard in subcom.
The C&L #2 members are Dels: Hugo (Chairman), Purkey, Rust, Marshall, D.W., Cline, Miller, J.H., Loupassi, Johnson, Alexander, McClellan, and McQuinn. Please contact them and request that they support the bill. Remember that the subcom’s report is non-binding, i.e., the full committee’s vote is where the bill will ultimately pass or fail its first major hurdle. Even so, this subcom should vote to report to the full committee that this bill be passed.
Because HB 10 is unique and distinctly different than the other similar bills being considered, expect some frank discussion and possible amendments to conform it to the other bills. On the other hand, co-patron Dels. Marshall and O’Bannon might argue vociferously to retain their language. We shall see.
Senator Jill Vogel’s 10th Amendment Health Care bill, SB417, will be heard this Monday (tomorrow), January 25 by the Senate Commerce and Trade Committee in Senate Room “B” 1/2 hour after Senate session ends. We are asking as many supporters that are available to attend this important meeting. These 10th Amendment bills will face their greatest obstacles in Senate Cmte and the Senate full floor. This is an important meeting and your only opportunity to show support while it is in Cmte. We recommend that you be there no later than 12:45PM for this meeting if you are able to attend to show your support.
In the meantime, please contact the members of this committee asking for their support of SB417. Members of the committee and contact information can be found here.
Lapel stickers for the VHFA will be available to you outside of Senate Romm “B” at 12:30PM.
Here’s a great video montage from the Lobby Day rally on January 18th at the Capitol. Virginia is clawing her way back to the Constitution, one bill at a time. Keep fighting!
Big thanks to Norvell Rose of Hampton Roads Tea Party for the video!
The Lobby Day rally was mentioned by the Washington Post again, this time in the Express Night Out newsletter. There’s not much content, but the article was a fair description of the events (except for the low attendance number, but we’re all accustomed to that). We tried to locate the article online for posting/linking, but were unable to locate the article for direct viewing, so below is a link to a scanned .pdf copy.
From a story dated 1/19/2010.
There is big news regarding the two 10th Amendment bills being considered in the General Assembly, specifically HB10 (Virginia Healthcare Freedom Act) and HB69 (Virginia Firearms Freedom Act)! We learned today that:
- Delegate Joseph Johnson (D) from the 4th district has co-patroned both bills, and
- Senator Charles Colgan (D) from the 29th district has co-patroned HB10.
We applaud Senator Colgan and Delegate Johnson for crossing the aisle to support these bills that buttress the 10th Amendment and Virginia’s states rights. Please contact them to let them know you appreciate and value their support!
To learn more about these two bills, please see the legislation link at the VA 10th Amendment Revolution site.
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